Course Standards
General Course Information and Notes
Version Description
The purpose of this course is to enable students to develop fundamental skills in the production of journalism across print, multimedia, web, and broadcast/radio platforms and to become aware of journalism history, careers, ethics use, and management techniques related to the production of journalistic media. Some activities may be required outside of the school day.
General Notes
Instructional Practices: Teaching from well-written, grade-level instructional materials enhances students' content area knowledge and also strengthens their ability to comprehend longer, complex reading passages on any topic for any purpose. Using the following instructional practices also helps student learning.
- Reading assignments from longer text passages, as well as shorter ones when text is extremely complex.
- Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
- Asking high-level, text-specific questions and requiring high-level, complex tasks and assignments.
- Requiring students to support answers with evidence from the text.
- Providing extensive text-based research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).
English Language Development ELD Standards Special Notes Section:
Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English language learners (ELL) to communicate information, ideas and concepts for academic success in the content area of Language Arts. For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success. The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL’s need for communication and social skills. To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link: http://www.cpalms.org/uploads/docs/standards/eld/la.pdf.
Version Requirements
The content should include, but not be limited to, the following:
- demonstrating entry-level skills in telling stories and providing reports and choosing appropriate platforms/mediums of print, multimedia, online, and broadcast/radio
- demonstrating fundamental skills in layout design, organization/management skills, and use of technology for the successful production of journalistic media
- using fundamental research skills and networking formats collaboration amongst peers, especially during the drafting and practicing stages
- demonstrating awareness of the varied careers within the multiple formats of 21st century journalism
General Information
Educator Certifications
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorials
Investigate essential and nonessential elements in a sentence. In Part Two of this two-part series, you'll learn about essential and nonessential phrases and clauses and how to use commas with nonessential phrases and clauses in a sentence.
Please complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch Part One.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Investigate essential and nonessential elements in a sentence in this two-part, interactive tutorial series. In Part One, you'll learn about appositives and how to use commas with appositives when they provide nonessential information in a sentence.
When you're done, make sure to complete Part Two. Click HERE to launch Part Two.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Investigate a mysterious punctuation mark--the dash--in this interactive, two-part tutorial. In this series, you'll learn about two types of dashes and their different uses. In Part Two, you'll learn about the em dash and practice using it correctly.
We recommend that you complete Part One first! Click HERE to launch Part One.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Investigate a mysterious punctuation mark--the dash--in this interactive, two-part tutorial. In this series, you'll learn about two types of dashes and their different uses. In Part One, you'll learn about the en dash and practice using it correctly. In Part Two, you'll learn about the em dash and practice using it correctly. We hope by the end of this series that the dash will no longer be quite so mysterious!
Make sure to complete Part Two! Click HERE to launch Part Two.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Check out a mysterious punctuation mark . . . the ellipsis . . . in this interactive, English Language Arts tutorial. You'll learn a number of different uses for the ellipsis and apply what you learn to practice using the ellipsis correctly.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Don't be mystified by commas! This interactive tutorial will help you better understand how to correctly use this often mysterious punctuation mark. You'll learn several ways commas are commonly misused to help make sure you don't make these same mistakes in your own writing. Then, you'll learn several ways to correctly use a comma.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Check out a mysterious punctuation mark--the apostrophe--in this interactive tutorial. You'll learn several important rules and guidelines to help you demystify this punctuation mark so you can use it correctly in your own writing.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn a number of important rules that will help you master the mysterious comma. In this interactive tutorial, you'll learn how commas are used to separate three or more items in a series and to “set off” certain aspects of a sentence.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn 12 new academic vocabulary terms in this interactive tutorial! You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost and learn about denotation and connotation. In this interactive tutorial, you will examine the impact of word choice on the meaning of a poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to recognize and fix one of the most common grammar errors—the run-on sentence—as you complete this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Take a crash course to learn the rules of capitalization in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn 12 new academic vocabulary terms in this interactive tutorial! You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn 12 new academic vocabulary terms in this interactive tutorial! You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn 12 new academic vocabulary terms using synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to identify and understand themes in poetry in this interactive tutorial. This skill will bolster your ability to read and analyze poetry, and along the way you will read several classic poems and learn about diction and imagery.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to distinguish sentence fragments from simple sentences in this African safari-themed, interactive tutorial. You will also learn the difference between adjectives and adverbs and how you can use them to make your writing more interesting.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Review common uses of the comma and learn how it can be properly used to set off nonrestrictive elements--like phrases and words--in a sentence. This interactive tutorial will also give you the chance to complete practice activities to check your understanding.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how writers and speakers create arguments by stating a claim and backing it up with reasons and evidence. In this interactive tutorial, you'll hear speeches from candidates for Student Council President and complete practice exercises.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn the differences between informative and argumentative writing and how to organize your informative writing to make it more effective as you complete this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to evaluate argumentative claims based on evidence with this interactive tutorial. You'll also learn about statistics, facts, expert quotations, and anecdotes, and how each kind of evidence can strengthen an argument.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
In this interactive tutorial, you'll study written arguments and look at four kinds of evidence that can be used to support an argumentative claim: facts, statistics, anecdotes, and expert quotations.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to write the exposition of a story and build characters, setting, conflict, and more using the power of your imagination in this interactive tutorial!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to find the meanings of "mysterious" words by analyzing context clues, word roots, prefixes, and suffixes in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to identify explicit evidence and understand implicit meaning in a text…
