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Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

And Now, the News

News Director Lauren Espinoza stands next to the camera. "Quiet on the set!" she calls, and then silently counts backward on her fingers: 5-4-3-2-1.

Jacqueline Gomez faces the camera and smiles. "Bienvenidos a las noticias," she says. That's Spanish for "Welcome to the news." The rest of the broadcast is also in Spanish. Lauren, 11, and Jacqueline, 12, are members of the Newscasters Club at John Muir Elementary School in Kirkland, Washington.

Twice a month, club members produce videotapes of the school's newsletter in Spanish and Hmong, a Southeast Asian language. The tapes go to 25 families whose parents speak the languages, "to make a connection between school and home," said club adviser Debbie Loeffler.

Jacqueline's father is from Mexico and doesn't speak English. "And I know other parents who don't," she says. "So I wanted to help out." Her sister Georgina, 11, is also a reporter.

Now in its fourth year, the News-casters Club is mostly made up of students who speak English at home. The club members who do not speak Spanish or Hmong take turns being director, sound engineer, set designer and camera operator.

Loeffler shows the kids how to operate the equipment and edit video. The young reporters read from scripts. They translate the newsletters, writing everything from a story about a chess tournament to a reminder about the tardy bell. Soon, the club hopes to tape in Russian and Romanian, which are also spoken by many parents.

Parents get a great news update, but the kids are learning plenty too. "I've gotten much better at writing in Spanish," says Jacqueline.

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