George Washington Elementary School 2nd Graders Help to Publish Global News
Students in Alyson Stone’s second grade class at George Washington Elementary School participated in the Jr. Editors-in-Chief Program last week for global children’s newspaper News-O-Matic.
Russell Kahn, Editor-in-Chief of the daily kids newspaper, came to their classroom in White Plains to discuss the breaking news of the day and to work with the second graders as they selected two featured stories for publication in the next morning’s edition.
Of the eight daily categories covered – Global News, U.S. News, Animals, Arts, Discovery, Sports, Wacky News and Kids in the News – the George Washington Elementary School students were given breaking news selections in the Discovery and Sports categories.
In the area of Discovery they reviewed copy and artwork on three possible science stories: a new theory concerning the origins of Earth’s moon, the possibility of alien life and the renaming of a popular dinosaur.
After discussion and debate, by secret vote (they put theirs heads face down on their desks and raised their hands), the students decided to go with the story about the moon.
It was also Sibling’s Day, which made an Earth sister planet story all the more intriguing.
“Earth’s Sister Made the Moon” was published the next day complete with an explanation of the theory from the Israel Institute of Technology about Theia Earth’s sister planet and graphics to illustrate the event that might have birthed the moon 4 billion years ago.
In the sports category they went with a local hockey trophy presentation over baseball and the hiring of the first full-time female NFL referee.
After the editorial line-up was complete, News-O-Matic staff wrote the stories and uploaded the issue for viewing worldwide by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard time, a daily schedule intended to provide teachers with advance viewing before class the next day.
The News-O-Matic App is available on smartphones and tablets and was developed to provide an engaging and exciting nonfiction reading experience for children.
For schools where students do not have their own tablets, teachers can project the content onto a Smart board as was done in Mrs. Stone’s class.
“The founders of News-O-Matic wanted to provide a place where children could go to get news in a safe environment and where the content was created in an age-appropriate way,” explained Kahn. “Children surf the web regularly and they are exposed to things that children didn’t see 20, 10, even five years ago. They are growing up in a digital world where they can’t be easily sheltered,” he said.
The company has a psychologist on staff to review and make suggestions on how to handle difficult content.
Kahn also commented that the traditional print school weekly newspapers were great, but that by using digital media, children could be exposed to the news as it is happening, on a daily basis and they could interact with it and with other students worldwide.
By acting as junior editors, Mrs. Stone’s class was able to experience the thrill of acting on the news as it was happening – something Kahn says News-O-Matic tries to do often. Since the newspaper is global, Kahn uses Skype to interact with classrooms around the planet. He is particularly proud of a relationship the newspaper formed with a school in Malawi, Africa.
“We often underestimate children. They can be very discerning,” he said.
To encourage students to not only read nonfiction, but also to reflect on the content as well, there is an interactive element to News-O-Matic that allows students to ask questions, comment and even draw about what they have read. Interactive maps, videos, photos, quizzes and other features are a key part of the educational experience.
“There is a ‘What Do You Think?’ section where students can debate issues such as ‘Should the United States get rid of the penny?’” Kahn explained. “Kids really thought that one through and had justifications for their feelings based on information supplied to them through News-O-Matic stories.”
Of course, there is no advertising, Kahn emphasized, and for each story published there are three different versions written for three different editions geared toward early, elementary and middle school levels.
The different levels are available through a dedicated school App that can be used in the classroom, complete with a teacher dashboard and programs created to match the literacy goals encouraged by the Common Core Curriculum.
The News-O-Matic link can be downloaded for free from your App Store. The teacher’s App is a paid program. For more information about the App and the company visit www.press4kids.com.
