Literacy Intervention: Current Events & The Global Media

Rainshadow Community Charter High School – Fall 2010 Course Syllabus

Joe Ferguson *** joe@rainshadowcchs.org *** www.joerainshadow.weebly.com
Course Description: This course is designed to give students the necessary tools that they need to
become advanced readers and explorers of the global media and to become enthusiastic about
exploring the events affecting their world and lives today. Students will be encouraged to think
critically and to be skeptical about the global marketplace of information and ideas in order to
become global citizens and to make appropriate decisions about their own lives. Students will be
exposed to a variety of media exploration techniques and create their own timeline of current events
that are important to them. They will demonstrate their progress online and will be able to share their
thoughts on current events with their classmates and the rest of the world.
Course Aims and Objectives for this Semester:
Upon completion of this semester course of study, students will be able to…
- know and use word analysis skills and strategies to comprehend new words encountered in text
and to develop vocabulary.
- use reading process skills and strategies to build comprehension.
- read expository and persuasive texts to comprehend, interpret, and evaluate for specific
purposes.
- write a variety of texts that inform, persuade, describe, evaluate, entertain, or tell a story and
that are appropriate to audience and purpose.
- listen to and evaluate oral communications for content, style, speaker’s purpose, and audience
appropriateness.
- speak using organization, style, tone, voice, and media aids appropriate to audience and purpose.
Students participate in discussions to offer information, clarify ideas, and support a position.
- develop global literacy skills, attitudes, and dispositions.
- become critical explorers of the global media marketplace of ideas and information.
- create a website to communicate with classmates and the outside world.
Requirements:
- Participation in classroom reading, writing, discussions, and other activities every day.
- Record of website updates, vocabulary, quizzes, other writings and classroom projects & assignments.
- Completed portfolio of projects and assignments (see requirements below).

Week / Dates Monday - Thursday

1) Aug 30 - Sept 2 Welcome! Benchmark assessment of your reading skills. What Advisory is right for you?
2) Sept 6-9 Intro to Weebly and creating your own website. Intro to current events and the global
media. Exploring new websites and forms of media. No School Monday (Labor Day)
3) Sept 13-16 Translating foreign language news. Babel Fish & other tools. Appropriate articles to read.
Writing appropriate responses to current events. Current event reading and response.
4) Sept 20-23 Building a solid high school vocabulary. Using online resources. SAT Vocab. Current
event reading and response. No School Thursday (Professional Development)
5) Sept 27 - 30 Local news. What are the outlets? What are the stories focusing on? What stories are
important to us? Current event reading and response.
6) Oct 4-7 Regional news. What are the outlets? What are the stories focusing on? What stories are
important to us? Current event reading and response.
7) Oct 11-14 National news. What are the outlets? What are the stories focusing on? What stories are
important to us? Current event reading and response.
8) Oct 18-21 International / global news. What are the outlets? What are the stories focusing on?
What stories are important to us? Current event reading and response.
9) Oct 25-28 Website progress check. Look at other student’s websites and respond. Current event
reading and response. No School Monday (Professional Development)
10) Nov 1-4 Independent news sources. Differences between the independent outlets and the
corporate outlets. Who is telling the “truth?” Current event reading and response.
11) Nov 8-11 Being skeptical while reading the news. Bias and perspective. Current event reading and
response. Five Stories. No School Thursday (Veterans Day)
12) Nov 15-18 Advertisement in the news. Does the news advertise products, good, and services? What
kinds of ads do you find on different news sites? Current event reading and response.
13) Nov 22-25 Politics in the news. Are there political adendas in different news outlets? What politics
are expressed? Current event reading and response. No School Thursday (Thanksgiving)
14) Nov 29 - Dec 2 Sports in the news. How much attention is paid to sports in the news. What types of
sports are the most popular? Current event reading and response.
15) Dec 6-9 Crime in the news. How many headlines are devoted to crime, violence, and war vs.
people doing good deeds? What people want to read? Current event read and respond.
16) Dec 13-16 Website progress check. Look at other student’s websites and respond. Current event
reading and response.
17) Jan 3-6 Economic news. What does the news say about the current economic situation? Does it
display a positive or negative outlook? Current event reading and response.
18) Jan 10-13 Coming near the end. What have we learned? What’s next for your personal exploration
of the global media? Current event reading and response.
19) Jan 18-21 Last class of the semester. Course reflection. Updating your Rainshadow Portfolio.
No School Monday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
Grading Policy and Assessment: This literacy intervention course of study is worth approximately 1500 points.
The points earned in this class will be averaged into your core (science, social studies, English, and mathematics)
classes for the semester.
Point Breakdown:
Attendance & Participation – 700 points
Completed Current Events and Vocabulary website, Vocabulary Quizzes – 700 points
Completed Rainshadow Online Portfolio – 100 points
Portfolio Contents: You will submit components from this course into your Rainshadow portfolio that will
showcase your work for the full semester course of study. Your portfolio will contain your best work from this
class and will be a demonstration of your skills and growth as a Rainshadow CCHS student. It will be expected
that your major projects and several other pieces of work from this class will be components of your portfolio.

Current Events & The Global Media

Nevada English Language Arts Standards
Content Standard 1.0 - Students know and use word analysis skills and strategies to comprehend
new words encountered in text and to develop vocabulary.
Content Standard 2.0 - Students use reading process skills and strategies to build comprehension.
Content Standard 3.0 - Students read literary text to comprehend, interpret, and evaluate authors,
cultures, and times.
Content Standard 4.0 - Students read expository and persuasive texts to comprehend, interpret, and
evaluate for specific purposes.
Content Standard 5.0 - Students write a variety of texts using the writing process.
Content Standard 6.0 - Students write a variety of texts that inform, persuade, describe, evaluate,
entertain, or tell a story and that are appropriate to audience and purpose.
Content Standard 7.0 - Students listen to and evaluate oral communications for content, style,
speaker’s purpose, and audience appropriateness.
Content Standard 8.0 - Students speak using organization, style, tone, voice, and media aids
appropriate to audience and purpose. Students participate in discussions to offer information,
clarify ideas, and support a position.