Journalism 

Journalism I

Students will develop a deep understanding of the history and principles of journalism, as well as the basics of writing a proper news story, including planning, interviewing, researching, structuring, and formatting a news article.  Students engage in story pitch sessions, collaborative group work, and project-based instruction in an effort to develop the writing and critical thinking skills of journalists. The class is designed to provide students with various opportunities to write about topics of interest, generating their own story topics using personal interests and class feedback for guidance. This encourages autonomy in selecting issues that are meaningful to the students, to the FHS community, and to the larger community of Fairport.  By studying the reliability and biases of news sources, students will seek to provide fact-based reporting. The students will create a website and individual webpages that feature all of their stories, effectively acting as a digital portfolio of their work.

Credit: .5 unit

Time: Half year

Exam: Assessment by portfolio

Prerequisite: None

Journalism II

Students will continue to develop a deep understanding of the history and principles of journalism, as well as the more advanced skills of writing a proper news story, including planning, interviewing, researching, structuring, and formatting a news article.  Students engage in story pitch sessions, collaborative group work, and project-based instruction in an effort to develop the writing and critical thinking skills of journalists. The class is designed to provide students with various opportunities to write about topics of interest, generating their own story topics using personal interests and class feedback for guidance, but students will be challenged to begin writing news stories about topics outside of their interests from time to time. This will help students develop the ability to write news stories about topics that they may not be as informed on initially, and to share those stories with the FHS community and the larger Fairport community.  By studying the reliability and biases of news sources, students will seek to provide fact-based reporting. The students will create a website and individual webpages that feature all of their stories, effectively acting as a digital portfolio of their work.

Credit: .5 unit

Time: Half year

Exam: Assessment by portfolio

Prerequisite: Journalism I

Journalism III

Students will continue to develop a deep understanding of the history and principles of journalism, as well as the more advanced skills of writing a proper news story, including planning, interviewing, researching, structuring, and formatting a news article.  Students engage in story pitch sessions, collaborative group work, and project-based instruction in an effort to develop the writing and critical thinking skills of journalists. The class is designed to provide students with various opportunities to write about topics of interest, generating their own story topics using personal interests and class feedback for guidance, but students will be challenged to begin writing news stories about topics outside of their interests from time to time. This will help students develop the ability to write news stories about topics that they may not be as informed on initially, and to share those stories with the FHS community and the larger Fairport community.  By studying the reliability and biases of news sources, students will seek to provide fact-based reporting. The students will create a website and individual webpages that feature all of their stories, effectively acting as a digital portfolio of their work.

Credit: .5 unit

Time: Half Year (spring)

Exam: Assessment by portfolio

Prerequisite: Journalism I and Journalism II