• Journalism Syllabus 

    Ms. Danielle Altringer 

    South Aiken High School 

     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

    Remind: #81010  

    Code: @sahsjourn 

     
     
     
     
     

     

     

    Course Objective: 

    The Journalism course is designed to teach students the various forms of journalism, application and analysis of media, as well as writing skills. Students will engage in multiple forms of media, with a strong focus in newspaper writing. This course develops the school newspaper, Secretariat, and students are expected to contribute articles to the production of the paper.    

    Materials: 

    • 3-ring binder 

    • Pencils/Pens 

    • Laptop and charger daily 

    Grading System: 

    • 60% Summative assessments (tests, projects, presentations, etc.)? 

    • 40% Formative assessments (daily work, newspaper articles, quizzes, participation, etc.)? 

    • All accurate grades are in PowerSchool.? 

     

    Units of Study: 

    • Bell Work: Current Event / Today’s News  

    • Weekly Assignments: Newspaper Production and Unit Assignments 

    • Students will write one newspaper article per week 

     
     
     
     
     
     

    1 

     
     
     
     
     

    Introduction 

     
     
     
     
     
    • Anatomy of a Newspaper Activity 

    • AP Style Guide Handbook and Quizzes 

    • Headlines Activity 

    • Informational Graphics Activity 

     
     
     
     
     

    2 

     
     
     
     

    Ethics and Legalities 

     
     
     
     
    • Student Press Law 

    • Freedom of the Press 

    • Libel Law and Fake News 

    • Confirmation Bias 

    • Copyright 

     
     
     
     
     

    3 

     
     
     
     

    Feature Writing 

    Op-Ed/Opinion Writing 

    Sports Writing 

     
     
     
     
    • Personal Profile Project 

    • Feature Story Assignment 

    • Sports Writing  

    • Game Story 

    • Feature Story 

    • Column Story 

     
     
     
     
     

    4 

     
     
     
     

    Podcast/Multimedia 

    Investigative Journalism 

     
     
     
     
    • Serial 

    • Podcast Project 

    • Current Events Project  

     
     
     
     
     

    5 

     
     
     
     

    Review Writing 

     
     
     
     
    • Film Review 

    • Food Review 

    • Book Review 

    • Product Review 

     
     
     
     
     

    6 

     
     
     
     

    Careers in Journalism 

     
     
     
     
    • Career in Journalism Presentation 

     

    Field Trips: Information will be provided soon. 

    • Aiken Standard 

    • Restaurant for Food Review 

    Tardy Policy: You will be marked tardy if you are not in the classroom when the bell rings, NO exceptions.? 

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    Redo/Retake Policy: Students who receive a grade of 69 or below on a summative assessment will be allowed one opportunity to redo/retake the assessment only after remediation or re-teaching takes place. Teachers have the discretion to re-administer any assessment.? 

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    Make Up Work: Students are responsible for making up any work missed during their absences from school.? It is the student’s responsibility to arrange for assignments to be made up once they return to school. Students will be given the amount of days missed to complete the assignment(s), as per Student Handbook guidelines. If you are absent for a major assignment, you will only be able to make this up if the absence is excused. If you are absent, I will place any handouts or worksheets in the Absent Bin. All other work is cataloged in Schoology.? 

     

    Late Work: I accept late work for partial credit. All late work must be submitted within 5 days of the assignment being due, with exceptions to summative assignments having no late submission period. Late work will receive an automatic 20% deduction. Late work submitted after 5 days will be for no more than 50% credit.? 

     

    ARTICLES FOR THE NEWSPAPER WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED LATE AND WILL EARN A ZERO. 

     

    Cheating:? Cheating, on any type of assignment, will result in a zero, parent contact, and an administrative referral.? Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the following infractions: (a) copying off of someone’s paper, whether in or out of class, (b) sharing assessment questions or answers with other students, (c) sharing your work with other students, (d) using materials from other sources such as books, encyclopedias, or the Internet when the assignment is expected to be the original work of the student, (e) any kind of plagiarism ie. including the use of another source without properly citing it or copying and pasting from the internet, (f) any use of Artificial Intelligence writing software.? Copying and pasting answers is strictly forbidden. A detailed overview of this policy can be found in the student handbook.?