Journalism Writing Assignment 1: COVID at HIGHLAND

BACKGROUND:

Students need ongoing practice to be able to demonstrate their capabilities in Journalism before returnining on to yearbook page assignments. Journalism students will be completing a series of research papers that will allow them to practice their interview and writing skills.

THE TOPIC: This year is unprecedented in the impact of the Coronavirus on our school and our community. We will be putting together a Yearbook page that discusses this impact for this school year. With this in mind, Journalism students will do some research into the virus and will interview others as to their opinions on the subject..

THE QUESTIONS: Journalism students will need to research and answer the following questions in the paper:

  1. What is COVID-19? Where did it start? How does it effect people? (Think of this as an INTRO paragraph that outlines the issue for the reader!)
  2. What is happening RIGHT NOW with regards to COVID-19 in Colorado? Are the cases going up? Down? Is there are vaccine coming?)
  3. What changes have been made at Highland to allow students to attend school in person this fall? Are there schools in our area (Northern Colorado) that are NOT attending school in person? What are they doing? DESCRIBE.
  4. What effect has COVID-19 had on SPORTS at Highland? Describe.
  5. CONDUCT INTERVIEWS WITH AT LEAST THREE STUDENTS AND TWO TEACHERS- Ask the following questions:
    • Are you worried about catching COVID-19?
    • Have you changed any of your own behavior because of COVID-19?
    • What do you think the rest of the school year will look like as we go into the winter with COVID-19 cases on the rise?

THE ARTICLE:

Please follow this outline for your article:

  1. Opening paragraph: Introduction regarding COVID-19, what it is and how it effects people.
  2. Paragraph 2: How has Highland changed and adapted to allow school to remain open with COVID-19? What about other schools?
  3. Paragraph 3: How has sports changed at Highland this year due to COVID-19?
  4. Paragraphs 4-5: Relate specifics from your interviews with students and teachers as to their reactions to COVID-19.
  5. Paragraphs 7: Conclusion and wrap-up. Summarize your findings and your interviews and make a generalization about the rest of the year at Highland High School with regards to COVID-19.

THE REQUIREMENTS:

  1. Article will be written in Google Docs and shared with Mr. B. Articles will be double space, 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
  2. Article will be a minimum of 7 paragraphs in length (see above).
  3. Papers that do not meet the above minimal requirements will not be accepted. Late work will not be accepted.

YEARBOOK USAGE: This story will be used as the text and story for the COVID-19 page in this year's Yearbook.

DUE DATE: This story needs to be completed and forwarded to Mr. B. for grading by the end of the day on November 16th. Students that receive an A or B (80 percent or better) on this project will be asked to return to Yearbook assignments. Students that receive an 79 percent or lower on this assignment will have another writing assignment next week.

GRADING:

  • Writing, grammar and spelling= 20 pts.
  • Strong evidence of research and interviews as required above= 50 points.
  • All requirements of page met, as outlined above= 30 Points.

A NOTE ABOUT YEARBOOK ACTIVITIES:  Participation in this project does not exempt the student from other Yearbook duties such as photographing, writing, business ad sales or any other class requirements.