MADISON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Journalism
Authored by: Seema John
Reviewed by: Lee Nittel,
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Adopted by the Board: January, 2013
Members of the Board of Education:
Lisa Ellis, President
Patrick Rowe, Vice-President
David Arthur
Kevin Blair
Shade Grahling
Linda Gilbert
Thomas Haralampoudis
James Novotny
Superintendent: Dr. Michael Rossi
Madison Public Schools
359 Woodland Road, Madison, NJ 07940
www.madisonpublicschools.org
I. OVERVIEW
Journalism is a middle cycle course designed for those students who are interested in journalistic
writing or writing for the school newspaper. This course is also for students who want to develop stories and
articles for publication. Journalism is a comprehensive cycle course that focuses heavily on writing for the
purpose of communicating. Hence, the course uses a writing process approach as students explore writing to
persuade, inform, express opinion, and entertain. This cycle course provides students with a study of
newspaper writing: layout, makeup and preparation of a copy, the style, writing and staff makeup of a
newspaper.
II. RATIONALE
In a generation where young people are being criticized for their lack of civic responsibility and
ignorance of local, national, and global issues, this introductory journalism course promotes newspaper
reading, enhances critical and analytical thinking skills, and calls upon students to elevate their awareness of
current events and to develop an informed opinion about a variety of topics. Additionally, Journalism
provides students the opportunity to design and produce their own newspaper publication, resulting in a
quarterly school newspaper for the Madison Junior School.
III. STUDENT OUTCOMES (Linked to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards-Language Arts
Literacy)
1. Students will differentiate between fact/opinion and bias and propaganda in newspapers, periodicals,
and electronic texts. (Standard 3.1, G1)
2. Students will read critically by identifying, analyzing, and applying knowledge of the purpose,
structure, and elements of nonfiction and providing support from the text as evidence of
understanding. (Standard 3.1, G5)
3. Students will generate and narrow topics by considering purpose, audience, and form with a variety of
strategies. (Standard 3.2, H3)
4. Students will reflect on their own writing, noting strengths and setting goals for improvement.
(Standard 3.1, H7; 3.2)
5. Students will edit writing for correct grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
(Standard 3.2, C1)
6. Students will state a position clearly and convincingly in a persuasive [article] by stating the issue,
giving facts, examples, and details to support the position, and citing sources when appropriate.
(Standard 3.2, D10)
7. Students will demonstrate use of a personal style and voice effectively to support the purpose and
engage the audience of a piece of writing. (Standard 3.2, D13)
8. Students will give oral presentations to different audiences for various purposes, such as summaries of
books
and
articles,
narratives,
and
persuasive
topics,
research
projects,
and
extemporaneous/impromptu, dramatic speeches. (Standard 3.3, D2)
9. Students will analyze aspects of print and electronic texts that support the author's point of view,
opinion, or attitude. (Standard 3.5, A1)
10. Students will compare and contrast how the various forms of media (e.g. newspapers, radio, television,
internet news outlets) cover the same topic. (Standard 3.5, A2)
New Jersey Department of Education Core Curriculum Content Standards for Language Arts Literacy
STANDARD 3.1 (Reading) All students will understand and apply the knowledge of sounds, letters, and
words in written English to become independent and fluent readers, and will read a variety of materials and
texts with fluency and comprehension.
STANDARD 3.2 (Writing) All students will write in clear, concise, organized language that varies in content
and form for different audiences and purposes.
STANDARD 3.3 (Speaking) All students will speak in clear, concise, organized language that varies in
content and form for different audiences and purposes.
STANDARD 3.4 (Listening) All students will listen actively to information from a variety of sources in a
variety of situations.
STANDARD 3.5 (Viewing and media literacy) All students will access, view, evaluate, and respond to print,
nonprint, and electronic texts and resources.
IV. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS AND CONTENT
Lessons One and Two: The Five Ws
Question: What are the “Five Ws” and what do they have to do with effective news writing?
