News Article with a Featured Interview

Class Exercise

With a partner, find five examples of each of the following techniques in your newspaper. Circle and label each with a marker.

1. Lead -- Usually one sentence that tells who, what where, when, why and how. It is found at the beginning of the story.
2. Headline -- The title of the story
3. Byline -- The author of the story
4. Quote -- Exactly what someone said and is in quotation marks

Find and identify two of each of the following:

1. News story -- A story that is timely and describes an event of interest
2. Editorial -- A writer tells his or her opinion about a subject
3. Advertisement -- An article or ad that is paid for by the company

Your job as a reporter is to report facts and the opinions of others and to leave your own opinions out of the story. The term for introducing your own opinion into a story is called editorializing – try not to do this!

Multiple Sources: The more people you talk to, the better the article. You can use direct quotes or paraphrase what someone says, but always remember to identify who says what.

Homework Tuesday 31st

1. Choose a news-worthy topic. Example topics: school lunches, sports, clubs, after school activities, new course offerings, teachers, Purim, Sukkot, recycling programs, Passover,etc.
2. Choose two to three people to interview to find out information about the topic. Here some interview tips.
3. Write questions for these people to make the interview organized and efficient. Ask the following type questions: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY AND HOW.

On Tuesday we will go over the topics and questions you selected

Homework for Thursday 2nd

1. Schedule and conduct interviews.
2. Take notes on what each person says. If the person has a strong opinion about a topic, ask him or her if you can include a quote in your story. Make sure your write down exactly what he or she says when it is opinion or an unusual fact.
3. Have an outline for your story

Homework for Tuesday 7th

1. Organize this information into a story. The most important information goes at the top of the story. The least important information goes at the end. This is called the inverted pyramid. Here's some tips for organizing your article.
2. The first line of your story is called the lead. The lead should include as much of the following: who, what, where, when, why and how information. The lead should not be more than 30 words. It should grab the reader’s attention and make a reader want to finish reading your story.
3. Do not put your opinion in this story. You must only give facts about the topic. If you want opinion in your story, it must be from a quote (something that someone said.) The information should be in quotation marks with the student’s name after the quote.
4. Paragraphs must be short in length. Remember to put the most important information first and the least important last. Look at the newspaper for examples of this.

Your grade will be based on how well your article meets the following points:

• clearly states the topic or question
• demonstrate a clear understanding of topic covered
• summarizes what you’ve learned
• progresses well from one point to another
• uses technology appropriately
• uses and cites a variety of sources