Op-Ed Text Alive!

Language Arts Challenge

Submission Due Date: April 5, 2024

Designed for Middle and High School Students

Table of Contents ·      The Challenge ·      Assumptions and Logistics ·      Process ·      Meridian Support Resources ·      Presentation of Learning ·      Evaluation Rubric ·      Essential Questions ·      Student Proficiencies ·      Curricular Correlations (RI2, RI4, RI6, W1, W2, W4, W5, W9, L1, L2, L3)

Range of Activities ·      Analysis of Op-Ed Essay Writing Format ·      Research of Current Communal or Global Issue ·      Op-Ed Essay Writing ·      Creative Production of Graphics-Based Video ·      Digital Literacy Skills – Audio Production – Voiceover, Music and Sound Effects ·      Human Skills: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Presentational Skills

 

The Challenge

There are many different forms of persuasive and informative writing. The one that this Challenge focuses on is the Op-Ed, a phrase that stands for ‘Opposite the Editorial’ page and is found on the last page of the front section in most major newspapers around the world.

In this Challenge, your team is going to write an Op-Ed piece – between 250 and 500 words. Now typically, when you write a paper, the reader is the one who supplies the meaning. The meaning of the paper exists between the page – your words – and the reader who is interpreting those words. In this Challenge, you get a little more control over that relationship!

Your team is going to ‘produce’ your piece using only text, voice-over and music/sound effects. The result is going to be video production of words – you will choose the font, the colors, the size, the boldness, the pacing – that will reflect how you want your work to be seen and experienced. Your team will accompany those words with voice, music and/or sound effects, as you see fit. You may choose to narrate the entire piece or let some words just ‘speak for themselves.’ You may choose to add sound effects at certain moments to punctuate those moments; to insure, for example, that the reader understands that this moment in your Op-Ed is the most important moment in the whole piece. Or you may choose to use colorful fonts to communicate meaning or to build momentum.

In the end, you are going to control the way the reader – now the viewer – is receiving your words, thereby changing the experience of reading…and understanding.

Deliverables include:

• The Op-Ed Text Alive Digital Story (this is the only Meridian Stories deliverable)
• First and Second Draft Op-Eds (at teacher’s discretion)

Assumptions and Logistics

• Time Frame – We recommend that this digital storytelling project takes place inside of a three to five-week time frame.

• Length – All Meridian Stories submissions should be under 4 minutes in length, unless otherwise specified.
• Slate – All digital storytelling projects must begin with a slate that provides: 
  • the title of the piece;
  • the name of the school submitting;      
  • the wording ‘Permission Granted’ which gives Meridian Stories the right to a) publicly display the submission in question on, as linked from, related to or in support of Meridian Stories digital media; and b) use or reference it for educational purposes only, in any and all media; and
  • We strongly recommend that students do not put their last names on the piece either at the start or finish, during the credits.

• Submissions – Keep in mind that each school can only submit three submissions per Competition (so while the entire class can participate in any given Challenge, only three can be submitted to Meridian Stories for Mentor review and scoring).
• Teacher Reviews – All reviews by the teacher are at the discretion of the teacher and all suggested paper deliverables are due only to the teacher. The only deliverable to Meridian Stories is the digital storytelling project.
• Teacher’s Role and Technology Integrator – While it is helpful to have a Technology Integrator involved, they are not usually necessary: the students already know how to produce the digital storytelling project. And if they don’t, part of their challenge is to figure it out. They will! The teacher’s primary function in these Challenges is to guide the students as they engage with the content.  You don’t need to know editing, sound design, shooting or storyboarding: you just need to know your content area, while assisting them with organization and time management issues. See the Teachers Role section of the website for further ideas about classroom guidance.
• Digital Rules/Literacy – We strongly recommend that all students follow the rules of Digital Citizenry in their proper usage and/or citation of images, music and text taken from other sources. This recommendation includes producing a citations page at the end of your entry, if applicable. See the Digital Rules area in the Meridian Stories Digital Resource Center section of the site for guidance.
• Location – Try not to shoot in a classroom at your school. The classroom, no matter how you dress it up, looks like a classroom and can negatively impact the digital story you are trying to tell.
• Collaboration – We strongly recommend that students work in teams of 3-4: part of the educational value is around building collaborative skill sets. But students may work individually.

