Product Description

Course Description

Byline takes 9th–12th graders on a wild quest for stories left untold on the forgotten corners of history. As they step into the role of a 1930s-era newspaper reporter, students train under Editor Daniel Schwabauer, who takes students under his wings to teach them everything he knows. Along the way, and before they even realize what they are doing, students learn to write great academic essays! Byline is one full school year of high school English—and 1 high school English credit!

The set includes:

• 74 video lessons accessed via a 12-month Cloud video streaming subscription (renewable)
• Training Manual
• Reporter’s Notebook
• Printed copies of the fictional newspapers The Metro and the Retro Metro
• Teacher’s Guide
• Read more about Byline »

Skills your student will learn:

• Critical thinking
• Separating facts from interpretation
• Writing intelligently without jargon
• Following leads
• Supporting evidence

Course Credit

• Byline takes approximately 120 hours to complete
• One (1) full English credit as a Language Arts program with the option of earning a half History credit as well.

Overview

Writing Topics & Concepts

• Note-taking strategies
• How to research and keep track of sources
• Outlining & creating beats in a story sequence
• How to identify angles in a story
• The art of a compelling headline and summary
• Revising and copy editing

Course Philosophy

Byline turns students into time-traveling reporters who practice journalism in the forgotten corners of history. Under the video tutelage of Mr. S., editor of the fictional Metropolitan World, your cub reporter will learn more than just how to write a terrific paper. By studying the work of great journalists, students uncover techniques of persuasion and propaganda that are widely used in media today. As students enjoy their reporter’s journey, Byline is teaching them to write essays!

Grading

• Grades are based on:
  • 6 unit tests
  • The parent/teacher’s guided evaluation of the student’s stories/essays
  • Appropriate completion of the Reporter’s Notebook

• Teacher evaluations are simple rubrics as explained in the Teacher’s Guide.

Reading

Students read:

• The works of historic journalists (printed in the textbook)
• The textbook (Training Manual)
• The newspapers provided
• Optionally, the work of previous students in the student edition of the Metro World.

Contests

At the end of the school year, students can enter their selected stories in our annual Student Contest.