We took a news story and decided to break it down and try and show the diffrent stages of it. If you have any quesitons please let us know.
Free Speech
From Time for Kids _Comments in Blue_
Stephen Downs, 61, and his 31-year-old son, Roger, went shopping at a mall in Guilderland, New York, last Monday. They got a lot more than they bargained for.
The two had T-shirts printed. Roger's said, "No War with Iraq." His dad's said, "Peace on Earth." They put on the shirts over their other clothes. The antiwar messages caught the attention of a security guard, who asked the men to take off the shirts. They refused. The guard came back with a police officer, who asked them to remove the shirts or leave. Roger took his off, but his dad still said no.
"I said, 'All right then, arrest me if you have to,'" Stephen Downs recalls. "So they did. They put the handcuffs on and took me away." Two days later, about 100 protesters marched in the mall to support Downs. A trespassing charge was dropped, but both men were upset.
"I think he'd like an apology," Roger said of his father.
^This is called a feature story lead. It uses a particular story to start the aticle and give a specific example of whatever the topic may be. This particular lead use's the persons own feelings to convay the message properly.
Americans treasure free speech and expression. Our right to share our ideas--by writing them in books, shouting them at a rally or ironing them onto T-shirts--is protected by the First Amendment. The amendment is one of 10 in the Bill of Rights, added to the Constitution in 1791. Lawmakers of the day passed the Bill of Rights because they believed that some key freedoms, including speech protection, should be part of the Constitution.
But First Amendment experts say that the right to speak freely comes with an unwritten requirement to act responsibly. "Many Americans have an overdeveloped sense of rights and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility," says Sam Chaltain, coordinator of the First Amendment Schools project. "Our rights are spelled out in the First Amendment. But the amendment will work only if we guard the rights of those with whom we disagree."
^This is a set up and quote. You cant just say a quote without some what explianing some of what it means or is suppose to support. The begining of this paragraph tells about the quote that is about to follow it.
With a possible war in Iraq looming, emotions across the country are running high. Last Wednesday, tens of thousands of high school and college students all over America left their classrooms and staged large antiwar demonstrations. Other Americans feel just as strongly about expressing support for our leaders' decisions. Those groups also held rallies and spoke out. When the two points of view clash, trouble can follow.
Take Toni Smith, a basketball player for Manhattanville College in New York. Because she objects to certain U.S. policies, she does not salute the flag as the national anthem is played before her games.
Some opposing teams' fans began to boo Smith. They wore American flag pins and waved the flag to taunt her. On February 23, a Vietnam War veteran came onto the court and held a flag in front of her. He was thrown out of the arena--not for expressing his view but for disrupting the game.
^these three paragraphs are telling a story that is supporting the main point of the story. Just like the story in the begining of the article its purpose is to add a personal expierence to everything.
"Toni Smith was being patriotic by doing what she felt she must," Chaltain told TFK. "Every person who chose to stand and put a hand over his heart during the anthem was exercising the same freedom."
^this is another quote for the same reason as before.
The First Amendment is often amended itself. Court decisions have limited its freedoms to protect individuals' privacy or national security, among other goals. But speaking out, whether in favor of the government's policies or against them, is among the fundamental rights--and responsibilities--of every American. It is, in fact, at the very heart of our democracy.
^this is the part of the article that puts everything together, to get all the points, and tidbits of information that make everything work. The conclusion is a very important part of the story becuase its pieces together all the information of the story but also becuase its the last thing people read and most likly the thing they will remeber most about it.
Posted