Storybook County Lessons · Lesson 9
The Storybook Gazette
Press Corps
Storybook County Lessons · Lesson 9
The Storybook Gazette
Press Corps
Grades 9 to 12, adaptable for younger students · Four 30-minute sessions
Teacher note. Handouts: 1. Press Corps Roles and Shot List; 2. News Story Frame; 3. Interview Sheet; 4. Fact Check Card; 5. Storybook County Event Feed. Also phones, tablets or cameras if photos are allowed (paper if not), and a simple layout tool. Best taught alongside a lesson that produces events to cover: Committee Hearing, Floor Debate, Elections or Court of Appeals.
The story
The story problem
Storybook County has a Legislature, a Governor, a court and an election, and not one honest newspaper. The Storybook Gazette launches today.
Teacher note. At the conference, Press delegates led by an Editor-in-Chief and Press Supporting Officers cover every branch, produce a nightly broadcast and an end-of-conference slideshow, run social media, and ask the questions at the General Election press conference. The historic NY Press Corps also published a conference newspaper, The Dialectic.
You will be able to
- Write a short news story in inverted pyramid form.
- Conduct a two-minute interview and quote the source accurately.
- Distinguish news from opinion and produce one of each.
- Plan coverage with a shot list and deliver a two-minute broadcast.
- Fact-check a claim made in debate and label it accurately.
The newsroom
- Editor-in-Chief
- Assigns stories, approves copy, decides the front page, anchors the broadcast
- Managing Editor
- Deadlines and fact checks
- Photo and Layout Editor
- Shot list, slideshow, front page
- Reporters
- Cover a beat: Legislature, Governor's Office, Court, Elections or Features
- Broadcast Team
- Script and deliver the two-minute nightly broadcast
Teacher note. The Managing Editor and Photo and Layout Editor are the 2 Press Supporting Officers. Most students are reporters; the Broadcast Team is 2 to 3 students. If another lesson is running, reporters cover it live. If not, the Editor-in-Chief releases an Event Feed item every ten minutes.
Session 1 · 30 min
What the Press Is For
- Hook5 min
- The three rules10 min
- Beats and shot list10 min
- First assignment5 min
Same event, two headlines
Headline A
- Assembly Passes Wall Safety Act 24-3
Headline B
- Egg Tax Rammed Through by Anti-Egg Majority
Teacher note. Hook, 5 minutes. Ask which is news and which is opinion, and how you can tell.
The three rules
- Accuracy
- If you cannot confirm it, you cannot print it
- Attribution
- Say who said it
- Fairness
- Both sides get asked
Teacher note. The Three Rules step, 10 minutes, together with the next slide.
The inverted pyramid
The first sentence carries the five W's. Details follow in order of importance.
The story can be cut from the bottom.
Teacher note. The five W's: who, what, when, where, why.
Beats and shot list
- Candidates and sponsors at the podium
- The Governor signing, the Chair with gavel
- The Justices in session
- Delegates in debate
- A feature portrait
Teacher note. The Editor-in-Chief assigns beats. The Photo Editor walks through the shot list (Supporting Document 1, which also adds one feature portrait per district and the Press Corps at work).
First assignment
Write a lead sentence for one Event Feed item in under three minutes.
Teacher note. Use the lesson under way if there is one. Read several aloud and check for all five W's.
Supporting Document 5
Storybook County Event Feed
1. The Committee on Housing and Hazards reports the Wall Safety Act and the Beanstalk bill favorably; the Porridge Act fails 3 to 9 after Papa Bear called it "an invitation to burglary."
2. During debate, a member from the Deep Woods claims "the brick house also fell." Papa Pig disputes this.
3. Robin Hood files to run for Governor on the platform "Fair Shares for Storybook." The Tortoise files the same afternoon.
4. The Governor vetoes the Porridge Act, citing the burglary defense. Sponsors vow an override.
5. The Court of Appeals schedules Wolf v. Storybook County for Thursday.
6. Humpty Dumpty's household delivers 400 signatures supporting the egg tax. The Egg Producers Cooperative delivers 410 against.
