SotM story. Assigned 9/29, due 10/6 - MAJOR

For the rest of the class you will be working on your Student of the Month story. You will have until Friday to complete this assignment and to write in class. This will be due on Tuesday, October 6 by the end of class. You will also take a current events quiz that day.

You have interviewed someone in class and you should have your questions and answers already on your Google Doc. You were also already supposed to have your additional two interviews completed, remember we made these up. Those should also be on your Google Doc. A really good way to organize these "different" interviews is to color code them. Here is an example:

SAMPLE STORY DOC

On YOUR same Google Doc, either at the top or the bottom - start writing your story. You could label it with DRAFT, or even just write the words STORY. 

For this first effort, I want you to write a straight news lead, meaning you should try to tell me who, what, where, when and maybe the beginning of why or how in that first paragraph.

This can be really simple, just answer the following questions in the first paragraph:

Who:
What:
Where:
When:
Why:

or
How:

HINT: Make sure you use full names, make sure you do the quotations correctly, make sure you follow the format, and in general each sentence will be its own paragraph.

Here is the formula we will be using to write these "NEWS" stories:

LEAD - 5W's

Direct Quote - which goes with the lede
Statement - factual information about your subject - can be an indirect quote, but should be used sparingly
Direct Quote - which goes with the statement above
Statement - factual information about your subject - can be an indirect quote, but should be used sparingly
Direct Quote - which goes with the statement above
Statement - factual information about your subject - can be an indirect quote, but should be used sparingly
Direct Quote - which goes with the statement above
Etc
Etc

Statements are FACTS. These tell us something new about your subject. You should base these "facts" on a quote you have to go with your story, as they work together. Think about the inverted pyramid. Tell me the most important reasons your person won student of the month first, and slowly add less relevant reasons.

When you do your quote, we also use a very specific style. Please not the construction of that direct quote. Notice the punctuation. The quote structure will be EXACTLY the same every single time. Look at where the quotation marks are. Look at the attribution - it always starts with a title, then a full name and finishes with SAID. Once you introduce someone the first time, you can revert to just using their last name from then on. Finally, if you end up having people with the same last name in your story, I will  go over how to do that next class.

Here is an example of a quote:

"I think Dave was a perfect choice for student of them month," history teacher James Smith said. "He works hard in class and is a leader in JROTC and those really help him be a standout."

Your story needs to be at least 400 words and should be at least 10-12 paragraphs long.

HINT: Simple and concise are the best words to think about when you are writing. Is this simple, like so your little brother who is 12 could read it and understand it. And concise; meaning are the sentences and paragraphs short and to the point. Big words are fine, but use appropriate big words. Let your VERBS shine!!

You will be assigned a club or organization to write about soon, and at that time we will talk a little more about lead writing, specifically we will shift to a "narrative" lead and will add another paragraph between the lead and the first quote. We will cover that later.

Free Write Friday. Assigned 9/25, due 9/29 - MAJOR

 Today we are going to change things up a little. It's Friday. How about a free write?

Create a new Google Doc. Pick a prompt. Write. Share the Doc properly (so anyone with the link can view it) and put a clickable link on your Google Site (Using the Embed function) on a new subpage called Free Write #1. I don't need to edit this one, so you can just make it so I can VIEW it.

Here are the prompts - Pick ONE and write - lets say 400-500 words and complete the story.

There are no rules. Write a poem (or 3 - remember you need 400-500 words). Write a short story. Write an essay. Just start writing, and have fun.

Creative Writing Prompts if these help you!!

1. An alien has just abducted you. Give three reasons why it would send you back to earth and three reasons why you would beg to go with it. Explain fully each reason.

