Monday 18 April 2016

GHL Students Roll into Journalism School

Teacher Lindsay Ryan and Gr 4 class from George H Luck


Interview with Jeff Samsonow
At EJ School we learned about interviewing. We like interviewing because it gave us a chance to know people and learn about what they do every day! We interviewed many people and what they did to contribute to the newspaper. We also had the chance to interview two entrepreneurs. Their names were Ashley Janssen and Jeff Samsonow. They both worked with software in their businesses. It was interesting to learn about what it means to be an entrepreneur and what they do each day! We loved interviewing at EJ School!


Police Officer named Bryan and his PSD
(Police Service Dog) Fallon
This week our class got to meet Police Officer named Bryan and his PSD (Police Service Dog) Fallon. Most police officers that use police dogs use German Shepherds and Labs. Bryan showed us the toy that Fallon gets rewarded with. Fallon and Bryan make eye contact when they are in a situation or when they are training.  Fallon has 300 million smell receptors that make it easier to smell the suspects. Bryan only pulls out his gun and other weapons when he really needs it. Constable Bryan said that he has wanted to be a police officer since he was a little boy. When asked what tools he uses the most in his job every day he said he uses his brain and his mouth more than anything else!  



Press conference at CKUA
featuring Grant Stovel
On Tuesday April 5th we went to CKUA radio station for a tour & a press conference. The volunteers at the station gave us a tour around the station. We got to record our voices on a real microphone! Some of the students got to meet Tony King and had a chance to speak live on the radio! We got to tour the music library in the CKUA basement, which had SO many CD’s and records. At the end of our tour, we held a press conference with Grant Stovel. It was really fun to ask him questions and hear his interesting responses. He seemed very passionate about his job and about music. We had an awesome time at CKUA Radio!  

Saying Farewell to Rexall Place
in Churchill Square
On Wednesday April 6th we got the opportunity to visit Churchill Square and attend to the Farewell to Rexall Place Event. Tons of Oilers fans gathered around and watched legendary Oilers stand on display on the stage. There were over 100 former Oilers there! The crowd went wild after the Mayor of Edmonton, Don Iveson, finished his speech. The Mayor announced that the last game at Rexall Place was to be played that night, and the crowd went crazy! Sadly, it was too busy for us to get any autographs from the players. Finally, a few of the Oilers got a chance to speak. The three lucky Oilers that got to speak all said stuff about the hockey seasons they played and then said a small inspirational speech. After the event we took a walk and looked at the sports hall of fame. What a fun day!  

Interviewing Angie Mills
at the EPL downtown
Our class got the privilege of going to the Edmonton Public Library (EPL), which won the 2014 Library of the Year award. At the EPL we got the chance to meet a very special person named Wayne Arthurson. He is a Writer in Residence which means he spends lots of his time writing and also spends lots of time reading and editing other people’s writing. It was great to meet and interview him!
We also got to look at old newspapers that were saved on films in perfect condition. Lots of key information was saved. An example was the story of the sinking of the Titanic!
When we walked around the EPL, we noticed lots of amazing artwork. The coolest one was near the entrance of the library where the canvases spelled out the word “ARTIST”. We also got to see the EPL Makerspace, which is a really neat place where you can use 3D printers. Wow! 

Wednesday 16 March 2016

George Luck Room 13 Highlights from the Week

Connected, Contributing and Caring Citizens 
from Gr 4 Room 13 George Luck at EJ School
Merissa Feraco-Batiuk and Room 13 students
First Day
Enjoying learning about changes in communication
 and radio broadcasting at CKUA Studio.
One of the highlights of our wonderful Edmonton Journal School week was visiting the CKUA radio studio!  We really enjoyed it! It was neat to meet Tony King and go on air with him. We learned that there have been many changes that have taken place in the radio broadcasting industry and in music radio. It was interesting to see an old record, record player, cassette and CD. Some of our parents heard us live on CKUA! We have learned that the past helps shape our future. CKUA is a fantastic place to learn!

Memorable afternoon of learning at CBC Studios
 in downtown Edmonton

We also enjoyed visiting the CBC Studio downtown! Chris gave our class a tour and we were able to see different types of cameras, televisions, microphones and screens. We learned that programs are also created in French at CBC. Did you know that CBC broadcasts hockey and other sports in French? There have been many changes with technology at CBC.  It would be very interesting to work at CBC and broadcast the news!

