Model curricula for journalism education for developing countries ...

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Schedule of classes
Two one-hour sessions each week. In the first hour, the instructor will respond to
the students’ writing from the previous week, give a class on an aspect of writing,
and set a grammar quiz. In the second hour, students will meet in groups of 10-15
to critique each other’s writing from the previous week and to take part in other
writing activities.
Week 1
Two-hour class:
(1) Introduction. Set up discussion groups and procedures for daily assignments.
(2) Lecture on narrative writing: the anecdote. Stress that an anecdote is not an
opinion or personal reflection, but an account of something happening.
Initial grammar quiz.
Daily assignment (Monday-Thursday): Write a 100- to 150-word anecdote of
something you did or witnessed during the day.
Weekend assignment: Revise your best anecdote.
Readings for Week 2*: (1) Narrative writing, with an example of a nonfiction story, (2)
Grammar handout or textbook chapter.
*The readings each week should consist of a writing and a grammar handout
prepared by the instructor, or prescribed extracts from texts, and photocopies of
exemplary pieces of writing. The handouts and examples could be combined into a
portfolio (with copyright permission).
Week 2
Lecture on narrative writing: the story.
Grammar quiz.
Weekly group discussion: Students read their first (revised) anecdote; critique each
other’s writing and suggest improvements.
Daily assignment: Second set of anecdotes. Launch anecdote with a complication
(e.g., a boy falls off his bike, a parade runs into traffic, a shopper can’t decide which
item to buy …). Write for people of your own age.
Weekend assignment: Rewrite your best anecdote for people of your parents’ or
grandparents’ age.
Readings for Week 3: (1) An example, selected from a local or national newspaper
or magazine, or from an anthology, of a nonfiction narrative story that shows
elements taught in the lecture, (2) Grammar.
Week 3
Lecture: Analysis of the narrative nonfiction story assigned for reading last week.
Grammar quiz.
Weekly group discussion: Second (original and rewritten) anecdote.