2. If you could talk to Mother Nature, what would you say and what would you talk about?

3. Do you believe in miracles? Have you or someone you know witnessed one?

4. Finish this sentence: "Life is short..."

5. How important do you think communication is in a relationship?

6. What do believe is your purpose in life?

7. Who is your rock? Why do you feel that way about them?

8. What global issues concern you?

9. How do you feel about superstitions? Do you have any?

10. Describe your perfect picnic? What's in your picnic basket?

11. If you could sit down with any outlaw or criminal (past or present), who would it be? Why? What would you ask them or talk to them about?

12. If you could boldly go where no man has gone, where would you go?

13. Create five new endings for this phrase" "Mirror, mirror on the wall" and fully develop one.

14. Describe each day of the week as food.

15. You have to give each room in your house or apartment a name. What are the names of each room, and how did you come up with those names?

16. Write a short rap song about yourself. Make sure it rhymes.

17. You are taking a lazy drive down scenic back roads. Describe your perfect car for the ride, and name the top five songs you would cruise to. Describe the location as well.

18. Name something you're afraid to try but really want to. What makes you afraid to try it?

19. If love could talk, what would it say?

20. Outline a "mission statement" for your life.

Student of the month interview. Assigned 9/24, due 9/25 - Minor

 Student of the Month Interview:

Today you are going to practice conducting an interview and taking notes. Get out your Chromebook and open your Google Doc with your Student of the Month questions. 

DO NOT CREATE A NEW DOC!!

I will pair you up with another student and you will interview them. Then we will rotate, and they will interview you. You need to take great notes, with the answers to your questions, but.....I want you to get to know your partner because interviews really should be conversations and you should take away more information about your subject than you would normally get from just your questions alone.

Good reporters record interviews, and take notes. If you come onto newspaper staff next year, you will have access to recorders. In some cases my students use their phones as well (outside of school). I always recommend that you take hand notes as well. Today you will be typing. Make sure you take your time and get lots of good notes. One word answers aren't good. One sentence answers are also not the best. You want multiple sentences answers for your questions. Ask your source to elaborate!!

Now, I know you are all very worthy of being student of the month, but you are going to have to pretend a little bit. You may even have to make some things up. Just go with it. This is practice and for a little bit of fun. So don't stress.

One thing I want you to do is to make sure you introduce your self and that you tell your interviewee that you are a member of the press. You can say you are from The Dispatch for today. Make sure they know you are asking them questions for publication purposes.

You will have about 15 minutes for each person. When you are finished, you will have the rest of the period to write the answer to your secondary sources interviews (remember these are all made up, so you can make these up).

Next class we will review LTQT and I will show you a sample story, but you still need some additional information:

Your story will need to be around 450 words, it should be in the proper LTQT style, your attributions should be in the correct format. You will have two full classes to work on this piece. I will provide examples and I will help you individually as needed to complete this assignment. I will also be walking around during the writing process to make sure you are working in LTQT style. You get to make up almost everything you want, EXCEPT the direct quotes you get from your partner. Those should be real.

Good luck and always, always take good notes!!!

Student of the Month Prep. Assigned 9/22, due 9/24 - Minor

 It is very important that you have the assignment below completed and SHARED PROPERLY on your Google Site by the end of the period.

Assignment #1, SotM questions:

Imagine you are working, as a reporter, for the school newspaper and your editor gives you the assignment to interview the student of the month.

1. Make a new Google Doc. 

2. Come up with 12-20 questions you might ask that person who won student of the month

3. Think of 2 other sources you might interview for this story.

4. Come up with 5-8 questions you would ask those other sources. These questions could be slightly different

5. Copy the link, MAKE SURE YOU SHARE CORRECTLY, and make that a clickable link on your Google Site on a new subpage called Student of the Month.

Next class you will be paired with someone to interview them for this fictitious award. You will ask them your questions and they will get a chance to play reporter and ask you their questions. You will record their answers on your Google Doc, and then start crafting a story about them. You will not be asked to interview additional sources, and you will be allowed to make up those other sources answers to your questions. We will talk about good Google Doc preparation next class.

WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED

You have today to make sure you are fully caught up with everything in Journalism 1.

You should have the following completed:

Funko Pop - Minor

Making a Google Site - MAJOR

About Me Slide - Minor

Current Events Quiz Practice - CE

Important People Slides - MAJOR

News Values - Minor

Media Literacy - Minor

Inverted Pyramid - Minor

LTQT - Minor

Inverted Pyramid AND LTQT. Assigned 9/17, due 9/22 - Minor AND Minor

Google Site Page 1 - Inverted Pyramid

The first thing I want you to do today is to go find a copy of the Inverted Pyramid, save the image and then created a new Google Site subpage and call it Inverted Pyramid. All you need to do is to a Google image search and find one you like. Remember this is about newspaper, more specifically hard news writing, so get something appropriate. Insert that image on your page. 

Now go and take a peek at this website and read just a little about what the inverted pyramid is all about.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/journalism_and_journalistic_writing/the_inverted_pyramid.html

Now make a new text box on the subpage called Inverted Pyramid and tell me in your own words why you think we would use the inverted pyramid style in a hard news story?

We are going to write our first set of stories using this story shape, meaning you will write in inverted pyramid style where the most important stuff is at the beginning and gradually tapers off. Please be aware that there are other story shapes and we will visit them in the future.

So now you know what kind of information you need to gather, it is important to learn the writing structure your stories will take. We call this formatting LTQT. Lead-transition-quote-transition.

Google Site Page 2 - LTQT

So let's go to this site and begin exploring how we are going to set up your first story. Make a new page on your site and title it LTQT. On that page, create a text box and answer the questions below.

https://www.uiltexas.org/files/academics/journalism/news-overview.pdf

First up Leads:

This are the first paragraph of your story and they are very important to grab the readers attention.

1. What are the three "good" leads to use?
2. Why are these types of leads better?

Now - direct Quotes:

3. What is a direct quote?
4. What do these quotes do?
5. What is the format of a direct quote? meaning how is it punctuated, you can just type in a quote in the correct format - steal from the presentation.
6. What is an attribution?
7. What form should it take?

Transitions:

8. What is a transition?
9. What are the three types of transitions?

Conclusion

10. Type in the checklist of 7 items you should always do when writing a news story
11. What are some pitfalls you might encounter?

News Values. Assigned 9/15, due 9/17 - Minor

We are going to begin our exploration of journalistic writing and style by examining the reasons a publication might choose to cover an event. Some experts have come up with a variety of reasons for this and from my experience, based on those experts research, I have come up with eight solid reasons to cover a story. Today we are going to learn about those eight, and to completely understand them, I want you to be able to pick out some stories to prove to me that you understand each reason.

Here are the reasons:

1. Timeliness - - the newness of the facts

2. Proximity - - the nearness of a given event to your place of publication

3. Prominence - - the "newsworthiness" of an individual, organization, or place.

4. Impact - - the effect of consequence of an event on the audience, or readers

5. Conflict - - the meeting of two or more opposing forces. These forces can be physical, emotional, or philosophical

6. Human Interest - - the drama that surrounds people involved in an emotional struggle

7. Novelty - - the attraction people have to unusual things and events

8. Currency - - topics that are trending in the news or on social media

Now here is your assignment:

Find eight stories that you believe are driven primarily by one of the news values listed above. You will need to copy and paste links to the stories in your Google Site. Follow the five steps listed below.

Title this Google Site subpage: News Values

1. Pick out a story you think meets one of the news values.
2. On your new subpage - type the name of that news value
3. Write a complete sentence or two explaining why you think the article is driven by that news value.
4. Type the headline of the article
5. Include a clickable link to the article's URL. To insert a clickable link on your Google Site, in the Insert pane, you will find the EMBED function, click that and paste the link. It will automatically create a text box with the link for me to see.

I will be going over these with you later in the period to make sure we are all on the same page. 

