SIS Tiger News Website

How can we use media for the good of our society and community? Project Overview
Students will work in news teams of up to 5 students to seek out stories and publish them on the SIS Tiger News website. Each story that gets published is worth a certain point value, which will be divided up among the group members. Groups DO NOT need to stick together for every news story. This is a month long unit, so mixing and changing group members or working on multiple projects at the same time is highly encouraged. But be fast! If another news team claims a story topic, no one else can cover that topic!

Each Story should have: 1 Video, 1 print article, and 1-3 photos Steps in Publishing a story:
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Write a story proposal form and submit it to an editor If the editor chooses to take your story, he/she will submit the story proposal to your Comms teacher If the proposal is approved, you can start working on putting your news story together Edit and revise your story to publishable quality Submit all parts of your story to an editor The editor should check all parts for quality and either: a. Give it back to you with specific instructions on how to improve b. Approve of your story and submit all parts together to your Comms teacher for approval Your Comms teacher will check all parts for quality and either: a. Deny publication and send the story back to the editor with specific instructions on how it needs to be fixed. Any denied story will lose 10% of its original point value each time that it is denied by your Comms teacher. Teams should fix their story and resubmit to their editor again. If a team submits a story that gets turned down three times by your Comms teacher for low quality or poor proof-reading, the story will be cancelled and the proposal will be taken down. b. Approve Publication and ask the editor to send story materials to the web designer to be published on the website. The students who worked on the story will submit a Publication Form to claim their points (only published stories will receive points).

* Note: Any student who receives more than 2000 points will not earn extra credit, but will be automatically entered into the competition for the Top Freelance Journalist Award.

Point Scale 2000 = 200 in gradebook 2000 points = 100% 1720 - 1880 points = 86 94% 1540 1720 points = 77 86% 1400 1540 points = 70 77%

Point Values

800 points Video using 90% or more original footage 1 - 2 minutes 600 points Video that combines Internet photos and videos with original footage 1-2 minutes 75 points Each Internet photo with your own original caption and link citation 200 points Each original photo with caption 20 30 words 400 points - Print 250 - 350 words 300 points - Print 150 - 250 words

Time Bonus

1000 Deadline 1 (Monday April 24/25, 3:15pm) 750 Deadline 2 (Tuesday May 1/2, 3:15pm) 500 Deadline 3 (Tuesday May 15/16, 3:15pm) Final Deadline (Tuesday May 29/30, 3:15pm)

Tiger News Awards: Top Editor, Top Web Designer, Top Freelance Journalist, Best Interview, Best Story, Best Video

SIS Tiger News Roles

Freelance positions will earn points when their stories are published. Teams can decide how to divide their total story points among group members when
they write their proposals; points dont necessarily need to be divided based on the point values of each component. Videographer: The videographer films and edits video material using a flip camera or personal camera and iMovie. Reporter (Anchor/Field/Interviewer): Depending on the type of story, the reporter will write interview questions, set up interviews and prepare scripts. They will conduct the interview/report on the scene and in front of the camera, then work with the other members to put the story together. Journalist: Journalists are writers who research information from multiple sources and summarize it into printed news reports. This is a job that can be combined with the job of a reporter. Photographer: When possible, photographers are at the scene of a report/interview taking pictures. When that is not possible, they find relevant photos from the Internet and cite their sources. They are in charge of writing original captions for each photo.

Staff Positions will earn a salary for their work and additional points for each task they complete. These jobs are limited and students must apply/interview.
Editor: The editors job is to help teams get their stories published. Editors will help teams find story ideas and write proposals. After teams have completed their stories, the editors will collect all of the parts and check them for quality/proof reading. When a story is approved by your Comms teacher, the editors will make sure that all parts of the story are given to the web designer to be published on the website. - Editors earn a salary of 1000 points, and an additional 100 for every story they get published, plus a 10% bonus for helping teams earn time bonuses (Example: if a team gets a 750 Time Bonus the editor will earn an additional 75 bonus points). - Editors can have up to four active stories under their supervision at one time. - To be an editor, a student must have scored over 90% on the Mock Trial and Poetry Analysis essays. - Editors can work on freelance projects also, if they wish to earn points beyond their salary, but they always need to put their editor duties first. - Applicants must show their essay rubrics to your Comms teacher in a short interview on April 19th/22nd (3-4 per class). Website Designer: The website designer adds news stories to the class webpage and keeps the website looking professional. - The website designer will earn a salary of 800 points and an additional 50 points for each news story that they add to the website. - Web designers should work on freelance projects to earn points beyond their salary, but must always put their website design duties first. - Applicants must show a Weebly website to your Comms teacher in a short interview on April 19th/22nd (1 per class). * Note: A couple good websites for sending and sharing large files are toobigforemail.com and dropcanvas.com

Global Issues: 25 Stories Research a current global issue/event. In your own words, create a summary of the issue/event and your stance on what needs to be done about it. Include an attention-getting title, names of the news team members involved and links to all internet sources where you found information about your global issue (you must have at least 2 in-text links in your article). And remember to cite all quotes, videos and images that are not yours. Farewell Teacher: Limited to the amount of departing teachers Interview a departing teacher about their plans for next year (Mr. Faulkner, Ms. Brown, Mrs. Nelson, Ms. Segal, etc). A full list of all departing teachers will be made available when the project begins. Summarize your findings in a report that gives a loving farewell to the teacher. What I learned: 15 Stories Reflect on one of the projects that you did in middle school, which was memorable for you. Summarize which topic and subject your were learning and what made it so memorable, focusing on what you learned and how. SIS related after-school activities, sports, specials and elective classes CAN be covered too. (Mr. D has video footage of the G8 plays, Choco Speeches and Poetry Reading Caf available to use, if anyone would like to reflect on any of those) Pop Culture (Music, Art, Movies, and Sports): 20 Stories Research a current issue/event related to pop culture (music, art, movies, sports, etc). In your own words, write a summary of the issue/event and your opinion about it. Include an attention-getting title, names of the news team members involved and links to all sources where you found information about your issue (you must have at least 2). And remember to cite all quotes, videos and images that are not yours. High School look out: 15 Stories Interview one of the current 9th graders, HS teachers or HS coaches to get information about the sports, clubs, classes, and expectations that you will have in high school. Summarize your findings in an unbiased news report, which will help give the other 8th graders an idea of what they can expect next year.

Freelance Options

Check out examples from previous years at sistigernews.com/archive.html Award winners from last year were:
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Best Video: Varsity Swimming - Breaking Waves: Varsity Swim Team (HS Lookout) Best Story: 8th Grade Field Trip - Lane of Memories in Gangwon Province (What I Learned) Best Interview: Unique Cafes: Coffee, Tea, Juice & Bikes? (Pop Culture)