Students learn life lessons through newspapers

HOT SPRINGS – Newspapers in Education is a program designed to help teach students about the world around them. Most use national news coverage of events to educate students. Hot Springs fifth grade teacher Bart Granlund however, uses the Valley Press to give his students a better understanding of what is going on around them.

“One of the things we’re doing better in education that we haven’t done in a long time is to make what we teach pertain to real life,” Granlund said. “I really like teaching with the newspapers because that is what the kids are going to be reading later on in life. There are no reading books to sit down and read for four minutes in the real world.”

Granlund has been interested in the topic for over a decade. He is trying to teach his students reading comprehension through things that are relevant to their own lives.

“I love the local paper so much because the students see pictures and articles with faces they know and names they recognize,” Granlund said. “It is more real for the students to read things that actually matter to them.”

Newspapers in Education not only provides reading comprehension practice for students, it also has provided lessons in civics. Students have read stories about local politics and have a better understanding of issues in their hometown because of the lessons from the newspapers.

Students who read the local newspaper are more in tune with their community. Granlund’s lesson plans give students the opportunity to show their comprehension skills through questions about what they have read. After having read articles in the paper, students are required to fill out a worksheet.

The worksheet is not intended to be busy work, but is meant to increase understanding through life based reading. Newspapers account for a significant portion of adult reading in the United States. According to the Newspaper Association of America two-thirds of adults read the newspaper either in print or online in a given week.

Keeping with current events is something many students are not accustomed to. Granlund remembered when he had his first current events class.

“When I was a freshman in high school it was the first time I had a class about current events,” Granlund said. “It was the first time I had a teacher facilitate discussions about what was happening in the world.”

Students are becoming more aware of their surrounding world through the local newspaper. Students have realized there is more to the world than their houses and bedrooms.

“I think students realize there is more to the world than their small little Hot Springs community,” Granlund said. “Just from using local articles they are able to see more of the world than just Hot Springs.”

Students get excited when they see their own picture in the paper. Granlund knows the students are proud of their own accomplishments and want to talk about them.

“We had one student, Jackson, who had his picture in the paper for his rooster during 4H,” Granlund said. “Just hearing him talk about his rooster and how proud he was of it really makes an impact on other students.”

Granlund is also teaching language arts skills to his students through newspaper terminology.

“We have been talking about what a lede is and how they are used,” Granlund said. “We talk about captions and headlines and how they are used. Recently we designed our own business cards based on the Valley Press’ ‘Here’s my Card’ section.”

Local articles are more relevant to fifth graders according to Granlund. He believes national articles do not hold the clout they would for an older audience. Students are more concerned about their own lives right now. The Valley Press is a tool they can use to learn and become more connected with the world around them.