Inspired by the New York Times, this 3-lesson unit allows students to adopt a professional journalist from a major market publication. Students are provided a list of publications and journalists to inspire their selection.
Engage your students with rhetoric through the use of current, high-interest topics in the news media. Though the study of the rhetorical strategies of ethos, pathos, and logos, students will read and analyze articles about the topic: To tip or not to tip. Students will read a combination of news and opinion articles (all links are included) that provide a deep understanding of this issue on both sides. Using guided materials, students will evaluate and think critically about this topic, identify rhetorical approaches authors use, and develop their own opinion based on evidence.
Are you an advisor looking to sell ads? Selling ads and generating revenue is a reality for most journalism advisors. Whether you advise newspaper, yearbook, broadcast, or a literary magazine, this comprehensive kit includes everything you need to easily launch your business team!
Podcasting is one of the fastest growing entertainment mediums! Engage your students with this easy-to-use full unit plan. My students absolutely love the engaging and interactive aspects of storytelling through podcasts. Whether they are creating journalistic & expository or narrative podcasts, this type of storytelling encourages active listening and promotes authentic, real world opportunities for students to create a publishable product. ➡️ Podcasts are also a great way to develop both literacy, writing, and speaking skills all in one project!
A strong beats system helps any journalism class ensure they are effectively covering a balanced and diverse section of the school community! This Beat Reporting resource includes: ⭐️ An Overview of Beats (background and assignment criteria), ⭐️ Sample letter to initiate a relationship with sources ⭐️ A sample list of questions to engage sources ⭐️ A Beats Sign Up & Tracking sheet that includes common areas to cover within a school community.
We live in a visual society with millions of images posted to social media each day! In this comprehensive photography and photojournalism unit, students will learn basics of storytelling through photography, camera techniques, and composition elements. From the artistic to the technical side of photography, students will work through several exciting and high-interest activities to learn and practice skills. Whether you are a photography teacher or journalism advisor, this resource includes everything you need to support your emerging photographers.
Print Journalism Ideas
Did you know that next to the Opinion section, the Sports section is the most read part of a newspaper? However, readers can find out the score long before they open our sports pages. So, how do we entice readers to read sports stories? We need to create vivid moments of the game, share those powerful stories about the players, and craft editorials that do more than just "arm chair quarterback."
Do you want your students to learn how to craft their opinion using solid logic, credible facts, and persuasive techniques? This comprehensive opinion-editorial news writing unit introduces students to the purpose of editorials, types of editorials, and a step-by-step process to write the article from brainstorming topics to drafting the final product.
This feature article curriculum are designed for any journalism teacher who wants to strengthen instruction on writing feature/people news stories. This collection of resources includes a variety of Powerpoints, class activities and a special section using Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tom Hallman’s piece “Boy Behind the Mask”.
Are you tired of the same old, same old cliche reviews? If so, this resource will help your students understand specific strategies for constructing any type of review, from a movie to a video game. Students will learn about specific content to include in each type of review, read professional examples of reviews, and learn how to organize their review.
We only have a few seconds to get reader's attention! This with in mind, this his stand-alone lesson walks students through the purpose of newspaper headlines, as well as tips, dos, and don'ts. This is perfect for any journalism teacher who wants to teach students the basics of writing effectives headlines!
A photo is worth 1000 words, right, but finding the right words to caption a photo can be challenging. This is a stand-alone lesson on photography captions and cutlines helps students break down the basics of the contents of a photo caption, including and overview of the how-tos of captain writing. This is perfect for any journalism teacher or photography teacher who wants to teach students the basics of captions!
Students need different revision and self editing and peer editing strategies at different times during the writing process. That's why this interactive, structured, 3-in-1 editing pack gives you everything you need to build self editing and peer editing skills with your writers. Also, there is a template for one-on-one writing conferences with the teacher or advisor.
This product includes an introduction to the evolution of media journalism since early communications. This highlights milestones in the history of the newspaper and news media industry through present day.
Who only have a few seconds to capture reader's attention! This mini unit teaches students how to write a powerful news article lead that will hook readers. This graphically appealing introductory lead writing unit is designed to keep kids engaged, while providing meaningful and thoughtful instruction for student success!
Student journalists need to learn the fundamentals of conducting strong interviews of fellow students, staff, and community members. This resource includes step-by-step directions, samples, and activities to help students learn how to prepare and conduct successful interviews.
If you are looking for a fun, engaging, and interactive way to introduce your students to The Radical Write by Bobby Hawthorne, look no further! This unit is designed using Olympic-style challenges that encourage teaming & collaboration, scaffolding of learning, and promoting student choice!
