Writing a News Report

What Does It Test? It tests your ability to connect ideas (Headline to picture to prior knowledge). It tests your ability to come up with main ideas and supporting details. It tests your ability to organize your thoughts and writing. It tests your writing ability (spelling, grammar, sentence and paragraph structure). It tests your vocabulary.

Writing a News Report

Pre-writing
1. Study the given information (picture and/or headline) to get ideas about an event that you will make up for your news report 2. Plan your news report: think of some specific facts and information that answer the questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? And How?

Writing Process
1. Write enough to ensure that your reader will be fully informed about the event 2. Include quotations from the participants in the event or bystanders 3. Organize your ideas clearly to help your reader follow and understand your news report 4. Edit! Edit! Edit!

Components of an Effective News Report

1. Strong Headline (Given!) 2. Clear and Interesting Lead Sentence 3. You want to start off with your strongest point. This should be followed by your second strongest, then third strongest etc. This is called the Inverted Triangle Method (see Diagram). 4. You want to have a series of paragraphs that are each 2-4 sentences long. 5. One or two well-placed quotations 6. Answering as many of the W5 as possible

Lets Make a Plan

Last Minute Tips Use all of the lines (or as many as possible). Be as specific as possible. Plan your work. Cover all of the W5. Write short (2-3 sentence) paragraphs. Always relate things back to the picture and headline. Avoid the first person. Use the conventions of a written news report. You are not writing for television (Visual) or for a blog (informal). If you are having trouble coming up with facts, use names of real people and places that you know. Manage your time. A news report should take you roughly 25 minutes to write.

Sample of a News Report from the 2009 OSSLT