Process

• Below is a suggested breakdown for the students’ work.

During Phase I, student teams will:

• Begin by analyzing and understanding the components of what characterizes an Op-Ed piece of writing. Below are some guidelines about the format.

 

The Op-Ed is an opportunity for writers and citizens – usually not trained journalists or reporters – to advocate for a belief or a position that is usually based in the person’s direct experience with the issue at hand. It’s a format that allows everyday people to publish their ideas about a topic that affects the community at large. The New York Times is one of the most prestigious places to have an Op-Ed published because it reaches such a diverse and global community of people. So it is worth taking a moment to hear what they look for in a good Op-Ed piece by clicking here.   There are some basic elements to a good Op-Ed piece, many of which share common ground with a variety of forms of non-fiction writing. They are as follows:   Objective and Message – What is your objective for writing this piece? Are you distilling knowledge about a situation – a rising homeless problem or disappearing plant species – that has not been fully reported on and that you think needs further awareness? Or are you trying to change attitudes about something – the local school budget or town government policy – by presenting information in support of your position? Or are you just trying to bring attention to an issue that is worthy of community debate?   Publication Outlet and Audience – Who is your audience? Op-Eds are generally written for specific papers. The Portland Press Herald of Portland, Maine has a very different readership than the NY Times. Is your issue a local issue? A state issue? A national issue? Or a global issue? Once you know this, that will help you to determine your proposed publication outlet and, in turn, your audience. (Please state your proposed publication outlet in the opening slate of the digital story.)   Argument and Evidence – The bulk of your Op-Ed is going to be the evidence that you have gathered to get people thinking freshly about a topic; or to get them interested at all in the topic. You will want to present at least three ideas that are based in facts or your direct experience, to support your overall message. But the Op-Ed is different from an essay in that it can be very personal: it can be based on your personal experiences with, for example, bullying, social media, an eroding shoreline, emergency room staffing or a 911 call. Op-Eds are often more ‘story’, based in your facts, than they are constructed essay.   Counter Arguments – In order to win allegiance to your argument, you often have to present the counter argument. Op-Ed pieces are no different. Pointing out the opposition’s primary position and the weakness of that position will make your argument stronger.   So, it boils down to this: ·      What exactly do you want to communicate? ·      To whom? ·      What is your evidence that supports your passionate belief in this topic? ·      Why is the opposing view of this weak and unworthy?

 

• As a team, choose your topic. There are three recommendations for your team to consider to help you choose a topic:
• Does your team have a shared passion about a local or regional issue? If so, then write about that.
• Read/Scan the local newspaper from the past month or so to get a sense of what the events and issues are that are shaping the dialogue and the politics of your local community. Once you have a sense of this, pick a topic that concerns your team.
• Is there a larger, global issue that your team thinks needs to be discussed locally; that your team believes the community should know and think more about?
• Once you have chosen your topic, start the research process. Following the guidelines above, determine your message, your audience and your supporting arguments.
• We strongly recommend reading a variety of current Op-Ed articles to make sure that you have a clear understanding of the tone and form that these can articles can take.
• Take a close look at the author’s perspective, reasoning and evidence to support his/her stance. Focus on their command of language and word choices, to help determine if they are writing in a style that is best suited for their content. Analyze how well they deflect their opponent’s arguments.
• We strongly recommend that, if possible, you interview people in your community or experts in the field, to help you frame and deliver on your argument. The use of primary sources can be a strategically important component to a successful Op-Ed.
• Write the first draft of your Op-Ed and select a target publication for your piece.
  • Teacher’s Option: First and Second Draft Op-Eds – Teacher’s may require that student teams hand in two drafts of their Op-Eds before moving into the second phase of the project.

