Aim: Why do certain teams always play on Thanksgiving?

Please answer these questions and e-mail them to Noelle-


Hello ESPN RISE's VOICE VIP's!

I hope that you are all doing fantastic...and sure you're getting excited for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend. Before you get too much turkey on the brain, wanted to give you the exclusive heads up on our ESPN RISE January/February issue VOICE topics! Please send your entries to voice@risemag.com by Wednesday DECEMBER 2nd and include your name, grad year, school name, and state!


ESPN RISE - JANUARY/FEBRUARY VOICE TOPICS

Your Name_________________________________
Grad Year/Class Of__________________________
School Name_______________________________
School's City/State_________________________


Big Question:
What are your pre-game rituals/superstitions?

Day-n-Nite:
Which is the better party.... New Year's or Super Bowl? Why?

Favorites:
What is your favorite Winter Olympic sport? Why?


Please email with any questions and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely -

Noelle

Noelle Crozier
Associate Marketing Manager
ESPN RISE Magazine and Publications
ncrozier@risemag.com
noelle.crozier@espn.com


********************************************************************************
Today we are going to further practice the writing of an informative feature by researching why these two teams always play on Thanksgiving. We will also include the fact that since 2006, there is another game played at night. Why was this tradition added?
We will quickly do some reliable research

We will assemble our research, analyze it, and write a very brief informative feature.
This would be a small blurb in the paper, or a side bar for a website.

Q: Who can discuss what are the components of an informative feature?

You can work by independently, or with the partner that you wrote your last informative feature with, if you prefer
(5 min.)
Let’s start by doing our research, everyone open up Safari and then Google.
Start with the basic question: Why do The Detroit Lions and The Dallas Cowboys always play on Thanksgiving?

Write down the important information in your notebooks, as if you were a reporter. You can also copy and paste the internet address, so you can access it later.

(12 min. research)

Okay, now let’s utilize what we’ve discovered with a strong lead.

Let’s write the lead together: Everyone write down the class lead as a class. Let’s all participate in creating the lead. Brainstorm for two minutes ideas that come to mind from Thanksgiving and the research that you just did.

Elicit students to write the lead as a class (10 min.)

New ESPN Rise Magazine Questions For You To Answer

Please answer these questions and e-mail them to Noelle-


Hello ESPN RISE's VOICE VIP's!

I hope that you are all doing fantastic...and sure you're getting excited for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend. Before you get too much turkey on the brain, wanted to give you the exclusive heads up on our ESPN RISE January/February issue VOICE topics! Please send your entries to voice@risemag.com by Wednesday DECEMBER 2nd and include your name, grad year, school name, and state!


ESPN RISE - JANUARY/FEBRUARY VOICE TOPICS

Your Name_________________________________
Grad Year/Class Of__________________________
School Name_______________________________
School's City/State_________________________


Big Question:
What are your pre-game rituals/superstitions?

Day-n-Nite:
Which is the better party.... New Year's or Super Bowl? Why?

Favorites:
What is your favorite Winter Olympic sport? Why?


Please email with any questions and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely -

Noelle

Noelle Crozier
Associate Marketing Manager
ESPN RISE Magazine and Publications
ncrozier@risemag.com
noelle.crozier@espn.com

Aim: How do we continue our research and begin writing our informative feature about Michael Jordan?

Aim: How do we continue our research and begin writing our informative feature about Michael Jordan?

Do Now: Please log onto the class blog.

Please open up your documents and get ready to plot your informative feature.
Firstly, please share some of the things that you found out about Jordan that might help your classmates.
(5 min.)

Elicit Do Now responses
Q: Who found some really good sites that would help your classmates?
A: I found something…
(3 min.)

Materials: A. Macs
B. class blog
C. Story plotter
Procedures:

Let’s write our lead together, as a class, and then I will allow you to work with your teammate, on this article for the remainder of the period.

Q: So what will your research be about for this Jordan article?
A: It would be best to have the reader know about why Jordan was the player he was- his career, stats, etc.

Good, that’s exactly right. Don’t forget to include quotes, if you can find any, which others have said about Jordan. Other players, coaches, etc.
(5 minutes to work on lead as a class.)

Something like: Last week, Lebron James made news by announcing that NBA players should give up their 23’s in solidarity for the effort to get Michael Jordan’s number retired. James has worn the number, 23, since his high school days. Why would players feel so strongly about this? Who was this man, Jordan, who for well over a decade rocked first the basketball world, and then the planet as a whole? We decided to find out.

I’m going to distribute a graphic organizer so you can plot your article.
I want you to first plan it on paper.

Write down all the websites you visit, keep a careful record.

Remember you copy and pasted the internet addresses onto a word doc, as this was more efficient then transcribing them by hand

Spend ten more minutes researching, and then Begin the writing of the article together
After you have plotted and planned, you can then work together behind one computer and start writing a first draft.

