Student Created News Programs in Grades K-8

From LIS5313

by Brooke D

1 Introduction: Answering Some Questions
2 The Specifics: What is Involved?
- 2.1 Materials and Equipment: Budgeting and Other Fun Issues
- 2.2 Content and Curriculum: What Can We Cover in 10 Minutes per Day?
3 Student Involvement: "I Want to Do It!" "No, I Want To Do That!"
4 Morning Shows and Media Production: Bringing the Classroom into the Studio
5 Conclusion
6 References
7 Resources

[edit] Introduction: Answering Some Questions

Clip Art of a Production Studio

[edit] What is a school morning show?

Typically, a school morning show is a way to extend daily announcements school-wide by way of in-class televisions. Some schools may feature additional content such as: weather, contest drawings, birthday recognitions and more. Previously, schools had conveyed morning messages via public announcement systems, but as schools gained proper equipment and know how, school morning shows have become quite popular. Additionally, a school morning show is a way to incorporate the education of media production and other multimedia skills into the daily curriculum in all levels of schooling.

[edit] Why do schools use morning shows?

Schools of all levels- elementary, middle, and high, use morning shows typically to convey morning announcements with multimedia as compared to using a public announcement (P.A) system. Additionally, schools that create morning shows are typically incorporating video production and writing skills into the daily curriculum. Public speaking skills are also being heightened by students who work as anchors or reporters and interviewing skills may be improved if interviews are part of the show's content.

[edit] What is the history of the school morning show?

The first school morning show can be traced back to Murray Avenue Elementary School, located in Larchmont, New York, back in the 1960's. As the television became a household item, school systems began to wonder how television and technology could be harnessed to benefit education. Grant money was gathered and used to create a television studio in Murray Avenue Elementary School's basement. The Morning Show (the title contrived for the show) featured segments such as: Today in History, Happy Birthday Wishes, Local News, Sports, and Murray Avenue News and Views. The student anchors, camera crew, and directors only needed parental consent and a willingness to learn and work hard in order to create what would be considered the pioneer school morning show. Students learned terminology related to video production and camera work, techniques involving lighting, and script writing. These skills were later carried by some participants to careers in television production.

[edit] Who produces a school morning show?

If a school is lucky enough to have the equipment to create a morning show, a media specialist usually is considered to be the producer. Students may volunteer to work on the show as an extra curricular activity or teachers may recommend students to partake in a studio club or media production club. Some schools, though lacking in elementary schools, have entire courses dedicated to media production which could be taught by a media production specialist. A producer's duties vary depending on the school and how much work is expected of the students; however many producers find themselves with the following responsibilities:

Assigning students to studio jobs
Writing or proofreading show content
Loading and running the teleprompter
Directing camera shots and giving cues to anchors
Running filler music
Decorating the set
Setting up positions for on-camera students
Teaching students how to run all the equipment
Working with other teachers to gather content
Teaching students how to edit video for post-show videos

Some schools rely on parent volunteers to produce morning shows when there is not a media specialist available to do the job. Sometimes parents contribute money to purchase the necessary equipment. Often, fund-raisers are held or monetary pledges are collected to purchase technical equipment.

[edit] The Specifics: What is Involved?

[edit] Materials and Equipment: Budgeting and Other Fun Issues

To begin, video equipment is the most important factor to a morning show. Some schools write grants to get equipment, some take money raised through fund-raisers or contributions, and other schools use allocated funds from the school budget to purchase equipment. As stated by Kirkland (2006), "Digital cameras should be part of every school's equipment list in the multimedia age we live in. Modern cameras are affordable and easy to operate. Besides a good external microphone and a tripod (both highly recommended), very little additional equipment is necessary". Basic equipment needs for a studio include: cameras, microphones, audio mixers, headsets (in and on ear), proper lighting, and background or backdrops.

