Day 1: Writing a News Report - Mr Simnett



Literacy Preparation Week

November 2009

Teacher Guide

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Teaching the News Report

Created by:

Dale Simnett and Darren Reed

Formatted by R Fracchioni

2009

Reproduction of the material without authorization from authors, by any duplication process, is strictly prohibited.

OSSLT Preparation: Writing a News Report

The following is a lesson outline that should be used to assist in preparing our students for success on the OSSLT (Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test). This package is meant to assist teachers in delivering a brief, focused lesson which is beneficial to all students taking the OSSLT this year.

Day 1 Lesson Plan

STEP 1

▪ Read through Key Learning Points: News Report with class. Stress the importance for students to have a strategy before going into the test.

STEP 2

▪ Read through Key Learning Points: News Report – An Example with students.

▪ For full marks, students are required to have all aspects present.

STEP 3

▪ Have students read the article: "Students Grow Flying Sauce"

▪ Based on this article, students should fill-in the following page (the Elements of a News report). Special attention should be paid to the instructions for the Body and Facts.

STEP 4

▪ Take up the answers using the “Students Grow Flying Sauce” Answers keys

STEP 5

▪ As a class, discuss the process for writing a news report using the Step-by-Step Planning Guide

▪ If you are comfortable with writing a news report:

✓ Use the Step-by-Step Planning Guide to model the creation of a news report

✓ Encourage creativity amongst students to fill out the details

✓ Use a Think-a-Loud technique to demonstrate the creation of a good lead

✓ Ensure students copy into their booklet for future reference

▪ If you are NOT comfortable with writing a news report

✓ Copy the exemplar from the Teacher’s Guide onto the board

✓ Emphasize the key learning points as mentioned in the exemplar

✓ Ensure students copy into their booklet for future reference

✓ Refer to the Step by Step Planning Guide for proper practice

Thank you so much for taking the time to help our students succeed!

Day 2 Lesson Plan

STEP 1

▪ Encourage students to examine the headline “Important Discovery Made By Local Student” and utilize the Rough Notes space to write the 5 W’s and simple facts.

▪ Have students write a news report based on this headline.

STEP 2

▪ Allow students 20-25 minutes to complete the task (if students need extra time please provide it).

STEP 3

▪ Have students read Marking a News Report

STEP 4

▪ Have students hand their news report to a peer

▪ The peer should use the Peer Evaluation form to evaluate their classmate

STEP 5

▪ Have students read their own news report

▪ They should use the Self Evaluation form to evaluate themselves

STEP 6

▪ Have students read their peer’s evaluation and their own evaluation

▪ They should write a reflection on whether they agree with their peer and what they could improve in their news report

Thank you so much for taking the time to help our students succeed!

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Key Learning Points

News Report

• The key elements of a News Report are:

1. Headline

➢ Catches your attention

➢ Sums up the story

2. Byline

➢ Writer’s name

➢ Writer’s Specialty, e.g. sports, food, crime, current events

3. Placeline

➢ Where the story begins

4.

5. Body

➢ Supplies detail

➢ Most important details come first

➢ Simple, true statements

6. Quotation

➢ What someone actually said

➢ Adds accuracy

➢ Adds “at the scene” feeling

Key Learning Points

News Report – An example

Car thief caught trapped in target vehicle

Jim Day, Staff Reporter

Wed Feb 25, 2009

 

CANBERRA - A bungling Australian car thief was nabbed after accidentally locking himself in the vehicle he was trying to steal, police said Wednesday.

Police were called to a house in Adelaide after two thieves were heard trying to steal a car. On arrival they were surprised to find a 53-year old man hiding inside the vehicle.

"The man, while breaking into the car, had locked himself in the car and couldn't get out," South Australian police said, adding a second thief was found hiding in nearby bushes.

