LESSON PLAN2

Many ways to tell a story

Overview: Journalists are storytellers and so our most musical acts. The correlation is a good way to demonstrate how to pull abstract concepts into a possible article.

The Process: You can pick any song that tells a story, but I like to use the song Brenda’s Got A Baby by the late TuPac Shakur. The story is a based upon a true story around the murder of a 12-year-old prostitute, and how she endured through her daunting environment prior to her untimely death.

To begin, pass out the lyrics (which can be grabbed from virtually any music lyrics website). Then, let the entire song play and ask the students to look for story elements they would use to report what happened to Brenda. After the song ends, ask the students to list the story elements on the board and then tell the story (write the lead) from it.

It is always amazing to see the number of different approaches they take in telling the story, and it serves as a good way to show how to approach a story.

--Submitted by Billy Montgomery, co-editor, Columbia Links