Journalism 2025-26

Raisbeck Aviation High School
Eli Schwimmer | eli.schwimmer@highlineschools.org

Description of Course:
Journalism introduces students to the exciting world of print, online and broadcast media. This course is designed to teach the foundations of reporting, writing, editing, and publishing  journalism in a variety of styles and formats. Students will also learn to analyze news sources and develop their media literacy skills. Throughout the semester, students will work collaboratively to create original reporting. By the end of the class, students will have the opportunity to share their work publicly through videos, magazines, and social media posts. For best results, some out-of-class work time may be required. 

Essential Standards:

MA 1.1.i Creating: Use identified generative methods to formulate multiple ideas, develop

artistic goals, and problem solve in media arts creation processes.

 

MA 3.1.i Creating: Consolidate production processes to demonstrate deliberate choices in organizing and integrating content and stylistic conventions in media arts productions, demonstrating understanding of associated principles, such as emphasis and tone. 

 

CTE.21ST.01.A.3 Think Creatively: Elaborate, refine, analyze and evaluate their own ideas in order to improve and maximize creative efforts

 

CTE.21ST.02.D.1 Problem Solving: Solve different kinds of non-familiar problems in both conventional and innovative ways 

 

CTE.21ST.04.A.02: Evaluate information critically and competently

 

CTE.21ST.08.B.01: Monitor, define, prioritize and complete tasks without direct oversight

 

CTE.21ST.06.A.01: Use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information

Scope and Sequence of Units, Themes or Topics: 

Unit One: What is the news? 3 weeks (approximate)
Topics to cover: What does it? Why is news important? How do we write a news article? Where are news articles appropriate forms of writing? 

Key Vocab: Lead, Headline, Graf, Kicker, AP Style, Angle, News Value, Inverted Pyramid, Code of Ethics, Objectivity, 4th Estate, Freedom of the Press

 

Unit Two: The Feature Article and the Editorial - 3 weeks (approximate) 

Topics to cover: How do feature articles differ from news articles?  What sets editorials apart from other articles?   How do we effectively write feature articles and editorials? 

Key Vocab: Feature Article, Editorial, Opinion, AP Style, Credibility, Interview, Follow-Up, Human Interest, 

 

Unit Three: Analyzing Media - 3 weeks approximate

Topics to Cover: What is “Media Bias?” How do we analyze bias in the media?   What gives a journalist credibility? What makes a publication trustworthy? What trends are we seeing in the news media? How does money influence news coverage?  

Key Vocab: Code of ethics, Bias, Credibility, “In good taste”, Attribution, Objectivity, Viewership. 

 

Unit Four: Media Law - Approximately 3 weeks

Topics to Cover: The 1st Amendment, Landmark Supreme Court Cases, Law vs. Ethics

Key vocab: Ethics, Speech, Conflict of Interest, Editorializing, Anonymous Sources, On-The-Record vs. Off-The-Record, Disclosure, Plagiarism, Fact Checking, Right To Privacy

 

Unit Five: Editing, Design, Publishing - Approx 3 weeks

Topics: Students will use the skills they’ve learned in class to produce original works of journalism for publication and distribution.  

 

Required Materials:

Laptop, Charger, Pen, Pencil, Notebook.

Student Classroom Expectations:

Students are expected to attend class, be punctual, and to conduct themselves in a respectful manner that is conducive to our class community and learning goals. They are also expected to use shared school equipment (cameras, memory cards, lights, etc.) safely and responsibly.  

 

It is the expectation that students fully engage in our learning community and complete all assignments as part of individual and collective learning. Please contact me if you need additional time to complete work or need support to engage in our learning community. If you struggle to complete work and engage in our learning community, I will schedule a meeting with your family to discuss concerns and identify ways to support your learning. 

RAHS provides a lunch time period for students to eat. Therefore, lunches must be consumed during the lunch period only. If you find that you missed lunch for some reason, communicate this to your teacher and consume your food in the lunchroom before returning to class. If you get breakfast in the mornings, you should also finish eating prior to the start of class.  Other snacks may be allowed in the classroom if OK’d by the teacher and only when it is not near computers or in a lab setting. Water is always OK. 

