Journalism Summary 1/21/13

"It's all over but the shouting..."

Our final deadline for The Mosaic Monthly is upon us! All articles must be sent to me no later than midnight tonight -- Tuesday, January 22. We went around the room yesterday after our layout session and made sure everyone was aware of what articles and/or images they were responsible for sending. If anything remains unclear, questions should be asked TODAY!

I still need student fairy tales for our booklet -- I do not have everyone's yet. If I can manage to get everything together, I will have it printed up and distributed after the semester break.

Yesterday, we spent some time re-visiting what makes a great feature article. Many students had some problems with feature articles the first time around, so we're having another crack at it! Students closed their eyes and for five minutes envisioned the most interesting thing they have ever experienced. After the five minutes, we broke into groups of two and described our interesting experience to our partner for five minutes, without stopping. After stories were shared, we returned to our desks and wrote our stories, again without stopping, for five minutes. Stories are to be finished at home this week and brought in next Monday, where we will read them to our partners and go on to the next phase of the exercise. Hopefully, they will understand that feature writing is really just great newsworthy story telling in disguise!

Next week: J-Jargon Final Challenge! There may be a gift card prize involved for the winner.