| . |
. |
. |
|
Breaking
the News: Using CNN in the Classroom
|
|
|
Every teacher recognizes the advantages of
topical, up-to-date material for classroom use, which is much more appealing to students
than older, out-of-date material. Nothing is as old as yesterday's newspaper, let alone
last year s. The main disadvantage of using up-to-date material is that teachers need a
lot of time to prepare each new item; therefore, they will often not use this material,
and will fall back on older material that has already been prepared. Nobody can blame them
for this, as the stress and pressure on teachers is often intense, and they have neither
the enthusiasm nor the extra preparation time needed to do this extra work.
|
|
|
CNN (Cable News Network) is considered the
world's leading information channel and can be received in many countries all over the
world. It is, therefore, an ideal source of information, and provides an enormous amount
of educational material for the teacher of English. However, the problem of timely
preparation applies here as well. My solution to this problem is to devise a standard form
with assignments that can be used with CNN broadcasts. (See samples on the next page.)
Through Turner Educational Services, Inc., CNN has also provided a solution to this
problem: Their daily programme, CNN NEWSROOM, is produced specifically for teachers and
students and is available free and copyright cleared once a school enrolls in the
programme. To help teachers integrate the programmes into their curriculum, a daily
classroom guide (written by teachers) is produced for each programme and delivered through
various e-mail and online computer services. There are also plans to create an
international version of these support materials in the near future.
|
|
|
CNN NEWSROOM is a 15-minute news and features
programme that focuses on the daily news and issues of particular interest to teens. It
was initially developed for middle- and secondary-school students, but elementary teachers
have also had much success using the programme in their classrooms. CNN NEWSROOM begins
with a review of the day's top stories, followed by a special feature from a different
desk each day. Monday's Future Desk focuses on current issues and trends unfolding in the
news. Tuesday's International Desk explores selected events around the globe. The Business
Desk on Wednesday examines business and commerce. Achievements in science and medicine are
covered in Thursday's Science Desk. And on Friday, the Editor's Desk features
communications in various forms art, drama, music, and literature. A daily feature, Our
World, covers issues of interest to today's students.
|
|
|
For more information on how to enroll in CNN
NEWSROOM and receive access to the classroom guide, in the US call (404) 827-2252 or write
to Turner Educational Services, Inc., One CNN Center, P.O. Box 105366, Atlanta, GA 30348.
Internationally, contact David Garland at 44-71-637- 6700 or at CNN House, 19-22 Rathbone
Place, London W1X 1LB, England.
|
|
|
Two other useful CNN programmes are THE WEEK IN
REVIEW and WORLD REPORT. THE WEEK IN REVIEW is available for copyright-cleared use with
support materials by subscription only. To use WORLD REPORT, you must write for
permission. For more information on these programmes, contact Turner Educational Services,
Inc. at the telephone number or address above.
|
|
|
I have chosen these two programmes for two
reasons. In the first place, the items are more or less the right length. It is important
that there be enough material for discussion; on the other hand, it should not be too
long. Nobody should ask their pupils to keep fully concentrated for 30 minutes. A
programme like THE BIG STORY could no doubt be used, but the teacher would have to cut the
programme into pieces.
|
|
|
In the second place, the programmes I have
chosen combine visual and oral material. (Discussion programmes like CNN & COMPANY do
not have good visuals.) The choice of programme is of course a personal one for the
teacher and will be determined largely by the level of his/her pupils. Longer news items
are more difficult to deal with than shorter ones. Visual material can help weaker
students to interpret and understand the spoken word.
|
|
|
One of the most suitable programmes for my
purpose is THE WEEK IN REVIEW. It contains a number of short documentaries (about seven
minutes long) about the most important stories of the week. Seven minutes is not too long
for the pupils attention span, although teachers should realize that pupils will have to
do several things at the same time, which will make it a difficult and taxing exercise.
The object of the exercise is not only to improve your pupils listening abilities, but
also to show them how news is presented and that they should learn to question its
objectivity.
CNN: THE WEEK IN REVIEW
What is the actual news event that led to this
documentary?
_____________________________________________
Is enough background material provided to enable you to
understand the events? If so, indicate what kind of
material.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Try to follow the line of the documentary by writing down
keywords that will help you retell the story.
How would you describe the tone of the documentary?
_____________________________________________
Is this tone the same throughout the story?
_____________________________________________
If not, why do you think it changes?
