Journalism Prerequisite: noneFull Year

Journalism is an introduction to the basics of journalism open to students in grades 9-12. This class is a prerequisite for the newspa-per, yearbook, and magazine classes. The fundamentals and techniques of journalistic writing, editing, advertising, photography, and design are taught, as well as journalism ethics. Frequent written assignments are required. Students will have experience in news writ-ing, peer editing, interviewing, designing lay-outs, and basic newsgathering techniques. All written assignments will adhere to the writing style laid out in the textbook, Journal-ism Today, and the Associated Press Style Manual. Assessment will be based on written as-signments, individual and group projects, and classroom participation. The course will provide students with information to help them understand the particular nature of writing for journalistic publications. There may be some occasions in which students will have the opportunity to write articles for the North Star, the school newspaper, or create their own publication.

Topics:

-History-First Amendment Law-Journalism Ethics-Questioning-Q&As-Lead writing-Transitions-Profile writing-News writing-Feature writing-Sports writing-Entertainment writing-Opinion writing-Design-Photography-Media convergence

Assessment:

Quizzes on a rotating schedule:-Current Events quizzes approximately every two weeks-Associated Press Stylebook quizzes ap-proximately every two weeks starting in Oc-tober

First Semester final:-25-question Q&A story with 600-word fea-ture story on two separate subjects

Second Semester final:-600-word feature story, 10-photo photogra-phy portfolio, group blog, and individual pod-

Grading:

Homework/Classwork = 20 pointsQuizzes = 40 pointsTests/Papers = 100 points

Semester Finals = 25% of semester grade

Contact info: Phone: 330-7724 ext. 50169 E-mail: prgunter@mccsc.edu Website: http://mrgunterman.blogspot.com