Students learned about entrepreneurship and
made many great connections when interviewing
special guests from Capital Ideas


Our Grade 4 class enjoyed the entrepreneurship activity! We enjoyed interviewing the different entrepreneurs. It was neat to learn that an entrepreneur is someone who does what he is passionate about. All of the people we interviewed made a difference in their community! It was memorable interviewing people like Lori because they each had an inspiring story.


Our Grade 4 class thought the Fly On The Wall interview activity was a lot of fun! It was so interesting to interview people at the Edmonton Journal and find out what a photojournalist, editor and journalist does. We learned a lot about different careers at Edmonton Journal School. We enjoyed working in groups and asking really great interview questions! Grade 4, Room 13 thought it was pretty special to meet so many interesting people at the Edmonton Journal!

Our special week of learning was fun, interesting, meaningful and memorable! Room 13 loved EJ School!
Grade 4 students in Mrs. Feraco-Batiuk’s class at George Luck School enjoyed interviewing many different people at the Edmonton Journal and members in our community. The Fly On The Wall activity was a lot of fun.

Monday 29 February 2016

Coronation Students Become Journalists for a Week

The Grade 5/6 Students Collaborate, Investigate, Communicate!

Amy Peter and the Grade 5/6 Class



Stomp, stomp was the sound of 23 eager student journalists as they climbed the giant 87 step staircase to their destination at Edmonton Journal School. With a pencil in hand and a journal by their side, they prepared for a journey of investigation, inquiry, and collaboration.

Sandy VanRiper, facilitator of EJ School, set up and organized themes, people and places for the Coronation students to connect to. Their week of learning and adventure was ready to go.

Day One involved meeting photojournalist, Ed Kaiser. Students had the opportunity to ask engaging, thoughtful, “FAT”questions.  After interviewing him, they found out he considers photojournalism to be, “one of the best jobs in the world!” They learned about front page articles, also known as A1.

Maxine, Oneia and Malina put on white gloves to handle
 the delicate pages of the 100 year old Edmonton Journal. 
Students also studied how the Edmonton Journal has changed over the years including mastheads, staff changes, the building’s architecture, the printing process, printing location and more.

Day Two, the student journalists put their new skills to the test. They became flies on the wall and took in the lay of the land. Next came the amazing questions. Ms. VanRiper assigned groups to interview Edmonton Journal staff: columnists Tristin Hopper and Paula Simons, capital ideas staff Sam Brooks and Jeff Samsonow, Anna Posteraro from marketing, reporter Matt Dykstra, and crime reporter Otiena Ellwand. The students learned how to be reporters and learned more about the Edmonton Journal company.
At CKUA radio station a group of Grade 5/6 students 
learn how to read scripts on radio and the technology
 behind it from radio host, Marketing Mark. 

Visiting radio station CKUA was a highlight in the week! Students met radio hosts Grant Stovel, Marketing Mark, and Tony King. With an opportunity to conduct a Press Conference, students learned about the life of a morning radio host and encouraged students to “follow your dreams”.  Grade 5 student Ethan Short states, “It was very cool and interesting. I learned that it took half of a second for the broadcast to send to the satellite and have the signal returned live on air. ”Touring the radio station was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” says Grade 6 student Maan Vadgama.  The Press Conference became a pep talk for the students explaining how to encourage your dreams and try hard.

Joel, Salix and Maan use microfilm
 at the Stanley Milner Library to 
read old newspapers from 1965. 
Day Three began with a tour of the Stanley Milner Public Library in downtown Edmonton. The grade 5/6 students explored the library and saw the Makerspace, an area of new technology with robotics, a 3D printer, and more. They also used the microfilm, and learned how past articles are preserved and searchable. The astonishing library had numerous areas of books, artwork, a model ship, and more. During the tour, they met two important people. The Edmonton Public Library Writer-in-residence, Wayne Arthurson, answered their questions about his job, writing novels, publishing books, and how to become better writers. A short interview with librarian Angie Mills taught the students more about features the library has for the public, like internet access and more. It was a great learning experience about literacy.  Wayne said it best, “You don’t have to worry about it being perfect, because you can go back and fix it later.”

