Writing

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The basic news lead: The 5W’s and H

This is a multi-part lesson introducing students to the basic information required for news with a four-step process for writing basic news leads.

Alternative formats and polls to enhance the news

This is a lesson introducing students to alternative ways of presenting news using a variety of text features.

Analyze the pros: Reading news from a news writer’s perspective

Students will evaluate examples of news stories from disasters to see how the facts are presented in order of importance (using inverted pyramid style).

News writing structure

A multi-part lesson teaches a basic, effective structure for news writing, a modified inverted pyramid form of Lead-Quote-Transition-Quote (LQTQ)

Finding the news

This is a three-day lesson on how to find and report the news by being aware of the audience for a publication or broadcast.

The right source

This is a lesson on choosing the best sources for a story and preparing questions for each.

Beyond the snore: Covering annual events

Students will use a brainstorming technique to analyze eight ways to look at a routine story such as homecoming, prom or Valentines Day.

Writing news briefs

This is a lesson on how to write effective briefs and short news stories.

News writing tips and tricks

This is a multi-part lesson on how to write high-quality news articles that attract readers.

Revising and editing news stories

Students will practice writing and editing their work in addition to editing other students’ work.

News defined: What is news?

This is a basic lesson to teach students to recognize that news must be informative, interesting and factual, or it is not news.

Parts of a review

Students will learn about key features of a review.

Ethics, leadership and reviews

In this lesson exploring ethical situations reviewers may encounter, students will discuss ethical dilemmas and scenarios that often pop up with writing reviews.

Review assessment

This is a lesson to preview and analyze the rubric followed by work time on students’ reviews.

Peer revision on reviews

This lesson is an opportunity for students to discuss what they like best in reviews and decide which one to run.

The A&E section

Students will learn the basics of how to plan and design an A&E section, including vocabulary and visual considerations.

Top 10 reasons to write a list review

In this lesson on writing with bite-sized information for the A&E section, students will study examples and learn what makes a good list.

Introduction to satire

In this lesson on using satire responsibly (and possibly with humor), students will learn elements of satire.

Ethics and satire

A lesson on ethical considerations when writing satire for a student publication.

Avoiding libel in satire

This is a lesson reviewing libel and how to avoid it in writing satire.

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