Activities and methods for teaching newspaper skills to eighth-grade students are presented in this unit from the Greenfield Express Management System (GEMS) program, a California Demonstration Program in Reading. A project overview form from the California Centers for Educational Improvement (CCEI) describes the GEMS program and lists other units included in the program. The newspaper unit includes: (1) objectives for students; (2) a materials list including recommended locally available audiovisual materials; (3) an evaluation suggestion; (4) alternative, follow-up, and extra-credit activities; (5) a vocabulary list of newspaper terms; (6) recommendations for introducing and teaching the unit; and (7) student activities on a variety of newspaper-related topics. The products of the activities are intended to be compiled by the student in a notebook. Newspaper topics which are covered include: biased words, headlines, newswriting, editorials, syndicated columns, news photography, editorial cartoons, advertising, news services, and famous journalists. A 34-item bibliography on journalism and newspapers is included. (DC)