George Mason University English Language Institute

Newspaper Schedule, Fall 2009 (subject to change - check weekly for revisions)

Monday
Wednesday
Week One
September 2
 REGISTRATION - NO CLASSES
 review webpages & go over syllabus
In groups, fill out newspaper production worksheet
H -email Adele at adele.camus@gmail.com. and tell her- core class, major, interests & hobbies plus a paragraph about why you chose this elective and what you hope to achieve in it.
Go on wiki (adeleswiki.pbwiki.com, password: students) and give your suggestions for newspaper name before next class
Week Two
Sep 9
 LABOR DAY - NO CLASSES

 Meet in LDC
Vote on name of newspaper.  Suggestions for topics and sections for our newspaper.  tour of Broadside
H - Fill out newspaper comparison form    
Week Three
Sep 14 & 16

 Go over newspaper comparison form.   Intro to template
Begin 1st article - intro to yourself & pictures (bio)
H - play around with template and practice with fonts and pictures (remember to put pictures INSIDE A TEXT BOX so they can be moved around easily
 Discussion of good and bad  bio examples
 Work on bio (biography - article about yourself - it should take up ONLY about the first half of your page).
H email  your first draft by midnight Saturday
Post your suggestions for survey topics on wiki before Monday class
Week Four
Sep 21 & 23
 Choose survey topics and write questions
Discuss possible topics for 2nd articles
H - 2nd draft bio due Tues 6:00 pm.
 Meet in Johnson Center library to conduct campus survey
H - 3rd draft bio due Saturday midnight, plus put on the wiki what you think you're going to write about for 2nd article
Week Five
Sep 28
 Analyse survey results
H - 1st draft 2nd article due Saturday midnight
 ELI FIELDTRIP TO STRIBLING ORCHARDS - NO CLASSES
Week  Six
Oct 5 & 7
 Peer editing + picture Kb reduction
H - 2nd draft 2nd article due Tuesday 6:00 pm 		Plagiarism exercise
H - final draft completed page for 1st issue due Saturday midnight
Week Seven
Oct 13 & 14
 MONDAY SCHEDULE ON TUESDAY
Reported Speech    CLASS PHOTO?
H final corrections by midnight tonight
 Layout of 1st issue
Last minute corrections, cover page finalized + index and page numbers
(newspaper sent to printers Thursday noon)
H go on wiki and add to bank of interview questions
Week Eight
Oct 19 & 21
 Interview Gretchen Burks


H -write up interview and email it to Adele
 Go over grade sheet
 Review 1st issue and vote for best articles
Discuss topics for 2nd issue
H -1st draft of your article for the 2nd issue by Saturday midnight
Week Nine
Oct 26
 Confirm who is writing what in the next issue (individual articles, pumpkin carving article & picture, field trip articles and pictures)
Bo to explain how to avoid pictures moving over text.
H - send 2nd draft of article for 2nd issue by email  by Saturday midnight		 CLASS FIELDTRIPS - NO CLASSES
Week Ten
Nov 2 & 4
 groups write up field trip articles
H - send 3rd draftr of article for 2nd issue  by Saturday midnight 		Headline practice.   Suggestions for headline for interview article and vote for the one we will use.
H - send 3rd draftr of article for 2nd issue by email by Saturday midnight
Week Eleven
Nov 9 & 11
 Peer edit final draft of 2nd issue 
Final Layout
H -Final corrections due Tuesday 6:00 pm (newspaper to printers)
 synthesizing information from several sources
H - research ideas for  final issue - individual articles and survey topics - post on wiki before Mon class
Week Twelve
Nov 16 & 18
 Review 2nd issue and vote for best article
Decide survey topics and write questions - volunteer to design survey
Volunteers for photos & writing about International Thanksgiving Lunch
H - 1st draft of final article due Saturday midnight 		Meet in Johnson Center Library to conduct survey
H - 1st draft of final article due Saturday midnight
Wk Thirteen
Nov 23
 Analyse Survey.    Volunteers to write up survey
Hooks (eye-catching openings)
H - 2nd draft of final article due Sat midnight.
 THANKSGIVING - NO CLASSES
Wk Fourteen
Nov 30 Dec 2
   Peer edit
H - final draft of final article due Tuesday 6:00 pm
 Final corrections, cover page finalized + index and page numbers
Newspaper to printers
Week Fifteen
Dec 7 & 9
 Review Final edition and vote for best article
Check our real-life funny headlines
Class evaluations
 Browse a variety of newspapers.   Using knowledge of good writing acquired during this course, discuss egs of good and bad articles.

