What do students really need to learn in history and English in school? Do they need to remember what happened in a particular civil war battle or how to analyze a sonnet? Even if through hard work and some luck a teacher were able to coax students to learn these things, is this knowledge that will serve them in the real world?
MPX does not use textbooks so students are often charged with finding and reading primary sources in their own research. In order to do this effectively they need to be able to identify valid sources and understand where the information they gather comes from, just as they must sift opinion from fact whenever they open an Internet browser. This is why our first unit is about developing media literacy skills through an investigation of the news.
Students are currently working on writing a news article about a topic of their choice ranging from contamination in the Ala wai canal to the recent Okinawan festival. They spent a day in the library researching their topics and learning from the librarians about the rich array of databases there as well as proper citation techniques.
Wednesday we went to the Star Advertiser's printing plant in Kapolei to learn about the production side of publication. Please read thoughtful blogs from Emma and Sean about our trip. Sean astutely pointed out that we learned the production side in Kapolei, and his questions about Star Advertiser journalism will be answered next week by a journalist who will be visiting our class.
The last day of class students taught one another about various elements of journalism ranging from how to write a good lead to proper interview techniques. The knowledge gains there will be directly applicable as they conduct interviews this weekend and work on writing up their articles for the high school newspaper next week.
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