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Lesson 15

Producing a finished news report

Journalist training school background:

Pictures and ‘page furniture’ make people want to read a news report and add more information. They must be truthful, fair, balanced and interesting

This lesson includes a plenary which invites pupils to reflect on what they've learned during the NewsWise project. We ask that you collect their thoughts and experiences in the short form at the end of this lesson plan. All feedback helps us to improve NewsWise.

Download this lesson plan

NewsWise values

This lesson focuses on all of the NewsWise values.

Learning objectives

To publish a news report with ‘page furniture’.

Learning outcomes

Write a headline for a news report.
Select interesting pictures and write captions to add further information.
Present a finished news report to peers, reflecting on skills and knowledge learned.

Starter/baseline assessment

Headline editing: pupils choose from a selection of different possible headlines to make the most interesting report. What made the best headline? Why? How can you make sure your headlines are truthful, fair, balanced and interesting?

Learning activity

After looking at the language conventions of headlines, such as subject-verb-object, alliteration, puns and powerful verbs, pupils practise using the language of headlines by completing headlines and writing their own using the Creating headlines resource.
Pupils add page furniture to the final draft of their news reports, including headlines, pictures, captions and bylines. Ensure that each of these adds more information, draws attention to the article, or helps the reader to understand more about the story. The NewsWise newspaper template includes sections for a masthead, headline, byline, picture, caption and date.
Challenge: pupils add a standfirst (a very concise summary underneath the headline, pulling out key points not included in the headline).
Pupils swap reports with a partner and provide feedback on each other’s use of page furniture. Is the headline catchy? Are there any redundant words in the headline? Is the headline truthful, fair and balanced? Do the picture captions add extra, interesting information about the story?

Plenary

Pupils present their finished reports, perhaps as a class walkaround. What are you most proud of? How did you ensure that your story was truthful, fair, balanced and interesting? How do you think your readers will react to your stories? What would you do differently if you were to do this again?
Pupils share and discuss their reflections about the NewsWise project. What do you now know about the news that you didn’t know before? What new skills have you learned? What do you feel more confident about now? What do you feel you need more practice at doing? What have you enjoyed the most?
Collect their comments (and your own!) in this short online survey. All feedback you provide helps us to improve NewsWise.

Questions for assessment

What makes the best headlines and pictures?
How do you think readers will react to your news story?
As journalists, what skills have you learned?
What do you feel more confident about or better at now?

Core knowledge and skills

The layout features on a news report are called ‘page furniture’ (see Page furniture notes).

Page furniture adds to the meaning of a report and helps make people want to read it. It is written by the subeditors.
Picture editors select the best pictures to go with a story.

Production editors make sure the whole page looks good and is published on time.
Every extra thing you add to a page is an opportunity to show how interesting and important the story is.