School News – parents, students, and teachers Local News – people who live in the community Sports News – people who are interested in sports Entertainment News – people who are interested in

music, movies, & TV World News – people interested in world events

Practice Companion p. 128◦What type of news is this?◦Who is the audience?◦What did you learn?◦How is this topic related to what we have been

reading about science?◦How is the writing organized?◦Where is the most important information?◦What does the author want us to know about tennis

rackets?

A good news report…◦ informs readers about current events.◦ has a headline that grabs readers’ attention.◦ has a lead sentence that summarizes the most important

information.◦ has supporting sentences and paragraphs that tell who, what,

where, when, why, and how.◦ has facts and details that relate to the topic.◦ has information presented from most to least important.

Lead sentence with the most important information.

Paragraphs that give facts and details.

Least important

information.

What is the lead sentence? What paragraphs give supporting details? What is the least important information?

Answer the 5W +H Questions…Who?What?Where?When?Why?How?

Brainstorm your ideas of the type of news report you would like to write.

Who will your audience be? What are possible topics?

Practice Companion p. 129 – Evaluation Rubric

Current: Recent events make good topics for news reports.

Important: Does the topic affect a lot of people? Nearby: Did it happen close to us? Well-Known: Is it about a person or place that is well-

known? Emotional: Does it contain strong emotions the reader

can respond to?

The School Board voted to keep schools open twelve months a year.

The school assembly started ten minutes late last Friday.

The car was lost in the school parking lot.

Local restaurant gives extra food to homeless shelter.

School book drive collects books for schools damaged by hurricane.

Skilled news writers make connections between causes and effects very clear in their reports so that readers understand how events happened and what the results of those events were.

Select a topic Think of who your audience is Answer the 5W +H Questions

One way to gather information for a news report is to interview someone who is involved or knows about the news event.

This could be an expert or a witness. Planning and asking your interview questions will help you learn

more about the news event. Your questions should be the 5W+H Questions.

Ask open-ended questions Jot down new questions as you think of them Be friendly & polite Listen carefully & be responsive Take notes

Work with a partner to generate questions for the person you plan to interview.

Practice asking your partner the questions and taking notes on the responses.

Revisit the Evaluation Rubric on p. 129 in your Practice Companion

A direct quote is the exact words of another person. A writers uses these so that the reader knows exactly what that person said.

They are most effective when there are just a few important quotes and they are short.

Remember:◦A news report begins with the most important information

about the topic.◦ It continues with facts and details about the topic.◦ It concludes with the least important information about the

topic.

A lead is the first and most important sentence in a news report.

With a strong focus and good lead, the rest of your report will flow naturally.

When writing a news report it is important to write objectively – do not let your personal opinions show through in your writing.

Avoid words that have obvious positive or negative connotations like: best, greatest, and worst.

Also avoid words that suggest your personal opinion like: In my opinion, I believe, and I think.

Give interesting facts and details about the topic Support the main idea of the report

A headline is the title of a news report. Writers often write their headlines last so that they can

see what interesting fact might grab the reader’s attention.

The purpose of a headline is to attract attention and encourage the reader to keep reading.

Tells the topic of the report Is written in the present tense and uses action verbs Captures the reader’s attention

Continue to check your work using the Evaluation Rubric on p. 129 in your Practice Companion

The writer shares his or her report. The reviewer tells what he or she liked about the report. The reviewer asks questions about the report. The reviewer makes suggestions for changes. The writer makes notes of the reviewer’s comments. The partners switch roles.

See Peer Evaluation Form in your Practice Companion p. 130

Use the Editing Checklist to read your report several times and look for one or two kinds of errors at a time.

Review the Evaluation Rubric (Practice Companion p. 129) one more time.

Read each area carefully and evaluate how well you did.

Experienced writers go back many times to revise and edit their work.

Make any final changes you’d like to make to make it your best work.

Make your final draft.