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.

Media Literacy. Assigned 9/8, due 9/10 - Minor

   Now on to Media Literacy

 It's time we looked at one of these charts:

Here is a direct link to the chart above. There is an interactive version. I am not vouching for the validity of this chart, but it is a starting point for a discussion on Media Literacy and Media Bias.

https://www.adfontesmedia.com

On your blog please complete the following tasks, using the chart above:

1. List 3 sources that are comprised of mostly original fact reporting and are as neutral as possible.
2. List 3 sources that are mostly analysis and slant liberal
3. List 3 sources that are mostly analysis and slant conservative
4. List 2 liberal and 2 conservative sources that show extreme partisan bias

So part of this discussion and its relationship to our class is how we look at our sources for The Dispatch. You can kind of look at these ideas in three distinct ways:

Opinions
Facts
Informed Opinions

Take a look at this comparison between facts and opinions:

https://pressbooks.pub/irwlevel1/chapter/distinguishing-between-facts-and-opinions/

Now look at this interpretation of an informed opinion:

https://alinacfisher.ca/2018/02/06/informed-opinion/

In your own words please come up with your own definition:

5. Facts
6. Opinions
7. Informed Opinions

Okay, so hopefully you have an idea of these three concepts. Now let's apply them to picking sources.

8. Where might you find facts when writing for The Dispatch?
9. Who might provide Informed Opinions on any specific story you might write?
10. How might opinions creep into your writing?
11. What specific words could cue you in that you are writing an opinion when you self edit?

To get back to media literacy, it is also important to define what the role of the media is supposed to be in the United States. That role has been the subject of much discussion the past two years, but it is clear the founding fathers took the role of the press seriously. We only have to look at one document to determine this; the Constitution. Here is a link to the Bill of Rights:

https://www.ushistory.org/us/18a.asp

12. Which amendment specifics the rights of the press?
13. What does that amendment say directly?

Now lets look at some more modern interpretations about that role today:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11tJjkP0Xjecc4tNJLglR_twb7ysUK83CsloRkyOqKJk/edit?usp=sharing

14. In your own words - what do you think the purpose of the media/journalism is in today's world?

Of course this is a touchy subject right now, and there will be more in the future about why journalism is important to our way of life, to democracy in general. As a former journalists and someone who teaches journalism, I cannot help but being slightly biased here to say that journalists are a valuable part of our society and you have joined a program where you will be a working reporter very soon. You are part of the team now.

Finally, let's take our last look at how the media handled a specific event, the verdict in the trial of Paul Manafort from a couple of years ago. He was the former campaign manager for former President Donald Trump.

Take a peek at these four links.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-russia-manafort/former-trump-campaign-chairman-manafort-convicted-on-eight-of-18-charges-idUSKCN1L60WU

For the record the link below was the original story publish around 24 hours after the verdict was reached. It has since been pulled down by Fox News. Notice that it is the only story about the event that no longer works. Can you think of reasons why a news agency would decide to remove a story? I bet you can think of a few.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/21/jury-announces-partial-verdict-in-manafort-trial-cannot-decide-on-several-counts.html

I did some searching using the information in the URL above (Fox News August 21 Manafort verdict was the direct search I did) and found this story. It does have the correct date and it also has an updated date of August 22). I do not know what happened to the original story. Here is what I found:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/paul-manafort-trial-tested-mueller-trump-what-to-know-about-the-case

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/paul-manafort-convicted-by-jury-on-bank-and-tax-fraud-charges-mistrial-declared-on-10-counts

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/23/641359637/u-s-media-is-divided-on-its-coverage-of-the-cohen-plea-and-manafort-verdict

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/21/640537446/paul-manafort-jury-asks-for-instructions-about-consensus-on-1-charge


15. What did you notice about the headlines of the three articles?
16. Do you think the bias of certain media outlets is evident based on what you saw?
17. Why do you think Fox news and Brietbart chose to cover other things on the front of their websites?
18. Do you think all media should treat coverage the same?
19. Is it okay from some media outlets to be slanted towards one side or the other, as long as people know it before they click on that site?
20. Is there any reason to click on a media sources that doesn't report the news the way you want?


Now that you have completed those tasks, here is how many interpreted the conservative media's coverage of the Manafort decision:

https://mashable.com/2018/08/21/fox-news-manafort-cohen-meme/#3n25G.4GOaq3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/22/how-right-wing-media-dealt-with-a-devastating-day-for-trump/

Let's leave off this discussion with one final point:

21. How do you think the media can accurately report on what is happening in our world?

More to come in the future on this topic.