News Assignment
Over the last few weeks we have explored how the news media report current events in English. We have looked at the language of headlines and the structure of newspaper articles, and we have seen how newspaper articles differ from narrative texts.
Now, it’s time put what you have learned into practice to show that you have understood it. You have 2 tasks. 1. Write a newspaper article The news story should be a true story about something that is happening in KUIS. You should use the newspaper article structure we have studied
Include direct quotes and appositives The article must be between 500 and 600 words long. The News Structure Planner is due at the end of class, October 21st 2. Create the front page of a fictional newspaper This is an individual assignment. It will be one A4 page. You need to include the following elements;
Here are some good fonts to use; For the Title and Headlines Academy Engraved LET Didot Hoefler Mishafi Iowan Old Style For the Body text Helvetica Times New Roman Bodoni 72 Due: Thursday, December 22nd. Send it to me as a PDF by 5pm |
Marking Rubric
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Mechanics & Style |
Excellent sentence organization – uses a range of direct quotes and appositives. Each paragraph has a strong topic sentence that explains the content. Good transitions connect the sentences smoothly. |
Good sentence organization – writer uses some direct quotes and appositives. Each paragraph has a clear topic sentence to explain the content. Transition words connect the sentences smoothly. |
Some good sentence organization and some variety in sentence length and construction but either lacks direct quotes or appositives. Paragraphs are generally OK – developed from a topic sentence but not so many transitions. |
Little sentence organization and no direct quotes or appositives. Sentences in paragraphs are mixed – the topic changes too many times in one paragraph. |
The sentences lack variety and may be all of a similar short length. No direct quotes or appositives. Sentences in each paragraph are not organized. |
5-Part Structure |
Includes clear news article structure: Headline, Byline, Lead, Explanation, Additional Information |
Includes most of the news article structure: Headline, Byline, Lead, Explanation, Additional Information |
Some article structure is missing or out of order – however the writing is still like a news article. |
The structure of the news article is not clear. |
The article is not clear and may be missing important parts. |
Vocabulary & Grammar |
Headline is proper grammatical style for an article. There are few or no mistakes with vocabulary or grammar that make the article difficult to understand. Many different words are used to make the article interesting and detailed. |
Headline is proper grammatical style for an article. There are a few errors in word order, word use, and word choice however they generally do not interfere with the article. The vocabulary used is enough to support the article and there is some creativity. |
Headline is not proper grammatical style for an article. There are a few mistakes with word choice and grammatical structure and sometimes it is not clear what the author is saying – however, generally, the article is understandable. |
Headline is not proper grammatical style for an article. Many errors in grammar and word choice make it sometimes difficult to understand the article. |
Headline is not proper grammatical style for an article. Errors make the article difficult to understand. |
Interest & Details |
This is a very interesting article that is worth reading – it is detailed and introduces new information about the topic. |
The article is interesting. Readers can learn something new about the topic. |
The article is interesting but there should be more detail on the topic for readers. |
The article has some interesting parts but does not have any details to inform readers. |
The article was not interesting to read and there was no detail. |
Layout & Design |
The layout and design of the newspaper is excellent. It is visually appealing and contains all the elements of a newspaper. |
The layout and design of the newspaper is good. It is contains most of the elements of a newspaper. |
The layout of the newspaper has some good features but is missing some features. It is recognizable as a newspaper. |
The layout of the newspaper is missing most features. It is barely recognizable as a newspaper. |
The layout is missing all or nearly all features. It is not recognizable as a newspaper. |