COLUMNS
Your document title (in this order):
Draft level
Date
What it is (column)
Word count
Go to tools to get this
Your first name
Columns 1
You’re still in progress! Things to keep in mind:
Your deadline
You should be ready to workshop your story by Tuesday
Make sure you share it with dbass@salidaschools.org and tenderfoot.times@gmail.com
Remember to title your document
Your audience
Is there anything that might be clear to SHS students but will confuse the public? If so, clarify it.
Columns 2
400 to 600 words
Paragraphs are short
AP Style
Note: Ask or Google the topic and “AP Style” if you are unsure about how to write something out
No serial comma
Yes: “There were ninjas, zombies and cats.”
No: “There were ninjas, zombies, and cats.”
Names
Use his/her full name the first time you reference a person (Harry Potter)
Every time after that, only use their last name (Potter)
Do not use “Mr.” or “Ms.” – this goes for teachers too
Dates and times
The month and the day, no “th,” “st,” “nd,” etc.
The following months are abbreviated as such:
Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.
Use figures for date (don’t spell it out)
Ex: “On Aug. 17, they won their first game.”
Times:
a.m. or p.m.
do 6 p.m., not 6:00 p.m.
7:30 to 8:45 p.m.
Numbers
Use figures for all numbers above nine. Spell out all numbers under 10. Note the exceptions below:
Use figures for ages, sums of money, time of day, percentages (and spell out the word percent; don’t use a %), house numerals, years, days of month, degrees of temperature, time of races.
Spell out numbers, no matter how large, when they begin sentences.
Avoid unnecessary ciphers. Use $1, not $1.00; 1 p.m., not 1:00 p.m.
Classes
Capitalize: specific classes (Creative Writing, Earth Science, Algebra II) and classes that are languages (English, Spanish)
Don’t capitalize: general classes (math, science)
Titles
If a title comes before a name, capitalize it. If it stands alone, don’t.
“Principal Tami Thompson said…”
“The principal’s duties include…”
If possible, workshop with someone
Wait for Miss Bass to read it over
After Miss Bass has read it, change the draft part of the document to 3
Columns 3
Revise your story
You may want Miss Bass or someone else to read over it again if you did major rewrites. If this is the case, change the draft back to 2 in your document title, and let that person know.
Before finalizing your story, read it over again, looking for grammatical mistakes.
Make sure your story is in the correct format
No tabs
Short, block paragraphs
Columns 4
You’re finished! Good work.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FEATURES
Your document title (in this order):
Draft level
Date
What it’s about
Word count
Go to tools to get this
Your first name
Features 1
You’re still in progress! Things to keep in mind:
Your deadline
Make sure you share it with dbass@salidaschools.org and tenderfoot.times@gmail.com
Remember to title your document
Your audience
Ask yourself what questions a reader will have
Center the story on people, but not yourself. A reader should not know what your opinion on the matter is
You should have at least three primary sources (interviews)
Start your features with a lead that will pull readers in
Unlike news, you don’t have to put everything important in the first paragraph
Features 2
No “I” or “me”
You know everything is accurate
500-600 words
Paragraphs are one to three sentences long
New paragraph for every direct quote
Periods and commas go inside quotation marks
It’s in past tense
Said, not says.
Include what year in school a student is (freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior), but don’t capitalize it
AP Style
Note: Ask or Google the topic and “AP Style” if you are unsure about how to write something out
No Oxford comma
Yes: “There were ninjas, zombies and cats.”
No: “There were ninjas, zombies, and cats.”
Names
Use his/her full name the first time you reference a person (Harry Potter)
Every time after that, only use his/her last name (Potter)
Do not use “Mr.” or “Ms.” – this goes for teachers too
Dates and times
The month and the day, no “th,” “st,” “nd,” etc.
The following months are abbreviated as such:
Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.
Use figures for date (don’t spell it out)
Ex: “On Aug. 17, they won their first game.”
Times:
a.m. or p.m.
do 6 p.m., not 6:00 p.m.
7:30 to 8:45 p.m.