I want all the writing to be a collaboration between you and your team mate. A good strategy would be for one person to research while the better writer turns that information into the body of the article.

I will circulate to help you… (7 min., creating the lead and administration)

(Ten minutes Research)

Okay, now begin writing the article, you will have the rest of the period to do the writing and part of tomorrow.

Summation, with three minutes left:

Okay, save your work on the hard drive, log out and place the keyboard on top of the hard drive.

Aim: How can utilize the research methods we learned to write our informative feature about Michael Jordan and the number 23?

Do Now: Let's review.

What is an informative feature?

How do we evaluate the difference between the news story and the informative feature?

What was the basic news story about? Hint: The Lebron James story we read...

How would you apply what we learned about internet research to the research of your team's article?

What would happen if you clicked on a link about Michael Jordan that said that he was a space alien? Would you believe it, based on what you learned?

(class discussion)

Okay, now I want to formally write down the teams of two that you will be working in. Please, if you have not already, pick one other person to work with for this article... (30 sec.)

Now, I want you to take 20 minutes and start reseaching about Michael Jordan and his greatness!

If I were you, I would copy and paste all the websites that have great information, expert opinion, and quotes, about Mike and put them on a word document that you can store on the hard drive, or e-mail to yourself for Monday.

Remember- an informative feature should inform, be well written, and entertain the reader!

Here's the definition again:

This is an Informative Sports Feature – these are stories that report on larger trends in sports and usually rely on research and expert opinion. For example, if a player passes out from dehydration or an NFL player collapses during training camp, the feature will use this event to discuss the importance of proper diet and nutrition.

Qualities of a Feature Story
• Feature stories are descriptive and full of detail.
• Feature stories generally have a strong narrative line.
• Feature stories have a strong lead that grabs readers and makes them want to read on.
• Feature stories often depend on interviews.
• Feature stories include quotations from the person(s) involved.
• Feature stories combine facts and opinion, with a focus on the human interest side of the story. While they can report news, the news content is not of primary importance.
• Feature stories both educate and entertain. They can include colorful detail as well as humor.
• Feature stores contain the voice of the writer.
• Feature stories can be organized in a variety of ways (i.e., chronologically, narrative fashion).
• Feature stories often put the “meat” on the “skeletal bones” of a news story.

Okay, finish copying and pasting all the good sources you found on a word doc. or in an e-mail, so you can use them Monday...


Let's spend some the rest of the day writing the LEAD (begining) of our story together.

Aim: How can we write an informative feature with a basketball theme?

This is the third entry that pops up when you search on Google for Martin Luther King, Jr.

1.)http://www.martinlutherking.org/



2.) http://homeworktips.about.com/od/researchandreference/a/internet.htm


3.) http://www.scambusters.org/hoaxes.html

4.) http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/33932490/ns/sports-nba/

HOME WORK- Check out these sites for additional research tips.
http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/vl/www/wwwcon.htm



http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm

Aim: How can we interview an actual member of the FLHS sports community?

6th Period: The person we will be interviewing is Arnie Rosenbaum, AP for the Physical Education department.

Please think of several questions that pertain to him.

(3 min.)

10th period: The person we will be interviewing is Liz Lawler, gym teacher and expectant mom to be.

PLEASE THINK OF SEVERAL QUESTIONS THAT PERTAIN TO HER.

(3 min.)


Qualities of a Feature Story
• Feature stories are descriptive and full of detail.
• Feature stories generally have a strong narrative line.
• Feature stories have a strong lead that grabs readers and makes them want to read on.
• Feature stories often depend on interviews.
• Feature stories include quotations from the person(s) involved.
• Feature stories combine facts and opinion, with a focus on the human interest side of the story. While they can report news, the news content is not of primary importance.
• Feature stories both educate and entertain. They can include colorful detail as well as humor.
• Feature stores contain the voice of the writer.
• Feature stories can be organized in a variety of ways (i.e., chronologically, narrative fashion).
• Feature stories often put the “meat” on the “skeletal bones” of a news story.

Aim: How can we differentiate between the three feature type of sports stories?

This is a news related Special feature- These are stories that report on information about the team that is already in the news. Is the football team playing in the district championship? Will the head baseball coach return or retire? News related features tell the whole story behind the team’s success.

This is an Informative Sports Feature – these are stories that report on larger trends in sports and usually rely on research and expert opinion. For example, if a player passes out from dehydration or an NFL player collapses during training camp, the feature will use this event to discuss the importance of proper diet and nutrition.

This is a Human Interest/Player Profile Sports Feature – These are the types of stories that report on one person or a small group and report on life beyond the glamour of the sport. The focus is on the athlete as a normal person and may include family history, childhood, college athletics and significant life events. You guys have already written these!

Aim: How can we use actual game footage (and actual games) to write effective game stories?

Tueday: SWBATo further practice writing in the game story format

Aim: How can we use actual game footage (and actual games) to write effective game stories?

