Lesson Plan for the First Day of Class

Title: Lesson Plan for the First Day of Class

Description of School and Students
This lesson will be taught to 10th-12th grade journalism students in an advanced journalism class in
a small, public high school.
Unit Objective
Students will discover the information normally given on the syllabus through interviewing methods.
Students should understand the importance of good interviewing and note taking skills.
Activity:
 Teacher introduces him/herself and welcomes students to the class.
 Teacher explains that he/she will run the class, while the students will run the newspaper.
 Teacher explains that the students need to know the very important information that is
usually given to them in a syllabus, but the teacher will not be giving the students a
syllabus.
 The teacher explains that interviewing skills are among the most important in journalism;
therefore, students will begin their journalism experience by interviewing the teacher to get
the information normally given in a syllabus. Teacher recommends that students take
notes.
Requirements:
 The teacher needs to have a clear idea of everything the students need to know.
 If possible, it would be helpful to start questioning with students who have been in the class
previously. (Even if this is the first time for the assignment, those students might feel more
comfortable asking questions and will be more familiar with procedures from previous years.)
Potential Problems and Solutions:
 The students miss important questions and, therefore, information.
 Solution: The teacher can give hints to draw students to those questions.
 The students will not ask any questions.
 Solution: The teacher can write random, but important topics on the board (i.e.
grades, assignments, positions, etc.) to encourage students to ask questions along those lines.
 The class runs out of time before getting all the necessary information.
 Solution: The teacher should have a written syllabus prepared to give students the
next day.
Assessment
 The following day, the teacher hands out the written syllabus.
 Students compare the written syllabus to the information they gathered in their notes the day
before.
 The teacher can lead a discussion on what information the students missed, how they
missed that information and why they missed that information.
 That discussion can lead into a discussion or lecture on the importance of journalism
fundamentals.
 5Ws and an H
Objective: To provide students with an introduction to the 5Ws and H of journalistic writing; to
provide assessment through a 5Ws and H handout
Aim: Why are the 5Ws and H integral to journalism?
Do Now: Describe what you did for the hour prior to arriving to class. Write for five minutes.
Homework: Read at least two articles in the newspaper and identify the 5Ws and H
Motivation: Students will share their experiences/ engage in class discussion
Procedures:
 DN/Attendance
 Discuss DN
 Mini-Lesson on 5Ws and H
 Class Discussion
 Handout Completion
 Discussion of Handout

