Newspapers In Education


	Trainer Note: Welcome council members and visitors. Be enthusiastic about what information is about to be shared with them.
	Have a sample newspaper to hold up and talk with.
	ACTIVITY: Have a chart stand with chart paper that has a T-chart with two sides. One will be labeled “Then” and the other side “Now”. You may want to wait to label the second side until the first step is completed.
	1.Have participants think back to the first time they can remember using the newspaper. Was it the comics?, the front page, the sports page? What were they looking for? Why? Ask them to turn to a person nearby and tell a little about their first memories of using a newspaper. Ask for volunteers to mention some ideas and write them on a chart or overhead under “Then”.

	2.Ask them to think about how they use a newspaper now. What are their purposes now? Ask them to again talk to a neighbor and tell a little about how they use a newspaper now. Ask for some volunteer ideas and write those ideas on the chart.

	Draw their attention to the real-life purposes for using the newspaper now. Especially talk about the use of the want ads for looking for a job, buying a car or boat, a pet, or a piece of furniture. Talk about the use of the Front Page, the Arkansas section, the sports page, the business section, and the style section. Talk about the features of the Sunday paper that are different from the weekly paper and how they are used especially the book and movie reviews, the calendar of local events, the travel section, and the “Perspective” section.

	Have the audience come to the realization that the newspaper is very much a part of a literate life.