Journalism--Learning to write effectively for the school's newspaper

Note: As we begin our second year of Journalism in our school, our goal is to again inspire our students to write, report, interview and expand thinking via columns and editorials. In addition, we believe that as students take an active role in the class and in our program, they will take greater interest in not only our newspaper (http://www.obamaeagle.org) but also their academics, and additionally the sports, activities, clubs, charitable/volunteer efforts, and student and staff news makers within our school. This lesson plan is a first step in students learning to write for the newspaper.

The student will be able to learn various styles of writing articles.
After learning the "inverted pyramid" approach to writing news--where the most important information appears at the top of an article---they will learn 4 distinct types of leads:

summary lead---just the 5w's and h approach
question lead---where the student begins the article with a question
quotation lead--where a profound comment via interview acts as a good lead-in
anecdotal lead--where a short story precedes the actual article to build interest

Within this unit, student will learn leads, review examples of each, practice via the use of "just the facts" notes, revise printed articles on actual newspaper sites, view raw footage of news stories, take notes and write articles, and focus on various school news makers and activities to write articles for the school newspaper: Here is the day by day plan:

Day 1:
The student will be able to:
-review the inverted pyramid approach to news writing, as discussed previously
-become acquainted with 4 differing styles of news writing leads (above)
-via laptop and elmo projector, review articles and discuss the leads
-visit a website that incorporates numerous articles (pre-arranged)....student will identify leads and discuss effectiveness of writing approach

Day 2:
The student will be able to:
-practice the summary lead. Student will review 'just the facts' notations to make up an article. At first, teacher will provide an example, as he uses the notes in building a summary lead and short article
-build articles based upon 'just the facts' notations for articles concerning stories such as fires, robberies, events.
-write articles on laptop via Microsoft Word.
-access website at home to write three short articles for homework

Day 3:
The student will be able to:
-(with teacher laptop and elmo projector exhibiting site)--read various summary lead articles aloud
-focus on question leads, in which a writer starts an article that has a bit more detail with a question.
-watch as the teacher models a question lead and article based upon 'just the facts' notations on pre-arranged website
-access website, write 2-3 articles from information provided with question leads and within inverted pyramid style via Microsoft Word
-read articles aloud
-for homework, access website and write 4 articles that alternate summary and question leads

Day 4:
The student will be able to
-(with teacher laptop and elmo projector exhibiting site)--read various summary and question lead articles aloud
-focus on quotation leads, in which a writer examines notes, finds an appropriate comment that draws reader interest, and writes article thereafter
--watch as the teacher models a quotation lead and article based upon 'just the facts' notations on pre-arranged website
-access website, write 2-3 articles from information provided with quotation leads and within inverted pyramid style via Microsoft word
-read articles aloud
-for homework, access website and write 6 articles that alternate summary, question and quotation leads

Day 5:
The student will be able to
-(with teacher laptop and elmo projector exhibiting site)--read various summary, question and quotation lead articles aloud
-focus on anecdotal leads, in which a writer provides a short 'side story' which pertains to the subject or someone within to build reader interest and writes an article thereafter
--watch as the teacher models an anecdotal lead and article based upon 'just the facts' notations on pre-arranged website
-learn about the difficulty in anecdotal leads and their appropriate places
-access website, write 2-3 articles from information provided with anecdotal leads and within inverted pyramid style (These stories will deal with teen oriented info)via Microsoft Word
-read articles aloud
-for homework, access website and write 6 articles that include summary, question, anecdotal and quotation leads

Day 6:
The student will be able to
-(with teacher laptop and elmo projector exhibiting site)--read various summary, question, quotation and anecdotal lead articles aloud
-review various newspaper websites and pre-directed news articles to determine leads
-discuss aloud
-travel to other pre-determined news websites, access articles and re-write with different lead, style
-read aloud
-for homework, brainstorm teachers, students, activities, volunteer initiatives worthy of coverage in our school newspaper

Day 7:
The student will be able to
-view note-taking style that incorporates 'main idea' only and utilizes both ideas of important detail and quickness
--view long notes of "accident" and shorten appropriately
--interview teacher as 'eyewitness' and keep notes short
--use Microsoft Word to write article using one of the 4 leads and inverted pyramid style of reporting
-access raw footage (no narration) news website--take notes---write article
-compare with teacher's article

Day 8:
The student will be able to:
-access numerous raw footage websites and video pieces
-take notes
-write articles using appropriate leads
-engage in peer editing
-read and illustrate for class review

Day 9:
The student will be able to:
--again view raw footage websites, take notes and review articles from same footage
-edit and re-do articles
-engage in peer review with partner
-share out with class
-begin learning effective interviewing techniques
-for homework, students will receive school newspaper topic for coverage--student should write basic observations, knowledge about topic/activity

Day 10:
The student will be able to:
-relate impressions of topic with partner, then share with class
-as a warm-up and refresher, access 'just the facts' website with article notes and comprise articles with various leads
-review elements of effective note-taking and solid interviewing
-conduct mini-interview with teacher and write short article
-for homework, student would be instructed to cover assigned topic, take notes in notebook, write basic article with one of the assigned leads and inverted pyramid style
-Bring to class for revision/re-writing via Microsoft Word
(At some point in future, article would be published on school newspaper website)

In the future, we would like to add video reporting, as well.