5Ws and an H handout

Directions: Answer the following questions, independently, to the best of your ability.
1. Generally, a news story is written in what structure?
a) Pyramid
b) chronological order
c) inverted pyramid
d) narrative form
2. The lead of the story is:
a) The first paragraph or the first few paragraphs
b) The theme of the story
c) The conclusion
d) The tone of the story
3. A basic news lead which gives the reader the most important information in a capsulized
statement is called a/an:
a) graphic lead
b) narrative lead
c) novelty lead
d) summary lead
4. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
President Obama put the finishing touches Monday on a major speech on fighting drugs by
attacking both supply and demand.
a) What
b) why
c) who
d) where
5. The following lead features which of the Ws and H?
Thousands of people on Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula fled to high ground Monday after a
strong earthquake prompted a tsunami warning, but only a small sea wave materialized.
a) What
b) indefinite who
c) who
d) where
6. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
A scuba diver attacked by a blue shark he was videotaping said Monday, “I didn’t feel him bite. I just
looked over and his mouth was around my arm.”
a) Indefinite who
b) who
c) what
d) when
7. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
Settling national goals in public education for the first time is the goal of President Bush and the
nation’s governors. The national and state executives want to restructure how schools are run in
every state.
a) What
b) who
c) why
d) when
8. The following lead features which of the following Ws or H?
In the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, President George Bush and Soviet Secretary-General Mikhail
Gorbachev pledged to reduce nuclear and chemical warfare stockpiles.
a) When
b) who
c) how
d) where
9. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
In haste to get to the bedside of his dying mother this morning, Walter Davis, a truck driver with
Southern Gas Company, was critically injured when his sedan crashed into a parked car at Fourth
Street and Flowers Ave.
a) who
b) why
c) when
d) where
10. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
When defense industry executives gather to talk about business these days, their cocktail of choice
may be Maalox. As Congress debates how to cut the Pentagon budget, one outcome is virtually
certain: programs will be abandoned and assembly lines shut down.
a) where
b) who
c) when
d) what
11. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
Ferdinand Marcos, a man for whom political power was life, died Thursday but the end really began
on the tumultuous night of Feb. 25, 1986. With sporadic gunfire rattling in Manila’s streets, the
Philippine president and his family were hustled out of Malacanang Palace and onto U.S. military
helicopters bound for humiliating exile in Honolulu.
a) why
b) who
c) what
d) when
12. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
After a marathon journey of 12 years and more than 4 billion miles, the remarkable Voyager II space
probe is finally approaching its final port of call. Having made historic fly-bys of Jupiter in 1979,
Saturn in 1981, and Uranus in 1986, it is poised for an Aug. 24 rendezvous with Neptune, the most
distant of the giant planets.
a) where
b) who
c) when
d) what
13. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
By flunking every course and missing 62 days of class, Bubba Snively gravely endangered his
eligibility for high school basketball.
a) where
b) who
c) how
d) why
14. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
A team of physicians performed a Caesarean section and emergency surgery simultaneously on a
woman who had been stabbed in the heart Wednesday, saving the baby girl before the mother died.
a) indefinite who
b) what
c) when
d) how
15. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
Mounting fears that Asia’s crisis is spreading to the USA’s back yard in Latin America rocked Wall
Street Thursday.
a) where
b) how
c) why
d) what
16. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
A former Harris County jail inmate suspected of stalking actress Justine Bateman of the television
series Family Ties, held police at bay with a loaded gun for 2 1/2 hours Wednesday before being
captured, police said.
a) where
b) who
c) why
d) what
17. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
The assault on baseball’s homerun record has been a smash in Las Vegas, although Mark McGwire
has taken away some of the suspense–and action.
a) how
b) what
c) who
d) why
18. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
In a sign of political trouble lying ahead, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a moderate Democrat and
longtime ally of President Clinton, harshly rebuked the president Thursday for his “immoral”
relationship with Monica Lewinsky and for lying about it for seven months.
a) how
b) who
c) why
d) when
19. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
A Corpus Christi real estate agent has been sentenced to almost 500 years in state prison after he
retracted his “not guilty” plea and admitted sexually molesting five pre-teen girls and using them to
produce child pornography.
a) why
b) what
c) where
d) who
 20. The following lead features which of the Ws or H?
A film crew, technicians and dozens of spectators gathered at the site of President Kennedy’s
assassination Thursday morning for a laser-beam experiment retracing the trajectory of the fatal
bullet for a TV documentary. Associated Television International is producing the film to be shown
on the TNT cable channel in November. The makers plan to compare the results of the experiment
with the data submitted to the Warren Commission.
a) what
b) why
c) how
d) who