7. Mr. Toad is seen driving a new motorcar past the Capitol during the Riverbank Motorcar bill debate.
8. The override of the Porridge Act fails, 17 to 10, short of two-thirds.
Teacher note. Release one item every ten minutes when no other lesson is running. Item 5 continues: the Attorney General says the trial judge "let a confession in that never should have been heard."
Session 2 · 30 min
Reporting and Interviewing
- Interview technique5 min
- Field work15 min
- Draft10 min
Interview technique
- Prepare three questions
- Ask one follow-up
- Write down the exact words of the one quote you will use
- Read it back to the source
Teacher note. 5 minutes. Use the Interview Sheet, Supporting Document 3.
The quote rule
Never clean up a quote into something the person did not say.
Field work
Interview two sources each.
- Sponsors, legislators, the Governor, candidates
- Humpty Dumpty's household on the wall bill
- The Wolf on the building code
Teacher note. If no other lesson is running, students in character answer from the Event Feed.
News story frame: 120 to 180 words
- Headline: specific and neutral
- Lead: who did what, when, where, and why it matters
- Sentences 2 to 3: the key detail and a quote from one side, by name and role
- Sentences 4 to 5: a quote or position from the other side
- Sentences 6 to 7: background, what the law said before
- Last line: the next step
Teacher note. Supporting Document 2. Headline example: "Assembly Passes Wall Safety Act 24-3." Next-step example: goes to the Governor; override vote Friday.
Draft
Write a 120 to 180 word story using the frame.
Teacher note. The Managing Editor begins fact-checking claims.
Session 3 · 30 min
Fact Checks, Opinion and Broadcast
- Fact check10 min
- Editorial vs. news10 min
- Broadcast prep10 min
Fact check
Take one claim. Check it against the source story. Label it Confirmed, False or Needs Context, with the evidence.
- Example claim: "The straw house was the first to fall."
Teacher note. Use the Fact Check Card, Supporting Document 4. Sources to check: the story, the bill text, the Clerk's journal.
Editorial vs. news
- Half the room: a 100-word Gazette editorial on one bill
- Other half: a letter to the editor in a character's voice
- Both must be labeled Opinion
Broadcast prep
- Top three stories, one sentence each
- One quote
- One "tomorrow at the Capitol" preview
Teacher note. The Broadcast Team drafts a two-minute nightly broadcast script. The Editor-in-Chief approves copy.
Session 4 · 30 min
Deadline and Publication
- Layout15 min
- Broadcast5 min
- Social post5 min
- Wrap-up5 min
Layout
- Top story
- Second story
- Photo or sketch
- Fact check box
- Labeled opinion column
Teacher note. The Photo and Layout Editor assembles the front page in the chosen tool. Reporters file final copy; the Managing Editor applies the three rules to each piece.
Broadcast
The Storybook Gazette nightly broadcast.
Teacher note. The Broadcast Team delivers it standing, with the Editor-in-Chief anchoring.
Social post
Write one post on your beat, thirty words or fewer, with a suggested image. Label it News or Opinion.
Wrap-up
Did any story make a legislator look worse or better than the facts warranted? What would you cut with half the space?
Teacher note. The class reads the front page first.
How the Gazette is scored
- News story: 30
- Interview: 15
- Fact check: 15
- Opinion piece: 15
- Broadcast and layout: 15
- Teamwork and deadlines: 10
Teacher note. News story: lead carries the five W's, facts accurate, one attributed quote, no opinion in news copy. Support: a sample story on the Wall Safety Act, 80-word stories, reporters in pairs. Challenge: a second-day follow-up story, a three-source profile of a Presiding Officer, or writing the questions for the Elections lesson press conference.
The Gazette has gone to press
Accurate. Attributed. Fair.
Eyes up here
Keyboard shortcuts and tips
- Right arrow or Page Down Next slide
- Left arrow or Page Up Previous slide
- Home or End First or last slide
- T Start or pause the timer
- R Reset the timer
- N Show or hide teacher notes
- B Blank the screen
- F Full screen
Project the slides from your laptop. Turn on Notes to see facilitation tips under the slide (keep them off while the screen is mirrored to students). Timed steps load their time into the timer automatically. Choose All slides to scroll or print every slide.