StudySync and The News Literacy Project Partner to Help Students Learn News Literacy Skills through SyncBlasts
News literacy experts will provide unbiased resources from multiple perspectives for cross-curricular, inquiry-based literacy assignments focused on social studies and science
NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- StudySync® is partnering with The News Literacy Project (NLP), a non-profit organization that helps educate middle and high school students about how to separate fact from opinion in media reports. NLP will provide articles and video content for StudySync's recently released product, SyncBlasts™. SyncBlasts offer reading and writing assignments that present social studies, science and current event topics relevant to students' lives and their world.
NLP's mission is to reach as many students as possible by empowering educators to teach students the skills they need to become smart, active consumers of news and information as well as engaged, informed participants in democracy. Founded 10 years ago, the NLP draws board members from across the media landscape and staff from diverse backgrounds, all with exceptional experience to contribute toward the news literacy cause.
"In a world where clickbait posts and false media reports are constantly shared on social media, it's important to educate ourselves on how to think critically about our news sources and influencing biases," said Robert Romano, Co-Founder and CEO of StudySync. "At StudySync, we wanted to teach students how to consume information safely and knowledgeably. To help us with that task, we looked to the leading experts in the field, the News Literacy Project."
Providing a variety of rich multimedia—including a news show, podcasts, skills videos, and more—SyncBlasts are an engaging and smart way to build critical thinking, writing, and research skills. The SyncBlasts platform allows teachers to leverage the power of social learning in a safe, mediated environment using a library of articles produced by StudySync and real journalists throughout the world through partnerships with trusted news organizations such as Reuters, Global Press Institute, as well as nonprofits such as NLP.
Every SyncBlast is available in multiple Lexile®-levels and scaffolds insure English learners and approaching grade-level learners can access every lesson. Original audio and video resources such as The Point news show, podcasts, and multimedia explainers engage students in topics that are relevant to their studies and their everyday lives.
SyncBlasts includes hundreds of articles and videos that are aligned to social studies and science content standards and appropriate and relevant for middle school and high schoolers. In addition, StudySync publishes new SyncBlasts each school day. SyncBlasts is a flexible curriculum companion, designed to work with different teaching styles and variable class lengths.
"Teachers' challenges can be overwhelming," said Romano. "Addressing a rigorous curriculum, keeping instruction engaging and relevant to students, and the diversity of cultures and reading levels within their classrooms all put teaching skills to the test. With the support of NLP, our SyncBlasts help streamline and integrate those challenges with leveled high-interest topics that get students thinking deeply about the world in which they live, guiding them to become well-informed, thoughtful citizens."
About the News Literacy Project
The News Literacy Project works with educators and journalists to equip middle school and high school students with the tools to be smart, active consumers of news and information and engaged, informed participants in our democracy. It aspires to see news literacy embedded in the American educational experience as an essential skill. For more, visit newsliteracyproject.org.
About StudySync
StudySync is a leading developer of the most engaging, socially connected, and rigorous academic learning products for grades 6-12. StudySync, its hallmark offering of the same name, is an award-winning, comprehensive English language arts curriculum. The company's most recently released product, SyncBlasts, expands the company's scope to include an engaging, supplemental digital inquiry solution for social studies and science classrooms. For more information about technology-relevant educational products from StudySync, visit http://www.studysync.com.
McGraw-Hill Education is the exclusive distributor of StudySync products in the United States.
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