Numbers
Use figures for all numbers above nine. Spell out all numbers under 10. Note the exceptions below:
Use figures for ages, sums of money, time of day, percentages (and spell out the word percent; don’t use a %), house numerals, years, days of month, degrees of temperature, time of races.
Spell out numbers, no matter how large, when they begin sentences.
Avoid unnecessary ciphers. Use $1, not $1.00; 1 p.m., not 1:00 p.m.
Classes
Capitalize: specific classes (Creative Writing, Earth Science, Algebra II) and classes that are languages (English, Spanish)
Don’t capitalize: general classes (math, science)
Titles
If a title comes before a name, capitalize it. If it stands alone, don’t.
“Principal Tami Thompson said…”
“The principal’s duties include…”
If possible, workshop with someone
Wait for Miss Bass to read it over
After Miss Bass has read it, change the draft part of the document to 3
Features 3
Revise your story
You may want Miss Bass or someone else to read over it again if you did major rewrites. If this is the case, change the draft back to 2 in your document title, and let that person know.
Before finalizing your story, read it over again, looking for grammatical mistakes.
Make sure your story is in the correct format
No tabs
Short, block paragraphs
Features 4
You’re finished! Good work.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NEWS
Your document title (in this order):
Draft level
Date
What it’s about
Word count
Go to tools to get this
Your first name
News 1
You’re still in progress! Things to keep in mind:
Your deadline
Make sure you share it with dbass@salidaschools.org and tenderfoot.times@gmail.com
Remember to title your document
Your audience
Ask yourself what questions a reader will have
Make sure all of the important facts are in there
Center the story on people, but not yourself. A reader should not know what your opinion on the matter is
You should have at least three primary sources (interviews)
News 2
When, what, where, why, and how are included in the first paragraph
No “I” or “me”
Your opinion is not included
It follows the inverted triangle
You know everything is accurate
450 words minimum (if warranted, it can be shorter)
Paragraphs are one to three sentences long
New paragraph for every quote
Periods and commas go inside quotation marks
It’s in past tense
Said, not says.
Include what year in school a student is (freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior), but don’t capitalize it
AP Style
Note: Ask or Google the topic and “AP Style” if you are unsure about how to write something out
No Oxford comma
Yes: “There were ninjas, zombies and cats.”
No: “There were ninjas, zombies, and cats.”
Names
Use his/her full name the first time you reference a person (Harry Potter)
Every time after that, only use his/her last name (Potter)
Do not use “Mr.” or “Ms.” – this goes for teachers too
Dates and times
The month and the day, no “th,” “st,” “nd,” etc.
The following months are abbreviated as such:
Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.
Use figures for date (don’t spell it out)
Ex: “On Aug. 17, they won their first game.”
Times:
a.m. or p.m.
do 6 p.m., not 6:00 p.m.
7:30 to 8:45 p.m.
Numbers
Use figures for all numbers above nine. Spell out all numbers under 10. Note the exceptions below:
Use figures for ages, sums of money, time of day, percentages (and spell out the word percent; don’t use a %), house numerals, years, days of month, degrees of temperature, time of races.
Spell out numbers, no matter how large, when they begin sentences.
Avoid unnecessary ciphers. Use $1, not $1.00; 1 p.m., not 1:00 p.m.
Classes
Capitalize: specific classes (Creative Writing, Earth Science, Algebra II) and classes that are languages (English, Spanish)
Don’t capitalize: general classes (math, science)
Titles
If a title comes before a name, capitalize it. If it stands alone, don’t.
“Principal Tami Thompson said…”
“The principal’s duties include…”
If possible, workshop with someone
Wait for Miss Bass to read it over
After Miss Bass has read it, change the draft part of the document to 3
News 3
Revise your story
You may want Miss Bass or someone else to read over it again if you did major rewrites. If this is the case, change the draft back to 2 in your document title, and let that person know.
Before finalizing your story, read it over again, looking for grammatical mistakes.
Make sure your story is in the correct format
No tabs
Short, block paragraphs
News 4
You’re finished! Good work.
