Reading Newspapers and Watching the News in a 7th Grade Social Studies Classroom to Increase Knowledge of the World by Akua Saulsberry A MASTER S PROJECT For ED 7999 Submitted to the Office for Graduate Studies Graduate Division of Wayne State University Detroit Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTERS OF ARTS IN TEACHING December 2007 MAJOR SECONDARY SOCIAL STUDIES EDUCATION Approved by Bob Pettapiece Date 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE Introduction to Project 2 CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Introduction Newspapers in the classroom Television in the classroom Summary 4 4 6 8 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY Introduction Demographics Procedure Hypotheses Summary 9 9 9 10 10 CHAPTER FOUR ANALASIS OF DATA Introduction Hypothesis 1 Hypothesis 2 12 13 14 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS Introduction 15 Conclusions 15 Recommendations 15 Personal Observations 15 Summary 16 REFERENCES 17 APPENDIX A Pre Test Posttest 19 APPENDIX B Survey 25 2 Chapter One Introduction to the Project Student achievement is low in schools because students are not engaged in the learning process Teachers must develop strategies to capture the minds and the hearts of young adults in order to gain higher achievement in class In addition teachers can engage students in the classroom by providing more choices in the classroom and presenting material in class to which students can relate This in turn may increase student achievement in school For years schools have been teacher centered However it is necessary to change the focus of the traditional classroom Cognitive psychologists feel that students need to construct their own learning Furthermore they believe students should have more active hands on learning Some experts believe that teachers should provide support for students to explore their world and developing understanding Santrock 2001 p 518 Moreover teachers serve as facilitators rather than as directors and molders of learning p 229 Therefore teachers must teach contextual lessons in which students can use their own experiences in order to relate to the subjects being taught It is imperative that teachers make topics more relevant In order for a student to gain knowledge teachers must build on the knowledge of what students already know There are two things that students do well First they are experts at complaining about the long reading selections chosen for them by their teachers Additionally they are pros at watching television Therefore teachers should incorporate the television and different forms of reading i e the newspaper into the classroom 3 Using newspapers and watching the news in the classroom can increase students general recognition of various places around the world Students will be able to identify and locate major places and figures in the world This project was geared to address various learning styles in the classroom which in turn will help students become engaged in world geography In short this project involved a brief study in a 7th grade Social Studies classroom to assess whether using other forms of multi media in the classroom would benefit overall student learning Students were assessed on their prior knowledge on basic world geography skills After completing this test students were exposed to newspapers and other forms of media such as video clips from the nightly news as well as from other resources like the Discovery Channel Using the information in these various forms of multi media in addition to the textbook students were asked to relate information they had read in the newspaper or seen on television to what was in our textbook For example when the students read an article about Iraq later the class would discuss where to find Iraq on the map in the book therefore tying the two concepts together and making a powerful connection After completing the unit in the textbook students took a posttest on the information discussed The results of the study illustrated how using multi media in combination with the regular textbook can really benefit students and increase their learning 4 Chapter Two Related Literature Introduction Strand V Inquiry one of the Michigan Social Studies Content Strands states Students will use methods of social science investigation to answer questions about society Michigan Department of Education 1995 p 17 Much research and discussion has taken place regarding what is valuable for student s learning According to Chris Street Reading newspapers can help students to develop their reading critical thinking and problem solving skills 2002 p 131 In other words using newspapers in combination with textbooks could be a link to increasing student learning Often teachers ask the question how can I reach the lower reading students in my class By reading the newspaper teachers can get more students attention Street 2002 states many students who have trouble reading textbooks the newspaper may be a less intimidating source of information p 132 Through the use of newspapers teachers will not only expose students to the world around them but reach the struggling readers in a less threatening way Newspapers in the Classroom Traditionally classroom learning has been centered around the teacher The teacher lectures then the students answer questions from a textbook In the past students have been inactive in their learning process William Glasser suggests students should have more choices and freedom in class Consequently we should be able to reconstruct our classes so that many more students will choose to work and learn because they find it satisfying to do so 2001 p 20 Street 2002 states A class set of newspapers allows students the choice to select the areas of the paper that interest them p 132 By allowing students the opportunity to choose their 5 readings they are empowered to make decisions and therefore become more active in their own learning According to Mysliwiec Shibley and Dunbar one effective means of stimulating student thought and engaging students in discussion is by including current events in the curriculum 2004 p 24 By utilizing current events students are not only learning about the world but are also becoming more aware of important events in our society Furthermore by allowing students to choose their own articles instead of having them chosen by the teacher students feel in charge of the experience They usually get a chance to create to make