Newspaper Stories

Write the term philanthropy on the display board. Review the definition (giving time, talent, or treasure for the common good) and discuss their recent acts of philanthropy (individual or as a class). If this is a new concept, see Bibliographical Resources for lessons that introduce this concept and help students identify community needs.

This lesson's focus is on the different types of stories found in newspapers.

Give newspapers to groups of students. (Note: Keep the newspapers as reference for the remainder of the unit.)

Introduce the concept of Freedom of the Press. Tell the students that the writers of the First Amendment knew that it was essential that the Press have the right to write about news, even if it was controversial or against the government or the church. With that right and freedom comes the responsibility to report honestly and fairly. Reporters must do research to get their facts right, spell names correctly, give accurate background information, and give equal time to both sides of an issue. (First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.)

Tell students that people read newspapers differently than they read books. They scan the headlines for topics of interest, and they usually don't read everything in the paper. The first paragraph of each article gives a concise description of what the story is about. If you read the first paragraph, you can decide quickly if it is an article you want to read. Tell the students they are going to spend 15 minutes getting familiar with one newspaper.

Ask the students to look through the entire newspaper, identifying the sections and the types of information available. Have them scan the headlines looking for any articles, letters, or features related to people showing generosity or working toward solving an issue that affects the community, world, or nation. Tell them that if a headline looks like it might be fitting, they should read the first paragraph. If the first paragraph looks interesting, they should highlight it. When they are finished, ask them to tell the class about the articles they found. They do not need to read the whole article at this point.

Ask for volunteers to share the titles of articles they found in the paper about people giving their time, talent, or treasure for the common good or about people addressing issues of civic engagement. Write some of these titles on the display board. As students share these articles, help them recognize that some of the stories are local, and some are global. Some are political, and some are human interest. And note if some are news stories and some are letters, editorials, or in other formats. Help the students recognize or become aware of the other genres in the newspaper.

Tell the students that over the next few days they will be writing about their community service experience in one of three formats: news article, personal narrative, or persuasive writing.

Day Two: Teacher Note: Before students come in, write the words who, what, where, why, and when on the display board. Anticipatory Set: Read some lead paragraphs from articles in the newspaper. As you read, point out to the students that the first paragraph is concise and attention-getting, and it gives the basic information about the article. As you read each lead paragraph, have the students identify strong (effective) words, tense, point of view (first person/third person), and the five Ws (written on the display board). Write some of their selected strong words on the display board. Also, keep track in tally form of tense and point of view used.

Discuss what makes a good lead paragraph for a news article. Clarify for the students that today they are looking only at objective news articles (not opinions).

Ask the students to recall some of the topics covered in the newspapers they looked at the previous day. List the elements of a good news article (accurate, objective, just the facts, clear and concise, topic of current interest, published in newspaper, online, or in a magazine). See the Bibliographical Resources for some websites that give information for students about writing quality news articles.

Remind the students of the responsibility that goes along with the Freedom of the Press. They must do research to get their facts right, spell names correctly, give accurate background information, and give equal time to both sides of an issue. This genre of writing requires careful work and research to get the facts right and without bias.

Brainstorm with the students events they can write about for a news article. The events should be related to philanthropy--either their own acts of giving and sharing or a school or community event. The students may all write about the same event or each student may choose a different topic.

When everyone has a topic, they should write a lead paragraph for their news article. The lead paragraph should capture the readers' attention, and the paragraph should communicate the 5 Ws and give the basic facts concisely.

If time permits, the students can start researching their topic. This research may include learning more about the background of the issue, the planning of the event, or the individuals giving or receiving services. The research may include interviews and gathering quotes for the article. Research may also involve getting accurate spellings of individuals' or organizations' names. Give the students a copy of Handout Two: Rubric: Writing a News Article to guide their planning.