One of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of teaching middle school journalism is seeing how much students learn and accomplish in just a few short years. Most begin their journalism journey with little to no experience in photography, design or journalistic writing. Teaching those foundational yearbook skills while simultaneously launching yearbook production can be challenging, but once students develop confidence in the basics, they gain endless opportunities to grow creatively.
Some people assume middle school students are limited in what they can accomplish in journalism and yearbook, but my experience has shown the opposite. I’ve found that once students understand the fundamentals, they become capable of far more than many expect. When teachers set high standards, provide support and continue to challenge them, middle school students can rise to those expectations in some really impressive ways.
Here are some ways I teach the basics and challenge my middle school students:
Design
TEACH: At the beginning of the year, I teach students the basics of design, including hierarchy, proximity and dominance. We study yearbook spreads from middle schools and high schools across the country so students can learn to analyze what makes a design effective. My editors also teach the staff tips and tricks for using the Yearbook 360 – Online Design platform.
- CHALLENGE THEM: Once students understand the basics, they begin creating spreads with dominant elements, secondary elements and mods. Editors guide them through revisions and help them strengthen their designs. To keep our book consistent while still allowing creativity, editors create mod examples that the staff can build from and adapt.
- CONSIDERATION: We strive to keep layouts creative but manageable for students within the software. This year, our theme included a maze-inspired look created with the draw tool, so my design editor taught the staff how to make the lines consistent and incorporate them effectively across all of our spreads within Online Design.
Photo
- TEACH: I start the year by teaching ISO, shutter speed, aperture, composition and basic camera settings. We jump into practice quickly with scavenger hunts and activities because our first volleyball game is usually in the second week of school. From there, it’s all about repetition. Students are required to shoot three events a month, and I remind them the best way to improve is simply to keep taking pictures.
- CHALLENGE THEM: We regularly hold photo presentations where students share a favorite photo, explain the technical choices behind it and receive critiques from the staff. This helps them improve and pushes them to try new techniques. If a student’s photos start looking repetitive, I challenge them with specific goals like using leading lines, framing or selective focus. They also keep photo cheat sheets on the back of their press passes for quick setting reminders.
- CONSIDERATION: At the middle school level, we focus more on photographing sports, classes and fine arts performances than we do studio photography. We take posed photos for student features, but we don’t have dedicated studio spaces with professional equipment like some high schools.
Writing
- TEACH: At the start of the year, writing comes after photography basics. We focus heavily on caption writing before moving into stories. Students study both news and feature writing, and reading a variety of examples helps them understand the structure, organization and purpose needed in articles.
- CHALLENGE THEM: This year, my editors moved first drafts to an earlier deadline, which gave our copy editor and me more time to provide feedback. Since this style of writing is new for many students, they struggle most with the format, writing strong leads and gathering meaningful quotes. The extra time allowed students to revise and edit multiple times, resulting in the most consistent writing our staff has produced to date.
- CONSIDERATION: Most middle school staffs are not producing long narrative-style stories like many high school yearbooks. My students do write feature stories, but they are typically shorter pieces of around 300-400 words.
While middle school yearbook programs may look different from high school programs, the learning opportunities are just as meaningful. By intentionally teaching foundational skills and gradually increasing expectations, advisers can help students develop confidence and produce high-quality work. The results often impress our yearbook community and surprise the students themselves. It’s one of my favorite parts of being a middle school yearbook adviser.
If you love yearbook, then you’ll love the full issue of Idea File magazine, available at walsworthyearbooks.com/ideafile. And if you’re interested in finding out more ways Walsworth can help you create a smoother, easier yearbook experience, reach out to your local Walsworth rep.
