Our school doesn't have a journalism program, so I try to incorporate some journalistic aspects to the course, including the monthly Gobbler Gab newsletter. I'm always shocked and disheartened to find out how little most of the student body (and teachers for that matter!) know about what goes on outside of their day-to-day lives. With this in mind, I decided to push for a "spotlight issue" of the Gab, highlighting new teachers and courses, student athletes and musicians, and business leaders around town. This year, for our opening issue, I asked the students to select a person or topic worth reading about, conduct an interview to gather information, and turn that raw data into a compelling story -- not an easy task.
I've had to defend the Gab to some folks who question its validity in a course that is supposed to focus on creative writing. True, this is not a journalism course, but lessons learned from gathering information, questioning assumptions, and producing concise, accurate stories are invaluable and can be applied to any kind of writing. Mastering the 5 W's and H method of gathering information (Who, What, Where, When, Why & How) offers students an opportunity to play around with providing and withholding that information in their creative pieces for a specific effect. Discovering motive for real life people adds tools to the characterization toolboxes of young writers. If good fiction writing is a reflection of the world around us, both as we see it and how we wish it to be, then spending time writing nonfiction about that world can only deepen our reflections of it when it comes time to pen a story or poem. Previous issues of Gobbler Gab can be access through the "Student Activities" tab on the Broadway High School website. It's always peppered with a good amount of whimsy, but is definitely worth a read!
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AuthorMs. Jopling teaches English at Broadway High School, eats an unseemly amount of cheese, and laughs as often as possible. Archives
November 2017
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