RAHS School-Wide Cell Phone Policy:

• Cell phones must be silenced and put away during all class times. Teachers may require phones to be placed in a pocket chart or basket, or put away in your backpack.
• Students may not wear headphones or earbuds of any type during class time.
• Headphones may not be worn during “quiet time” in class, during independent work or while working as a class TA. 
• Cell phones or other digital devices may not be used during bathroom breaks.
• Students may use phones and/or headphones only before and after school, between classes and at lunch, or with the express permission of their teacher for a school related activity.
• Students will always be able to call home from the office if needed.

Standards-Based Grading:

Grades are a reflection of student learning and communicate to the student and family, their progress towards mastery of content skills. Student work is scored on rubrics for the content standards we are learning. Students demonstrate learning through assignments, activities and assessments. In the gradebook, these are described as:

• Formative Assessments or Assignment: Measures students’  understanding during a learning experience and allows for teachers to give feedback to students to inform and allow for growth
• Summative Assessments: Measures understanding after a learning experience is complete, and demonstrates the students knowledge and learning of a standard
• Reassessments (May be listed as optional): Measures understanding after more learning (see below)

Learn more: highlineschools.org/grading

Grading and Reassessment Policy:

(Include class policies as well as school-wide, TBD during DID). May include such items as listed below)

• Formative assessments are required because they help you practice skills and give you feedback on your learning before the summative assessment. 
• All formative assessments must be completed before a reassessment on summative assessment. 
• The most recent scores of formative or summative assessments are used to calculate your grade. Formative assessments you complete early in the semester provide you with feedback on your learning and guide you on how to improve your grade.
• Continued learning is necessary and always encouraged when you do not yet show proficiency in a standard. I will share reassessment opportunities for you to improve your grade. 
• Before you reassess, please talk with me about your plan and complete the required relearning.
• You can reassess up to 2 weeks after the unit is complete, except in the case of a semester end
• All formative assessments must be completed before a reassessment on a summative can occur. 
• Please complete a reassessment request to demonstrate you have gained NEW learning since the last summative assessment. 

Late Work and Missing Work:

In order to achieve success in school and in life, it is imperative that students practice and participate in all learning activities. While there may not be a specific grade attached to a “homework” assignment, all work assigned to students holds value in helping students achieve comprehension at a high level. If students fail to complete work or turn in assignments, teachers can not adequately assess where students may need to improve. The benefit of a standards based grading system is that a student, their parents and the teacher, can see students' growth towards a standard and ensure the student is ready for the summative assessment. 

• All late work or missing assignments will be counted as a “0” score (missing) until the student turns in the work.
• Students will have up to 2 weeks to turn in missing assignments.
• No missing assignments will be accepted or scored in the last week prior to the end of a grading period (quarter or semester) 
• Late work will not be docked points, but could negatively impact overall grades if the teacher does not have the opportunity to help the student improve.

Grades:

In StudentVue and ParentVue, the most recent scores for essential standards are averaged and generate a letter grade based on this scale*:

Grade	Average	Description
A	4.0-3.2	Student is meeting most standards and exceeding on some.
B	3.19-2.4	Student is meeting most standards and may be approaching or exceeding on some.
C	2.39-1.6	Student is approaching on most standards and may be beginning or meeting on some.
D	1.59-0.8	Student is beginning on most standards and may be approaching on some.
NC	0.79-0.00	Student has not yet demonstrated learning on most standards and may be beginning in some. In high school, the NC does not earn credit for a course.
P	Pass	The P grade is used in Advisory and indicates participation in advisory activities.

*These are general descriptions and there may be exceptions.

Academic Honesty Policy: 

We take academic honesty seriously. You are expected to maintain the highest levels of integrity. It is important that we can assess what you know and can do independently so that we can accurately support your learning. Here are guidelines that ensure that you are upholding academic honesty:

• Do your own work: Do not  copy or plagiarize someone else's work, including text, images or ideas. Strive to produce original work that represents your own thoughts and ideas.

• Give credit: If you use a source such as a book, article, website or generative AI, you must give appropriate credit. Include a citation that clearly identifies the source of your information. 

 

Failure to uphold academic honesty will be addressed and corrected, including but not limited to re-doing the assignment and family conferences. Academic honesty ensures you are learning and growing in the most effective way possible. 

 

Use of AI

AI assistants are tools that support your thinking, NOT replace it. The work you submit for this class must be your own. NEVER copy directly from an AI service. If you can’t defend or explain every part of your work it is not your own. It is a violation of policy to represent work you did not do as your own. Work generated by an AI system that is not credited to that system falls under that policy and will be graded and disciplined accordingly.