FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 4, 2009
Contact Alan Jacobson, 757.622.8111 alan@tweentribune.com

Headline: TweenTribune adds news stories written by students

TweenTribune.com, the free, interactive classroom site for kids, now lets young journalists post their stories along with stories from mainstream media.

For the first time, stories written by tweens appear side-by-side with stories written by professional journalists from across the country and around the world.

Now there are three kinds of stories at TweenTribune:
• Local news stories provided by local newspapers
• National and world stories provided by The Associated Press
• Stories written by students

Teachers can upload photos along with stories. In addition, students can post comments about any stories and they can respond to comments from other students around the world.

TweenTribune provides a family friendly and web-safe environment for students to read about current events and respond with comments. All stories are screened for appropriateness. All comments are moderated by teachers.

Teachers in all 50 states and six countries use TweenTribune to meet No Child Left Behind requirements for reading, writing and computer skills. And TweenTribune is free for students, teachers and schools.

TweenTribune began reaching out to teachers in September 2009. By November, it was serving up more than a half-million web pages a month.

Here's what Jennifer Higgins, a resource specialist at Wilson Elementary in Modesto, had to say about TweenTribune.com:

"Our school has really gotten excited about TweenTibune.com after an article about our school was posted.

The students were given the site at their computer lab time. I was amazed at how excited they became.

Students kept interupting me to tell me about yet another interesting article they had found. Students quickly signed up to be able to comment on our story and other stories.

Students were discussing articles and sharing information with each other even though they had the choice of continuing to play their computer games. The majority had chosen to switch to TweenTribune.

The stories are interesting to the kids. They can access the site at home and share with their friends and families. They can comment on the stories that they have read and read what other kids have written."

Anita, I am working with the IT sessions (as part of SIGCT). We have selected
50071795, 50024884, and 50087595. Our alternate or 4th session is 49281386 (if you don't use it, it would be a great poster session).

We recommend 48651829 as a strong poster sesssion
We recommend 50097562 as a poster session or session for Digital Divide or International.

I left this information this way, because it did not fit neatly into the responses

Hi Anita,

June Seegert at University of Oregon suggested that I contact you.

Have you seen TweenTribune.com? It's amazing! It's a kid-safe news site that lets students post comments about the news that interests them. You can manage your kids' comments before they're posted, then you can print out a report on each of your kids to track their comprehension and writing skills. And it's free!

Here's what teachers are saying about it:

Kim Wright, Smart's Mill Middle School, Leesburg, VA
fleabags2005@aol.com
I’ve toyed with the idea of having students blog for over two years now. I’d always bailed on the idea before because I couldn’t figure out how to do it safely. Last week my students jumped right in with me on our blogging adventure using TweenTribune and haven’t stopped since. I was amazed at how engaged the students were in news.

Jayne Stephenson, Laurelville Elementary, Laurelville, Ohio
jayne.stevenson@logan-elm.k12.oh.us
My fifth-grade students have loved TweenTribune! The day I introduced the site and let them browse, I was going out to get other teachers to come and see what was going on in my room. The productive buzz was unbelievable!

Sherry Perkey, Smart's Mill Middle School, Leesburg, VA
Sherry.Purkey@Loudoun.K12.VA.US
One of my students hates to write, yet he published two blogs on his the first day on the site. His said, "I really like this!" He was truly proud of being a published writer.

Debbie Vane, Lee Vining Elementary, Lee Vining, CA
dvane@esusd.org
After only a few minutes on your site today, my students are hooked and love the content. They really like that they can respond and be heard. I want to thank you for creating something that is truly interesting for my 6th grade students.

Carolyn Brown, Lynnhaven Middle School, Virginia Beach, VA
Carolyn.Brown@VBSchools.com
All my students had positive comments about the site They all said it was site organized and easy to navigate. I have no suggestions because they said it's great as is.

Greg Moul, Big Fork Middle School, Big Fork, MT
gmoul@vals.bigfork.k12.mt.us
I have now introduced 30 students to the Tween Tribune. The response has been great and one of the most pleasant surprises I've received is they want more book reviews!

Well, it's version 0.1...still want to spruce it up, but I thought it was better to get some testers in to give opinions early. Would like to touch base with you about inviting in the NECC Ning members, as well as getting your feedback on the features. :)