Strong layout and design is one of the most important factors in whether or not readers dive into a story or move on! This newspaper layout design teaching pack teaches students how to create dynamic, creative pages that attract readers in seconds. Help your students learn the main components of layout and design: headlines, body text, artwork, and lines and boxes. Through the use of detailed presentations, handouts, and practice exercises your students will gain hands-on practice in designing page spread from scratch!
This introductory multi-day lesson fosters high engagement and helps budding journalists understand the fundamental tools necessary to craft a strong article. Each station includes 2 suggested articles and guided questions to help teach and reinforce tools journalists need to use when researching and crafting stories.
If you are looking for a streamlined way to help your emerging journalists plan and organize each step of planning their article, this set of easy-to-use tools are perfect! Each planning form is customized for specific genres of news writing: news, opinion/editorial, sports, arts review, and feature writing. These high engagement templates guide students through the planning and information-gathering steps so they are set up for success!
This interactive, hands-on unit teaches your students how to read, analyze, and design editorial cartoons through the use of persuasive techniques. Students will learn the common satirical tools editorial cartoonists use (symbols, caricatures, exaggeration, labels, irony, analogy, and stereotyping) through the use of real-world examples. This is great addition to your informational text, journalism, social studies, or currently events resources!
Current Events Resources
Help your students stay informed and develop media literacy skills by promoting weekly current events in your classroom. These 36 current events bell ringer prompts help students engage with media to grow their ability to critically think about current events, while developing reading and writing skills. These prompts help students describe, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create on weekly basis, using current news media in all genres: news, opinion, sports, arts review, and feature.
Helping students navigate how to discuss and critically think about current events (especially politics) is harder than ever before. This current events research project walks students through the step-by-step process of investigating a current event issue, evaluate media bias, and through the use of academic writing, articulate their own original position.
I created this fun, interactive, and low-prep current events Fish Bowl Discussion to help my students learn about current events, while building discussion skills using a Socratic Seminar model. Through this activity, students will engage in real-world close reading skills to help expand their understanding of current events.
I created this fun, interactive, and low-prep current events Jenga game to help my students learn about current events, while building discussion skills and fostering teamwork. Through this activity, students will engage in real-world close reading skills to help expand their understanding of current events.
I created this fun, interactive, and low-prep current events soccer game to help my students learn about current events, while building discussion skills and fostering teamwork. Through this activity, students will engage in real-world close reading skills to help expand their understanding of current events.
Broadcast Journalism Curriculum Resources
This is an easy to use stand-alone lesson to introduce students to broadcast terminology. This includes an editable list of common broadcast production terms. There is also a Powerpoint to guide students through the most commonly used production terms including camera shots, interviews and soundbites, and production terms.
Are you new to teaching broadcast journalism or videography? If so, this is a perfect introduction to broadcast journalism story organization and scriptwriting. This is an easy-to-use stand alone broadcast journalism lesson on some basic story design and scriptwriting to help students explore how broadcast journalists organize and write a segment.
This is an easy-to-use stand alone broadcast journalism lesson on some basic techniques to help students explore how broadcast journalists compose a segment.
This attractive broadcast journalism unit curriculum is designed for any journalism teacher who wants to strengthen instruction or introduction broadcast journalism in your classroom. This collection of resources includes a variety of detailed Powerpoints, worksheets, high-interest video samples, printable, and engaging practice activities, and a final assignment: everything you need to teach broadcast journalism!
Journalism Advisor Tools & Resources
Are you a new journalism adviser looking for some resources? Or a seasoned adviser looing to add some new tools for your classroom? If so, this is the resource for you! This introduction to news journalism includes everything you’ll need to introduce your students to news writing basics. From "what is news" to how to publish on Word Press, this comprehensive unit includes everything you'll need to launch your program and start your year.
Are you a new journalism adviser looking for some resources? Or a seasoned adviser looing to add some new tools for your classroom? If so, this is the resource for you! This journalism advisor tool kit includes everything you’ll need to get a program up and running for the production elements a journalism program (including print, online, and broadcast). This includes both Word Docs for easy editing, as well as some PDFs you can quickly print or post online for distance learning.
In this comprehensive journalism advisor toolkit, you'll find all of the resources you need to plan your journalism classroom for an entire year! Each of these best-selling resources helps your students take their writing and journalism skills to the next level. Resources are detailed, practical, and easy to implement in any journalism program!
Once of the best things a journalism staff can do to improve is to continually take a critical look at what they produce and evaluate the quality of the publication. Each month, my journalism staff uses this tool to help guide them through self-discovery and evaluation. I use this worksheet to generate a constructive class discussion and set monthly production and writing goals.
