During the first school years, teachers explain the topics, emphasizing the visual component, the participation of the students and the playful dimension of learning. The wall newspaper is one of the most used educational strategies in this sense. A wall newspaper or school newspaper is, in a few words, a set of contents where students distribute the most significant information on a given topic.
From a training point of view, these contents lose their effectiveness as the school age increases.
A team work supervised by the teacher
In these works, the students share the tasks and together they create the wall newspaper. Normally the support used is a cardboard on which various information is distributed: maps, texts, drawings, photographs… There is no single model, since each newspaper can be created with its own style. The important thing is that the information as a whole has a certain internal coherence and that the structure of the work carried out is understood visually.
This procedure is used to consolidate some strategic issues and so that students can consult their content in the classroom itself, since these newspapers are displayed on the walls in a preferred place. Apart from the contents, cooperative work between students is important.
The wall newspaper is a tool for any type of content, be it scientific, humanistic or related to leisure. Do not confuse these contents with the typical photo collages.
To organize this type of educational work, it is necessary for the teacher to previously organize the different materials to be used and for the students to have precise guidelines on what they have to do.
A wall newspaper on nutrition as an example
The issue of nutrition is important for the child population, since an incorrect diet causes obesity and health problems. In a newspaper, a general headline could be included, for example “basic tips for healthy eating.”
On the cardboard you could include a nutritional pyramid with drawings of the different foods classified into nutritional groups. To complement the pyramid, a series of bullets would be included with basic advice related to healthy eating habits. Likewise, for vegetables and fruit to be valued positively, healthy photos related to these foods could be provided.
With this mural displayed on the classroom walls, the schoolchildren would keep in mind some important messages (for example, how to strengthen defenses or how to have more energy throughout the day).
Photo: Fotolia – Makkuro_GL
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