Here are some places you can start looking for stories. You are welcome to use other sources as well if you wish.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/index.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/

https://www.reuters.com/

Wall Street Journal

https://news.google.com/topstories?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

The above link will have "Local" stories. You can also use Google News, or search for your favorite local news organization to find stories.

I recommend:

The Austin Monitor

The Austin Chronicle

The Austin-American Statesman

Any reputable news source is fine. Soon we will be looking at Media Literacy to get a better idea of how to evaluate news sources for their validity.

Current Events Quiz Practice #1.1. Assigned 9/10 due 9/15 - CE

Current Events Quiz

Okay, let's do our first current events quiz. This one is a free one so you will all get a 100 on this one. You will have 45 minutes to work on this one today before I post new work, but usually I want you to get it done in about 30 minutes. In general, you do not have to read every word in a story. Look for the key words, and try to find the short answer questions quickly. It shouldn't take you long, maybe 1-2 minute each to find the answer. I will rarely ask you for information at the end of any given story. 

Try to leave at least 10 minutes to read and respond to the long response question. Again, you can skim read most articles to get the idea and then give me your opinions on what you read. Most of the long response topics are BIG, meaning they are things that are currently happening in the world. Things like the war in the Ukraine, the election cycle, the Iranian conflict, or other major issues in the news today.

You should have some ideas about these topics before you even read the article I share with you.

So here we go: I will use Google News to create this quiz. Google News is a repository of links to various news sources around the country. I will link the story I want you to read for each question I ask. For the first five questions you will need to click to that link and skim/read the story for the answer. This should be fast and painless. 

On your Google Site, please make a new subpage and title it: Current Events Practice. Answer the question below on that page. You are welcome to make multiple text boxes if that is easier, or if you want to work on just one text box, that is great. Whatever is best for you. Please be aware that if you copy and past the questions to your Google Site, it can create some formatting problems. I DO NOT NEED you to include the questions - just the answers.

Here is today's!!

1. Why were republicans in Missouri SPECIFICALLY trying to alter the congressional maps in the upcoming November elections? 

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/10/us-supreme-court-rejects-trump-backed-congressional-maps-in-midterms.html

2. What will a newly formed committed examine in their efforts to acquire some counties in New Mexico and adding them to the state of Texas?

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-house-panel-to-study-possibility-of-adding-new-mexico-counties/

3. How much is the cost of diesel fuel supposed to be in the coming days, according to the article?

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/10/iran-us-oil-hormuz-supply-trump-military-brent-wti.html

4. Why is Jimmy Kimmel not going to air an interview with Senatorial candidate James Talarico (from Texas) on is regular show and instead share the interview on YouTube?

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/10/abc-kimmel-talarico-fcc.html

5.  Who is going to win the big game between Texas and Ohio State and what will the final score be?

https://www.burntorangenation.com/texas-longhorns-football/104401/texas-longhorns-ohio-state-buckeyes-preview

Long Response:

Please read the following story and respond to the questions below. Please answer the question fully and always try to answer WHY. This section is the subjective section and I will penalize you if you write one word or short phrases for answers with an open-ended question. 

https://www.npr.org/2026/09/10/nx-s1-5964676/scientists-august-hottest

A. Briefly summarize the story in a sentence or two

B. How much hotter was the globe in August 2026 than pre-industrial levels, according to the article?

C. What impact does El Niño have on this situation?

D. What did the people quoted in the article think about the situation? Paraphrase and don't feel like you have to directly quote them or write 2-3-4 paragraphs, just summarize what they said in the story overall.

E. Explain your feelings about Climate Change? Do you believe in Climate change or not? 

F. What solutions do you think need to be instituted to address the rising heat across the globe? 

G. What are your feelings about how adults seem to be addressing this change, as a whole?

REMINDER - A single sentence isn't enough. I expect you to expand upon your writing. If you think you have written enough, you haven't, write more. Be sure to answer WHY you think something.