Journalism Writing

• New lesson editor
• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Block 4

Journalism Writing

Lesson 1: Understanding News Writing

Discussion: What makes News?

Mini-Lesson: The 5W's and 1H

Writing Task: News Article Opening

Objective: Learn how journalists write news articles based on facts and structure.

Discussion:

What makes news?

• What makes a story newsworthy?

• Difference between fact and opinion?

Newsworthy

News articles are generally considered newsworthy based on their relative importance, potential impact, and interest to the reading public.

‘News values’ (also referred to as ‘news factors’) are elements of a story that can be used to determine its relative newsworthiness.

1. Immediacy/ Timeliness

2. Proximity

3. Human Interest

4. Currency

Mini-Lesson:

The 5W's and 1 H.

• Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.

• Write a short news summary based on a headline

The lead paragraph

The ‘lead’ is the first sentence or paragraph of a news story. Ideally, your lead sentence or paragraph should provide a general overview of the entire news article. Along with providing a summary of your news story, the lead paragraph should also answer several important questions. For example, a good lead paragraph will answer most – if not all – of the so-called ‘5W1H’ questions (who, what, where, when, why, and how). Your lead paragraph should always contain enough important information to give readers a general overview of your entire news story. Hopefully, this will prompt readers to continue on to subsequent paragraphs of your news article for additional details.

Write a short news summary based on one of these headlines:

• "Breakthrough in Medical Science: New Vaccine Offers Hope Against Rare Diseases"

• "Revolutionary AI Technology Transforms Education: Personalized Learning for Every Student"

• "Space Exploration Milestone: First Human Mission to Mars Successfully Launched"

Writing Task:

News Article Opening

Write the 1st paragraph of a news article about a major event in your school.

Focus on clear facts and answering the 5W's and 1H.

Lesson 2: Writing a Full News Article

• Mini-Lesson: News Article Structure

• Set of Facts - Guided practice

• Independent Writing Task

Objective: Write a full news report with key details and structure

News Article Strucutre

What are the 4 parts of a news article? A news article includes a headline, lead, body, and conclusion. Each part serves a specific role: the headline grabs attention, the lead delivers the key facts, the body provides supporting details and context, and the conclusion adds perspective.

Guided Practice

Arrange the following facts into a logical news article.

The article is about a made-up school event.

Independent Writing Task

Write a full news article on a recent event at school - or the world.

15 mins.

Swap articles and check if all 5W's and 1H are included.

Lesson 3: Writing a Feature Article

• Using Quotes and Interviews

• Interview Practice

• Writing Task: Feature Article

Objective: Write a longer, more detailed journalistic piece

Using Quotes and Interviews

Use direct quotations to record the opinions, emotions, and unique expressions of your sources. A news story lets the direct quotes do as much of the work as possible.

Interview Practice

• Pair up and interview a classmate about a school-related issue.

• Take notes and prepare a short article

Writing Task: Feature Article

Write a 1-page feature article on a school or community topic

Include a headline, introduction, and at least one quote.