Coronation students interview software
developer and entrepreneur Mack Male 
Wednesday afternoon the students met with Edmonton entrepreneurs. They worked in small groups to ask interesting and engaging questions about what it means to be an entrepreneur. Mack, a software developer, gave great advice to any future business owners to “under promise and over deliver.” Students learned that entrepreneurs are someone that helps other people in the business field.

Thursday, Day Four, took them around downtown Edmonton once again. This time, they went to City Hall and had a very informative tour by Linda Hut. The highlight on Ms. Hut’s tour was seeing Council Chambers, where all of the important decisions are made for the city. They loved seeing the hidden room at the back. Ms. Hut told the students, “Three things the city council does for us: listen, learn and decide”, important skills for everyone.

The Grade 5/6 Class learns how the City Council
 makes important decisions in the Council Chambers
 on February 11, 2016. 
On the final day of Edmonton Journal School, the student journalists had one more complete practice at interviewing. Students met the Editor, Columnists, Advertisement Manager and Senior Producer.  The interviews were intriguing, teaching students how the Edmonton Journal is created. They also learned how newspapers are struggling in a world of easy access to technology. Lastly, the Grade 5/6 studied the political cartoonist Malcolm Mayes.

What a journey, what a week! You may have heard the students stomping down the stairs, but it wasn’t in excitement, it was a sad moment to say goodbye. They will forever remember this amazing inquiry opportunity.






Wednesday 27 January 2016

Greenfield Students Are ‘Going Places’ With Their Edmonton Journal!

Interview Guests for Defining Entrepreneur
We had an exciting and inspiring week at the Edmonton Journal. In this article we describe a few of our ‘Top Things’ of the week!

Discovering The Old Linotype Machine

When we saw the linotype we learned that you would press keys on the linotype to engrave the news in metal. Then they put ink on the metal and put the paper on the metal and there you have one newspaper. The newspaper used to only be eight pages long. Before they had linotype you would have to set every letter one by one. We were able to put our notebook over the metal and then draw on the paper and there would be the words, but sadly it was backwards so we couldn't make anything out. The linotype was created in 1884! We really enjoyed doing this because we learned how the newspaper was made long ago. We also think it was cool that the design of the machine was 132 years old.

 
Enjoying Colour Comics
Interview And Inspiration With Photographer Ryan Jackson

Ryan Jackson is a photojournalist at the Edmonton Journal. He has been a photographer for 10 years and takes about 100 to 1000 photos per week. He says the best pictures are often backstage. He also says that to be a good photographer you need to have creative angles in your pictures.
Ryan Jackson asks the people he meets to do some cool poses. Sometimes he says that it takes 10 to 20 times to make the photo perfect or good enough.
Ryan Jackson always tells himself,  “Bring back pictures not excuses!” so he doesn't give up. He was an engineering major but when he volunteered for his school newspaper, his friends told him he should do that instead and eventually he changed.    
It was really fun to see Ryan Jackson because it was really inspiring to see all his photos and hear his stories. 
Outside CKUA


Visit To CKUA Radio



From the Edmonton Journal we walked to CKUA radio. They have more than 60,000 CDs. It was amazing!  As we walked through the building we met Tony King and went on air! We went to a press conference near the end of our tour where we met David Ward. Our classmates had a lot of good questions for David Ward. He believed that the most exciting thing that happened when he was at CKUA was when the station went off air. It was a nerve racking time for David.
Interviewing CKUA host, David Ward
David started with CKUA in April 1982 with a part-time position in the library.  We discovered that CKUA is different from most radio stations. The DJs get to pick their own songs and CKUA does not always play today’s “top hits”.  This visit was one of our top things because we went on air and met David Ward!

Riding the LRT

The Stanley Milner Library Has Technology Of The Past And The Future!

EPL won the ‘Library Of  The Year Award’ in 2014. The EPL Makerspace at the Stanley Milner Library includes a 3D printer, a book printing machine, sound booths, and a filming set!
Viewing Rogers Place construction
We looked at microfiche with articles from 1900 and some recent French newspapers. We also looked at art maquettes like The Fruit Bowl and The Blue Mountains.
The Makerspace has an Espresso Book Machine that would let you publish your own book. There was another part of the Makerspace with a green screen so if you needed to film something you could. The sound booth is a place where people come to record music anytime they want.
At the library we saw 6 different paintings. They spelled ARTIST. We liked them because of the symbols on each painting.

We liked the Stanley Milner Library because that particular library had a lot to offer like the microfiche/microfilm space.