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Playing in the Sandbox. the official student newspaper of SPC https://sandbox.spcollege.edu/ Editor: Jason Cook. Target Audiences:. Students: Open to all students Supportive place to practice professional writing Looks great on a resume! Also for photographers, videographers, artists
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Playing in the Sandbox the official student newspaper of SPC https://sandbox.spcollege.edu/ Editor: Jason Cook
Target Audiences: • Students: • Open to all students • Supportive place to practice professional writing • Looks great on a resume! • Also for photographers, videographers, artists • Teachers: • Way to include writing without formal paper • Way to explore current developments in field • Way to practice critical thinking
What in your class is news? • News is timely, interesting, and important. • What are the latest developments in your industry? • Nursing/Science – healthy eating over the holidays, treating football injuries • Remember what’s obvious to you may not be to others • Computers – which cell phone is best? Which tablet? Are we all going mini? • History – new movie on Lincoln • Economics/ Political Science - what’s up with the ‘fiscal cliff?’
What’s in an article: • Not a personal story or creative writing • Don’t have thesis statement or formal citations • Answers 5 Ws and H • LibGuide - Communications >News Articles • Still needs to be quality work • Need fact-checking • LibGuide - Composition > Grammar • Peer-review works particularly well • Students are target audience • See CETL blog for form
Sample Writing Projects: • Simple reporting: • Routinely have class review of theater, concerts, exhibits, events • Have anonymous vote and send class choice to Sandbox • Would love both pro and con reviews • Research/Project: • Think internet • Landing page as summary statement with links for background and multiple opinions • Also can include photos, videos, audio
For example: • Syria: • 45,000 killed in unacknowledged, year-long civil war • Historical background • US position • Syrian official position • Al Qaeda position • video, audio interview of Syrian student • Appropriate to include personal perspective when part of the story • Other internet elements like photos or link to Twitter feeds
Critical Thinking in news: • Questions I’m trying to answer • Who, what, where, why, when, how • The focus is on the topic, not just the student’s opinion • Information I need to answer the question • Objective means from at least both pro and con • Inferences I am making • Stay focused on facts • Conclusions focus on topic
Employers want writing skills: 97% of executives rate strong writing skills as absolutely essential or very important - MetLife Survey “Being able to get your point across means the difference between success and failure” - Mike Panigel, Siemens Senior VP HR Workers must be able to communicate clear and concise messages and to "investigate, analyze and report their findings in a professional manner” - Matt Lavery, UPS Managing Director Andres Kay, USA Today, 5/30/2011