Upcoming due dates

Current events #4 is due on 1/12 - Monday.

Independent Reading #4 due Friday, 1/23

2nd issue of the paper set to come out 1/31 - which means it needs to be completed by 1/23 in class.

Investigative feature draft 1 is due 1/5

1st run of laid out pages are due 1/9

Reminders

today in class your laid out, final drafts of your feature stories are due. Please make sure to turn it in laid out.

tomorrow, your final draft of your section articles are due with all prior drafts attached.

tomorrow, your independent reading #3 assignments are due.

Independent Reading assignment #4 will be due January 23rd.

Investigative feature draft 1 is due on Monday, 1/5 when we return. Make sure to attache all research and notes.

Chorus is cancelled for tomorrow.

Please come to class prepared to work on your feature stories, investigative features and/or section articles...

You may also work on your independent reading assignments #3 which are due on Tuesday with your final drafts of your section articles.

You want to download the free trial from Adobe Indesign CS4 - it's the newest version, so you probably won't be able to open it on the school's computer. I'm sure it is great. I'm going to see if I can download this one too.

Feature Article final draft due date changed to Monday

Feature article final drafts will be due in class on Monday instead of tomorrow due to yesterday's unexpected interruption.

feature articles due on Friday.

Final drafts of feature stories are due on Friday, 12/19.

Your final draft should appear on the top - stapled behind it should be:

They should have 2 prior drafts, attached with any and all notes.

They should be laid out on a page with at least 1 sidebar and 1 image (both properly cited)

They should have at least 5 quotes from students in our school

They should reference at least 2 different print sources (or web sources)

Story should be organized in a logical structure, strong lead and appropriate ending.

You should avoid using the first or second person in your piece

Current Events #2

due on Monday - Current Events #2

Make sure to select a story that is from your section...



cut it out, annotate it



analyze it



reflect on it.



Turn it in on time, on Monday.

Baruch college on Monday

Vinny, Erick, Erin, Sarah, Anastasia, Georgina, Livianette and Melissa

Please make sure to come dressed in your uniform with Blazer on Monday. We will be leaving 2nd period.

We will all come to class and then we will leave together.

Bring your sourcebook and a pen. Write a list a questions you'd like to get answers to.

Upcoming due date reminders

Monday - Current events #2 is due
Monday - Baruch College trip for editorial staff

Tuesday - 2nd draft of section stories are due
Tuesday- indesign in class- section checklists

Thursday - investigative feature assignments will be given out - Your 1st drafts will be due when you return from break (January 5, 2009)
Friday - Final drafts of feature stories are due

Tuesday, 12/23 - Independent reading assignment #3 is due.

Independent Reading Assignment due Dec. 23

Directions: Identify and present passages from your independent reading book that illustrate the qualities listed below. Limit passages to one page of text. To present them, you may type them or photocopy and paste them. After each passage, write a brief but specific explanation of hot the passage exemplifies the quality stated (three to five sentences). Remember to provide the page number of each passage.

passage that reveals an important quality about the main character (protagonist)
passage that shows an important part of setting
2 different passages that suggest the complexity of the protagonist's conflict(s)
2 passages in which the author uses language in a particularly effective way
passage that shows teh symbolic importance of something or a passage that suggests why the book has the title it has
passage that shows the protagonist's situation at the end
passage that suggests and important idea, theme, or insight the book conveys
passage that shows what you liked about the book

Sidebars and images for your feature articles

Make sure when you turn in your second feature drafts on Friday (with the first ones attached), you have at least one sidebar and some images you can use for the layout of your article.

Your final draft of this article will need to be laid out in Indesign - an article with sidebars

http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_writing/sidebars.htm - possible sidebar ideas

When taking info for sidebars and/or images, make sure to cite them appropriately.

Section articles are due tomorrow

Please make sure to turn in your drafts for your section articles tomorrow. If they are incomplete, please indicate so and what you need to add.

We are looking to have the next issue out into everyone's hands by 1/30/09.

Each section should start laying out pages - set up each one with section heading, page number and text boxes with picture slots. Headline boxes and byline boxes. I will provide you a checklist by Wednesday.

Debrief

I'm proud to say you guys picked up on most or all of what I would have said about the paper. I will put together a final checklist for each section and I know our next effort due to come out at the end of January will be even better.



I'm going to readjust some of the deadlines. We are going to not do the investigative feature until holiday break. so disregard that for a while.

Congratulations

I just wanted to take a moment to say how very proud I am of all of you. You worked very hard and had a great first paper.

Please remember as you read this paper, that most of you have never done this before. Yes, we made mistakes, but we did a lot more right than we did wrong.

Don't let anyone make you feel badly about your effort. We will be debriefing positive and challenged items on Monday.

Revel in your accomplishment... we will just do better next time.

You all make me really proud - celebrate this weekend!

Newspaper Reflection and debrief

Today all classes received a copy of the first issue of the paper...



please go back to the blog post that I made earlier, and reflect on the first issue. We will be discussing and debriefing on Monday, 12/8

Urban voices connections

We are doing a concert that centers around the theme of Media...

We are going to need students to write pieces that work with this theme...

It can be a poem, a song, a short narrative and/or feature article on something related to what we are doing to be read at the concert in March.

