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Breaking News – The State of Israel is Born!

Abstract

This is a lesson plan provided by the National Library of Israel.

Take one event in time and present the event in the headlines of different newspapers.  What do you get?  Very different versions of the same event.  When the State of Israel was born every newspaper had a different angle to report. Were there certain stories that appeared in all the newspapers? Why do some newspapers report on stories that others do not?  What do these differences in ways of reporting and announcing world events teach us?  In this resource learners will compare and contrast the ways in which the news of the birth of the State of Israel was broken in various newspapers. Students will become familiar with some of the main features of newspaper reporting, such as the difference between opinion and news, and the kinds of decisions made by news outlets.  Based on what they have learned about the processes and decisions involved in reporting the news, students will create their own front page headline announcing the establishment of the State of Israel and/or a social media posting announcing the event as if it had happened today.

The learner will:

 

  1. understand how an individual’s point of view/personal bias affects the way they address a specific situation or event
  2. know some of the different ways in which the birth of the State of Israel was announced.
  3. be able to create their own announcements on the establishment of Israel by designing a newspaper page, or by using current social media outlets.
About the National Library and its educational materials:

The mission of the National Library of Israel is to provide a home for items of national, historic or cultural significance. Each of these primary sources serve as unique entry points into the collective memory of the people of Israel as well as the Jewish people worldwide.

The education department at the library curates the collection of primary sources and uses them as windows into the past; to foster a deeper understanding of Jewish history, and to enable learners to personalize and connect to earlier events.

 

When you click on the National Library of Israel resource link featured above, you will find the following educational building blocks for the creation of a lesson plan:

 

  1. A group activity to open the lesson and engage the learners.
  2. Discussion ideas and/or questions that are designed to get the learners thinking more deeply about the content.
  3. A creative activity that gives students the opportunity to go beyond learning and analyzing, to crafting something new, that personalizes how they relate to the  primary sources featured in the resource.
  4. The primary sources in this resource have individual links (listed in Expand your horizons below) that provide expanded information. In addition there are nuanced discussion questions that will enable students in small groups to engage independently and effectively in the process of  observing, interpreting, and connecting to the primary sources.

    Link to the lesson plan:
    Breaking News – The State of Israel is Born!

student handouts, computer, projector, large post-it notes

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