_____________________________________________
Suppose you had to write an article about this event. What
would your headline be, using the documentary as your
main source?
_____________________________________________
Do you feel that there are aspects of the event that are not
shown to the viewers or that do not get enough attention?
_____________________________________________
|
|
|
|
The combination of listening and writing will be
especially difficult at first, although in my experience pupils quickly learn to do this.
The first thing they will have to do is to decide what event led to the documentary. This
is sometimes easy to do, and it helps to prevent the confusion that may otherwise arise
when they hear the rest of the documentary. It helps them to see the difference between
important and less important material.
|
|
|
The second question asks them about the amount
of background provided. Pupils should differentiate between what is provided by CNN and
the knowledge they already have. The third question is not a matter of interpretation, but
of understanding the spoken word. Most pupils will be able to recapture the story line of
the documentary as long as they have key words at their disposal. This item should be
explained clearly before starting the tape.
|
|
|
The next few questions are about the tone of the
documentary. It can be objective, gloomy, optimistic, etc. Often the tone at the end of
the documentary changes, e.g., from objective to sentimental or optimistic. Of course,
there is always a purpose behind this. The questions will help the students become aware
of this. It is good to point out to your pupils that both the beginning and the end of a
documentary are significant, since they contain the important news and the impression that
stays in the viewer's mind. This is true not only for television documentaries, but for
texts as well.
|
|
|
Having students write their own headline
requires them to decide what is the most important news in the documentary; again, it
teaches them to distinguish between more and less important news. The last question forces
them to think about the objectivity of the documentary. Are all sides shown to the viewer,
or are there aspects that are left out?
|
|
|
For the second program, WORLD REPORT, the
approach is similar. The length of the documentaries is different; they are much shorter
than the ones in THE WEEK IN REVIEW. Teachers will also have to select the items
beforehand. As all items are done by local reporters and not all these reporters have a
very distinct pronunciation, some will be unsuitable. On the other hand, it can be
interesting for pupils to have an international view of what is happening in their own
part of the world. Most questions here focus on the interpretation of the documentary. How
many angles are shown? Why is this item shown? etc. The last question teaches the pupils
to make a short summary by way of key words.
CNN: WORLD REPORT
What is the actual news event that led to this
documentary?
_____________________________________________
How would you describe the news item (happy, sad,
etc.)?
_____________________________________________
A good news item should always try to look at an event or
a problem from many sides or angles. Try to find all the
angles from which the issue is looked at. Give key words
to show the different sides of the argument.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Is there an angle that is missing?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Do you think this issue is typical for the country in which
it has happened, or is it a worldwide thing? If possible,
give reasons.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Do you occasionally hear the American point of view or
do you think the news is told in an objective way? If
possible,
explain.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Does the news item strengthen the idea that you already
had of the country? Would it have been chosen if it had
occurred somewhere else?
_____________________________________________
Write down key words that will help you retell the story.
|
|
|
|
Some suggestions for teaching
|
|
|
During my lessons I usually start by having the
students look at the questions, so that they know what to look for when watching the
program. While watching the documentary, pupils focus on one or two aspects (key words,
angles, etc.). Afterwards they have about five minutes to try and answer the remaining
questions. I find that most pupils are able to reproduce the story without too many
problems. Interpreting the news is more difficult, but in some cases it leads to
interesting discussions in groups that are normally not very talkative.
|
|
|
To keep the discussion lively and to prevent the
lesson from getting boring, I think it is important to stop the discussion before it is
completely exhausted. The whole process (explaining, viewing, answering, discussing) for
one item takes about 20 to 25 minutes for THE WEEK IN REVIEW and between 15 and 20 minutes
for WORLD REPORT and CNN NEWSROOM. In this way two or three subjects can be dealt with
during one lesson.
|
|
|
I found CNN a useful source of information and
an ideal starting point for a classroom discussion of topical events. Even shy pupils or
pupils who are bad at English can participate fully and can, often to their own
astonishment, recapture the gist of the documentary without too many problems. Thus, the
approach has several advantages. Not only does it make pupils listen carefully; it can
also serve to take away their fear of speaking a foreign language and to help them
distinguish between important and less important news. And last but not least, it teaches
them something about the world they live in.
|
|
|
Gerard
Koster teaches at the Augustinus College, a secondary school in Amsterdam. He has
written about 30 educational booklets on a large variety of subjects, and in 1992 he
visited the University of Missouri on a Fulbright Grant. |
|
|
Return
|
|
|
. |
. |