This will meet some creative standards in class - it will also offer a nice balance to the non-fiction writing we do in class.

Urban Voices

Just remembered that we never covered Urban Voices in the first issue... can someone in news please write and article about Urban voices?



You can talk to Ms. Delahunt and/or email her to answer your questions.



We should have a news article about it in the paper.



Thanks.

Meet in the pub lab and then we will all walk over together.

Portfolio pulling

Your portfolio pulling for first trimester should be done by tomorrow.


You should have selected your 3 best pieces of work from the first trimester.

You should reflect on each piece specifically discussing the following:

• what standards does this piece show you have mastered?


• what have you learned about yourself as a learner from this assignment?


• what do you still need to work on to make yourself a better learner for future assignments based on this assignment?


• how can you adjust your learning to get your needs met based on your experience with this assignment?


• how do the standards and skills used in this assignment connect to other assignments you have done in this class as well as other classes?

Cite examples from your work to support all of your answers to the above questions... write a narrative reflection for each piece. I will want to see your selections...

Moving forward, you will be expected to reflect on your work whenever you get work returned to you graded. It should always address the above information.

Due for tomorrow-

First drafts of feature articles are due tomorrow...

please include drafts and an outline of what you intend on writing if it is not finished...

who will you interview? where are you getting information from?

For Homework Tonight

Write a list of possible articles that we can generate from the Town Hall meeting today.



Think in terms of school news, feature/entertainment, opinion/editorial, or sports.



Make sure to read the packets given out and annotate. Which packet was most helpful? Post to this blog some of what you learned from the packets...

For tomorrow (12/3)

Make sure to bring your notebook to take notes on the town hall meeting
If you have a camera, bring it for the meeting

Make sure to email me your topic for your feature article if you haven't already.

Current Events Assignment #1

Select 1 article from the section you are writing in...

• If you are a news writer, then select a breaking news story from the A section of the newspaper...
• If you are a feature/entertainment writer select a part two story
• If you are an editorial/opinion writer select one of the same
• If you are a sports writer select a sports article

Mention - the by-line (author), what paper you got the article from (preferrably The New York Times), the section and don't forget to attach the article to your analysis. Make sure to highlight what you talk about in the article... be specific to the text.

Identify and analyze all of the following:

• headline
• lead
• any pictures/captions
• paragraph length
• diction (author's choices of words)
• direct/indirect quotes
• journalistic style
• balance of information

Make sure to reflect on the article -

• What does the content make you think about?
• What are you curious to know more about?
• What questions do you have?
• What did you notice about the style of writing that you can incorporate into your own writing?
• What did the writer do well? What could they have done better

2nd Trimester

All new work completed will be applied to the second trimester. I'm no longer accepting work for trimester 1 as my grades are due by the end of the week.

The first issue of the newspaper was sent to the printer today and will hopefully be in our hands by the end of the week... we were only 1 week off our original deadline.

I would like us to set some class goals for the second issue. Once we have the issue in our hands, we will be debriefing. I will ask you to take a copy home, read through the whole thing and mark it up... what did we do well, what do we need to improve?

any inconsistencies that you notice will also be necessary to notice... we will be discussing this in class... you will post to the blog the work you thought was done best and as a whole what we need to work on most.

On Friday, your first draft of your feature story will be due.
On Monday, your current events 1 for the 2nd trimester will be due.

In-Depth Reporting (Investigative Feature) Assignment – First draft due: December 12

You are a reporter sent to investigate important school matters. Each journalist will be assigned a different school matter.

Reporters will have to:
1. Interview at least 5 people related to your subject
2. Survey the class and other members of the school
3. get statements from at least 5 students not in class
4. Write an in-depth news report with the results of all of the above
5. Layout your story in indesign with appropriate charts, graphs, sidebars and/or images

Here are some suggested topics

1. school nutritional program
2. sports program
3. curriculum/scheduling
4. homework
5. uniform
6. discipline
7. school electronics policy
8. school media
9. channel 1
10. college board
11. after school activities
12. spirit week
13. lunch
14. inappropriate student behavior
15. student achievement
16. parental involvement
17. relationships with teachers
18. testing
19. college
20. careers related to journalism
21. portfolio assessment
22. school trips
23. a topic of your choosing that is approved by the teacher

Top 3 choices

1. ____________________________________
2. ____________________________________
3. ____________________________________

Selected topic:

5 people you plan to interview:

1. _____________________________________
2. _____________________________________
3. _____________________________________
4. _____________________________________
5. _____________________________________

Questions you plan on asking:

Investigative Feature or In-depth Reporting

As we begin our discussion of Feature, we are going to be discussing many different threads of feature writing:

7 kinds of feature
- straight feature
- interpretive feature
- personality feature
- interview feature
- brite
- news feature
- human interest story
entertainment feature
- reviews
- celebrity news

investigative feature - a more indepth research feature which requires deep understanding

Calendar for December -

In class, Ms. Livigni and I have made a calendar for the month of December. It has all due dates and topics we will be working on.
We start feature in class tomorrow. Please read the packet given out and be ready to start discussing features of feature...

How does feature differ from news?

Please start thinking about possible feature topics...