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Student Activity Sheet: Newspaper Article
| Directions: |
Pretend you are a newspaper reporter and have just witnessed the
historic first, successful flight of a powered aircraft by the Wright
Brothers at Kitty Hawk. Write a newspaper article describing the
event.
Use the following information and examples to help you hone your
skills as a newspaper reporter.
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Writing Experience:
Writing a Newspaper Article
Newspaper articles require a different style of writing from what is
used when writing a story. When writing a newspaper article, picture a
triangle like the one shown.
The newspaper article has all of the important information in the opening
paragraph. This information includes who, what, when, where, why
and how. It is written this way because most people do not read
an entire newspaper article all the way through. So newspaper writers
put the most important information at the beginning.
A typical newspaper article contains five (5) parts:
| Headline: |
This is a short, attention-getting statement about the event. |
| Byline: |
This tells who wrote the story. |
| Lead paragraph: |
This has ALL the who, what, when, where, why and how in it. A writer
must find the answers to these questions and write them into the opening
sentence(s) of the article. |
| Explanation: |
After the lead paragraph has been written, the writer must decide
what other facts or details the reader might want to know. The writer
must make sure that he/she has enough information to answer any important
questions a reader might have after reading the headline and the lead
paragraph. This section can also include direct quotes from witnesses
or bystanders. |
| Additional Information: |
This information is the least important. Thus, if the news article
is too long for the space it needs to fill, it can be shortened without
rewriting any other part. This part can include information about
a similar event. |
Below is an example of a newspaper article:
| Headline: |
High flying escape ends in death |
| Byline: |
By Robin Sloan |
| Lead paragraph: |
Icarus, son of the famous inventor, Daedalus, plunged into the Aegean
Sea and drowned while attempting to escape from the island of Crete
early yesterday afternoon. His body has yet to be recovered. |
| Explanation: |
Icarus and his father had made wings from wax and bird feathers
they had collected over the years while imprisoned on the island of
Crete. They attached the homemade wings to their arms and, using a
flapping motion, lifted off from the island shortly before noon. While
making their escape, Icarus flew too close to the sun. As a result,
the heat melted the wax on his wings which caused the feathers to
drop off. The wings collapsed and Icarus fell into the sea and drowned. |
| Additional Information: |
Daedalus, sobbing from the distant shore where he had landed safely,
said, "My last words to Icarus before we left the island was to
stay close and not fly too high! He just didn't listen! Why didn't
he listen to me?" Daedalus and Icarus had been held prisoner by
King Minos on the island of Crete, and had been forced to build a
labyrinth at the palace of Knossos. It was known to be the most difficult
maze in the world to navigate successfully. |
Writing Experience:
Write Your Own Newspaper Article
Directions: Write a newspaper article about the Wright Brothers'
aeronautical feat of the first succesful, powered airplane flight. Use
the guidesheet below to help you plan the information you will include
for your article.
| Headline: |
| Byline: |
By: |
| Lead Paragraph: |
Who:
What:
When:
Where:
Why:
How:
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| Explanation: |
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