May 15, 2012Joplin anniversary feature just released

At 5:41 p.m. on May 22, 2011, an EF-5 tornado devastated the community of Joplin. Missouri Press has just released a new full-page feature designed to remind, inspire and teach.

The feature is written to help young readers understand what happened a year ago, appreciate the efforts to rescue and help rebuild the community, and to teach important safety information from lessons practiced and learned in Joplin.

This feature is available at no cost to any newspaper. To download the feature, visit www.mo-nie.com and use download code: joplin.

For more information, contact Dawn Kitchell at dawn.kitchell@gmail.com or (636)932-4301.

 

March 12, 2012Celebrate 100th Birthday of Girl Scouts with New Serialized Story

Today is the 100th birthday of the Girl Scouts! To help you commemorate this youth organization in your community, Missouri Press Foundation is releasing a new serialized story, "Windows to the Past," written and illustrated by Kanetra Kopp.

During a day cleaning the attic with her grandmother, Jenny discovers not only that her grandmother was a Girl Scout, but that her great-grandmother was a friend to Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the organization. 

This eight-chapter historical fiction story is available in color and includes a newspaper activity within each chapter. A companion activity guide also is available. Click MPF_Serial_Contract2.pdf to view pricing and ordering information for the serialized story.

February 27, 2012Student Editorials Available for Newspaper In Education Week March 5-9

Next week, March 5-9, is the annual commemoration of Newspaper In Education Week. For the second year, we've invited student writers from University of Missouri Associate Professor Clyde Bentley's editorial writing class to weigh in the importance of children reading newspapers. Clyde's class has provided nine guest editorials for newspapers. To access the editorials, link to www.mo-nie.com and use download code: nieops12. There you will find one file with all the editorials and individual photos for most of the students.

We also have archived editorial cartoons that may be accessed with the code: mocartoon.

Don't pass up an opportunity next week to remind parents, teachers and community supporters that keeping kids engaged with print is important — and no one can connect them to their community better than their local newspaper. Write your own editorials or use one or more by the student writers. Below are a few bits of information about the history of Newspaper In Education nationally and in Missouri. Feel free to contact Dawn Kitchell for more information.

And if you'd like to have another student-written editorial, take part in Clyde's annual editorial project that matches students to a community newspaper. You will have the opportunity to assign a topic and oversee the angle of an editorial written by a student who will work closely with you.  If you are interested in this project, email BentleyCl@missouri.edu.


A Little Newspaper In Education History…

The New York Times initiated what was likely the first formal classroom program in 1932.

In 1956, leaders in education and the newspaper industry met in Chicago to discuss the need for a national initiative to encourage the use of newspapers in schools. A study was commissioned: “Newspapers in the Classroom of a Free Society.” The name “Newspapers In the Classroom” grew from the study and was the common name until the late 1970s, when Newspaper In Education was adopted following Canada’s lead.

The first national Newspaper In Education Week was celebrated in 1983, co-sponsored by the ANPA Foundation (now Newspaper Association of America) and the International Reading Association. Lesson plans were distributed to schools through local newspapers and reading councils. The week-long commemoration grew from a 1980 experiment by a school administrator in Indiana who decided to try a week of using newspapers and no textbooks in reading classes. The project was a great success.

Although Newspaper In Education evolved from a once-a-year weeklong project to a year-round educational program, Newspaper In Education Week is still celebrated the first full week in March. NAA Foundation continues to provide teacher curriculum. This year's resource is "Give Them the Keys: Promoting Adolescent Literacy through Newspapers." The curriculum can be downloaded at: http://www.naafoundation.org/Curriculum/NIE/NIE-Week.aspx.

Missouri Press initiated its statewide Newspapers In Education program in April 2001 as a joint educational outreach effort of the Missouri Press Association and its Missouri Press Foundation. The goal was to reach young readers in the classroom and at home to engage them in learning about their community and state, primarily Missouri history and civic literacy.

Missouri Press has been honored extensively for its Newspaper In Education efforts: It has received the Newspaper Association of America Foundation's General Excellence Award for State Programs five times and the National Newspaper Association's General Excellence Award for State Programs three times.

January 10, 2012New Promotional Material Available for Reading Across Missouri

Missouri newspapers publishing the new free serial, “Patriotic Pals, Tails of the Civil War,” can now access a feature story, biography and photo of author Chris Stuckenschneider to promote the story when they download the project files at www.mo-nie.com using download code: readmo12.

This year’s Reading Across Missouri story commemorates the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War (1861-1865), highlighting pups with a purpose -- dog mascots. There are nine chapters, a companion teacher guide you may post on your website, and a promotional ad to let readers know when the story will begin in your newspaper. 

Newspapers are encouraged to begin the story in January or early February. The publication window is a bit wider this year due to a partnership with the National Newspaper Association, so be sure and read the Guidelines also posted under the download code. Contact Dawn Kitchell with questions.

 

 This story is for all ages. The story's narrator, a border collie named Chuck, will draw in and engage young readers. Chuck’s humor will engage older readers. Each chapter in the story highlights a dog mascot that participated in, or witnessed, a fray or major battle in the Civil War, from St. Louis to Pennsylvania, concluding in Illinois with Fido, President Lincoln’s beloved mutt.

Keep in mind that you cannot put the story on your website unless it is password protected or you post a PDF-replica image of your print edition online. Publish the story in your print edition and drive readers to your website to access the teacher guide – which you may post there.

OLDER NEWS