Do Now: Based on what you learned yesterday, what were the easiest and hardest parts of writing your game stories yesterday? (3-5 min.)

Mini Lesson- Using Abbreviations to take notes. (Please pay attention to the handout!)

Kindly click on the link from the blog:

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7120153

What I want each of you to do is first watch at least five of the clips from the World Series Game 6. Gather around in your Groups and use one computer, so we don't have to use extra bandwidth on the network and get a slower speed. Watch three clips that relate to the action and two clips that relate to the post-game celebration. Take effective notes.

Use bullets and jot down details
Abbreviate names
Get player names and the inning that it took place
Use the announcer’s information to help you

Remember what we learned yesterday:
1. Begin the story with a quick summary of the outcome of the game. Include key players and impressive plays.
2. Follow with a chronological timeline of the game.
3. Include the player who scored the most points and any other important statistics. Make sure to include at least one stat.
4. If possible, include a quote from a player or coach.
5. Incorporate the atmosphere and crowd into the story. Was the crowd large small? Day or night game? Weather?
6. Always end your story with a preview of the next game and include date, location and possible opponent information.
Since some of you probably watched this game, you can also activate your prior knowledge by including details that you are aware of in your notes.

(15 min.) I anticipate the videos being a problem to load, so I am allowing additional time for that…

Group Work:

Now exchange your notes with at least two other people, since we are all going to be writing about the same game, you have my permission to copy the notes of your classmate.

We all want to have enough notes so that an effective story can be written.

Notice if your classmate took better notes than you… How do they take notes?

(5 min.)

Now, take out a piece of paper, or open up a NEW WORD DOCUMENT and begin writing a game story based on Game six of the World Series.

It should be brief, effective, exciting and informative…

When there is 2 minutes left, I will instruct students to save their work and attach their stories to an e-mail and send them to me: ROliver2@schools.nyc.gov

DO NOT USE THIS METHOD IF YOUR E-MAIL SERVER IS ONE OF THOSE (AOL, ETC.) THAT WILL NOT OPEN ON THESE MACS!

Aim: How can we write an effective Game Story, the most important part of our FLHS Athletics website?

Aim: How can we write an affective Game Story- the most important part of our FLHS Athletics website?

Do Now: Using your prior knowledge and context clues, what do you suppose a game story consists of? If you have no idea, think about a game you’ve recently watched or played in. What were the most important parts of the game? Which players made the biggest plays? (5 min.) Students will write this in their notebooks….

Please click on the link below. As I read it, jot down in your notebooks what are some obviously essential parts of a game story? (7 min.)

LA KINGS GAME STORY


-> Game stories are the most direct and straightforward pieces in sports journalism. Stories give the basic information about scores, highlights, specific plays and the players who had the most impact on the outcome of the game.

1. Begin the story with a quick summary of the outcome of the game. Include key players and impressive plays.
2. Follow with a chronological timeline of the game.
3. Include the player who scored the most points and any other important statistics. Make sure to include at least one stat.
4. If possible, include a quote from a player or coach.
5. Incorporate the atmosphere and crowd into the story. Was the crowd large small? Day or night game? Weather?
6. Always end your story with a preview of the next game and include date, location and possible opponent information.

Group activity:

Here are some fake notes from a baseball game:

1. Baseball Game – Tuesday, April 22 at Palm Harbor.

2. Eastlake High beat Palm Harbor High 6-2.

3. Peter Player from Eastlake hit a homerun, a single and 4 RBI.

4. Player’s homerun came in the bottom of the 8th when the score was tied 3-2.

5. The game was delayed 20 minutes due to rain.

6. Henry Hitter from Palm Harbor scored the only 2 runs for the Hurricanes with a 2 run homerun in the 2nd inning.

7. Eastlake’s record is now 7-2 and Palm Harbor’s is 4-5.

8. Eastlake will play Osceola High Thursday, April 24, at home.

9. Make up one quote from a coach or player.


Work with the person sitting next to you, or if you prefer, work individually:

Pairs:

Take 30 seconds to decide who will do each part. One person will write the first part of the story, incorporate the first five details into your group's game story.

The second person will utilize the last four details into your groups game story.

The story should be properly written in paragraph form, brief and full of information. Just try to make every detail of the game interesting to the reader. Feel free to 'make up' any details that will add to your story.

Individuals: Take the same steps as persons working in pairs, however, your game story must have all 9 details.

Don't waste time, open a NEW WORD DOCUMENT and begin writing...

You have 12 minutes for this activity.



We will share out a few with the remainder of the period and please e-mail me your game stories as an attachment or by copy and pasting them into the body of the e-mail, which is probably easier and less time consuming: ROliver2@schools.nyc.gov

Do this when I tell you, which will be two minutes before the bell.

If you cannot complete the assignment in the time allotted, finishing it will be your H.W.

Tomorrow we will do some additional practice with this type of writing. :)