Course Description
Newspaper is a year long or semester class offered to 8th Graders. Students are selected through an application process. The newspaper staff works extremely hard all year long to produce 8-9 issues a school year.
Course Syllabus
The purpose of this class is not only to produce a quality product, but also to teach basic fundamentals and rules of reporting, writing, form and layout. In addition to writing stories and producing a student newspaper; we will have assignments based on story writing, elements of story design, and career opportunities.
A large part of an effective newspaper are the headlines and photos that accompany the text. Are they in focus, do they support the story, do they catch a reader’s eye? We will learn what makes a good photo and how to edit existing photos so they appear more clearly in our publication.
You will be responsible for your deadlines for BOTH the newspaper and the class.
Part of being a journalist, results in attending functions, forums, and press conferences outside of the work day. You will be responsible for attending a minimum of ONE extra-curricular activity a month. At this event, you will take pictures and then write a story about the event you attended. This is a REQUIREMENT for the class. Exceptions will only be made in extreme circumstances.
An ongoing assignment that you will be responsible for is keeping a folder of good AND poor layouts, stories, photos, etc. Every Wednesday, you will be required to bring in a good and a poor example of one of the following:
Page Layout
Photos
Font Usage
Headlines
Photo Tags
Stories (grammar/spelling)
Use of White Space
You can find examples of the above in Magazines, Newspapers, Flyers, etc. They may NOT be acquired from the Internet.
For the “Good” Example, you must write out a list of what worked for this story or cover and what caught your eye. (Minimum of 6 sentences)
For the “Poor” Example, you must write out a list of what was wrong and what you would do to correct it. (Minimum of 6 sentences)
This is an ongoing weekly assignment and you must provide the information every Wednesday. You will lose 10 points for every day it is late. There will be a total of 30 points possible each week.
A large part of an effective newspaper are the headlines and photos that accompany the text. Are they in focus, do they support the story, do they catch a reader’s eye? We will learn what makes a good photo and how to edit existing photos so they appear more clearly in our publication.
You will be responsible for your deadlines for BOTH the newspaper and the class.
Part of being a journalist, results in attending functions, forums, and press conferences outside of the work day. You will be responsible for attending a minimum of ONE extra-curricular activity a month. At this event, you will take pictures and then write a story about the event you attended. This is a REQUIREMENT for the class. Exceptions will only be made in extreme circumstances.
An ongoing assignment that you will be responsible for is keeping a folder of good AND poor layouts, stories, photos, etc. Every Wednesday, you will be required to bring in a good and a poor example of one of the following:
Page Layout
Photos
Font Usage
Headlines
Photo Tags
Stories (grammar/spelling)
Use of White Space
You can find examples of the above in Magazines, Newspapers, Flyers, etc. They may NOT be acquired from the Internet.
For the “Good” Example, you must write out a list of what worked for this story or cover and what caught your eye. (Minimum of 6 sentences)
For the “Poor” Example, you must write out a list of what was wrong and what you would do to correct it. (Minimum of 6 sentences)
This is an ongoing weekly assignment and you must provide the information every Wednesday. You will lose 10 points for every day it is late. There will be a total of 30 points possible each week.
Websites
Below are some useful websites.
SCHOOL
Prairie Trail http://schools.olatheschools.com/prairietrail/
Olathe Schools Student Homepage http://students.olatheschools.com/
Olathe School District http://www.olatheschools.com/
OTHER
Heavenly Hats Foundation http://www.heavenlyhats.com/
NEWSPAPERS
Kansas City Star http://www.kansascity.com/
Olathe Daily News http://www.theolathenews.com/
FUN FONTS
Urban Fonts http://www.urbanfonts.com/free-fonts.htm
1001 Free Fonts http://www.1001freefonts.com/beachtype.php
Font Space http://www.fontspace.com/search?beach