Audio mixers and video displays

Additionally, school districts are more often including video and production equipment in basic media center packages. Many schools are already wired with closed-circuit television and basic video cameras are typical finds in schools these days. Setting up a studio is a huge undertaking. Permission must be acquired, funds must be raised or allocated, and lots of time and helping hands are necessary.

Carol Savage from Hawk Ridge Elementary School's Media Center raised funds from school PTA contributions and book fairs in order to generate funds to build a stage and news desk for her school morning show. Savage put her show together from the ground up, and she is continually beautifying her set. The Hawk Ridge morning show uses students from all grades to put together their show.
Doug Green from Aviara Oaks Middle school had the task of pricing and collecting funds to purchase studio equipment for his school. He found the necessary equipment could cost upwards of $125,000. Shortly after this discovery, he heard about Trinity, which is an all-in-one production box, computer based solution that can be used as replacement for many of the mixers and monitors needed to produce a broadcast at a fraction of the price. Trinity is closer to the equipment used by network studios, therefore Green felt his students would not only be learning beneficial skills, but also would have a "true school to career" experience.

[edit] Content and Curriculum: What Can We Cover in 10 Minutes per Day?

Teleprompter shows a Spanish script to anchors

Media Specialists/Producers of morning shows have some leniency when it comes to content development for their shows. It is typical for administration to require the morning show to announce the lunch menu, perform the Pledge of Allegiance, make the daily announcements for students and teachers, and add congratulations on jobs well done throughout the school.

Morikami Park Elementary runs a 10 minute show each morning to cover school news and events. Media Specialist Becky Brant is the producer and she recently added a multicultural weather segment to her show. Morikami is an international baccalaureate (IB) school and foreign languages and foreign affairs are a major part of the curriculum, in addition to state mandates. The weather segment allows students to learn how to say common weather phrases in Spanish and also learn about weather patterns in other countries. The segment is presented entirely in Spanish, which complements other portions of the broadcast which are presented in Spanish by one anchor and then translated by another. The Spanish instructor works with Mrs. Brant to decide which students should present the broadcast in Spanish based on performance during class. Mrs. Brant works in conjunction with many teachers at Morikami in order to meet the informational and instructional needs of the students and then incorporates those needs into the broadcast.

Aviara Oaks Middle School (California) goes a step further in the creation and usage of their news program. AOTV is produced for a weekly Monday spot which is then rebroadcast on local cable, reaching upwards of 250,000 viewers! Doug Green, creator and producer of AOTV states, "While other school news shows often just involve a student reading a news bulletin, Aviara Oaks students produce programs that rival television networks in their sophistication. The student anchors and producers report the news and make special announcements, conduct live remote interviews from across campus and produce pre-recorded packages complete with Hollywood-style special effects and customized graphics. 'We can, during our broadcast, go live to any place on campus for a remote report during the show'" (T.H.E. Journal, 2000).

Additionally, the media specialist often asks for requests from teachers and administration regarding content and curricular needs. This can be done by way of survey, email, or some media specialists have a notebook or request system where teachers can fill out a form requesting coverage of a special area. For example, when a holiday or special month of recognition approaches, a teacher may request special coverage of the event by the morning show crew, or the teacher may even request for his or her own students to come down and present research or a report on the air.

[edit] Student Involvement: "I Want to Do It!" "No, I Want To Do That!"

As with many school activities, deciding which students are going to perform specific jobs may be a tasking job for a producer. Some schools, such as Hawk Ridge Elementary, have students complete formal applications, much like typical job applications, for the positions they want. Some schools conduct interviews and also screen test for on-camera positions. Additionally, students who are interested in working cameras and mixer equipment may need to demonstrate their skills after learning the basics. Some of the positions held by students include:

Host
Music/Sound Effects
Teleprompter
Cameras
Birthdays (student who announces upcoming student and teacher birthdays)
DVD/Tapes Loader
Audio Director
Director
Camera Switchboard
Special Announcements

Many schools have a revolving schedule, where students take turns doing a job for a specific amount of time (maybe a week) and then move on to a different job. Usually, if a student wants to hone in on a skill needed to do a certain job very well, they will be able to remain on that position. Also, many schools take turns using students from different classes. At Morikami Park, there are seven 5th grade classes and each month is assigned to a teacher's class and the remaining time is distributed among the members of the Studio Club.