“Students Grow Flying Sauce” Answer Key

The Elements of a News Report

|Element |From the Article |

|Headline |Students Grow Flying Sauce |

|Byline |Jim Wilkes, Science Reporter |

|Placeline |Toronto |

|Lead | In the cult movie classic Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, mutant vegetables cut a deadly swath through the community, |

| |consuming everyone in their path. But Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk says Toronto students cultivating tomato seeds from |

| |space shouldn’t worry about science imitating art. |

|Body |Paragraphs 2-8 |

| |Notice the short paragraphs, facts and quotations |

|Facts |2,500 classrooms taking part |

| |Space plants grow faster and taller |

| |Seeds made 170 orbits of the Earth, travelled more than 7 million kilometers and spent 12 days weightless |

| |Taken to space by Marc Garneau |

|Quotation |“The space-flown seeds made 170 orbits of the Earth, travelled more than 7 million kilometers and spent 12 days weightless” |

| | |

| |“I can see that in these classrooms we have potential future Canadian scientists and astronauts,” he said. “I find that |

| |incredibly exciting.” |

“Students Grow Flying Sauce” Answer Key

Students Grow Flying Sauce

Jim Wilkes, Science Reporter

TORONTO - In the cult movie classic Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, mutant vegetables cut a deadly swath through the community, consuming everyone in their path. But Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk says Toronto students cultivating tomato seeds from space shouldn’t worry about science imitating art.

“There should be no fear on the part of teachers or parents about any toxic fruit growing from these tomato plants,” said Thirsk, who flew aboard the shuttle Columbia on a 17-day mission in 1996.

He said he’ll eat tomatoes produced from the high-flying seeds or use them to make salsa or ketchup.

Thirsk visited students at St. Cecillia Catholic School on Annette St. yesterday to check up on their experiments with tomato seeds taken into space by astronaut Mark Garneau.

The Tomatosphere project involves 2,500 secondary school classrooms across Canada growing 400,000 seeds, half of which made the trip to space. Space plants are said to grow faster and taller.

“The space-flown seeds made 170 orbits of the Earth, travelled more than 7 million kilometers and spent 12 days weightless,” Thirsk said.

At the end of June, schools will send results of their experiment to the Canadian Space Agency which will compile the date and make conclusions.

Thirsk said the program is designed to introduce space science to young Canadians. “I can see that in these classrooms we have potential future Canadian scientists and astronauts,” he said. “I find that incredibly exciting.”

Day 1: Step By Step Planning Guide

Writing a News Report is as easy as 1-2-3!

Step 1: Start planning

– Look at the picture – What is happening in this picture?

– How can you connect the picture to the headline?

– In your rough notes, answer some or all of the following questions:

– Then add:

– Think of a catchy lead paragraph

Step 2: Create a story!

– Write a byline

– Create a placeline

– Create a catchy lead paragraph

– Write in the 3rd person

– Write the body (1-3 paragraphs)

– Be ensure to include a quotation

– Print neatly and legibly

Step 3: Review

Day 1: Writing a News Report

Please model for students on your blackboard.

Exemplar: The following is an excellent example of a news report written by a student during a previous literacy test!

|Who? |Six Grade. 11 Bramalea students |Where? |Bramalea S.S. |

|What? |Students raising money |How? |Car wash, bake sale |

|Why? |To donate to charity |When? |Apr 2, 2008 |

Students Raise Money for a Good Cause

Written by Joe Smith, Current Events

BRAMPTON - A group of grade 11 students from Bramalea Secondary School decide to get together for a very special cause – to raise money for an outstanding, charity.

The students decided to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation because it was said that one of the student’s family members was suffering from heart disease.

On April 2, 2008 the students decided to raise money by having a car wash and a bake sale. The event was very successful raising over $300 in just one day. They decided to donate all of the money they made to the charity of their choice on April 5th, 2009.

When the students were asked why they decided to raise money, they replied by saying, “We thought it was necessary for us to make a difference and give back to our community to make it a better place.”

The six BSS students were very proud of their accomplishment and hoped that other teenagers would be inspired by what they did and help out the community themselves.

Day 2: Writing a News Report

Please provide in-class time for students to work on this very important OSSLT practice.