During Phase II, student teams will:

• Evaluate the different media tools available to your team to ‘produce’ your Op-Ed so that the meaning and emphasis are controlled by the team; are clearly expressed to the audience. Reading your piece aloud – by, perhaps, different people – may help you to determine how you want to present your article. Options include:
• Text fonts, colors, size and boldness.
• Placement of the text on the screen – where, and how and when is each word, sentence or phrase revealed to make the most impact?
• Voiceover: Is the whole piece read or are some (or all) portions presented without voice? One voice or multiple voices? Whispers? Sung?
• Music and Sound FX: What is the role of music – of underscore – in creating the mood and tone of your piece? Does threatening and foreboding music add to your message? Are there select sounds that you may want to add to create an ambient feel to your article or for select emphasis?
• Begin production of your Op-Ed piece, experimenting with all of the elements above until you reach the right balance that will most effectively communicate the essence of your article.
• Keep in mind the criteria outlined in the Evaluation Rubric. Video is a visual medium so you want your choices to both enhance the written work and be visually engaging.

 

During Phase III, student teams will:

• Finalize the creation of the text on video.
• Record voiceover and lay down the voice tracks.
• Add music and sound effects as desired.

 

 

Meridian Support Resources

Meridian Stories provides two forms of support for the student teams: 1.    Media Innovators and Artists – This is a series of three to four-minute videos featuring artists and innovative professionals who offer important advice, specifically for Meridian Stories, in the areas of creativity and production. 2.    Meridian Resources – These are short documents that offer student teams key tips in the areas of creativity and production. Recommended review, as a team, for this Challenge include:
Meridian Innovators and Artists	Media Resource Collection
On Editing – Tom Pierce On Non-Fiction – Margaret Heffernan On Memoir and Non-Fiction Writing – Liza Bakewell On Sound Design – Chris Watkinson	“Video Editing Basics” “Guide to Royalty Free Music and Sound Effects” “Sound Editing Basics” “Rendering and Animation Programs”

 

Presentation of Learning

Meridian Stories is a proud partner of the non-profit Share Your Learning, which is spearheading the movement of over five million students to publicly share their work as a meaningful part of their educational experience.

The workforce considers Presentational Skills to be a key asset and we encourage you to allow students to practice this skill set as often as possible. These digital storytelling projects provide a great opportunity for kids to practice their public presentational skills. This can be achieved in a remote learning environment by inviting parents to a Zoom/Google/Skype screening of the student’s digital stories.

According to Share Your Learning, Presentations of Learning (POL) promote…

• Student Ownership, Responsibility & Engagement. POLs can serve as a powerful rite of passage at the end of [a project]. By reflecting on their growth over time in relation to academic and character goals, grounded in evidence from their work, students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning. Just as an artist wants their portfolio to represent their best work, POLs encourage students to care deeply about the work they will share.
• Community Pride & Involvement. When peers, teachers and community members come together to engage with student work and provide authentic feedback, they become invested in students’ growth and serve as active contributors to the school community.
• Equity. POLs ensure that all students are seen and provide insight into what learning experiences students find most meaningful and relevant to their lives.

Meridian Stories’ own research indicates this to be a really useful exercise for one additional reason:  Students actually learn from their peers’ presentations – it is useful to hear a perspective that is not just the teacher’s.

It is with this in mind that we you encourage you to plan an event – it could be just an end-of-the-week class or an event where parents, teachers and student peers are invited – to allow the students to showcase their Meridian Stories’ digital storytelling projects. For more free resources that will support this planning, visit Share Your Learning

 

Evaluation Rubric – Op-Ed Text Alive!

