Ancient Cultures News Broadcast

Students create a news broadcast as part of a unit on ancient cultures.

Engage

Let students know that they will create a news broadcast to demonstrate their understanding of an ancient culture.

Work together to identify a list of the features typically found in a news broadcast. Discuss how broadcasts effectively inform their audience about news, events, and other topics. Also, discuss how networks attract viewers and keep them interested using:

• Catchy headlines
• Compelling stories
• Attractive news anchors
• Strong reporting

Form teams and have students choose which ancient culture their group will showcase.

Encourage students to research using books from your media center and sites like History for Kids.

Create

Have each team decide what types of segments, features, and ads they might include and then work to develop a more specific structure and timeline. They might include a main story, weather, an interview or a human interest story.

Then, have each team complete a storyboard that includes information about the segments that need to be written. The storyboard should include design elements and ideas like supporting graphics, background images, and music so that the entire broadcast will have continuity.

Storyboard Template

Each team member should be responsible for writing one piece of the news broadcast; this could be a 15–second teaser for an upcoming segment, an interview, or weather report. If students struggle to determine what content to include in their segment, have them organize the segment using the 5 W’s: who, what, where, when, and why.

Have each team create a project with original illustrations and recorded narration starting from a blank canvas. Teams might also include photographs, background music, titling, and more.

Blank Canvas

Share

When students have finished building the broadcast, have them export their work as a movie to share with the rest of their class or other classes studying geography and history. You may also want to coordinate an “Evening News” showing with parents and community members to showcase the news broadcasts on a large screen.

Standards

NCSS – Curriculum Standards for Social Studies

Time, Continuity, and Change – Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the way human beings view themselves in and over time, so that learners can:

c) identify and describe selected historical periods and patterns of change within and across cultures.