When students come into my class second semester, it’s always a balance of how to get them up to speed and to help my returning students develop their skills. I teach Journalism I, Journalism II, Advanced Journalism and Yearbook all in the same block. This means that there is a wide-range of skills in the room. This exercise gets everyone involved and is perfect for team-building and skill-building. 

I have Pantone Postcards spread out on a table. When students come into the room, I have them pick one up that reminds them of a story from their life. 

I share some examples of stories that my students wrote for a series of articles that we did in our magazine: Link to slides with Pantone Postcard Examples. 

We watch this clip of Brandon Stanton talking about interviewing and intense listening. I also talk about how intense listening and deep curiosity can help them improve their interview skills and get to the info they need to write a powerful, short article. 

Before we go off to interview, we watch this clip of Humans of New York photos. (Watch this before you show it to make sure it is good for you and your students, and heads up that the photos always change.) After watching this, I have students talk with a partner about what photos stood out to them. After sharing some of these with our whole class, I have them talk with a partner again and come up with one tip they have to make photos stronger. Students say things like: rule of thirds, lighting, angle, leading lines, using reflections, framing, etc., 

This video gives them a quick photo lesson because they are about to go out and do their first interview and take a photo. I tell them I want the photo to be as good as the ones they just saw, and sometimes this happens. 

They always do the interview before the photo, and we talk about how the photo should match the emotions/content in the story. I go over the story rubric and photo tips that are below, and then I send them on their way. I give them about 30 minutes to do this assignment. When we are all back together, we get the room totally quiet and we crank out an article for ten minutes. Then, I give them time to ask their partner follow-up questions, and the writing continues. 

This assignment builds connections between partners, it reminds us as journalists what it is like to be interviewed and written about, and it gives us a collection of stories where we can get to know each other better. 

Pantone Postcard Story Rubric

1. Start in a specific moment with specific details that pull the reader into the story. 
2. You must have a story with a beginning, rising action, climax and kicker, which kicks you back to something earlier on and is a powerful ending…no “in conclusion.”  
3. Include at least two direct quotes that capture the person’s voice and are words that only they could say. If you can restate what they said, do that and make it an indirect quote. 
4. Just like Addie said, lead into your quote in one paragraph, add your quote with an attribution in another paragraph, and have another paragraph following the quote where you make sense of it. Journalism paragraphs are short! 

Photos 

The goal here is to up your photo skills and take a powerful portrait of your partner. Your challenge is to take a picture of them that captures them. You need to take a horizontal AND vertical photo! 

1. Stay away from the walls and pay attention to the background! 
2. Use natural light to illuminate your subject. The light should be on your partner’s face/your back should be to the light. 
3. Use rule-of-thirds. 
4. The photo should capture the emotions from the story they told. These two things will go together.