[edit] Morning Shows and Media Production: Bringing the Classroom into the Studio

An example of a Boca Raton Video Production class incorporating class curriculum into video production and school morning shows can be accessed here. This piece was created by students at Don Estridge High Tech Middle School who are taking the popular Video Production course taught by Mark Stansell. This video is titled Americus, Georgia Tornado (runtime 4:04). Students' likenesses are permitted by way of photo/video release forms.

At Don Estridge, Mr. Stansell meets the curricular needs of the teachers by assigning video and audio projects to his students that reflect current curricula. Teachers may request science projects to be turned in as videos or Power Point presentations and Mr. Stansell guides his students through basic to advanced skills in these areas.

In addition to curriculum based presentations, this school features a cutting edge morning show called Dragon's DEN. The show features an amazing, highly technical weather presentation and students use advanced editing techniques as they learn them in class. Basics, such as the Pledge of Allegiance, school lunch, sports updates, and other school news are covered in the Dragon's DEN show each morning. Mr. Stansell also uploads Dragons DEN episodes onto YouTube.com for viewing and feedback from previous students.

Screen capture of Dragon's Den broadcast. View the episode here. This is the broadcast from April 17, 2007 (runtime 5:54).

Students hold down all of the positions in the studio including: anchor, weather reporter, sports caster, teleprompter operator, script writers, graphics, camera operators, technical directors, audio technician, video technician, and video editors. Mr. Stansell is the producer/director. He encourages students to run free with their ideas and learn by doing.

Some of the equipment used in the Dragons DEN studio includes:

Panasonic video mixers
Mackie audio mixer
Multiple cameras-Panasonic and Canon
Apple G5 computers (9 of them are used to create graphics and packages for the show, 2 are used to actually broadcast content such as videos and graphics)

Friendship Elementary School in Davidson, NC has incorporated many curricular aspects into their morning show called Wake Up, Friendship. The PE teacher leads a morning stretch routine and the student anchors perform book-talks on the air to hype up new books located in the media center. The crew is taught how to operate equipment early in the year and often by midyear, they are independently creating the show and deciding on content. Friendship students are keen interviewers, and on air interviews of students are often featured on Wake Up, Friendship. Students can share their successes on school projects and even demonstrate a wonderful talent on the show.

[edit] Conclusion

To close, those who participate in school morning show productions tend to continue on in their media production education. These students often have a high self esteem and a heightened level of comfort speaking in front of others, which really can come in handy in college and beyond. Students return to class after a production feeling good about themselves and their classmates provide immediate feedback. Former Murray Avenue morning show participant David Gumpel became a producer in his adult years and even won an Emmy (Moody, n.d.)! Media specialists do a wonderful job putting together these shows, and based on my interviews with a wide variety of them, producing the show is the best part of the day!

[edit] References

Cicchetti, D. (1995). Planning, Building, and Operating a Video Production Facility in an Academic Media Services Environment. MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship. 3(2) 66-82.

Kirkland, A. (2006). Making Movies: Digital Video Production in the School Library. School Libraries in Canada, 25(3)1-4. Retrieved March 29, 2008 from HW Wilson Web.

Savage, C. (2002). Lights, Camera, Action: The Ample Rewards of Turning your Media Center Into a Student-Run Studio. Available: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA236089.html. Retrieved March 26, 2008.

Middle Schoolers Produce Network-Style Newscast. (2000) T.H.E. Journal. 28(3) 36-7. Retrieved March 29, 2008 from HW Wilson Web.