Bookworm Channel News
When you become in charge of the school news, you may want
to look over some tapes to get an idea of what has been done. However, it is
not necessary to do the exact same thing, remember this is your chance to
present the news as you wish.
TV school news production maybe challenging for a new media
specialist. The first thing that comes to mind is the news we watch on TV while
at home. The key is to start small by
keeping thing simple as you learn. It is
a good idea to invest in books on television production. Books should have illustrations to make
following instruction easier.
TV news production guidelines for new media specialists:
- Learn your equipment
Read manuals so you will be
familiar with how your equipment works.
Take pictures of your studio you
never know when you may have to disassemble it due to relocating or when
cleaning the studio room is necessary.
- Teach your students
Teach the skills of television
production to your students.
- Insist on quality
Students should look their best
when in front of the camera. They should sit up straight, hair should be
combed, clothes ironed, and faces clean.
- Follow a format and write a script
Provide a script for students to
read. Students need a script to read so they will sound natural and be more relaxed during
the session.
- Improve some aspect of your show each
year
Reflecting on your TV news program
throughout the school year will help you decide what need to be changed or
added to the production.
Pleasant grove, Kids News Network (KNN), is a weekly
broadcast done in a format similar to a magazine's. The news team consists of
academically gifted level fifth graders, who produce a recorded video broadcast
for the school. A portion of the class does designated tasks over the course of
the school week, with the finished news video being displayed the following
Monday.
The presented video consists of the introduction, the
welcome anchors, a review of the previous week’s events, and then several of
news packages involving the school. Afterwards, the video displays the upcoming
events for that week and then the weekly character education skit of a positive
motivational term or phrase. The news then concludes with a sign-off, thanking
the audience for their attention and then displays a closing montage of the
students and faculty along with the staff roll.
Southern California Area High School’s Tigernews uses a similar scheduling format similar to a
professional news channel, with the flyer, the introductory comments, clips of
media (in this case a girl sung for a few minutes), some news articles. They
then sign off as well.
George Washington Elementary School hosts news articles by
students selected by teachers to work on the broadcast; the selection is based
on reading ability, having a clear voice, and the capability to come to school
early. The news is done every morning from 8:00am to 8:10am. What the students
do in the broadcast is dependent on grade levels: the lower grades (K~3rd) do
only the pledge, while the higher grades (3rd~5th) do the actual news
broadcast.
The video production is done live, should a problem arise
that interferes with the ability to broadcast the news video, the media
specialist handles the troubleshooting. Failing that, the news would be presented
over the intercom system instead. Because
the news broadcast is so popular among the students, they are rarely late to
class.
TV school news production is very popular among students
therefore it would be wise for the media specialist to capitalize on its
popularity. It is another resource that
can be used to involve students in school activities.
I like your list of helpful hints for media specialists faced with news production for the first time. Two really stood out for me: follow a format and write a script and improve some aspect of your show each year.
ReplyDeleteEstablishing a format at the outset provides students a comfortable space to stretch their wings. Once they are confident, it will be easier to change things up a bit. I agree that students will be more confident with a script. However, I think that the students should write their own. This is a perfect opportunity to provide cross-curricular support for writing instruction.
As for yearly improvement, I believe all educators should be in the business of annual improvement. Most teachers that I know are constantly looking for fresh ways to teach material and provide differentiation. Certainly, in an arena that relies heavily on technology, itself an ever changing discipline, media specialists would be irresponsible not to keep up.
Carla, what a great suggestion to take a picture of the set; just in case it has to be recreated. I agree that a news broadcast is an excellent way to incorporate students in social activities. However, I disagree with how your school selects its participants. All students are not able to get to school early. What about the bus riders? It is not fair that they are not given an opportunity to participate because of something beyond their control. Instead, of recording the broadcast before school maybe they could do it the day before. Also they could just do it live, that way; everyone has an opportunity to participate. In addition, students at this age should be exposed to as much as possible; they are developing and learning what they like and how they like to do it. It is possible that a struggling reader could possibly bud from an opportunity to produce or write a script for the broadcast. We must not be too quick to dismiss those that learn differently or at a slower pace. The key is to excite and keep them intrigued about learning. I also found the other key pointers in your blog very helpful. It would be awesome to incorporate a glam squad into the production, to make sure that everyone is presentable before the broadcast begins.
ReplyDeleteI love that your blog post included a how to produce a news broadcast and was not just another discussion on the advantages and disadvantages or the external resources available. I like the step that says "Teach Your Students." I think sometimes we can get so involved in production value and creating a product that teaching becomes secondary. "Insist on quality" is another important thing to keep in mind. Producing a daily news broadcast can become tedious and take up a lot of time; however, it will only be successful if you produce quality work.
ReplyDeleteI loved that you provided a set of guidelines for new media specialist. My school used to do a "School News" broadcast every morning when Journalism was one of their connection class choices. Since that class is no longer available, there has not been a morning news broadcast. I miss it, and I think the kids do too! As a media specialist this is something I hope can be part of the media center program. Your guidelines can be a great help for getting started!
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