ELI Newspaper Elective

George Mason University English Language Institute

Newspaper Schedule, Spring 2011 (subject to change - check weekly for revisions)

	Monday	Wednesday
Week One Jan 25-28	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 + teacher, 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 Jan31-Feb4	Vote on name of newspaper Go over Tips for Success Introduce newspaper vocabulary Compare and contrast newspaper front pages in groups H post questions for Broadside tour on wiki byTuesday night	Meet in Krug 107 Finish newwspaper vocab and compare and contract international newspaper front pages Go over questions to ask on tour Broadside tour (SUB 1 Ground Floor Broadside offices) H 1) Fill out handout about Broadside/ELI Newspaper. 2)Find some interesting pictures of yourself, your friends, family and country that you can use to illustrate your first newspaper article
Week Three Feb 7 - 11	Go over Broadside/ELI homework Introduction to newspaper template + Using pictures H first draft of bio (article introducing yourself and or your country) due Tues 6:00 pm	Practice reducing the size of pictures H 2nd draft bio due Saturday midnight Suggestions for survey topics on wiki before class on Monday
Week Four Feb 14 - 18	Discussion of good and bad content in writing articles H 3rd draft bio due Tues 6:00	Decide on survey topic and write up questions H 1st draft of 2nd article due Saturday midnight
Week Five Feb 21 - 25	Meet outside JC Library to conduct survey H 2nd draft of 2nd article due Saturday midnight	Analyse and write upsurvey results Peer review and editing, H Final draft completed page for 1st issue due Saturday midnight
Week Six Feb 28 - March 4	Core class field trip write ups Layout of 1st issue, last minute corrections, cover page H post idea for next article on wiki before next class	vote for best articles Plagiarism exercise H 1st draft article for 2nd issue due Saturday midnight
Week Seven	Vote for best articles Headline exercise H 2nd draft article for 2nd issue due Saturday midnight Survey topics on wiki before Wednesday class	Paragraph Development H 2nd draft article for 2nd issue due Saturday midnight
Week Eight	SPRING BREAK - NO CLASSES	SPRING BREAK - NO CLASSES
Week Nine	Choose survey topics and write questions H 3rd draft article for 2nd issue due Saturday midnight	Meet outside JC library to conduct survey H post suggestions for article for final issue on wiki before next class
Week Ten	Analyse survey Final corrections and layout of 2nd issue Newspaper to printers H research for final article Post proposed article topics on wiki by Saturday midnight	ELI FIELD TRIP TO BALTIMORE - NO CLASSES
Week Eleven	Review 2nd issue and vote for best articles "Hooks" and more. How to catch and hold your reader's attention. H research for final article	Synthesizing material from more than one source H 1st draft of final article due Saturday midnight
Week Twelve	Discuss and assign extra articles write questions for Access interview H 2nd draft of final article due Saturday midnight	Reported speech H 2nd draft of final article due Saturday midnight
Wk Thirteen
Wk Fourteen	Peer editing & extra articles H Final draft of final article due Tuesday 6:00 pm	Final corrections and cover page Newspaper to printers Thursday noon.
Week Fifteen	Review final edition and vote for best article. Check out real-life funny headlines Class evaluations	Browse a variety of newspapers. Using knowledge of good writing acdquired during this class, discuss egs of good and bad articles

acamus@gmu.edu
Last updated:March 2011

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. Sending your articles: Email your articles as attachments to me at adele.camus@gmail.com. Use your Mason email account – It’s ELI police, and also there are sometimes problems sending attachments with other email servers (especially hotmail). 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). Email a copy of each draft of your article to YOURSELF as well as to me so that you will have access to an up-to-date draft to work on in class

2. Meeting Deadlines: Give me your work as far ahead of the deadline as you can. Sometimes the Mason server is down, or I can’t open your attachment in a form that my computer can read (eg if you’re using a different version of Windows) Remember, 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. (Remember, you can’t save any changes you make to a document while it is an email attachment. You must save the attached document to DESKTOP or MY DOCUMENTS, make the changes, and then reattach it to the email.) When you have finished a draft, send it to your own email as well as mine. That way, you can always access it in class in Innovation Hall or in the LDC

4. Pictures: To avoid problems with saving pictures to your article, follow 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 sentence structure. As well as doing this, you must also give the website addresses in your article. (This goes for any photos you use too)

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. Anyone can make an A in this class if s/he works hard and asks for help if s/he needs it!