UNIT 8: Lesson 3, School reporting!

Lesson 3

School reporting!

Magazine: Be investigative journalist

Story: A visitor to the Star

1	Petra and Hans from Berlin have sent their e-friends an e-mail and an attached file. Read the e-mail to find out what the attachment is. What do they suggest?

Dear all,
Here's the spring issue of our school newspaper. We had a
great time preparing it. Have a look and tell us what you think.
Love,
Petra & Hans
PS. If you like the idea of a school newspaper, read our
article. It will help you get started.

Read Petra and Hans's article about how to prepare a school newspaper
(pages 129-130) and put the headings (1-6) above the correct section (a-e).
There is an extra heading.

1. What about printing your newspaper?
2. Helen Porte of Huxlow School's English Department gives some advice:
3. How to make your school newspaper interesting!
4. Why is it a good idea?
5. What can you do for your newspaper?
6. What can you include in your newspaper?

3	Look at the texts (A-E) from English school newspapers. What type of text is each one? Choose from the ideas mentioned in the article (section b / items 1-8)

Raise Those Voices
The children take part in the
workshops every Thursday after
school. There will be a performance
for the school on the last day of the
Spring Term

UNIT 8

Lesson 3

By Meera Solanki
‘The Series of Unfortunate Events' is by
Lemony Snicket and the title means what it
says. It is about three children whose
parents both perished in a fire that burnt
down their family home. They think one of

4	In pairs, read section c and find the person(s) who will …

a. need to carry a modern type of equipment.
b. find information for you.
c. go to a book exhibition in your area.
d. check all pieces of writing.
e. prepare the newspaper on the computer.

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5	In pairs, read Helen Porte's advice in section e. Which piece do you think is the most useful? Explain why.

School reporting!

A lot of people who work in the media started out by writing for school newspapers. It's a great way of
learning how a story is put together. You can also learn about the different jobs there are and find out
which one you might like to do. School newspapers also help students talk about the things they are
unhappy with, which can lead to changes in the way a school works.

There is a lot going on in schools so you will never be short of ideas. Think about:

News articles: competitions, sports events, celebrations, school trips etc. Anything
that affects people at your school (students, teachers, school staff).
Club announcements: Let everyone know about the various activities going on.
Quizzes: Set some challenging questions for your classmates.
Recipes: Share your favourite recipe with the readers.
Artwork: This is a great chance to show your artistic skills.
Photos: Take pictures of students, teachers and school staff in action. They will
want to get your paper to see themselves in print.
Reviews: Write about the latest books, films and albums of your favourite artists.
Songs: What about publishing the lyrics of the latest hit?

If your team is small, then everyone has to do a bit of everything. If you are a
big team, here are some of the jobs you can do.

Editor: The editor is the boss of the paper. Editors decide what sort of stories
it should cover and who is doing what. They also correct or change pieces of
text before they are printed.
Cartoonist: Students who are good at art could draw a cartoon or a comic
strip.
Photographer: Find someone who knows how to use a digital camera. If
your paper is photocopied, remember that the quality of your photos won't
be really satisfactory.
Reporters: They write news stories. This means that they should go to school
events (matches, school parade, plays etc.) and come back with an article or
an interview.
Researcher: You might need someone who is really good at digging up
information. They should know how to use libraries and the Internet.
Designer: Your newspaper should look interesting. Find students who have
design skills and can use computer graphics.

UNIT 8

Lesson 3

This is where you're going to need help and advice. Students with good ICT
skills are needed for this job. Most school newspapers are put together like this:

Write each story using a word processing package.
Paste the text to some desk top publishing software.
Arrange the stories on the page the way you want them.
Add the pictures, artwork and headlines.
Check the work very carefully - more than once.
Print it.
Run off loads of copies on a photocopier.

Try to invite someone from the local newspaper to talk to
teachers and students who are interested in the idea of a
school newspaper.
Get a team of volunteers together. Ask some teachers to
help all students in the school to write for the newspaper
if they wish.
Take advantage of everyone in the local area - they
usually want to help out schools. Ask for interviews, prizes
and sponsorships.
If printing costs are too high, put the newspaper on the
Internet. The school ICT teacher can help you.
Set realistic targets. Try to produce one paper per term.

Glossary
word processing noun [U]
the organisation of a text in
electronic form using a word
processing program.
desk-top publishing noun [U]
the production of a page design
for books, newspapers etc. by
using a small computer and
printer

adapted from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/2003/school_newspapers/

Catchy headlines

If you want to attract readers, you need to find a catchy headline for your
newspaper article. In pairs, read the following headlines and discuss:

1. What kind of text is it?

2. What might it be about?

3. Is it interesting to read?

School reporting!

1	Listen to some students in Petra and Hans's class talking about their newspaper and take notes of what each student is going to do.

