Year 6 Non-fiction Unit 2 – Journalistic writing

Teaching sequence phase 4

Writing and oral presentation (5 days)

Teaching content:

Note: This phase could build towards a whole-day cross-curricular journalistic simulation.

• Set up the writing task by explaining the audience and purpose. Children will work in small groups to write a radio news article based on the event introduced and explored in phase 2. These articles will be recorded as part of a simulated radio news programme. (As an alternative to more conventional recording and playback, the radio news articles could be saved digitally into a media library application and broadcast via the Internet, or published as podcasts for children and others to listen to on personal music players).
• With the children, identify the success criteria for the writing task, referring back to work in phase 3 to support.
• Model how to plan and write the news report, first making notes, then turning these into a written report, and using this as the basis of a script for oral presentation. Draw on the features lists and writing frames that arose from the analysis in phase 3. In demonstrating, emphasise appropriate sentence structure, punctuation, and styles and conventions of journalistic writing.
• Collaborative writing: working in pairs or groups, children write their scripts for the news article, referring back to listed features and using the writing frames where appropriate.
• At relevant points, use response partners to support re-drafting and editing of writing. Share for discussion examples of children's writing in progress. Model editing and improving writing linked to the agreed success criteria and children's needs.
• When the scripts and news articles are written, provide opportunities for children to rehearse them. Use hand-held sound recording devices or computers with microphones to record and play back performances.
• Focus on polished performances, use of oral techniques to engage the audience and appropriate style and structure. Encourage children to evaluate their own and others' performances and work in groups to improve the quality of their article.

This unit could be extended to include a whole-day cross-curricular radio news simulation. If so:

• As children arrive, explain that they are to work in groups as a news team and will be required to create a radio news programme for the end of the school day. Different stories are emerging that will need to be reported. Remind children of all they know about journalistic writing and creating news articles.
• Organise children into small groups and ask them to allocate roles to each member, for example presenter, script-writer, interviewer, interviewee, editor and sub-editor. Discuss the roles and responsibilities of each job.
• Introduce the first news item. Link this to a real event. It may be introduced through email, displayed on the IWB, or by asking a member of staff to arrive with notes (prepared in advance) that have just arrived from the news agency. Other items will be introduced as breaking news at appropriate times throughout the day to ensure that children have a programme with different news items, including the sport and weather.
• Throughout the day, hold meetings or plenaries at appropriate times to review and evaluate how stories are progressing. Use an IWB to project examples of children's scripts for discussion and modelling of editing and improving writing.
• Where appropriate, use another member of staff as an interviewee for a story, inviting designated interviewers from each group to write questions and interview, and use extracts of the interview in their script.
• Towards the end of the day, allow time for each group to rehearse and finally present a live edition of their broadcast.
• Record this for review and for later sharing. If recording is done digitally the broadcast can then easily be edited and enhanced to improve it further, for example by recording as separate items in a media library program and then using the playlist feature to experiment with different running orders.
• Encourage children to reflect upon and discuss their thoughts on the experience, how they felt they worked as a group and what they have learned.
• Broadcast the completed sequence to a wider audience (possibly as a podcast).

Learning outcomes:

• Children can write an effective news article in journalistic style, selecting language, form, format and content to suit a particular audience and purpose.
• They can use this as the basis for a script and present it orally in the style of a radio news item in a way which is informative and engaging.