Grammar for Writing: Level Gold — Chapter 8

What's the News? PhotoLink Clearcut section of the Amazon rain forest Every day newspaper stories chronicle efforts around the world to protect and preserve the ecology of the planet. Sometimes it's good news: A baby giant panda named Hua Mei was born on August 21, 1999, at the San Diego Zoo, the first giant panda born in the Western Hemisphere since 1990. Sometimes it's bad news: Despite efforts to protect them, rain forests, home to more than 50% of all animal and plant species in the world, are being lost at the rate of 50 million acres a year. Work with a team of three to four classmates to act as television news reporters who present the weekly segment EnviroNews. This segment includes a story about the environment by each person on your team. One of you will also act as moderator or news anchor. Research various topics in environmental news. Decide as a group which topics to pursue. You might choose to have a theme for your show, such as "What's Happening in the Amazon?" or "Environmental News U.S.A." You might even research an issue that affects your own neighborhood. Narrow your topics, and then work together to produce quality news scripts for your segment. STEP 1: Initial Search Begin your research with visits to the following Web sites: Ecology News Choose from among the topics under "Ecology News," or choose one of the "Top Stories" to look into. Environmental News Network Select a news article, or click on one of the categories under "Topics." Environmental Services News This is a list of articles on the environment that were written today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday. Search for specific information about possible topics, regional information, and current ecology interests. Take notes on animals, plant life, and environmental issues. Gather ecological news from the sites to add interest to your segment of EnviroNews. Focus your search on topics your team chooses. Use cluster diagrams to organize the details you have discovered about each topic (see Grammar for Writing, Level Gold, pages 10–11). STEP 2: Focus Your Search Search the Internet for more information on your topic. Visit the following Web site to do a more general search: refdesk.com Explore other resources, such as newspaper and magazine articles. STEP 3: Define Your Audience Some viewers may know a great deal about the topics you choose; others may have little or no knowledge of them. In your script, tell viewers what is happening today, what actions are being taken, what the results are expected to be, as well as what is being done by environmentalists and others to control any potential problems. Give viewers background information on the issues to help them understand the problems. State facts clearly and without bias or opinions. STEP 4: Use the 5-W and How? Questions A good journalist asks the 5-W and How? questions to cover every aspect of a topic. Review these questions and how to develop a news story from the answers. (See the Writing Strategies in Grammar for Writing, Level Gold, page 55–56.) A good news story uses a mixture of sentence structures. Review the various kinds of sentences you will need in your writing. (See Grammar for Writing, Level Gold, page 185.) News programs use the technique of a "hook," or an interesting anecdote, to catch their viewers' interest. Open your news segment with a series of "hooks," one for each report. These will tell your viewers what they will learn in your news presentations and keep them in suspense until you complete the report. Balance your news content with stories of both environmental damage and success. STEP 5: Organize Your Ideas and Write a Rough Draft Using the 5-W and How? questions, outline your research material. Arrange the six question areas in order of importance, placing the most important first. (See Grammar for Writing, Level Gold, pages 27–28.) Your opening needs to grab the audience's attention. Do this by stating an interesting fact that the audience needs to know. Once this is done, write the remainder of the rough draft. Alan and Sandy Carey Brown pelican STEP 6: Revise, Edit and Proofread Your Writing Reread your news report aloud. Be sure each paragraph has a topic sentence and that all the sentences in the paragraph support that topic. Make sure you have included all the key facts viewers need to know, as well as vivid sensory descriptions that will keep them interested. Edit your writing for grammatical errors; then proofread your work carefully to correct any spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors. STEP 7: Publish Your Work As a group, present the news reports. Work together in much the same way as a professional news team does on TV. Have the student who is the anchor person introduce each report by first giving the reporter's name, and then stating a brief summary of the report. Be sure to have visual backup, such as title cards, pictures, and maps. This supporting material is essential to quality news broadcasting. Copyright ©2007 by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.