The students have read books and used the Internet to compile information for an eight-page newspaper, complete with replicated, era-appropriate advertisements.
Phillips — who will be the editor — is expecting first drafts sooner rather than later.
Fact-checking and editing would be next.
After spring vacation, Phillips and her class will take a field trip to Boston for a closeup look at the birthplace of the American Revolution.
The newspaper project is an example of the Expeditionary Learning model the West Bath school and five others in the state are using to impart a hands-on learning experience to students.
“The Expeditionary Learning is real,” Phillips said. “A kind of guiding force for this project is, ‘What is the history, and how do we know it’s accurate?’”
The students got a good taste of the newspaper end of their project on Tuesday as Daryl Madore, deputy managing editor for The Times Record editor, visited the classroom.
For an hour, Madore provided a soupto nuts account on how a newspaper is put together — from the writing to the editing to story selection to page layout.
He also took questions from a group of 18 pupils who clearly are anxious to learn.
Just as clearly, they “got it.”
“Newspapers are important because they tell you what’s going on without running all around,” said Molly Cashman, a frequent contributor to the session.
Added Chloe Bradford: “You’re not always going to be on the road and see a sign that says, ‘Oh, free pizza tonight.’” Cashman, Annie Clifford and Asa Meyer-Waldo primed Madore on the process that will lead to the student-published newspaper.
Madore explained the need for the “who, what, when, where, why and how” of news stories, and Eddie Newell quickly said that the “who,” in his case, is Paul Revere.
Madore then explained two ways to construct a news story and delved into the “inverted pyramid,” which begins with a broad topic and narrows it down from there. He provided witticism on getting quotes.
“You can’t get them from people who were in the war,” Madore said. “But you can get them from sources. Get the names and make sure they’re correct, then ask questions. You can’t get everything word for word, but with important statements, try to get quotes.”
With a purpose in mind, Madore asked the class if the Revolutionary War was a good thing.
Most — but not all — said yes.
“Be inclusive in stories,” Madore advised. “Use different opinions.”
Keagan Hennessey said the closing of Boston Harbor was an “aftermath” of the Boston Tea Party.
Madore said “all of you could probably do a story on the Boston Tea Party, and have something different.”
The same process of checking and double-checking facts, Madore pointed out, goes for photographs, as well.
Some will be taken, some will be reproduced. The photo, he emphasized, should fit the story.
“I was thinking we could probably take some pictures on our field trip, because we’re going to Boston,” Cashman said.
The students were way ahead of Madore when he suggested they use a silversmith as an example for an ad reproduction.
“We are,” three or four students replied in unison.
lgrard@timesrecord.com
EXPEDITIONARY LEARNING is a nonprofit organization that partners with school districts and charter boards to open new schools and transform existing schools at all levels. The Expeditionary Learning school model challenges students to think critically and to take active roles in their classrooms and communities, resulting in higher achievement, greater engagement with school, and college readiness. The national network of EL schools and professional colleagues includes 165 schools, 4,000 teachers and 45,000 students. In addition to the fifth grade at West Bath Elementary School producing a newspaper on the American Revolution, third-graders have studied and taken samples from New Meadows Lake — which isn’t really a lake — to investigate the legal process involved in changing the name of a body of water.
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