Content/Objective: Students will be able to identify the basic tool of a news story: the Five Ws (Who, What,
When, Where, and Why—also, How?)
Procedure and Suggested Activities:
A. Explain each section of the Five W’s—Who is the story focused on? What is the main event of
the story? When did the events of this story take place? Where is the setting of the story? Why
should readers/viewers be aware of this story? How did this event happen?
B. Introduce that each question should elicit a factual answer — facts that it is necessary to include
for a report to be considered complete. Importantly, none of these questions can be answered with
a simple "yes" or "no".
C. Explain that in newspaper reporting, the Five W's are types of facts that should be contained in
the "lead" (the first ¶ in a news story containing the most important information in the story)
D. Have students read several news articles using a current newspaper and identify the Five W’s.
E. Have students can view a news report and create a news article based on the report they have just
viewed.
Lessons Three and Four: The Art of Interviewing
Question: How can I learn more about newsworthy subjects?
Content/Objectives: Students will be able to conduct personal interviews and describe the characteristics of a
good interview.
Procedure and Suggested Activities
A. Anticipatory Set: Ask the learners to imagine that sometime in the future they are being
interviewed by a reporter who wishes to write a column about their life experiences. Let them
brainstorm a short list of things they would not like to occur in the interview. Create a "T" chart of
scenarios and questions that they believe would be appropriate and not appropriate during the
interview.
B. Discuss the list that was generated. Explain that good interviews do not just happen; they are
planned. They do not waste time; they ask specific questions. They show that the interviewer is
interested and knows what information is needed for a good article. Explain that each learner will
interview someone of their choice.
C. Give the learners each a note card. Ask them to write one good general question to be used in an
interview. After a minute or two, ask for volunteers to share their questions. Put these on the
whiteboard. After all questions are listed and discussed, reach a consensus on five general
questions to be used in the interviews. Have students decide who they are going to interview. For
homework, have them find an individual and conduct an interview.
D. During the second lesson, students can form their interviews into an article format, modeling from
the newspaper articles they have previously read.
Lessons Five –Ten: Elements of the Newspaper
Question: What aspects make up a newspaper?
Content/Objectives: Students will be able to identify and re-create articles from the main departments of a
newspaper.
Question: Why are newspapers and news reporting essential to society?
Lesson Five: Introduction to the Newspaper
Procedures and Suggested Activities:
A. Discuss what the term freedom of speech means. “Have you heard of that phrase before?” “Do you
think we have freedom of speech in America?” “What if principal censored a school newspaper?”
Discuss the issues involved in a case and ask students to share their comments and viewpoints.
B. Have students bring in newspapers, magazines, and newsletter to the classroom. “What interests you
in the paper that you brought it?” “Does every article grab you attention? What makes a good
newspaper? How does an article grab your attention?” “What are the different aspects of a newspaper
article? (Headline, articles, photos, captions, advertisement)” Inform students that they will be
creating their own classroom newspaper.
Question: What does an editorial look like, and what format does an editorial follow?
Lesson Six: Editorials
Procedures and Suggested Activities:
A. Have students read a few editorials from a newspaper.
B. Inform students that editorials do not serve as opportunities to "sound off" on an issue or allow
students to share their uninformed opinions about a topic.
C. Students will pick a topic from the articles they read in their newspaper and write an editorial
about it.
Question: When would a persuasive article be presented to an audience and how is it written?
Lesson Seven: Persuasive Articles
Procedures and Suggested Activities
A. Write the word persuade on the board. Discuss how people have different views about various
topics. Give an example by telling students your favorite television show and then ask students
about theirs. Ask students if they know a word for trying to convince someone to change his or
her mind on a topic. Guide them to the word on the board and ask them to give their definition.
B. Explain to students that reporters sometime write in this way with the intention of swaying their
readers minds. This is called persuasive writing. Explain that persuasive writing is often used to
get the reader to accept a point of view (or in advertisements, to get people to buy a product)
C. Have students look at several different newspapers. Inquire if the articles are persuading the
readers to see the viewpoint of the writer.