This is a comprehensive student press law unit plan that is designed to walk students through an introduction to the First Amendment, Hazelwood, and landmark Supreme Court cases, and their impact on student press rights. Students will also learn about ethical considerations like libel, confirmation bias, fake news, public figures vs. private citizens, image tampering, and copyright.
Help your students apply their understanding about the First Amendment, landmark Supreme Court cases, and their Constitutional significance by engaging in this fun authentic project-based-learning activity. This highly engaging activity asks students to put themselves in the shoes of a Supreme Court judge by evaluating a fictional Supreme Court case and drawing conclusions based on research.
This Beat Reporting resource includes an Overview of Beats (background, assignment criteria & grading), a Beat Reporting worksheet for students track responses, and a Beats Sign Up sheet that includes common areas of a school community. A strong beats system helps any journalism class ensure they are effectively covering a balanced and diverse section of the school community!
Any journalism teacher knows our courses can live and die by registration numbers, and recruitment is a key part of keeping our programs afloat. Each year, I train my staff on branding and marketing (partly for generating revenue from advertisers and increasing our readership), but also to help recruit and retain students during the registration season. I approach recruitment from the lens of marketing our course and brand using a variety if different strategies and approaches.
Watch your students' faces light up when they get a positive affirmation. Affirmations help empower students learn social emotional skills by building self esteem and creating a positive classroom culture! There are 90 affirmations included in this resources in both "I am" and "You are" formats (180 total cards). These are great for helping students improve their mood, build confidence, and improve attitude.
Any journalism advisor knows that a strong leadership team can either make or break your year! This graphically appealing Editorial leadership resource pack includes engaging, fun, and productive activities to help select and develop a strong leadership team! Each activity is designed to help students reflect on their own strengths, build strong relationships, understand what it takes to be a leader, and set concrete, actionable goals for a successful year! These activities can be used to kick off the year, or used periodically throughout the year to build a strong, cohesive team!
Help your students stand out with these graphically appealing end of the year journalism awards perfect for any multi-media journalism or yearbook class. Do more than just recognize your students for their staff position; these editable certificates help you recognize and personalize your student's skills, individual contributions, and successes. Shake up your end of the year celebrations with these fun, personalized journalism awards perfect for all ages!
This high-engagement Amazing Race challenge activity is a perfect way to hook your students, while still introducing some basic journalism concepts on the first day. This resources includes 3 challenges/tasks, 1 roadblock, and 1 detour designed to keep your students moving and collaborating for a class period.
Start your school year strong by building teamwork among your journalism students this year. Each of these single-day activities helps promote collaboration among your journalism staff, while helping them learn about journalism in the process! My students love these engaging and fun games. Each activity challenges students to learn about journalism-related topics and ideas.
Create your annual journalism or yearbook staff media press passes with ease. My staff members wear these easily identifiable passes while representing our publication when interacting with staff, students, and community.
Non-fiction Journalism Units
Are you looking for a way to engaging your students in manful, real-life non-fiction reading about real issues that impact student journalists? If no, this non-fiction book study walks students through the key thematic topics of the text We Say #Never Again written by the student journalists at Parkland High School. I use this in my high school journalism course, but this can be used in any classroom that addresses the power of media, gun violence/school shootings, and student advocacy and leadership.
Are you looking for a fresh new approach to editorial writing? Or are you just tired of the cliche sports column? This mini-unit takes commentary/editorial writing to the next level using Sports Illustrated and ESPN columnist Rick Reilly as inspiration. In his humorous and edgy columns, students will study editorial form, rhetorical strategies, and language.
Help your students practice effective listening and viewing skills through this highly engaging mini-lesson. Through the use of the podcast and musical from This American Life called "21 Chump Street", students will engage critical thinking through the use of written and oral activities. This all-in-one resource includes all you need to explore storytelling, themes, persuasion, compare-contrast, and arts review.
Holiday Resources
Help your students learn how to craft powerfully-engaging headlines with this spook-tacular Halloween Headlines mini-unit. This unit helps students understand the purpose, guidelines, and rules necessary to construct eye-catching headlines. This fun and engaging unit is perfect for any journalism or yearbook class.
Help your students learn about digital photography composition skills and terminology with this spook-tacular Halloween Photo Composition Mini-Unit. This unit helps students understand different photography composition terms in order to take eye-catching photos. From beginner to advanced, this fun and engaging unit is perfect for any photography, journalism, yearbook class and more!
These journalism-inspired Valentine's Day cards are a perfect way for your students to send kind notes to each other to make this holiday fun and exciting. Students can use the blank backsides to write personalized messages to each other to show they care! These are perfect for any newspaper, yearbook, or journalism class.
