Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region III-Central Luzon
Division of Tarlac Province
TARLAC NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Brgy. San Roque, Tarlac City

Course Syllabus in Basic Journalism

for Grade 7 Special Program in Journalism (SPJ)
S.Y. 2015-2016

By
BLESSEDY M. CERVANTES, MA.Ed.

I. Course Title: Basic Journalism (Journalism 1)

II. Course Description

This program is based on the “Rules and Regulations for the Implementation of
Republic Act No. 7079 (Campus Journalism Act of 1991)” which serves as an act
providing for the development of campus journalism and for other purposes.
Its main focus is primarily to engage the learners in the different activities, and to
hone their journalistic and broadcasting skills.

III. Course Goal

The SPJ aims to promote the development of campus journalism at Tarlac

National High School, to equip SPJ students with appropriate knowledge and skills in
campus journalism, and to produce good writers who can compete and win in the
division, national, and international press conferences. It is designed to develop the
learner’s skills required in mass communication (journalism and broadcast media).

IV. Course Objectives

1. Identify areas of development in various aspects of journalism/broadcast media;

2. Nurture talents in journalism/broadcast media through activities requiring critical
& creative thinking;
3. Strengthen ethical values on responsible journalism/broadcast media and
freedom of the press; and
4. Enhance skills and competencies in journalism/broadcast media.

V. Course Contents:

First Quarter
( June 1- August 7, 2015)
Topics Time Frame (50 Days)

I. Introduction to Journalism

1. Meaning and scope of Journalism Day 1-2

 2. Provisions mandated on the law regarding campus
Day 3-5
journalism

3. Functions of the campus paper Day 6-10

4. Sections/parts of a campus paper Day 11-15

5. History of the high school publication Day 16-20

II. News Writing

1. Different types of news as to scope/origin,

chronology/sequence, treatment, content, structure, Day 21-25
advanced, and minor forms

2. Elements that make news Day 26-30

3. Classifications of news leads according to purpose

Day 31-40
(conventional and unconventional) and construction

4. Basic patterns of news stories Day 41-45

5. News structures Day 46-50

Second Quarter
( Aug. 10-Oct. 9, 2015)
Topics Time Frame (45 Days)

III. Editorial Writing

1. Nature, purpose, sources, and qualities of editorial Day 1-5

2. Types of editorial as to information, evaluation and

interpretation, argumentation, criticism and attack,
defense, persuasion and endorsement, Day 6-15
entertainment, special occasions, appreciation, and
pooled

3. Patterns of reasoning using inductive, deductive,

cause and effect, analogies, and compare and Day 16-20
contrast

4. Arresting lead sentence, body, and good

Day 21-23
conclusion

5. Measures of the effectiveness of the editorial Day 24-25

IV. Editorial Cartooning

1. Qualities of an effective cartoon Day 26-27

2. Different cartooning tools Day 28-29

3.Presentation of abstract ideas and issues into

Day 30-34
understandable pictures and symbols

4. Ways to provoke the readers and challenging

Day 35-40
them to think and take action through the cartoon
 5. The process of incorporating symbols, caricatures,
stereotypes, labels or words, analogies or Day 41-45
comparisons, and irony and sarcasm on the cartoon

Third Quarter
( Oct. 12- Jan. 8, 2016)
Topics Time Frame (55 Days)

V. Feature Writing

1. Differences feature stories from other forms of

Day 1-2
journalistic writings

2. Different types of features Day 3-7

3. Purposes in writing feature stories Day 8-9

4. Ways to sustaining the effectiveness of the lead

Day 10-20
paragraph in the body of a feature story

5. Common ways to end a feature story Day 21-25

VI. Sports Writing

1. Nature and kinds of sports news Day 26-30

2. Guidelines in gathering information before the

Day 31-35
game, during the game, and after the game.

3. Process of organizing the information gathered

Day 36-45
into a structured sports story

4. Striking leads for the sports story Day 46-50

5. Sports lingos in the sports news Day 51-55

Fourth Quarter
(Jan. 11-March 18, 2016)
Topics Time Frame (50 Days)

VII. Copyreading

1. Qualities and duties of a copyreader Day 1-2

2. Procedure in copyreading properly Day 3-4

3. Process of maintaining the clarity, correctness in

Day 5-9
grammar, accuracy, substance, and concision

4. Rules in spelling, capitalization, titles, punctuation

Day 10-19
marks, and numbers

5. Revising articles using the copyreading and

Day 20-21
proofreading marks

VIII. Headline Writing

1. Types of headlines according to purpose, style,

Day 22-23
and structure

2. Rules in writing effective headlines Day 24

 3. Splitting levels and decks of the headline Day 25

4. Equivalent unit count of the headlines Day 26

5. Specialized vocabulary used in headlines Day 27-28

IX. Photojournalism

1. Meaning and qualities of photojournalism Day 29

2. Interpreting the functions of photo in a newspaper Day 30

3. Guidelines for aspiring photojournalists Day 31

4. Ways in improving photographs by cropping,

Day 32-34
retouching, bleeding, and scaling or proportioning

5. Guidelines in writing appropriate and well-

Day 35-37
structured caption for the picture taken

X. Lay-outing

1. Elements of the newspaper lay-out Day 39

2. Basic visual concept of lay-outing such as focus,

Day 40
sequence, unity, and contrast

3. Balance, brace, or modular pattern in newspaper lay-

Day 41
outing

4. Guidelines in strategizing the newspaper lay-out and

Day 42
design

5. Process of designing the front page, photo pages and

Day 43-50
other pages of the newspaper

VI. Course Assessment

(Based on DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015 commonly known as the Policy Guidelines on
Classroom Assessment for the K to 12 Basic Education Program)

 Individual and collaborative formative assessment

 Summative assessment
Components:
a. Written Work - 30 %
b. Performance Tasks - 50 %
c. Quarterly Assessment - 20 %
100 %

VI. Course Requirements

A. Materials Needed

1. Activity Book in Journalism

2. Journalism Write-Ups (Formal Theme & Sulating Pangwakas)
3. Journalism Notebook
4. Data Sheets
5. National and Campus Newspapers
 6. Dictionary/Thesaurus

B. Suggested Time-Table of Outputs

SCHEDULE OUTPUT
Aug. 5, 2015 Submission of News Articles Compilation (Individual)
Sept.9, 2015 Submission of Editorial Articles Compilation (Individual)
Oct.7, 2015 Submission of Cartooning Tools Popped-up Booklet
(Group)
Nov. 11, 2015 Submission of Feature Articles Compilation (Individual)
Jan. 6, 2016 Submission of Sports Articles Compilation (Individual),
& CD Burn of Sports Events (Group)
Feb. 24, 2016 Submission of Newsletter Lay-out (Individual)
Jan.-Feb. 2016 SPJ Chronicle Newsletter Publishing

VII. Course References

Cruz, C. B. (1997). Basic Campus Journalism. Iloilo City Rex Printing Company,
Inc.

DepEd (2015). Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment for the K to 12 Basic

Education Program.

Pangilinan, E. (1975). Journalism Handbook. Makati City. National Bookstore, Inc.