D. Have students create their own persuasive article about a chosen topic.
Question: How can readers share and connect general social customs, cultural events, and lifestyle issues?
Lesson Eight: The Newspaper Column
Procedures and Suggested Activities:
A. Have students scan over the lifestyle section of the newspaper. Discuss some of the articles they
have come across.
B. Focus on the advice columns used to discuss social issues, mannerisms, medical advice, and
lifestyle tips.
C. On an index card, have students write down a question they would like a newspaper advice
columnist to answer.
D. Collect note cards, shuffle them, and give students a different question to research and answer
modeling the advice column structure they noticed in their readings.
Question: How are cartoons used to communicate ideas in newspapers? Why would a cartoon be used as a
forum?
Lesson Nine: Cartoons for Publication
Procedures and Suggested Activities:
A. Have student scan and read over cartoon editorials as well as the comic section of the newspaper.
B. Discuss the topics being featured in the cartoon editorials/comic section. (Ex. Funky Winkerbean)
Discuss how the illustrator incorporated political issues and societal events into their drawings.
C. Have students create their own editorial cartoon or comic strip based on a current issue they want
to feature.
Question: How can news articles describe and inform readers about films, restaurants, and other cultural
events?
Lesson Ten: Critic Review
Procedures and Suggested Activities
A. Have student scan and read reviews for movies, restaurants, theatrical performances, etc.
B. Discuss how the writers voice their opinions in an article format.
C. Have students create their own reviews based on what they are eating for dinner tonight. They are
to note the ambience, the menu, and suggestions to the chef.
Lesson Eleven-Twenty: Newspaper Writing Workshop
Question: How can the classroom generate its own newspaper?
Content: Students will create their own classroom newspaper.
Procedures and Suggested Activities:
Students will be given a description of the makeup and function of the various boards of the school
newspaper (Lessons Five through Ten). Upon requests and personal preferences, students will be broken up
into large sections to collaborate and combine articles for the creation of a class newspaper. Teacher will
create a self-generated handout of due dates and deadlines and a list of specific duties that are completed by
each newspaper board. By the beginning of the third day of the workshop, all students need to proceed with
their articles. Students will be broken up into boards to work on news stories.
A. THE NEWS BOARD: Individually or in small groups of 2-3, students will write articles covering
topics pertaining to the Madison Junior School (i.e. construction, new cafeteria menu) and create
news articles and news headlines for the paper. The reporters may be assigned stores in two ways:
they may be assigned individual articles, or they may be assigned beats. (A beat is an area, such
as a club or an academic department, or a topic, such as student government or school events)
B. THE EDITORIAL BOARD: Individually or in small groups of 2-3, students create articles that
express individual opinions but do not reflect the official opinion of the school newspaper.
Letters-to-the-editor can be submitted to the school paper. An editor-in-chief is established and
decided what topics should be discussed and writes the lead editorial. The editor decides which, if
any, letters-to-the-editor should be printed. Another of the chief editor’s functions as head of the
editorial board is to make up and lay out the editorial page.
C. THE FEATURE BOARD: Feature writers, or the feature board, concern themselves with articles
ranging form social announcements to school events. Individually or in small groups of 2-3,
students will create mini-articles and announcements for the feature section. For the school
newspaper, feature writers primarily handle such topics as student or faculty profiles, organization
or department sketches, or background articles to accompany news stores. Feature writers are
expected to provide in-depth analyses of the topic about which they write; therefore, they must
research well and write thoroughly and clearly.
D. THE SPORTS BOARD: The sports board has the responsibility of providing the student
newspaper with written coverage of sporting events occurring within the school community. The
sports editor decides the extent and depth of the sports coverage, edits sports stories, and
supervises the writing of sports headlines. Individually or in small groups of 2-3, students will
cover stories involving the sports events at the Madison Junior School. Sports articles will be
based on write up of quarterly edition in conjunction to the sports season.
