Curriculum Library
The JEA Curriculum Initiative shares lesson plans across 12 different content areas, complete with learning outcomes, assessments, evaluation guides, models and alignment to standards including the Common Core and Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Today, we proudly offer hundreds of weeks worth of lessons to complement high school journalism classrooms across the country. This content is available exclusively to all JEA members.
There are many free resources available to the public on the Anywhere JEA page, and some other curriculum falls into groups easily navigated using Curriculum Maps.
Thank you for checking out the JEA curriculum library. JEA updated our website Sept. 11. We appreciate your patience as our curriculum team continues to update links to some of the downloads and activities throughout the library in the coming weeks. Email staff@jea.org the name of the lesson (include the URL) you are trying to access as we may be able to send it to you directly.
Free
Weekly Lesson
Each week, we share a free curriculum lesson on a timely topic. These lessons are free to everyone for a limited period of time. After that, the lessons live in the curriculum library which is accessible only to JEA members. Click here to learn more about membership.
Principles of design basics
Students will receive vocabulary for foundational design principles.Curriculum Library
Basic Libel Law
This online lesson guides students through the basics of libel law and the specifics of how it applies to real-world situations. It includes a brief instructional video, a quiz for understanding, and a discussion/writing prompt.Prior Review and Prior Restraint
This online lesson guides students through the basics of prior review and prior restraint and the specifics of how it applies to student media.Forum Status of Student Media
This online lesson guides students through the basics of forum status for student media and the specifics of how it applies to student media. A statement of forum status is an essential part of a staff manual.The Power of “How” and “Why”: How Curiosity Can Lead to Great Storytelling
In this lesson, students will be encouraged to think of themselves as “explorers of the world” and will consider the value of asking “how” and “why” in an interview.Sports Photos: Middle School
Students will explore websites and YouTube videos for strategies and techniques for taking good sports photos.Principles of Design Basics: Middle School
A two day lesson about the basic principles used in arranging elements.Typical Type: Middle School
A lesson about different types of fonts and typography terms.Humans of Your School Personality Profile
Students will have an opportunity to practice all aspects of yearbook journalism and to learn the process. Students will complete an interview, take a candid photo of the person in their environment, and publish an edited version of both in full color, to be displayed in the halls and featured in online storytelling.Composition for Alignment and Space: Middle School
In this two day activity, students will create a composition to demonstrate principles of alignment and space.Social media + Photography: Middle School
In this two-day lesson, students will be introduced to many issues surrounding social media, technology and photography, including copyright considerations and how to use photography effectively in different social media outlets. Then, students will experiment with using a specific social media outlet.About Curriculum & The Team
In May 2013, the Journalism Education Association began work on its curriculum initiative, creating lesson plans across 14 content areas, complete with learning outcomes, assessments, evaluation guides, models and alignment to standards including the Common Core and Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
Over the course of the next 11 months, JEA worked with 14 of its members — identified as national leaders in their area of expertise — to develop nearly 200 weeks worth of lessons to complement high school journalism classrooms across the country. Helping them were dozens of other JEA members, professionals and student journalists who volunteered their own ideas, materials and examples to benefit scholastic media advisers.
As important as this electronic resource is, it’s merely a portion of JEA’s curriculum initiative. Just as important is the ongoing commitment the organization is making to the effort. Curriculum leaders keep the curriculum current and dynamic by providing updated lesson plans and examples that reflect the newest trends and technology. They collaborate with other JEA committees such as certification and Career & Technical Education to ensure that the organization is at the forefront of defining 21st century journalism. They coordinate with our national Professional Advisory Committee to ensure our student learning objectives align with industry standards. They showcase their curriculum and lessons at national conventions and conferences. And they host online chats to not only discuss implementation of their module, but to coordinate discussion of best practices that will guide future development.
We welcome your feedback, suggestions, plaudits and corrections. Please feel free to email mfromm@d51schools.org, or contact specific curriculum leaders directly.