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Teacher's Guide to the Teen Reporter Handbook

The teen reporter handbook trains young people to use words and sounds to tell true stories about themselves, their families, their communities and the world.

Young people are spoken in the media, but they are not often enough given the chance to speak for themselves. Radio diaries provide a way to tell stories that bring neglected Canadian voices to a boarder audience and allows commitment to producing innovative works of lasting educational, cultural and artistic value.

Radio diaries gives a community the opportunity to hear fresh and intimate perspectives on their city and on its youth, while also helping youth gain the skills, confidence and determination necessary to get their voices on the airwaves.

Told with care and dignity, radio diaries depict the lives of Canadians living in communities often neglected or misunderstood. With this in mind, students make the essential connection between history and the choices they confront in their own lives.

Radio Diaries encourages young people to develop a voice in the conversations of their peer culture, as well as in the critical discussions and debates of their community and nation.

Allowing youth to explore ways to act as a positive catalytic force in the communities they serve, using all appropriate media for the exchange of perspectives, the stimulus of the imagination, and the celebration of their communities inherent diversity.

Radio Diaries

A stimulant for critical thinking
Spark ideas and discussion and encourages youth to share their thoughts
Fosters innovative approaches to disseminating ideas and broadening the national debate on issues such as e.g. poverty, juvenile justice, race, culture, etc.
Merges community with diversity
Contributes to cultural appreciation and enlightenment
Builds community through media
Gives youth the opportunity to have a voice in their communities
Forms appreciation of citizenship, leadership and prevention
Promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry
Helpful in identifying youth as leaders
A mentorship opportunity for youth as well as adults
Diverse in developing self-confidence; school and community connections
Citizen storytelling and community building

Ideas

Pair students with a volunteer mentor e.g. journalist who gives the student guidance and assistance
Partner with a community organization in the neighborhood
Conduct radio diaries in a new neighborhood
Create audio profiles of people surviving difficult experiences
Develop a live radio talk show
Develop a radio journal of news and culture from different perspectives
Have students create audio documentaries of their lives
Interview friends and adults about experiences that have brought together people from different neighborhoods and backgrounds
Create a collection of a communities specific musical heritage
Story go-rounds (spontaneous topics)
Active and passive listening games
Email/List serve: Regular "bulletin board" communication
Field trips to radio, newspaper, and television stations

Activities

If you were asked to introduce outsiders to your neighborhood, what words would you use to describe it? What sounds would you want outsiders to hear? What sights would you include on your tour? What parts of your neighborhood are you proudest of? What do you wish you could change? How do you think outsiders see your neighborhood? What are they most likely to notice? What might they fail to see? What might they fail to understand? How might you help them see your world from your perspective?

Each of us has an identity- a sense of who we are and what we might become. Communities also have an identity. Neighborhoods have an identity. They also have a history.

Create an identity chart for your neighborhood. It contains the words or phrases we might attach to ourselves as well as the ones that outsiders may give us. Compare it to those of your classmates. Which categories were on every chart? Which appeared on only a few? As you look at other charts, you may wish to add new categories to the one you created. What does your neighborhood have in common? What differences seem most striking?
Find out about the history of your neighborhood. How has it changed over the years? What prompted those changes?
How does the way others view your community affect the way you see yourself?
Many people see themselves as bystanders-individuals who lack the power and influence to make a difference. Others disagree. They are convinced that there are no limits to what people can accomplish if they join together with others who share their vision. What do you think? To what extent can people stop the violence and regain control of their community?
What projects and people make life better in your community? The nation? The planet? How do you learn about these people and projects? What part does the press play in telling these stories? How else do we learn them? How important is it that we know about the good things happening in our communities as well as the bad?

Curriculum

Curriculum Goals

Describe at opportunities for using media as a tool for any one purpose or variety of jobs or careers.
Identify students' area of interest in radio, video, newspaper (print, illustration/cartooning or photojournalism).
Identify teams to be linked to a local media outlet that serves as a hands-on training ground and matches their medium of interest.
Conduct research and inquiry on self-selected or assigned topics, issues and problems, and use diverse resources and referrals to become well informed on topics.
Use computers and other technology to acquire, organize, analyze and communicate information.
Demonstrate understanding of collaborative leadership by having the opportunity to lead, moderate and participate subsequent presentations and discussions on the topics.
Demonstrate leadership in team building and participate productively in work groups.
Demonstrate self-motivation and increased responsibility for learning.
Maintain ethical standards and understand copyright standards.
Create media products appropriate to audience and purpose.

Learning Objectives/Outcomes:

A. Communication Skills

Demonstrate coherent, analytical reasoning
Summarize complex information
Relate to diverse people and situations
Demonstrate principles of interviewing
Conduct research on a specific subject area
Listen, discuss and analyze in oral discussion
Evaluate word choice, style, expression or purpose and context
Develop confidence and poise
Analyze information for accuracy and presenter bias
Present information in an open-minded and objective manner

B. Writing

Increase ability to journal and script
Demonstrate the ability to write to diverse audiences
Demonstrate forms, structures and punctuation of language

C. Video production

Use basic media and technology terminology and equipment
Take a lead role in producing at least one feature/documentary type video
Demonstrate understanding of principles of composition and visual techniques
Demonstrate understanding of storyboarding and scripting

D. Audio production

Take a lead role in producing at least one radio show
Understand the basics of producing radio documentaries, radio talk shows, commentaries and news stories
Prepare and deliver oral presentations using standardized language
Demonstrate an increased verbal vocabulary
Use common media and technology terminology and equipment

Instructional Strategies

Students will work with local media professionals in newspaper, radio and film who will mentor and teach them real-world journalism.
Students will work within their school districts to enhance school newsletters and fill public relations roles.
School administrators will work with interested teachers to integrate this media work into their classroom curriculums.
A list serve will be a daily bulletin board of communication for training and field trip opportunities. There will be a calendar of events posted.
Media mentors can work with students. The mentor will work with students to identify projects that the student would like to accomplish.
Students will form diverse intra and inter community/school teams to produce radio and television shows, and articles for newspapers.

Management Strategies

Communication via list serve, email, Website, phone, and in-person
Coordination of the overall operation of the project and its tangents
A thorough understanding of the students involved and a tracking of their progress at different ages and different levels
A regular survey system that is designed for on-going input from students, advisors and spectators regarding the training and curriculum