Newspapers and literacy

Newspapers in general, and high school newspapers specifically, are a great way to promote literacy in an English Language/Arts classroom, or any classroom for that matter. It is important for students to hone their literacy skills in all areas, not just by studying literature and poetry. Using newspapers to promote literacy also prepares students to be productive citizens of society. While also promoting literacy through the reading of newspapers, students are also able to become informed about their community, their state, and the world.

Of course, it has to be noted that the role of newspapers in society is changing at a rapid pace. Newspapers are headed toward extinction at some point in the not-so-distant future. However, electronic media sources will take the place of newspapers and can also be used in the same function as newspapers. (For the record, there are, I believe, some significant pitfalls of the decline of newspapers and what that means for society, but that’s a blog post for another day, so I digress).

English teachers should consider using newspapers and/or electronic media to promote literacy. In many schools, there are actually newspaper/journalism/electronic media classes that are separate classes from the traditional English/Language Arts classes. In most cases, one of the school’s English/Language Arts teachers assumes the role of teaching any separate classes in newspaper/journalism/electronic media.

Any teacher who assumes such a role should seriously consider joining the Journalism Education Association, which is the largest scholastic journalism organization for teachers and advisers. Put simply, we educate teachers on how to educate students.

According to the JEA’s website:

We fulfill this goal through numerous activities: We provide training around the country at national conventions and institutes. We offer national certification for teaching high school journalism. We publish print and online resources on the latest trends in journalism education. We provide avenues for virtual discussion among teachers, as well as communities and mentoring to learn best practices. We monitor and actively defend First Amendment and scholastic press rights issues across the country.

Clickhere to view the JEA’s website.