Begin the lesson with a warm-up activity that helps students focus on evaluating the newsworthiness of any given story. For example, provide current or historical newspaper copies and ask the students to read through the articles, noting the differences between a front page article versus a page five, back page, living, business or metro section article. Lead the class in a discussion of why news editors choose one story over another and how they decide where to place an article in the layout.
Move into guided practice with individual or class brainstorming of story ideas. Students might choose to research a current or historical event and write a news article that might have appeared in a paper of that time period. Alternatively, they can choose to write an article on something that is happening at school such as a fundraiser, the latest school baseball game or an opinion piece on whether there are enough extracurricular activities to meet the needs of all students. Make a list of possible topics, evaluate the newsworthiness of each one and select the story on which to focus.
Explain that good reporters must prioritize accuracy by collecting facts from experts and authoritative sources. Make a list of possible research venues. Reputable websites, books and magazine articles can provide a factual base. Interviewing experts or eyewitnesses gives you quotes from credible sources to lend authority to your article. Ask each student to make a list of specific sources she can use to collect information for her story. For interviews, make a list of questions to ask the expert. Give the students time to conduct their research and make notes on the important details.
Introduce the 5Ws and 1H -- who, what, when, where, why and how. Ask students to re-read the first paragraph of the articles in their newspaper and determine how many of these details are mentioned. Explain that the first paragraph is called the "lead" and should contain a brief summary of the who, what, when, where, why and how in a way that pulls the reader into the story and makes him want to read the rest. Demonstrate writing leads for some of the sample topics, eliciting ideas from students. For independent practice, let students work on creating a compelling lead for their chosen story.
Expand on the 5Ws and 1H in the body of the article, giving specific details such as names and authoritative affiliations, citing experts with direct quotes and giving any relevant statistics and numbers. Describe the people, places and things involved in the story. Explain why this story is important or what relevance or impact it has on the lives of your readers or how it advances the acquired knowledge of humanity. Give students ample time to flesh out these story details.
Explain that the closing paragraph summarizes the key points once more and makes projections of future impact and implications. Have students re-read their articles and draft a closing that recaps the story in a new way, not repeating what came before. End with what effect this story will have on readers going forward or what comes next in the development of any issues raised in the article.
Tell students to imagine the headline as a movie trailer in one line that makes readers sit up and take notice. Its job is to tease the reader and get his attention so he will take time to read the story. You can write the headline first or after you have conducted the research and organized the story to give you direction on what the focus of your story actually is. Let each student write a one-line summary of her story's main idea using bold active words to stimulate the reader's curiosity.