You were handed a journalism class — maybe with a week's notice, maybe with no journalism background, maybe with a stack of old binders from the teacher who retired. You need lessons that work on Monday. This bundle is built for exactly that moment. The Complete High School Journalism Curriculum Bundle contains 69 ready-to-use resources covering a full year of scholastic journalism instruction — from the first day of class through final publication. Every lesson, rubric, activity, and reference guide works immediately, without adaptation. Download, open, teach. What's Included — 69 Resources Across Every Unit of Journalism Instruction Core Writing Instruction — Hard news, feature writing, editorial writing, sports writing, opinion writing, and AP Style. Each unit includes a lesson slideshow, writing guides, and student-facing reference materials. The Introduction to Journalism slideshow (50 slides) is built for Day 1 — no prior journalism knowledge assumed on your part or your students'. Interview Techniques — A complete unit covering question types, follow-up technique, note-taking vs. recording, on/off the record, and source representation. Includes a press conference role-play where the teacher plays the character and students ask the questions — four scenarios set in a fictional city, each with a student briefing sheet, social media rumors of graduated credibility, and a hard news writing assignment. Lead Writing — Dedicated lead writing instruction and activities with multiple practice formats and examples drawn from real scholastic journalism. This is the skill most journalism students struggle with longest, and it gets its own focused treatment. Photography and Visual Journalism — Sports photography slideshows, photography composition guides, and visual storytelling resources. Covers camera settings, sideline positioning by sport, editing for print, and the visual decisions that separate a yearbook photo from a snapshot. Assessment Tools and Rubrics — A complete rubric set covering every major writing genre: hard news, feature stories, editorials, opinion pieces, sports stories, and photography. Every rubric is criterion-referenced — students know exactly what's expected before they write. Bell Ringers and Daily Practice — 243 journalism-specific bell ringers, enough for a full school year without repeating. These cover AP Style, headline writing, lead evaluation, ethics scenarios, media literacy, and news judgment. One per day, every day, ready to go. AP Style Instruction and Practice — A complete AP Style unit: reference guide, topic worksheets, 60-slide bellringer deck, six topic quizzes, and a final assessment covering all six core topics. Ethics, Media Literacy, and Critical Thinking — Ethics discussions and activities grounded in real journalism scenarios, including the SPJ Code of Ethics, social media ethics, fact-checking and AI detection, source diversity tracking, and press freedom.
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These units address CCSS informational reading standards while building the habits of mind journalism students specifically need. Headline Writing — Dedicated exercises covering the mechanics of AP-style headlines, active vs. passive constructions, and the beginner errors that show up in every student's first attempt. Yearbook-Specific Resources — Six resources built specifically for yearbook programs: sports photography instruction, caption writing, and interview techniques for yearbook staff. Transfers directly alongside the journalism curriculum. Pacing and Planning — Two full-year pacing guides with rationale: one for a full-year course, one for a semester elective. If you're building a schedule from scratch, start here. CCSS Standards Alignment All resources align with CCSS ELA grades 9–12, with primary alignment to W.9-10.2, W.11-12.2 (informational writing), W.9-10.7, W.11-12.7 (research), RI.9-10.8, RI.11-12.8 (evaluating claims and evidence), and SL standards for collaborative discussion and presentation. Who This Bundle Is For The first-year journalism teacher who needs a complete roadmap from August to May. The pacing guides tell you what to teach when. The lessons tell you how to teach it. The rubrics tell you how to assess it. The English teacher was assigned to advise the newspaper with no warning and no training. Everything here is explained clearly enough to teach cold — no journalism background required. The experienced adviser who wants to update aging curriculum without rebuilding from scratch. Every resource reflects current professional journalism standards, including source diversity frameworks used by NPR and the BBC. The department chair or curriculum coordinator who needs to demonstrate standards alignment to administration. The CCSS documentation is built in. How to Use This Bundle Full-year journalism course: Use the full-year pacing guide as your roadmap. Semester elective: The semester pacing guide identifies the core resources for an intensive half-year course. Newspaper or magazine program:
Pull lessons as your staff needs them. Journalism unit within an ELA course: The writing units, ethics discussions, and media literacy resources all function independently. Frequently Asked Questions Is this appropriate for middle school? The resources are designed for grades 9–12 but work well for advanced 7th and 8th grade students with minimal adaptation. Do I need journalism experience? No. These resources were developed with inexperienced advisers in mind. Lessons include enough context that a teacher without a journalism background can teach them confidently. Can I use this for yearbook? Yes — photography, interviewing, writing, and ethics content all apply. The bundle includes the complete Yearbook Staff Skills Bundle, six resources built specifically for yearbook programs. What file formats are included? PPTX slideshows (editable in PowerPoint or Google Slides), Word documents (editable in Word or Google Docs), and PDFs where applicable. Want to add a capstone game to your journalism program? DEADLINE: A Journalism Game of Speed, Accuracy, and Ethics is a moderator-run board game where students make real newsroom decisions under pressure — sold separately and not included in this bundle. Teaching multimedia alongside print? The Podcast Project: Complete Unit with Rubric and Planning Guide takes students from format selection through recording, editing, and assessment in four weeks — also sold separately. If this resource saved you prep time, please leave a rating under My Purchases Provide Feedback. Every review earns you TpT Credits toward future purchases — roughly $1 in credits for every $10 reviewed. Follow Starmaker English & Journalism Tools to be notified when new resources launch or go on sale. Keywords: high school journalism curriculum bundle, journalism lesson plans grades 9-12, scholastic journalism complete unit, journalism activities high school, AP style practice journalism, news writing unit, journalism rubrics, student newspaper curriculum, yearbook curriculum, media literacy high school, journalism bell ringers, feature writing high school, hard news writing, journalism ethics, inverted pyramid lesson, journalism teacher resource, high school ELA journalism, journalism course complete, journalism class bundle, journalism pacing guide
Designed for grades 9-12.
Starmaker English and Journalism Tools 
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