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Dee Baltic
John Marshall Metro High School
Chicago
Title: The Basics of Journalism: A Little Preview
Overview and Rationale
Students will become familiar with
journalism terms to write a lead and a short article.
Goals for Understanding
- Essential Questions
- What is journalism?
- Where do we get our news?
- What do a lead and other parts of an article look like?
- Critical Engagement Questions
- What components must be included in a successful lead?
- Who should be interviewed based on the angle of a story? Why?
Overviews and Timeline
Activity 1 (One 50-minute class)
- Opening discussion (answers should be written on the board during discussion):
- “What is journalism?” (Answers should include
reporting, news/newspapers, purpose of journalism, facts., truth, investigation,
sources, etc.)
- What is some of the more recent news you’ve heard?
- Where do we get out the news?
- Which news sources are more likely to cover a story on Usher? A natural
disaster?
- Teacher passes out a news article from a local/national paper to each
student.
- Break the article into parts, pointing out the beginning (lead),
the middle, and the end.
- Students will come up with two characteristics
for each section of the article. For example, the lead is about 20-30 words,
contains 5 W’s,
a hook, etc. The middle contains the action, details of the story, quotes,
etc. The end contains a quote, a finite ending, etc. These are to be pointed
out as a class.
- Repeat this process for another article and point out similarities
between article formats.
Activity 2 (One 50-minute classes)
- Review previous day’s introduction (Activity 1).
- Read pg. 143 Workshop 11 from School Newspaper Advisor’s Survival
Guide together. As a class, complete pages 144-5 to model and practice
identifying 5 W’s in a lead. Answer any questions students may be
confused about.
- Count off students by an even number of As and Bs. Each
student should partner with someone from the other group: an A pairs with
a B. Give
As a news article from a local paper and give Bs a different article.
- Individually,
students will read their articles and make a list on a separate sheet on
paper of the who, what, where, when, and why of their story.
- Students from
Group A will switch that list with their partners from Group B so they
have only the list of the 5 W’s. They will then write
a lead of no longer than 30 words based on the list in front of them and
without seeing the original article. Remind them to make it interesting.
- Once
students are finished, they will read their leads to their partners. Then
they should compare their leads with the professional articles.
- Students
volunteers will read their leads to the class as professional leads are
shown on an overhead. Class will discuss the differences in how the same
information can be written as well as quality of each lead.
- Homework:
Revise personal leads.
Activity 3 (One 50-minute class)
- Review past days’ lessons briefly, including lead, etc.
- Assign students to go to cafeteria (as a class) and research a story
to write a 2-3 paragraph article about the day’s lunch using their
own angle.
- Class will brainstorm possible “lunch” angles: actual
lunch, events in cafeteria, etc. Class will also brainstorm various people
they could interview on each angle.
- Reminders before reporting: angle concerning
school lunch, strong lead including 5 W’s, 1 person to interview,
no longer than 2-3 paragraphs, etc.
- Students should report back to class
after 20-25 minutes in cafeteria.
- Homework: Full article on lunch topic.
Assessment
Homework assignments:
- Writing and revising personal leads based on 5 W’s
- Full article on
lunch topic.
References
- Osborn, Patricia. School Newspaper Advisor’s
Survival Guide. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998.
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