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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support. FOR THE WEEK OF SEP. 24, 2007 Kid Nation TV show provokes ethical and quality criticisms![]() ![]() Entertainment and lifestyle sections help newspaper readers pick shows, films, music, books and live events of interest. Invite students to tell how they use the paper to learn about pop culture, and to talk about a review or article they like.
![]() Articles about "Kid Nation" are by adults. Assign students who see the Wednesday night show to write what they think about it for a class "newspaper" or bulletin board display.
![]() Audience members don't always agree with professional critics, and some papers welcome viewer comments at the end of reviews or in website forums. Let students look for interactive exchanges about "Kid Nation" on the paper's site, where they can join the discussion with supervision or through teacher-posted comments.
A reality series about children supposedly left to fend for themselves in a made-for-TV "ghost town" called Bonanza began last week amid legal and ethical outcries. The groundbreaking CBS show -- "Kid Nation" -- focuses on 40 theoretically unsupervised children aged 8-15 who try to build a functioning society without adults on a ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Participants receive $5,000 each, with one earning a weekly gold star worth $20,000.
Interest -- or curiosity, at least -- was fueled by state efforts to look into claims that children had been required to work 14-hour days during taping. Entertainment industry unions charged during the summer that kids were exploited and that unsafe conditions endangered cast and crew. CBS rebuffed an attempt to investigate compliance with child labor laws, saying the youngsters were in "an environment similar to that of a sleep-away camp" and that a producer acted "much like a summer camp counselor." Most reviewers disliked the first episode intensely. An entertainment industry daily newspaper, Variety, called it "a mess," "creepy" and "a crime against television." To the Washington Post, it was "an appalling monstrosity." USA Today's critic sniped: "It was like watching some other family's incredibly dull home movies -- assuming in your home movies, the kids make speeches." The show continues on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. for 12 more weeks.
Front Page Talking Points is written by
Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024
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