Software Evaluation By: Rachel Searcy

Overview of lesson Curricular Goals: to obtain a better designed paper from input from all the students Intended Audience: 9-12 grade journalism students with knowledge of design Content Area: Journalism (Newspaper)

Lesson Plan Title: Redesigning Your High School Newspaper Long Term Objective: Long Term Objective: Students will design a sample newspaper with the goal of having their design (or portions of their design) chosen for use during the following year. Other Considerations: This project ideally fills the 'dead' time in between the publication of your last issue and the end of the year and provides a practical product that can be used the following year. I make the assignment go over several weeks, so that it overlaps with the production of our last two monthly issues. This gives students something to do when they have finished story assignments or layout early. The independent study aspect of the assignment also forces them to discipline themselves and manage their time. Every student that I have (freshman to senior level) has the choice of doing this project alone or working with a partner. They often find working with a partner is more difficult, because they have to make their schedules mesh and they face a lot of critical thinking and decision making. That also has a plus side, though, in preparation for continuing on the staff. Because of the magnitude of this project, I have been able to use this grade as the final exam in the production class. We then use the allotted exam time for the editors to choose all the design elements from the projects that they want to actually use the following year. Activities THE PROJECT: 425 points working independently. 550 points working as a pair INTRODUCTION: Prior to beginning the redesign project, students should read pages in "The Newspaper Designer's Handbook" by Tim Harrower. Students should also complete the 'Report Card' on pages independently. Use the remaining pages in this chapter, old copies of our paper and copies of other high school and professional publications to redesign the paper. I make it clear to my students that when they design their new paper they DO NOT have to write all the articles and headlines or takes photos or do art etc. They may use old body copy, photos etc. The focus of this project is layout and design. I also encourage them NOT to use any layout previously used in our paper. It is important that we employ creativity in our effort to improve our publication.

Relates to Standards Performance: Journalism teachers and media advisers: Utilize computers as teaching and production tools; Use text, graphics, photography, radio, television, new media as appropriate to emphasize the range of story-telling possibilities; Encourage creative approaches to information design and packaging it for student media; Construct and utilize financial guidelines for scholastic media relating to subscriptions, advertising, activity funds, and fund raising; Construct and utilize staff organizational models that emphasize responsibility, risk-taking and problem-solving; Construct and utilize production schedules that encourage scholastic journalists to mirror that of professional journalists; Ensure students understand their roles as informational gatekeepers in school-based media and their rights and responsibilities as journalists.

Adobe InDesign Review InDesign is a program that is not very easy to learn at first. It takes the user awhile to learn the ropes. However, when they do, it is a very useful program. It has great usability. InDesign is one of the best designing programs I have ever used. It was far more advanced than programs like Pagemaker. I think that all journalism classrooms should use this software.

Benefits Indesign has so many things to offer. It can help a student design a yearbook page, advertisements, a newspaper page, or web page Easier to Use Universal

Relating to NETS standards 3. Technology productivity tools Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity. Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology- enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.