Becoming Your Own Worst Critic, Or, How to Critique

a Newspaper
Title: Becoming Your Own Worst Critic, Or, How to Critique a Newspaper
Background
This lesson can be used to focus student attention on a variety of different aspects of newspapers.
The related handouts are primarily focused on headlines, layout, and design of newspapers and
interest and readability of articles. The handouts can be modified to focus on whatever aspect of
student newspapers you desire your students to learn about.
It is also designed to help students develop their critique, group work and presentation skills.
Objectives
 Students will learn to identify positive and negative features of a variety of student
newspapers.
 Students will read and evaluate two articles of different styles from their chosen newspaper.
 Students will work to evaluate their group’s newspapers.
 Each group will present their findings to the class.
Basic Lesson
 5-10 minutes setup, explain assignment, Select newspapers, form groups.
 20-25 minutes: Individual analysis of newspaper.
 10-15 minutes: Group analysis of newspaper.
 5-8 minutes: Presentation time for each group.
 Depending on the number of students in your class create groups of 4 to 5 students. I have
each student Select a number from my bowl and then, after selecting a student newspaper, go to
the designated table.
 Once in their groups I handout the Individual and Group Newspaper Analysis sheets and
explain my expectations.
 I give students about 20 minutes on the Individual part. The group part should take no more
than 10-15 minutes. Sometimes I set the timer.
 Students begin work while I circulate and observe.
 When all groups are finished, I select a group to present their findings. The group comes to
the front of the class and each member tells and shows the class a bit about their newspaper.
Finally, the group presents their best and worst newspapers and tells the class their reasoning for
this Selection.
 Each group presents in turn. During presentations, I sometimes prompt the group with
questions and I always assess participation points.
Reflection
 This lesson helps students to better understand the variety of student newspapers published
and to become better judges of newspapers.
Students typically exhibit high interest in this lesson because they are reading student newspapers
from different schools. Also, they seem to enjoy discussing the newspapers in their groups and
listening to fellow students present their findings.
 Additionally, having group presentations takes pressure off the ‘shy’ students and gives them
a chance to strengthen their speaking skills without all the pressure of an individual presentation.
 Finally, my Journalism I students critique every issue of our school paper and their feedback
is required reading for the newspaper staff. This lesson helps them to provide better feedback to
our newspaper staff.

Beginner’s In-Class Story Assignment

Beginner’s In-Class Story Assignment
Penny Schulte
Culver City High School
Culver City, CA
Title: Beginner’s In-Class Story Assignment
Overview and Rationale
This lesson can serve as a first story assignment for beginning reporters after they have learned the
structure of a basic news story (inverted pyramid) and how to prepare and conduct an interview.
Veteran staffers play roles of people involved in a campus incident. Beginning reporters are given
the basic story idea and told whom to interview. They must prepare questions for each source,
interview each source, and write the story before the end of the period.
Goals for Understanding
The goal for this lesson is for beginning reports to “get their feet wet” by starting to use the tools they
have learned thus far. They must understand how to write open-ended questions that will elicit
detailed answers. They must listen for quotable material and they must gather all the information
need to write a news story in a limited amount of time.
Essential Questions
 How do you conduct an interview?
 How do you write a news story?
Critical Engagement Questions
 What are the elements of a hard news story?
 How do you obtain these elements for the story?
 What is an inverted pyramid lead?
 How are open-ended questions written?
Overviews and Timeline
Beginning reporters are given the assignment at the beginning of the period. Editors playing roles
are told in advance and given the information they need to answer the reporter’s questions.
Reporters begin by writing questions for their sources. They conduct their interviews. See interview
sheet attached. Then they go to the computer to write the story. See attachments.

Introduction to Journalism Lesson Plan

Objectives and Goals: Introduce students to vocabulary terms as they relate to the subject of

journalism in a fun, creative and meaningful way.

Aim: How can the vocabulary words that relate to journalism be understood and related to

online social websites?

Required Materials and Equipment: index cards, www.quizlet.com, Internet access, display

board (if necessary) Wall Street Journal terms in journalism sheet (http://

www.encoreleaders.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/WSJ-terminology.pdf)

Proceedures: Students will be given the initial list of vocabulary terms from the Wall Street

Journal terms used in journalism sheet. Students will also have access to the terms on

www.quizlet.com for the purpose of memorizing the terms and getting their definitions.

In teacher selected pairs, students will then use the terms to create a story using a minimum

of 10 of the terms randomly selected by the teacher. The terms must be used in the correct

form and meaning. Students may use creative formats for telling their stories, i.e, Padlet,

Instagram, Tumbler, Power Pointe, etc. If they do not have access to the Internet, they may

tell their story using a display board.