E. THE REVIEW BOARD: Reviewers for the school newspaper have a specialized function. They
write opinions art, theatrical, reading, and televised events informing their reading public of the
worth of these events. They must be able to criticize in a tasteful fashion and support their
opinions logically.
All students can contribute to the production of photography and art work for their articles.
By day seven of the workshop, students will submit their group generated articles and hand in all
components of their articles (pictures, illustrations). By the end of lesson 8, students will be given a copy of all
the articles handed in for print and submission. Students will write a critique listing the pros and cons of the
final product. During lesson 9, students will work on layout, makeup, and preparation of the final copy. This
process will include proofreading for content and organization focusing on grammar, word choice, fonts used,
and headlining. The teacher can format articles into Microsoft Publisher New Publication Newsletters Choose Design. Final product will be available for classroom print. Voted classroom articles
will be used for submission for the school newspaper.
Newspaper Terms
Action Shot—A photograph of an event as it is happening, as distinct from a posed picture.
Ad—Advertisement
Advance Copy—Material which can be prepared in advance and does not necessarily have to appear on a
specific date. Features or editorials may fall into this category.
Assignment—the story or beat a reporter is assigned to cover.
Beat—an area one reporter is assigned to cover (e.g.—the student government). The reporter must write up
any story originating on his beat.
Blurb—A phrase, one-sentence, or one-paragraph article or statement, such as a notice or caption.
Body type—the kind of type (usually 8-point font) in which most stories in a newspaper are printed.
Bulletin—a late news story of importance, usually inserted on page one after the paper has “gone to bed.”
Caption—a blurb beneath a photograph describing the photograph
Column—(1) a regular signed feature article appearing in successive issues (2) part of a page of newsprint. A
page is divided into many vertical columns.
Copy—all newspaper articles or material
Editorial—an article which expresses the opinion of the author or in the case of an unsigned editorial, the
opinion of the newspaper
Exclusive—belonging to only one newspaper, as a story
Feature—an article of human interest, which is not news, sports, or editorial matter
Filler—Extra material, mainly features which can be used to fill up extra column space.
Final copy—Material which has been corrected and is ready to be printed.
Five W’s—Who, What, When, Where, Why and sometimes How
Freedom of Speech—the right to speak freely
Lead—the first ¶ in a news story containing the most important information in the story; the most important
news story in a newspaper.
Rewrite—Reporters are frequently asked to rewrite articles if they are unclear or cannot be easily cut or
expanded
Scoop—a surprise news article containing very new and unpublished information.
Tabloid—a newspaper page which is half the size of a standard newspaper page; The Star Ledger is a full-size
newspaper. School newspapers are often tabloid size
Typo—A typographical error
V. STRATEGIES
1. Review of a variety of newspapers.
2. Independent article writing
3. Class discussion and critiques
4. Teacher generated modeling
VI. EVALUATION
Written Articles
Production of quarterly newspaper
Cooperative work as a member of an editorial/publishing committee
VII. REQUIRED RESOURCES
The Star Ledger, Newark, New Jersey; Newspaper
USA Today, McLean, Virginia; Newspaper
Madison Eagle, Madison, New Jersey; Newspaper
Newsweek, New York City, New York; Newsmagazine
Daily Record, Parsippany, New Jersey; Newspaper
VIII. SCOPE AND SEQUENCE
The lessons and objectives of this course are intended to serve as guidelines and parameters for the
instructor. The time allocated for each unit of study is flexible to allow the instructor to adapt the curriculum
to the need of the students. The suggested activities listed for the lessons are examples that allow an instructor
to carry out a given objective. These suggested activities are intended as a guide and point of reference, not as
a limiting structure. Each instructor is encouraged to bring his or her creativity and professional judgment to
develop projects that accomplish the objectives for this course.
Lesson One and Two: The Five Ws
Lesson Three and Four: The Art of Interviewing
Lesson Five – Nine: Element of a Newspaper
Lesson Ten-Twenty: Newspaper Writing Workshop