Lesson 4
Guest Speaker
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Lesson 4
Overview
Identify a reporter, psychologist, editor or other media professional who has covered a traumatic news event in your community or region. Invite them to the class as a guest speaker. When students are able to ask questions of guest speakers, it enhances their learning experience. (For the sake of this exercise, I will use a use a 25-year veteran general assignment reporter from the local news.)
Goals for Lesson:
Students will be able to:
* get a first hand look at what it’s like to cover trauma
* gain an understanding on what they will experience in the field
* be able to have an in depth conversation with media professional
Class Length: 80 minutes
Materials/Resources:
N/A
Lesson Step by Step
1. First 5 Minutes – Briefly explain to class they will have a guest speaker coming. Make sure
they’re prepared with at least three questions for the speaker
2. Next 20 Minutes – Go over homework from previous night. (They had to come up
three ways their interview could have been better, from yesterday’s activity. Call on various kids to present their ideas to the class.
3. Next 5 Minutes – Introduction of guest speaker
4. Next 30 Minutes – Guest speaker will present. If they have any videos, PowerPoint project,
or other resources, be sure to accommodate them for the classroom.
5. Next 15 Minutes – Q & A from class. Depending on how much time is left, everyone in class
may not have enough time to ask questions.
6. Next 5 Minutes – Assign homework.
For homework, students will have to right a reflection on what they learned from the guest speaker and how they can apply that to their career as a journalist. This assignment should reflect the students’ analysis of the guest speaker and their understanding of the material learned thus far. These reflections should be at least one page long. Teacher will collect reflections during next class period. If time is left over, you can explain to class, the next lesson will deal with ways of treating/coping with covering trauma.