Newspaper Production Curriculum: Advanced Multimedia Communications

It can be terrifying to hear that you have been assigned to teach the student newspaper (or any student media) class, whether you're a new teacher or an experienced teacher who has never done it before. It can also be frustrating to try to explain to administrators what actually goes on in a typical media production class. This document lays it all out. It can either be used as a guide for teachers or as a curriculum/proposal for administrators.

I have advised student media (print newspaper, online news, and broadcast) for 25+ years. Several years ago, our district updated the curriculum. This was the proposal I wrote, which is essentially the process I have refined over my years teaching production courses. It outlines in detail what students will do in each of the six steps of what I call the "Production Cycle": gathering and pitching story ideas, conducting background research, reporting, writing/editing, publishing, and reflecting/self-evaluating. In addition, there is brief information about expectations for students to participate in revenue generation activities (aka selling ads!).

This is a curriculum proposal for a year-long high school course. It includes a course overview (for a course catalogue), an overview of each stage in the production cycle, and a CCSS alignment grid for each part of the production cycle. It is a fully editable Word Doc so that you can tailor it to your needs.

This curriculum is a proposal/guide that assumes students have had introductory instruction in basic journalistic writing and design. It does not include mini-lessons I used for review of skills (these should be coming to my store soon!), nor does it include rubrics or a sample production schedule. However, I do have a 5 Essential Rubrics bundle that does include a sample schedule in my store at this link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/5-Scholastic-Journalism-Rubrics-BUNDLE-3283976

Following this curriculum would provide students extensive practice in all ELA CCSS standards, except the reading literature standards.