The Media Education Lab is collaborating with the PBS News Hour Extra, the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush (a new Philadelphia high school) and WHYY's Learning Lab on an exciting collaboration in student journalism. Here are some activities we've suggested for students to begin their exploration as they begin to produce 5-minute news stories on the Supreme Court. Future stories will focus on climate change and student-selected news 

1. Learn about the Supreme Court
http://supremecourt.c-span.org/

Start with the “Virtual Tour” of the Supreme Court--- a map with short video segments about the physical space that orients kids to the Justice system.

2. Develop Teamwork and Collaboration Skills in Producing Media
http://listenup.org/ymip/?p=curricula

Use the Groovy Little Youth Media Sourcebook, which you can download here. Some great lessons on developing teamwork and collaboration skills and understanding the various roles involved in media production.

3. Appreciate Student-Produced News
To help students see the range of quality, imagination, credibility and technical competence in student-produced news, they can look at (and rate and review) examples of student-produced news and journalism segments from all over the country. These are available at:
http://www.schooltube.com/categories/4/News--Journalism

4. Understand the Rights and Limits of Student Journalism

Help students understand the rights (and limitations) of student journalists. Compare and contrast these two student-produced videos on the same topic:
http://www.schooltube.com/video/38160/Expanded-Press-Rights-for-Oregon-Students (wow!)
http://www.schooltube.com/video/30037/News-Package-about-the-Hazelwood-Supreme-Court-Case (not wow)

5. Develop Journalism Skills
A wide variety of teacher-created lesson plans for high school, many of which incorporate media literacy.
http://www.highschooljournalism.org/Teachers/Lesson_Plans/Archive.cfm