acamus@gmu.edu
         Last updated:October2009

HOW TO ADD ILLUSTRATIONS TO YOUR TEMPLATE

<>To get a picture
1.    Use a search engine like Google
2.    Click on the IMAGES tab before you start your search
3.    Type in a keyword for your picture, e.g. SPORTS
4.    When you find something you like, click on the link to it and choose to see the image alone  (CHECK NUMBER OF KB)
5.    Put the mouse on the picture and press the RIGHT mouse button
6.    Choose "Save image as ..."
7.    When the box pops up, choose where to save the file, eg. MY PICTURES and click save
       (If you are using a computer in the LDC DON'T save on desktop as desktop cannot be erased) <>

To transfer picture to newsapaper template
1.    Click on box in template
2.    Click on INSERT
3.    Click on TEXT BOX
4.    click back on box in template
5.    Click on INSERT again
6.    Click on PICTURE
7.    Click on FROM FILE
8.    Click on the title of the picture you want, and then click INSERT
9.    Picture should appear in the box on the template.   You can move the picture around by clicking on
       the frame of the text box where you get a cross.   If you get a straight line up and down or from side
       to side, the picture will get bigger or smaller.
10   If you make a mistake, click on EDIT and then click on UNDO PICTURE <>

To eliminate text box lines
1.    Activate textbox by clicking inside the box
2.    Click on FORMAT
3.    Choose TEXTBOX
3.    Change LINE to NO LINE then click OK

To reduce the file size of a picture 
The ELI Newspaper needs to be saved on one file so it can be transferred to the ELI Webpage.   There is a limit to the size of this file.   In order to make sure that the Newspaper will fit in the file, you need to limit the size of your pages to a maximum of 150 KB per page.   If your page is too big, you can reduce it by reducing the KBs used to save your pictures.   DO NOT INSERT A PICTURE DIRECTILY FROM THE INTERNET TO YOUR NEWSPAPER PAGE.   The K may be very big.   Save the picture first to your computer and the K will automatically be reduced.   If it is still too many K follow the directions below:-
1.                  When you find a picture you want on the internet, right click on the picture.
2.                  Click SAVE PICTURE AS …
3.                  Save on computer (e.g. as my pictures)
4.                  Click START (bottom left of screen), ALL PROGRAMS, ACCESSORIES, PAINT.
5.                  Click FILE and open saved picture
6.         Click IMAGE and STRETCH/SKEW - resize image appropriately  (eg 50 - 58%)
7.         Click OK and SAVE

NEWSPAPER ELECTIVE – TIPS FOR SUCCESS

1.   Blackboard     NOT THIS SEMESTER -  SEND ARTICLES TO adele.camus@gmail.com   

You will post all the drafts of your articles on my Blackboard at http://courses.gmu.edu.   Use your Mason email and password to log on (If you don't  already have a Mason email account, you need to get one at mail.gmu.edu, or at ITU Support Center 3-8870)    Then click on ELI 089.005.    Always put something in the subject box, and always put your name on the attached document (so that I can tell who wrote it once I have printed it out).

2.   Meeting Deadlines

  Give me your work as far ahead of the deadline as you can.   If you miss the final deadline for a newspaper edition, you will get an NG!.

3.   Saving Work

There’s nothing worse than spending a long time on a piece of writing and then losing it.   Always keep a backup copy of your writing.   Save your work regularly while you are working on it.   .

4.   Pictures

To avoid problems with saving pictures to your article, ollow the directions on “How to add Illustrations to your Template”.   These can be found on the class webpage (http://mason.gmu.edu/~acamus) directly after the schedule.   Please put all pictures in a  TEXT BOX  and make sure the total  K for your page is no more than 150K.   (click  PROPERTIES to check size).   If your page has too many K you will need to reduce the pictures  (see above).

5.   Using information from the Internet

Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing the information using your own words and changing the sentence structure.   Even when you have done this, you must also give the website addresses in your article.

6.   Check the Class Website Regularly

Check the class website (http://mason.gmu.edu/~acamus) regularly to make sure you go to the right classroom on the right day and know when the deadlines are..

7.   Need Help?

If you need help at all, for example you don’t understand an assignment, you are having trouble with the technology, or you can’t avoid missing a deadline, contact me.   Students in the class all have different levels of English ability and different levels of computer skills.   I understand this, and I want to make sure nobody feels overwhelmed by the assignments.   If you ask me for help, I can guarantee to help you solve your problem, learn new skills and get a good grade in the class.  You can email me (acamus@gmu.edu), come by my office (Krug 201C)  after core class or before elective class.