Features of a newspaper article
Name:.................................................... Date: ...........................
Couple in mountain top drama
A couple from Leeds were dramatically
airlifted to safety from an isolated cliff top
on the Isle of Skye last weekend.
Shelly Reid, 23, and her boyfriend Max
Jackson, 34, were on a walking holiday on
The beautiful mountain where disaster occurred
the Scottish island when the disaster
Shelly said, “We felt so frightened and
happened. The couple had decided to take a
alone up there. I don’t know what would
shortcut through some woods but soon
have happened if I could not get a signal on
found themselves on the edge of a slippery
my phone.”
cliff edge with nightfall fast approaching.
Undeterred, the couple have decided to
Fortunately Shelly had a weak signal on
continue their walking holiday and are due
her mobile phone and managed to alert
back next week. Max said, “We’ll stick to
rescue services. Within several minutes of
the main footpaths from now on and would
making the call a helicopter arrived and
advise anyone else to do the same.”
airlifted the couple to safety.
Label the article using these words to fill in the boxes:
• caption • headline • opening • paragraph • quote • photograph • past tense •
Identify the powerful words used in the article:
© [Link] 2011 13180 Page 1 of 1
A newspaper article
• Read the newspaper article. Newspaper
• Write the correct labels from the checklist
• Headline
newspaper checklist in the boxes. • Sentence to introduce
the story
• Paragraph to explain
PARTY BAN FOR •
the story in more detail
Simple description
TRAINING •
•
Subheading
Direct speech
• Reported speech
SHOES GIRL • Photograph
Schoolgirl Tracy Smith was banned
from her school disco because she was
wearing training shoes.
Tracy, a Year 4 pupil at the local
school, had taken her black shoes to be
mended that day. ‘All I had to wear
was my trainers,’ she said. She was not
wearing proper school uniform so she was banned from
the party.
While her classmates were enjoying themselves in the
school hall, Tracy was left alone, crying in the playground.
Her mother, blonde 32 year-old scientist Maxine Smith
from Jones Lane, Enfield, was very angry. ‘This is the
meanest trick ever played on a child,’ she told us yesterday.
‘My daughter was heartbroken. She came home and
sobbed all night. She even left her chips on the plate.’
Unfair
Mrs Smith told us that she had gone to the school when
her daughter phoned her. She tried to see the headteacher
but she was dancing in the hall.
‘I saw other children there wearing brown shoes, and the
headteacher was wearing silver dancing shoes. It’s not
fair,’ Mrs Smith shouted.
• Write a brief newspaper article using the same
features. Use this headline: SCHOOL CLOSED
BY STRIKE
Teachers’ note This activity links with sentence-level work on the use of direct and reported speech. Developing Literacy
Model with the children what makes a newspaper article different from other texts in layout and Text Level Year 4
language. Discuss the reasons for this. Children should realise that different kinds of newspaper © A & C Black 2000
44 articles may have different purposes, for example, some may argue a case, some may give facts.
ARTS AND MEDIA NEWSPAPERS
WRITE AN ATTENTION-GRABBING HEADLINE
Write a news story worksheet 1
Headlines should grab the reader’s attention. They should be short and are not usually
complete sentences. Here are some tips for making a complete sentence into a headline.
1 Delete a, the, and all possessive adjectives.
2 Delete all forms of the auxiliary verb be (e.g., is, are, was, were).
3 Use the infinitive to talk about future events.
4 Use the simple present to talk about current or recent events.
5 Group nouns together wherever you can (for example, house prices, New York hotel).
Look at these examples.
Sentence: Jennifer Lawrence’s new movie has broken box office records in its opening week.
Headline:
NEW JENNIFER LAWR
ENCE
MOVIE BREAKS BOX
OFFICE
RECORDS IN OPENIN
G WEEK
Sentence: The president is going to open an art gallery in Boston.
Headline:
P E N B O S TON ART G ALLERY
PRESID E N T TO O
ARTS AND MEDIA
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© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2016
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ARTS AND MEDIA NEWSPAPERS
Write a news story worksheet 2
Now write headlines for these sentences.
A friendly dolphin has saved a teenage boy from drowning.
Headline:
The Memphis Grizzlies suffered their third defeat at home last night.
Headline:
A pair of sunglasses worn by Elvis Presley were sold to a businessman from Texas for $1 million.
Headline:
Frontman Dusty Biebs is going to marry his make-up artist on Christmas Day.
ARTS AND MEDIA
Headline:
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© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2016
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ARTS AND MEDIA NEWSPAPERS
CAPTION COMPETITION
Write a news story worksheet 4
All your story needs now is a photo and a caption to go under the photo. Look at the photos
below. Can you think of a caption for each photo?
ARTS AND MEDIA
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© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2016
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