"Who has a story idea?" I repeat, counting silently to 10 so that I ensure I have proper "wait time."
"I like Britney Spears. Can I write about her?" one student ventures.
In the past, this type of question would have led to eye-rolling on my part, but after a presentation by Steve Elliott today on Story Ideas, I now know a practical strategy to help students actually mine a topic like Britney Spears for strong story ideas.
After reviewing the elements of news value, Elliott then went on to explain the concept of Story Mapping. In the activity, students take a topic like Britney Spears and ask the question, "How does this affect me and my world?" They then make connections to bigger topics like divorce, troubled child stars and spray on abs. The next step is to ask questions that relate to the school community to better address their audience's interests. For instance, the topic of troubled child stars and stage mothers leads to questions about performing arts students and the pressures they face, thus producing a solid lead for a potential story.
We were split into small groups to practice this strategy. My group had the topic of the Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor. From this topic that seemingly has nothing to do with high school, we were able to generate several strong story ideas that would be feasible for students to pursue. One such story idea was the whole notion of Sotomayor being perceived by some to be a racist because of her previous comments and how that relates to people's comments being misunderstood or taken out of context, a subject any teen who has been the target of the rumor mill could easily identify with. Another example is how students could learn from her example by selling their personal story to help them gain admittance to college or get a job.
This story mapping idea was my favorite of the day because it addressed an issue I've faced many times with my journalism students and did so in a very practical manner. It is one of those activities that I could "apply on Monday", which to me is the best kind of strategy to pick up at a workshop.
Becky Gemmell
Escondido High School
Escondido, Calif.
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I also love both "apply on Monday" strategies and acronyms, but this one went by so quickly for me that I didn't get the entire thing down. I think I have most of them:
ReplyDeleteProminence
Proximity
I?
I?
Consequence, and
Timeliness.
Can anyone fill in the other two? I suspect human Interest and Impact, but I'm not sure.
This was also my favorite activity of Monday as I can easily apply it in my classroom. I can't even count how many times I've struggled with classroom brainstorming sessions. 'Homecoming' is NOT a story idea! However, I have never had an efficient method of showing students how to break down the idea of 'Homecoming' into specific story ideas that have an impact on the student body. The story mapping activity proves that there can be a method to the brainstorming madness. Its simple, step-by-step process allows teachers to adapt it and use it in any classroom environment. Sharon Nolan, North Canyon H.S., Phoenix, Ariz.
ReplyDeleteYes, Kye, I for impact and I for interest (human). I use C for conflict.
ReplyDeleteBecky: Obviously I have a conflict of interest, but I like the way you help the reader learn about the benefits of story mapping and make easy use of it through the tool you developed. That story-mapping exercise comes from Carol Rich's excellent book Writing and Reporting the News. I like this book because it's one of a very few that offers practical suggestions for developing and refining story ideas.
ReplyDelete