CONTENT COMMAND
Criteria	1 – 10
Op-Ed – The Issue and Audience	The topic chosen and the audience targeted are well matched and thoughtfully provocative
Op-Ed – The Argument	The team presents a convincing case, citing counter arguments and successfully negating them
Op-Ed – The Final Form	The written work exemplifies the qualities of a great Op-Ed: clear, engaging, convincing and provocative

STORYTELLING COMMAND
Criteria	1 – 10
Textual Presentation	The presentation of the text significantly enhances the audience’s understanding of and engagement with the full piece
Voice	The voice of the Op-Ed – the personal tone informing the piece – is well defined, engaging and persuasive

MEDIA COMMAND
Criteria	1 – 10
Visual Design	The visual design – aesthetics, pacing and variety of the text on screen – is stimulating and memorable
Sound Design	The mix of music, voice and sound effects greatly enhances our engagement with the video

HUMAN SKILLS COMMAND (for teacher’s only)
Criteria	1 – 10
Collaborative Thinking	The group demonstrated flexibility in making compromises and valued the contributions of each group member
Creativity and Innovation	The group brainstormed many inventive ideas and was able to evaluate, refine and implement them effectively
Initiative and Self-Direction	The group set attainable goals, worked independently and managed their time effectively, demonstrating a disciplined commitment to the project

Essential Questions

1. What is an Op-Ed piece and what are the component parts that make it a uniquely formative part of our communal culture?
2. How does one research, select and organize content from a variety of sources in order to present a compelling, cohesive, and convincing narrative?
3. What are the qualities of your personal and collective ‘voice,’ as it continues to emerge and form at this stage in your life?
4. What’s the difference between writing text as a means of communication and producing text as a means of communication?
   1. What are the challenges and benefits to asserting more control over how your written text is being understood?
5. How has immersion in the creation of original content and the production of digital media – exercising one’s creativity, critical thinking and digital literacy skills – deepened the overall educational experience?
6. How has working on a team – practicing one’s collaborative skills – changed the learning experience?

Student Proficiencies

1. The student will understand the purpose and role of Op-Ed essays in our culture, as well as become more fluent in the component parts that make up a good Op-Ed piece.
2. The student will understand the processes involved in researching content from a variety of sources; selecting relevant information from those sources; and organizing this information in a way that is persuasive and cohesive.
3. The student will have an increased awareness of their ‘voice’ and the qualities that define it in terms of issues, language. (word choice) and tone.
4. The student will have a clearer understanding of the power and ways in which how we present words – as written, as spoken, as presented visually – can change the meaning of those words.
5. The student will utilize key 21^st century skills, with a focus on creativity, critical thinking and digital literacy, in their process of translating literary content into a new narrative format.
6. The student will have an increased awareness of the challenges and rewards of team collaboration. Collaboration – the ability to work with others – is considered one of the most important 21^st century skills to develop in students as they prepare for life after secondary school.

Curricular Correlations

The Op-Ed Text Alive! Challenge addresses a range of curricular objectives that have been articulated by the Common Core Curricular Standards – English Language Arts. Below please find the standards that are addressed, either wholly or in part.

Common Core Curricular Standards – English Language Arts

Standard	8th	9th-10th	11th-12th
RI 2 READING: INFORMAT-IONAL TEXT   Key Ideas and Details	Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.	Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.	Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
RI 4 READING: INFORMAT-IONAL TEXT   Craft and Structure	Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.	Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).	Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text.
RI 6 READING: INFORMAT-IONAL TEXT   Craft and Structure	Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.	Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.	Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.
W 1 WRITING Text Types and Purposes	Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.	Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.	Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
W 2 WRITING Text Types and Purposes	Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.	Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.	Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
W 4 WRITING Production and Distribution of Writing	Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.	Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.	Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W 5 WRITING Production and Distribution of Writing	With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.	Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.	Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
W 9 WRITING Research to Build and Present Knowledge	Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.	Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.	Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
L1 LANGUAGE Conventions of Standard English	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L2 LANGUAGE Conventions of Standard English	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L3 LANGUAGE   Knowledge of Language	Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.	Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.	Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.