YearBook Publishing And Printing

Not all students are ready to read articles and lengthy descriptions of events in yearbook journalism. In this case, it can be a good idea to provide some lighter reading, particularly if you`re talking about younger children who will be just learning to read.

Poems: These are a neat way to talk about school life without getting too long. Try adding student written poems.

One line quotes: Ask a question and have kids answer you. Include the replies along with the name and age of the child. Questions could include things like favorite classes, best cafeteria meal, etc.

Short articles: Keep these to just two or three paragraphs to make them easier to read. The students will enjoy funny articles in particular.

Yearbook journalism isn`t required to be long. There`s nothing wrong with giving your students something that they can enjoy now as well as in the future.

When you hear the word journalism, you probably think of something rather formal and informative, like what you would read in the newspaper. Yearbook journalism, however, is something different.

While yearbook journalism is certainly something that can be done in a formal manner, but since you are talking about the yearbook, there is plenty of wriggle room. It can be fun to let the voices of your writers be heard through their articles and it is something that will add extra interest to the articles in years to come.

The tone of the yearbook is going to be set by the author, but it`s a good idea to let your writers know ahead of time how they should write, formally or informally. Let them know early on so they won`t be trying to rewrite their articles at a later date.

Let your students enjoy a bit of freedom in working on their yearbook journalism and you will find that you can expect a top quality product at the end of the year.

The holidays are rapidly approaching and now is the time to start getting the back stories on some of the fun things that will be going on in the school. Yearbook journalism isn`t just about the mundane, routine part of the year, but it also includes those fun holidays that pop up around the school year.

Right now, students are planning their Halloween fun. So it`s a good time to start snapping some photos and get those yearbook journalism notes down. It`s a great way to actually gear up for the stories that are to come.

Most schools hold Halloween parties and there may be Thanksgiving celebrations, as well, so keep these in mind as you head out with notebooks and pens. Now is a good time to see what happens behind the scenes and to write some of it up for the yearbook. After all yearbook journalism wouldn`t be as exciting if you didn`t get some secrets in there!

Don`t overlook the holidays when you are seeking out new ideas for yearbook journalism. It`s something that could easily turn into a memorable article.

There is nothing worse than boring yearbook journalism. Who wants to read an article that is poorly written, even if it`s about an exciting event? The yearbook is representative of the entire school, so it makes sense that the yearbook journalism should be top notch.

How do you ensure that the yearbook journalism is exciting? First, you`ll want to pick the best writers you have in the class. It`s also a good idea to give a little rundown on the proper methods of writing. Encourage students to use the following:

Adjectives. Use descriptive words to make the reader feel what it was like at the time. The emotion that was tangible in the air at the stadium during the last football game of the season, the smell of sweaty socks in the gym, the salt of the popcorn offered in the school theater.

Action. Describing everything that happened can be dull, but yearbook journalism can really perk up if you choose to use action verbs instead of passive ones.

Quotes. Getting people`s impressions on the big game and writing them down is something that can add a lot of life to a simple article. Quotes create more interesting yearbook journalism.

Yearbook journalism is an important part of the yearbook. The articles will bring back just as many memories in years to come as the photos if they are done right.

While photos are definitely a focal point of the yearbook, imagine how dull the book would be without yearbook journalism. The fact is, a simple photo might show us what was happening, but the writing is what gives us the backstory.

Imagine thirty years from now, when your students are gazing at a photo of a barely remembered classmate triumphantly breaking through the finish line of a race. They probably won`t remember much about that point in time . . . but a little yearbook journalism will give them the story of how this young person fought off cancer and made a great comeback as a runner. The backstory brings these photos to life.

Yearbook journalism is often overlooked because it isn`t as flashy as a photo, but it still serves an important purpose. That`s why it`s vital that you select the best writers in your group to do this important task . . . telling the story for generations to read.

It`s an important part of the yearbook, journalism can really be the ticket to recalling those precious memories years from now.

“We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they’re called memories. Some take us forward, they’re called dreams.” - Jeremy Irons

Quotes can be a powerful method of adding to yearbook journalism and there are so many out there. Just about any topic you can imagine has quotes to go with it and they make for very easy expansion of existing work or can provide a jumping off point for yearbook journalism that really hits home.

You can find quotes at a variety of websites online, or just look in the local library for a book of quotes. Either way, you should be sure to include the person who first said it, if known. Otherwise, “Anon” is fine.

Try using some relevant, inspiring quotes with your yearbook journalism. It can really take those articles up a notch.

For many yearbook students, photography is where it`s at. You`ll likely find that some of your students are far better at yearbook journalism, though and it pays to put them to work in that area.

Encouraging yearbook journalism and making it a big part of the yearbook is key to keeping the articles and text fun and fascinating . . . something you just won`t get if your students feel that they are less important than those doing the photography.

Yearbook journalism is just as valuable as the photos that go into the yearbook, so be sure to comment and praise your writing students just as often as you do the photographers. Sharing the top articles around class is another way to make students feel appreciated and you may even want to create special workshops just for those interested in writing.

Yearbook journalism will rock if your students are enthusiastic about it. All you need to do is fuel the fire.

Yearbook editors are always looking for new ideas to use for yearbook journalism. This is an area that frequently needs spicing up to make it interesting to the students.

One way to add some interest to a yearbook journalism page is to use handwriting. You`ll want to use someone who has very neat handwriting, to write out the various paragraphs. Each paragraph could be in a different color of ink and you can even have the student include little doodles for fun and illustration.

Some schools use magazine techniques to make their yearbook journalism stand out, with block quotes, important points in colored blocks or even sidebars. You can get a lot of ideas simply by looking at what teen magazines do . . . adding jazzed up shapes and colors to the page.

Yearbook journalism can be a bit stuffy all on it`s own, so use your students` creativity to make it better. There`s nothing wrong with being different!

Getting your students involved as much as possible in the yearbook journalism side of things will help to ensure that there is a good student quality of standards in the book. This keeps it interesting for everyone, even if you are working with elementary students.

Obviously, in the lower grades, you won`t be able to get students doing true yearbook journalism, reporting on events, but that doesn`t mean you can`t get their side of things. Illustrated drawings, short poems and dictated articles are all a great way to get the younger set involved in yearbook journalism.

Enjoying the younger student`s point of view in the yearbook journalism area is a great way to turn the yearbook into something that students can really treasure for years to come, knowing that it`s not an adult view of their life, but their own.

By making sure all your students get a say in what goes into the yearbook, you`ll build their interest in it as they get older. And who knows, maybe in 5 years, those little kids will be amazing yearbook journalists!

If you have the choice, you`ll want to pick the best yearbook journalism students to write, of course. However, in many schools, it`s a tossup between the school paper and the yearbook as to which will get the best writers each year. Getting those top quality writers might be a bit tough, but here are a few ideas to lure them to your side.

• Talk directly to the students you want, let them know that you really think they would add a lot to the yearbook journalism section.
• Get them early by making a list of students you want to recruit and then grabbing them as early as possible in teh school year.
• Offer a reward for joining the yearbook and make it a fun place to be. You`ll quickly get a reputation for having a blast in class and more of the top students will want to join.

Yearbook journalism needs to be taken seriously and it really helps to have some good student writers on your side. If you can possibly get a couple of the best writers on the yearbook, you`ll guarantee higher quality.