This tutorial is about stating a claim in an argumentative essay. The tutorial includes information about grabbers, central ideas, and previewing reasons in a claim.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to summarize a story based on its details, determine a story's theme, and understand the differences between the two in this detective-themed, interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to determine the meaning of figures of speech, like similes and metaphors, that authors use in poetry. You will also be able to analyze how these word choices reveal an author’s tone, or attitude, in a poem. You will also be able to analyze how these word choices reveal an author’s tone, or attitude, in a poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Better understand pronouns and how they are used. You'll also learn how to use two of the most commonly confused pronouns - who and whom. You will need to bring your A-game for this basketball-themed, interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Tutorials
Use this interactive tutorial to explore how to select print resources for a research assignment. The tutorial demonstrates tips on how to evaluate the author, select images, and use text features to gather information prior to writing. To get started, click on the Go to Demo arrow to learn more about these tips, then select the Try It arrow to download a worksheet that will allow you to use these tips on your own project.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice using commas correctly in sentences. For each practice item, you must use commas in a sentence only where appropriate. After every response, you will get immediate feedback.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice using commas correctly in sentences. For each practice item, you must use commas in a sentence only where appropriate. After every response, you will get immediate feedback.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice fixing comma errors in sentences. For each practice item, you must select the best choice to revise a sentence so that it uses commas correctly. After every response, you will get immediate feedback.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice fixing comma errors in sentences. For each practice item, you must correct the comma error in a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. The site also provides an explanation of the rules of proper sentence structure for you to study, simply click the hyperlinked "Comma Tip” that appears with feedback.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: whose and who’s. For each practice item, you must type the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: its and it’s. For each practice item, you must choose the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: its and it’s. For each practice item, you must type the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: lose and loose. For each practice item, you must choose the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: lose and loose. For each practice item, you must type the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: loss and lost. For each practice item, you must type the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: who and whom. For each practice item, you must choose the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: who and whom. For each practice item, you must type the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: whoever and whomever. For each practice item, you must type the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with three words that are commonly misused: to, too, and two. For each practice item, you must choose the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with three words that are commonly misused: to, too, and two. For each practice item, you must type the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two irregular verbs that are commonly misused: lie and lay. For each practice item, you must select the correct irregular verb and its appropriate tense to complete a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are also provided. There's also an explanation of the rules for using these irregular verbs; simply click the hyperlinked word "rules."
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with two words that are commonly misused: whose and who’s. For each practice item, you must choose the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with three words that are commonly misused: their, they’re, and there. For each practice item, you must type the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice with three words that are commonly misused: their, they’re, and there. For each practice item, you must choose the appropriate word to complete the sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
Determining the correct pronoun case--subjective, objective, or possessive--in writing can be confusing because we often hear people speaking incorrectly. This tutorial will help you review the correct usage of pronouns and then provide you with two short quizzes as practice.
Type: Tutorial
Use this interactive tutorial to improve your expository writing skills. This tutorial asks you questions about the qualities of expository writing and provides feedback on your responses. Finally, you will write a short paragraph and judge your own writing using the tutorial's criteria for effective expository writing.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun case. For each practice item, you must select the correct pronoun case to complete a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun case. For each practice item, you must select the correct pronoun case to complete a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun case. For each practice item, you must select the correct pronoun case to complete a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun case. For each practice item, you must select the correct pronoun case to complete a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun case. For each practice item, you must select the correct pronoun case to complete a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun reference. For each practice item, you must determine whether or not a sentence contains a pronoun reference error. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun case. For each practice item, you must select the correct pronoun case to complete a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
In this tutorial you will practice using supporting details. Each practice gives you a main idea and three possible details. Your job is to choose the detail that best supports the main idea. Each question gives you feedback on why your answer is correct or incorrect.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun reference. For each practice item, you must identify and revise pronoun reference errors in a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word or words to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun reference. For each practice item, you must revise a sentence that contains a pronoun reference error. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word or words to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun reference. For each practice item, you must determine whether or not a sentence contains a pronoun reference error. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in recognizing pronoun reference. For each practice item, you must identify and revise pronoun reference errors in a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are provided at the top of the screen. If you don’t know which word or words to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in correcting sentence fragments. For each practice item, you must select the best choice to correct a fragment in a short passage. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are also provided. There's also an explanation of the rules of proper sentence structure for you to study, simply click the hyperlinked word "rules."
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in correcting sentence fragments. For each practice item, you must select the best choice to correct a fragment in a short passage. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are also provided. There's also an explanation of the rules of proper sentence structure for you to study, simply click the hyperlinked word "rules."
Type: Tutorial
This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in correcting sentence fragments. For each practice item, you must select the best choice to correct a fragment in a short passage. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are also provided. There's also an explanation of the rules of proper sentence structure for you to study, simply click the hyperlinked word "rules."
Type: Tutorial