This text will be replaced

2	What would you like to do for your school newspaper? Tell the class.

Link to www.e-yliko.gr for the first grade of Junior High
School: Project: School Radio

Our school Newspaper

Phase One

Get in groups of five.
Decide what to include in your newspaper. Try to include a variety of genres (article, quiz,
story etc.) as well as a contribution from each member of your group.
Look at your portfolios. Read each other's work and discuss which pieces you would like to
publish in your newspaper.
Choose a representative of your group and present your Top 5 suggestions to the rest of the
class. Appoint a secretary to write them on the board (e.g. A HISTORY QUIZ by Konstantinos P.)
Vote for the texts you would like to include in your newspaper. Remember! YOU CAN'T
VOTE FOR YOURS.
Make a final list of ideas/texts for your newspaper. Now, you are ready to start working on
them.
Agree on a name for your school newspaper.
Reread Helen Porte's advice.

Phase Two

What would you like to do for your newspaper? Look at your options in Petra and Hans's
article (section c), choose and form groups.

Phase Three

You should all help with photocopying and stapling the newspaper pages together.
Make a poster to advertise your newspaper.
Run a newspaper kiosk in the school yard to distribute your newspaper (a couple of desks
and chairs and an ‘Our School Newspaper' sign will do). You can also distribute your
newspaper to your family, friends, neighbours and local shop owners.
Put your newspaper on the school site.

UNIT 8

S e l f - A s s e s s m e n t

VOCABULARY LINK

1	Circle the correct collocation

1. film
2. annual
3. in
4. read
5. print

vote
golden
by
invent
paste

INDUSTRY
STATUE
ACCIDENT
A SIGN
A NEWSPAPER

1 POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/5

Complete the sentences with the words from the box. There is an extra
word you don't need to use.

thanks package strip after prestigious out

1. The Oscars are the most …………………….. awards in the film industry.
2. ………………………. to Braille, blind people can read books.
3. I was named ………………………. my grandma.
4. Use a word processing ………………………… to write your article.
5. Students who are good at art can do a cartoon or a comic …………………….

1 POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/5

GRAMMAR LINK

3	Are the sentences active or passive? Write A for active and P for passive.

1. She writes all the e-mails at the office.
2. Dinner is served at 7 o'clock.
3. The meeting was cancelled.
4. A bank robbery took place yesterday.
5. The house was completely destroyed by the fire.

1 POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/5

4	Choose the correct answer.

1. I ……………..my homework very early today.
a. was finished b. finished
2. America ……………… discovered by Columbus.
a. is b. was
3. We are ………………… lots of presents at Christmas.
a. gave b. given

S e l f - A s s e s s m e n t

4. Our school newspaper ………………. published twice a month.
a. is b. are
5. Dad is ……………… a sports magazine.
a. reading b. read

1 POINT FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/5

5	Change the sentences from Active to Passive. Omit the agent when appropriate.

1. The cartoonist draws the cartoons for the paper.
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2. Our classmates wrote challenging questions for the quiz.
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3. Mary often uses a digital camera.
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4. They arranged the stories on the page.
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5. We invited lots of people to the end-of-year party.
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	2 POINTS FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER TOTAL ___/10
	TOTAL SCORE ___/30

CHECK YOUR ANSWERS WITH YOUR PARTNER. THEN LOOK AT THE ANSWER KEY ON PAGE 177

0 -10

11 -20

21 -25

26 -30

S e l f - A s s e s s m e n t

Which is true for you? Put a tick

in the right box.

I can do jigsaw reading with my partner.
I can talk about activities at different workplaces.
I can write an article about famous awards around the world.
I can talk about famous people with disabilities.
I can use punctuation marks.
I can play ‘Find someone who …' with my classmates.
I can use the title and the headings of an article to guess the ideas in it.
I can plan a school newspaper with my classmates.

: I'm very good! What can I revise?	My Notes: ……………………………………………… ……………………………………………… ……………………………………………… ……………………………………………… …………………………………....…………
: I can become better. What should I practise?
: I must try harder. What do I need to work on?

FOCUS ON WRITTING SKILLS

Tick

the writing strategies that have helped you in this unit. Which
other(s) do you want to try in the future?

Read the task to understand
- what type of text you are writing,
- who you are writing to and
- why you are writing.
Use the model texts in your book to get help.
Make a plan before you start writing.
If there is a Language Bank, use the words and phrases in your writing.
Ask your partner to read your draft and comment on your ideas and
language. Do the same for him/her.
Use the ‘writing code' to correct mistakes.
Try to paraphrase if you can't find the right word.
Keep all your writing in a file and read it from time to time to avoid
making the same mistakes.

Το παρόν αποτελεί μέρος του ψηφιακού εμπλουτισμού των σχολικών βιβλίων (Ψηφιακό Σχολείο) και διατίθεται μόνο για εκπαιδευτική χρήση και στο πλαίσιο για το οποίο διαμορφώθηκε.