Coding With the New York Times
Teach media literacy, writing and web skills by responding to New York Times content
High school students working with The New York Times (Photo courtesy of Marissa Hazel)
Description
Inspired by the New York Times Learning Blog series of teaching ideas based on NYT content, this lesson plan allows learners to combine writing projects with some beginner coding and web skills.
It’s designed to make it easy for teachers to bring technology into the classroom, and includes three activities that feature articles from the newspaper, related writing tasks, and Mozilla Webmaker resources.
You don’t have to know anything about HTML or other computer languages — Mozilla Webmaker makes it easy, and teachers and students can learn alongside each other. The three activities linked below can also be done with a simple pencil and paper, but we’ve linked to several designs made by students so you can see how a Web outcome for each prompt might look.
Learning objectives
Learners will develop skills that include:
- Critical thinking, media criticism and writing
- Beginning web page design
- An introduction to web languages like HTML and CSS
- U.S. Common Core Standards: RI10, W3, W4, W5, WHST4, WHST6, WHST9
What participants will make:
- a movie pitch
- a web page about a cause they care about
- a web page about their favorite things
Preparation
Students will require a pen or pencil and paper. Plus shared or individual access to a computer and web browser.
Assessment and review
How can participants assess and reflect on their work once it’s complete?
Feel free to add here if you have suggestions for…
- Discussion questions. Any suggested topics or questions for follow-up discussion?
- Assessment. Is there a specific standard or rubric you’d suggest using?
Are there ways learners can assess each others’ work? (Peer assessment?) - Sharing. What are some good ways participants can publish and share what they made?
Assessment criteria
- Criteria 1
- Criteria 2
- Criteria 3
Session Outline
- Icebreaker and introduction
- Activity One: Make a Movie Pitch
- Activity Two: make a “Speak Your Mind” web page
- Activity Three: make a “My 15 Favorite Things” web page
- Sharing, discussion and review
Additional Resources
Tips and tricks