If you listen to NPR radio, you may hear both famous and unknowns discussing their core values and beliefs on weekly broadcasts of the radio spot “This I Believe,” a take-off on Edward R. Murrow’s original 1950s radio show. The site is an archive of all the modern broadcasts accompanied by the original print essays and contains a searchable database of thousands of other essays on numerous topics ranging from patriotism to family, to sports. Each short essay that has been broadcast on NPR has a “listen now” link to hear the authors read their essays, which provides a listening component for the ABE student. The audio can be the basis for exercises on note-taking, listening for main ideas, supporting details, and cloze (listening for missing words). New stories and materials are added regularly.
Preparation
Be sure you have all the necessary equipment.
Preview site.
Listen to/read essay on freedom (see Web Site Example above).
Print assignment sheet (see example document above).
How-To
Introduce the "This I Believe" series.
Discuss 'personal values' as a class.
Read/listen to the Web Site Example URL (above), "Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day."
Open the Example Document 1 (above) and teach the 2 vocabulary words if necessary.
As a class, go through the questions on the worksheet.
Writing assignment. Writing Assignment: Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future we will leave your children?
Teach the writing process.
Have students write and edit on computer using a Word Processing program such as Word.
Share and publish work on a blog or a wiki or in print format.
More Ways
For a one time donation, the site provides downloadable (.pdf) Educators’ Guides for use with Middle/High School and College students, both of which are applicable to and easily modified for use with adult literacy students or older adult programs. The guides’ curricula include discussion guides, pre-writing activities and prompts, and sample essays. The purpose of the guides is to assist instructors in planning lessons with the objective of students writing their own “This I Believe” essays. The curricula “help students understand the concept of belief, explore their own values, and craft them into a well-written essay.” Students can submit their essays to the site for online publication.
Program Areas
ABE: Adult Basic Education
ESL: English as a Second Language
ASE: High School Diploma
Levels
Low
Intermediate
High
All Levels
View Lesson Plan
Warm-up
Engagement
Begin a Discussion: What is happening in the news? Turn you your neighbor and share one current event. Share with the whole group.
Introduction
Engagement
Discussion: How do people handle what they hear in the news?
In small groups come up with two- three ways people deal with news stories/events.
As a whole group make a list of ways people share stories, express concern, cope with events, take action etc. Create a chart that lists ways people address news events in column #1 so that everyone can see it, and add to it.
In your group discuss cause and effects of different ways discussed. Add these comments in column #2
Presentation
Engagement
Introduce NPR series of spoken/articles titled: This I Believe.
As a class, or in small groups depending on your setup listen to the aritlce Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day.
In pairs discuss how this article relates to our class discussion.
Share ideas with the class. Add them to the chart. Point out that some methods dealing are positive and others are negative. Does the author deal with world events in a positive or negative way?
In pairs, look at the other actions people take in response to current events. Decide why and how they are positive or negative. As a class gather to fill in the final column; add why each method is positive or negative.
Practice
Engagement Enhancement
As pairs, listen/read again to the audio Tommor Will Be a Better Day. Fill out the handout.
Practice
As pairs, using what you have written, discuss the writing assignment. Take notes.
Write a three paragraph essay. Use the following outline:
Summarize the article.
How did the author handle current events? Was it positive or negative? Explain your answer.
in one paragraph explain how you handle discussions about current events.
Evaluation
Engagement Enhancement
In pairs, share the essays. Discuss how each other deal with current events.
As a class share what you learned.
Students turn in their essays. Essays are evaluated on current writing lesson criteria. It may include, essay was on topic, essay was developed, paragraphing skills, full sentences, grammar, spelling usage etc.
Application
Engagement Enhancement Extension
Go back to the list of ways people deal with current events. Focus on the positive methods.
As a followl up application student groups take a method (ie mindfullness, meditation, volunteerism, anxiety etc) research it, write about it, create a presentation using method of choice (slides/PowerPoint, written discussion wall, video discussion wall, website, oral presentation etc)
View Documents
TomorrowNPR.pdf - Essay questions with link to the Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day essay
View Subjects
English Language Arts
English 1-4
Language Arts - Reading
Comprehension
Inference and Interpretation
Language Arts - Writing
Language Facility
Organization of Ideas
Reading
Critical Thinking/Decision Making
Vocabulary
Reasoning Through Language Arts
Essays
Writing
Paragraph Skills
View Standards
Reading Foundational Skills
RF.4 - Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. (Fluency)
Reading
CCR Anchor 1 - Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCR Anchor 2 - Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
CCR Anchor 3 - Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
CCR Anchor 4 - Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
CCR Anchor 6 - Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Writing
CCR Anchor 2 - Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCR Anchor 4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
View Tags
reading, writing, listen and read, main idea, pre-writing, prompt, publish, supporting details, text reader, thisibelieve, values, word processing, writing on computer, writing process, audio assist, audio-assisted reading, cloze activity, critical thinking, future, I Believe
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