WRITING A FACTUAL RECOUNT

(News Report)

Features in a News Article

1. Headline2. Orientation 3. Main body of text4. Reorientation5. Photo + Caption

Important in News Writing

3C

Clear

ConciseCorrect

1. Headline

Catchy In bold Interests the readers Only has a few words Action verbs

Why are headlines important?

1. HeadlineSTARTING THEM YOUNG

PM Lee says Singapore's future depends on its young talents

Hot pop-ertyCan you tell which came from

what type of newspaper?

Playing with wordsWriters can have lots of fun with words

Can you explain what the writer has done with the words?

Hot pop-erty

PunsA word in a sentence that can have two

meanings.

Example

Christmas shoppers stocking up.

Witch Halloween costume is for you?

Letter playChange a letter in a word to give a double

meaning.

ExampleTruck by lightning

AlliterationUsing the same letter sound at the start of

your words can create an interesting effect.

Example

Sending up the Stars and Stripes.

RhymeExamples

Green Queen

Glass with Class

Let’s try creating a headline

Scenario:

You are writing about an accident that happened in front of your school. It involved a school bus and a parent’s car.

Catchy In bold Interests the readers Only has a few words Action verbs

REMEMBER

Let’s try creating a headline

School Bus Crashes Parent’s Car

Deadly Accident at Kallang Primary

“No more children Pick up in the foyer,” says Principal

The Sleepy Bus Driver VS Impatient Parent

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

Activity 1 : HEADLINES

Roles1. Task Manager – make sure that your group

stays on task2. Scribe - Type out your group’s answers3. Time Keeper – Make sure that group’s aware

of the time given4. Quite Captain – Please control the group’s

noise level5. Peace maker – Resolve problems within the

group

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

In your groups, create a headline that is appropriate to your scenarios.

Using your tablet PCs, get on to the class blog

http://kps5humility.wordpress.com/and find your group’s scenario.

Under the comment’s section, create an appropriate HEADLINE for your given scenario.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

A. Group 1&5: You are writing about your school's basketball team's winning match against a River Primary School.

B. Group 2&6: You are writing about the new computer lab in Kallang Primary School.

C. Group 3&7: You are writing about a recent fight between two primary 5 students during recess

D. Group 4&8: You are writing about the exchange programme between Kallang Primary School and Cheltenham School from Melbourne, Australia.

2. Orientation Introduces the story

first paragraph (1 - 3sentences)

Attention grabbing

Summarizes main points in the article

Clear, Concise, Correct

2. Orientation

Example:

On Friday, nearly 400 students from 32 primary schools took part in the H-TWO-O Under-10 Football Fiesta

2008’s five-a-side football tournament.

WhoWhenWhat

Let’s try creating an opening statement...

Scenario:

You are writing about an accident that happened in front of your school. It involved a school bus and a parent’s car.

Let’s try creating an opening statement...

What:

Where:

When:

Who:

Accident between a school bus and a carIn front of Kallang Primary School gates

Friday morning, Oct 30, 2009

School bus driver and a parent

Let’s try creating an opening statement...

A loud crash was heard Friday morning at the gates of Kallang Primary School.

The accident between a school bus and a car belonging to a parent, happened in the midst of morning rush hour.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

Activity 2: The Perfect Opening Statement

In your groups, create an opening paragraph that is appropriate to your scenario.

Using your tablet PCs, get on to the class blog

http://kps5humility.wordpress.com/and find your group’s scenario.

Under the comment’s section, create an appropriate orientation.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

Activity 2: The Perfect Opening Statement

Use the worksheet provided BBC news School Report worksheet: “Wri

te as you speak”

COMING SOON…

3. Body Sequence of events in chronological order

o Use connectors to show your transition.

Paragraphs

Past tense

Simple, clear sentences

3. Body

(A) Provides detailed information

o the background scenario

o the name of the people involved

o the way the event happened

3. Body

Example:

The Football Association of Singapore organised the event, which ran from 7.30am – 5.30pm

and was held at Jurong West’s Fico Sports Hub, which boasts Asia’s

largest futsal football arena.

Where

Details

3. Body

Example:

In the final, Kranji Primary School narrowly edged out St Stephen’s

School 1-0. Yangzheng Primary placed third

while Loyang Primary came in fourth.

Details

3. Body

Example:

The guest-of-honour at the event, FAS head of grassroots, Jita Singh,

handed out the prizes to the winners.

Details

3. Body

(B) May include comments and quotes from eyewitnesses to give credibility to your report

o Spoken accounts may be directly quoted using quotation marks “” or direct speech.

3. BodyExample:

Watching from the sidelines was FAS technical director, Slobodan

Pavkovic. “I’m happy to see children in Singapore start playing competitively from such a young

age.”

Quote

4. ReorientationConclusion

End with a short concluding line.

How? Point to the future on what is expected to

happen next

Eyewitness quotations

4. ReorientationConclusion

Example:

“We share the same belief that it is never too young to start developing

a passion for football. In fact, we will be working with the youngsters in another event in July,” said Jita

Singh, the former Singapore coach.

Future

5. Photographs

‘A picture paints a thousand words.’

photographs give readers a clearer picture of the event

Include an interesting caption to describe the picture

5. Photograph

Example:

Caption

5. Photograph

Example:

Caption

Writing your news report digitally

Instant access

Interactive Readers can leave comments instantly

Format

Credits