News Report Project April 2023
What is this project?
As part of our studies on media, we have been analyzing what the parts of a news story are, as well as identifying the steps a reporter takes to create an interesting news story for the public.
Everyone will be creating their own news reports for our own paper Suncrest News!
We have been talking about this assignment for a bit in class, but here are some concrete details if you didn’t catch them during our discussions.
What are the steps?
- Your audience is “students at Suncrest.” Choose a topic. We already brainstormed topics and assigned one to each person.
- Brainstorm ideas. Who will you interview (you need to interview two people)? What observations can you make? What research will you need to do? What pictures will you need to take? What data or math numbers can you gather for this article? How might you use present the information (graph/chart) alongside the article? Detailed information, a picture, and numbers are required for the article.
- Begin the research and gathering process. Record your findings in your journal under two journal pages called “News Report Notes.” Take pictures using an iPad, or with a device at home if needed. Make sure you have access to your photos at school by saving them in your email or on One Drive.
- Do interviews. Before doing the interview, make ten questions. Show them to Ms. D. You may need to do interviews at recess or lunch, especially if it means getting perspective from other Suncrest students.
- Begin writing. Use the handout “Writing a News Report,” as well as any news reports you have seen online and in print, as a guide to writing all of the parts of a news report. Make an outline for your article first (a list of what you will talk about) and then begin drafting it in your journal or on the computer. Remember, it needs to have all the parts of a news report, and a minimum of five paragraphs of information. We did a practice and an edit of that practice report already in class.
- Begin drafting it in your journal or on the computer.
- After you make a rough draft, make a final copy. Make sure to edit it by reading it aloud. Have a peer also edit it carefully for you. Fix any errors.
- You can use the tools available on Microsoft Word, to begin the layout of your article. Make sure you think about spacing, the format of the headline versus the body of the article, pictures you want to include, and any charts or graphs that may be helpful.
- Share your article. Share your report with me so we can share it with the community.
What are Ms. D’s expectations?
- I can choose a topic for my news story that is of interest for my intended audience.
- I can use critical-thinking skills to gather factual information for my news article.
- I can conduct interviews with students or staff to gather information for my report.
- I can create my story using all of the key elements of a news report.
- I can express my ideas clearly in writing, editing carefully for conventions, and using complex sentences, conjunctions, and transition words.
- I can use tools such as interesting vocabulary, an appealing layout, numbers/charts/graphs, props, or an expressive voice to better communicate my ideas and catch the audience’s attention.
- I can share ideas about my local community in a news story format.
When is it due? April 11th end of day.