Welcome to the world of print journalism! In this class, you will work with a former senior magazine editor to develop an idea for a magazine and create the first issue.

Magazine Concept and Content

Meeting one: Review examples of magazines in various markets and explore what niche most appeals to students as a project. Students will come up with an idea during class and receive feedback that results in a concept for their “publication.” 

Individual work: students will brainstorm a magazine name, description and style (frequency, length, cover look, masthead, etc.) and share their ideas on Flipgrid with the teacher and fellow learners.

Meeting two: students will learn about common magazine articles and write a cookie-cutter table of contents, as a way to plan what they will feature in their issue. Ideas will be shared in class, as a way to give learners the opportunity to help each other refine their ideas. We will discuss examples of, and then learn to write, a simple how-to article appropriate for their magazine. 

Individual work: Articles will be submitted to the teacher for editing and correction. The final article and corresponding artwork will be completed and submitted to the class for sharing on Flipgrid.

Meeting three: students will see how art/photos are a key element of magazines. Students will brainstorm how to create an art-heavy project for their magazine.

Individual work: students will submit their ideas to the teacher for feedback, before sharing the completed project on Flipgrid for the class to view.

Meeting four: students will see examples of first-person stories and brainstorm ideas in class about what first-person story they will write for their magazine.

Individual work: students will create a simple first-person story and corresponding art for the article. They will send the “package” for an edit and the finished product will be shared with other students on Flipgrid.

Layout and Design

Meeting five: students will see examples of magazine layouts and discuss ways to design their content with a cohesive look in fonts, page numbers, columns and more. 

Individual work: They will fill out a sheet that assists them with selecting all necessary elements of their magazine. Working with the teacher, they will apply these design “rules” to all of their content and layout the inside of the magazine. Students will also select a cover image and layout their magazine name and content following standard design rules they will learn about in class. 

Meeting six: Students will present their finished product to the class on Flipgrid and review their peer’s publications.