Rough Notes

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Day 2: Marking a News Report

How Will the News Report Be Marked? Take a look at these examplars!

| | |[pic] |

|The students of BSS raised money to help the poor. | |Stop! Not a Pass! |

| | | |

|Last week BSS held a fundraiser selling food. All of the money the collected went| | |

|to helping out the poor. The raised almost 400 dollars. | | |

| | | |

|You done a very good job BSS students. | | |

| | | |

|Students from BSS school are doing a fundraiser to help build a new computer lab. | |[pic] |

| | | |

|The computer lab will have 36 new Pentium 4 computers. It will also have 4 new | |Almost There! |

|printers and scanners. The computers will be programmed with a fire wall and a | |Still No Pass! |

|pop up blocker. The students from BSS have been baking cakes, cookies and pies | | |

|for the past four weeks. The students have inspired other restaurant to sponsor | | |

|them in their fundraiser. | | |

|BRAMPTON - For the past year, a group of students have raised money for the | | |

|Canadian Breast Cancer Society. To support loved ones with breast cancer. This | |You Passed! |

|money was raised through the help of other family and friends who came out to | | |

|fundraisers and walkathons the students held. | | |

| | | |

|“It is amazing to see young children in our community taking charge and creating | | |

|events for such a good cause,” said a walker from the walkathon. With bright | | |

|smiles on their faces, mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers, grandparents came out | | |

|to the walkathon and pledge money. | | |

| | | |

|The students were amazed to see how many community members came out the event. | | |

| | | |

|If you would like to be part of the events or even just to pledge money, you may | | |

|contact students at bsswalks@ | | |

Day 2: Peer Evaluation

Instructions:

• Read your partners news report.

• Answer the following questions as you read through the article!

How’d your peer do? How many ‘yes’ answers did you circle? (Circle One)

|Pass |Maybe |Needs Improvement |

|7 – 10 YES |6 – 7 YES |0 – 6 YES |

|[pic] |[pic] |[pic] |

Day 2: Self Evaluation

Instructions:

• Read your own news report.

• Answer the following questions as you read through the article!

• Do you agree with your peer? Read your peer’s evaluation.

• Reflect below on what you could do better next time to get a better result!

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4. Lead

➢ The opening section

➢ Gives most important information

➢ Should answer most of the 5W's

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Headline

Byline (name of author)

Lead

– catches reader's interest,

– most important info

– introduces topic,

– answers most of the 5W’s questions

Placeline

Quotation

[pic]

Body

The Lead

The Body

Conclusion

Students Raise Money for a Good Cause

✓ Who?

✓ What?

✓ Where?

✓

✓ When?

✓ Why?

✓ How?

✓

✓ Quotes

✓ More information

✓

Key # 1: Byline (name of author)

Key # 2: Placeline (lets readers know where the article is taking place)

Key # 3: Lead (catches readers interest, introduces topic and some of the 5 W’s)

Key # 4: Body (Fills in the details, include facts and your quotation)

Key # 5: Make up simple facts

Key # 6: Use short paragraphs!

Task: Write a news report based on the headline and picture below.

• You will have to make up the facts and information by answering some

or all of the following questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

• You must relate your newspaper report to both the headline and the picture.

Purpose and

Audience: to report on an event for the readers of a newspaper

Length: The lined space provided for your written work indicates the approximate

length of the writing expected.

Important Discovery Made By Local Student

[pic] Related to headline

• All 5 W’s present

- When?

• Enough detail

• Quotation used

• No personal opinion

• 4-5 paragraphs

used

• Proper spelling and

grammar

[pic] Related to headline

• All 5 W’s present

- When?

[pic] Enough detail

• Quotation used

[pic] No personal opinion

• 4-5 paragraphs used

• Proper spelling and

grammar

[pic] Related to headline

[pic] All 5 W’s present

[pic] Enough detail

[pic] Quotation used

[pic] No personal opinion

[pic] 4-5 paragraphs used

[pic] Proper spelling and

grammar

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Is the article related to headline?

Are all 5 W’s present?

Is enough detail used?

Is there a quotation used?

Do they use third person narration?

Are 4-5 paragraphs used?

Do they use proper spelling and grammar?

Is there a byline?

Is there a placeline?

Is there a good lead paragraph?

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

Is the article related to headline?

Are all 5 W’s present?

Is enough detail used?

Is there a quotation used?

Do they use third person narration?

Are 4-5 paragraphs used?

Do they use proper spelling and grammar?

Is there a byline?

Is there a placeline?

Is there a good lead paragraph?

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

YES NO

Reflection: Do you agree with your peer? What could be better?

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