Motivation: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the journalism terms as they

relate to their use of various social networking sites.

 Analyzing Our Past in Order to Build Our Future
Title: Analyzing Our Past in Order to Build Our Future
Overview and Rationale
Students are not aware of the history of newspaper. This activity will have them trace the history,
patterns, and style of the paper over the last 60+ years.
Goals for Understanding
 Essential Questions
 How do you identify voice and style in a newspaper?
 Critical Engagement Questions
 Into what sections are the papers divided?
 What kinds of stories are included in these sections?
 What story ideas are repeated throughout the years?
 What kinds of pictures are included in the paper?
 Count the number of group shots and the number of individual photos in each
section.
 How many of the photos have cutline?
 What percentage credit the photographer?
 Categorize the kinds of information found in the cutline (e.g. description,
quote, story info).
Overviews and Timeline
Activity 1 (One 90-minute class)
 The teacher will begin by generating a discussion on student awareness of the current school
paper.
 Why are you in this class?
 How did you hear about this class?
 Are you aware that we have a school paper?
 Did you read an issue of the paper last year?
 Distribute the last edition of the school paper to all students
 Distribute the handout for recording responses for the research activity
 Place a handout transparency on the overhead
 Use the current edition as a model to complete the handout. Ask the questions aloud and
have the students find the answers. Record the responses on the sample overhead handout.
Refer to the definitions on board: cutline, photocredit, voice, style.
 Ask the students:
 What are your thoughts about the types of articles written in the paper last year?
 How would you characterize the voice and style of last year’s paper?
 Students will work in teams of 2-3 to analyze prior year papers
  Each group will receive a stack of 5 newspapers
 Students are to review the papers and respond to the critical engagement questions above.
Responses are to be recorded on the handout.
 Class will discuss the similarities and differences of each group’s findings.

Activity 2
 Next class will continue with Defining Roles and Setting Goals for the Newspaper (lesson
plan by David Schiopota)
Assessment
 Students will be assessed on the completeness of their handout and the thoroughness of
their analyses.

