Writing news Learning objective: to understand the structure of a news story remembering the three Cs – clear, concise, correct

Discuss what these words might mean Starter Starter Discuss what these words might mean clear concise correct The full story about this photo is here – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2259468/Australia-wildfires-Moment-terrified-family-forced-refuge.html - you can print it out after students have discussed the photo and ask how they might find out more about this story, whom they would interview and what sort of questions they might ask.

Key points? The 3 Cs : Clear: Write it how you would say it. Get straight to the point at the beginning. Concise: Don't waffle. Keep your sentences - and the length of your report - short. Correct: Get your facts, spelling and grammar right.

Newsreader Huw Edwards talk talks about writing What does he say about the structure of a news story? BBC video: writing the news

What else should you remember about writing? Ask yourself - What is the main point of this story? If you’re not sure, tell it to a friend – what’s the first thing you say to them? Pick out the best answers from a long interview. Plan an ending – what final thought do you want to leave audience with? For TV or radio, you need to write a script that will be read aloud - possibly alongside pictures or audio clips. If you’re writing a text-based story, think about how photos might work alongside it.

BBC reporter shows you how he writes a script BBC video: Top tips on script-writing

Activity: in pairs put the paragraphs in the correct order Print out this Newsround story about the weather in black and white, then cut the paragraphs up. Students have to put the first four paragraphs into the correct order to understand the structure of a new article. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/23145131 - OR pick your own BBC News story for your class.

Here is the original Newsround article -

Activity: put these pictures in the correct order. B D C

Here’s the correct order. What’s the story? B - 3 C - 4 At this point, play the video so the students can see what the story is about. CBBC Newsround - Artwork that lets you be Spiderman

Now write your own script to match the pictures! D - 1 B - 3 C - 4

Activity: You are a journalist! Find a story in a newspaper, magazine or other reliable source and try to tell the whole story in four paragraphs - that’s about 80 words. What kind of information do you have to cut out? What do you notice about the language you use? Be ready to read it out to the class.