Famous Journalist Press Conference

Title: Famous journalist press conference
Objectives
 To learn about important journalists and their contributions
 To learn how press conferences work
 To learn research skills
Activity
Students research a famous journalist and hold a press conference for the class as that person.
Students are told they “will introduce yourself to the class as that journalism, describe your major
accomplishments and why you are famous, and answer any questions.”
Students are assessed on how well they know their journalists and their insightful into the person’s
personality.
Notes
Students are given a handout explaining the assignment and listing suggested journalists from which
to choose. Students can Select a journalist not listed but must have choice approved by teacher. I
want to avoid students Selecting MTV veejays as journalists.
The list of journalists I give to students includes journalists of color, men and women, broadcast and
print journalists, and modern and historical figures. Included are Nellie Bly, Carl Rowan, Bernard
Shaw, Katharine Graham, Howard Cosell, Margaret Bourke-White, Pete Hamill, Ernie Pyle, etc.
After making the assignment, I tell the students that I will model the assignment for them. I tell them
that Helen Thomas will be visiting our class. On the announced day, I wear the trademark red suit
and enter the class as Helen Thomas. I speak to them as Helen Thomas and tell them stories about
the presidents I covered. I ask for questions and answer them as best I can.
The response to this assignment ranged from students at the lecturn reading notes off index cards to
“Hunter Thompson” complete with vodka bottle (empty, of course!), cigarettes, hat, copies of his
books, and attitude!
Journalism Law Lesson: Tinker vs. Hazelwood
Title: Journalism Law Lesson: Tinker vs. Hazelwood
Time: This plan is designed for a 90 minute Journalism Iclass.
Goals: Throughout lesson students are able to apply what Tinker and Hazelwood is through a series
of group activities and an essay quiz to be given the following class.
Activities:
Procedure One:
 Come into class with some clothing. Make sure clothing stands for something. Examples:
Logos for sports teams, shirts advertising companies, ask students if there is anything
wrong with wearing these to school.
 What does each of these things symbolize?
 Why do you wear things like these to school?
 Then pull out a black arm band. Ask them what this symbolizes.
 Is anything wrong with wearing this to school?
 Give a scenario: Would this be wrong to wear to school if you were silently protesting the war
in Iraq. Is there anything wrong with that? Why or why not?
 Why could someone say this was wrong? Why could someone say it was right?
 Is there a law that protects you from doing what you want in this country?
 If so what is it? (Hopefully someone will remember it) Pass it out the First
Amendment.
 Ask students who this pertains to
 Does it pertain to you as high school students?
 Ask students if they have the same rights in school that they do outside? Yes or no?
 Ask students why.
Procedure Two:
 Begin into the Tinker story why you have liberties at the school house door.
 Three students in Des Moines, Iowa decided to protest the Vietnam War in 1965 by
wearing black armbands to school. The school learned of their plans and made a rule
prohibiting black arm bands. They were told to take them off when they refused, they
were suspended.
 Students and their parents sued the school district. Four years later, in 1969, in a
landmark decision the court ruled that students were permitted to their First Amendment
rights as long as they did not cause a substantial disruption of or material interference
with school activities. Administrator must demonstrate facts in order for a legal
censorship to hold up in court. This case paved the way for uncensored school newspapers
until 1985.
 Tinker says that a newspaper may not be censored if the story or the research for the
story is not causing a disruption to the school
Procedure Three:
 Break students up into groups.
  Hand students scenarios of real court cases taken from “Law of the Student Press.” Group
must determine which was determined as a censorship and which case wasn’t. Students
must read their scenario to the class and give their opinion and why.
Procedure Four:
 Bring students back into class.
 Have students read an article that was censored from the Hazelwood case.
 Read the scenario from Hazelwood and ask the class if they believe this should be censored.
 Why or why not?
 Is there anything wrong with these articles that you feel could cause a disruption?
Procedure Five: The Hazelwood Case
 In 1983 students at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis were shocked when they
received their paper back and found two stories missing. One had been about teenage
pregnancies and had featured anonymous students in the high school. The other had been
about divorces and how it affects teenagers. The past adviser (who had just left the district)
had started a tradition of giving the principal the newspaper as a common courtesy before it
went to press. The principal had been concerned about the articles — thinking they were
too revealing and did not fully cover the stories. (Did not interview all needed sources etc.)
He cut the stories without telling the students or the new adviser. His first claims were that
the stories were “too sensitive” and that the topic of divorce was inappropriate for high
school students. In court he claimed that the girls in the pregnancy story were easily
identifiable, that students were sexually active, and that the parents did not respond. In the
divorce story he did not like the reference that the father that was gone all the time.
 The newspaper decided to sue based on Tinker. The case made it to the Supreme Court. In a
defeat to student journalists, the court sided with the school and drew up new rules for
censorship from the school.
 The court decided that if the following were true…
 The newspaper must be an open forum of public expression. (Newspapers must have
an editorial policy proclaiming they are an open forum.
 Public open forum means that any student may write a letter and have it published.
Any student or teacher may request to have a guest column.)
 Students must have the final say in content about the paper.
 Papers should not be given to administration before going to print. (This is how the
students in Hazelwood got in trouble.)
 … then Tinker applies: The school may only censor when they feel that it will disturb the
learning process.) If there is a written school policy then the newspaper cannot be under
prior review by the school!
 If paper does not proclaim itself an open forum, then it is subject to prior review.
 Schools must still justify why they censored material and why it is not educationally fit.
Papers must be careful to be grammatically correct, research correct sources, not use vulgar
words, have banlanced reporting, etc…
Procedure Six:
 Review with students over how to tell the difference between what law a newspaper falls
under.