During my third practicum, I was fortunate to teach two grade 10 English (university prep.) classes where we explored William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Since the practicum took place a month before the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), I took it upon myself to include OSSLT teaching moments throughout the Shakespearean play.

Before my practicum began, the grade 10 students wrote a practise OSSLT and the results of the tests were determined two weeks after my practicum began. While many students performed well on the test, the results for the newspaper article were quite low across all those who wrote the test. It was clear to me that writing up a lesson plan that focuses on newspaper writing was vital to the future success of my students. The first scene of act one of Romeo and Juliet takes the audience to the marketplace where a fight breaks out between the Montague and the Capulet men. This was the perfect place to start my lesson on newspaper articles. After exploring the scene with my grade 10s, I introduced them to their next assignment. Using a large model of the inverted pyramid, I explained the form and structure of a newspaper article. Next, each student was handed a copy of the day’s newspaper and a question sheet. By answering the question, the class was able to explore and dissect the structure of that is included in a newspaper article. They also had a chance to differentiate between a good newspaper article and a bad one. This was a vital part of the lesson because it gave students a chance to look at a newspaper. I know, this sounds a little silly; however, with online journalism (which has its very own reporting rules and structures) and news feeds on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, students have less of a chance of picking up a print newspaper. This exposure to newspaper articles gave the students a base to model their own news articles.

Each student received a copy of the assignment guidelines and rubric. Students were encouraged to peer assess and self-assess their news articles before submission. I feel very confident in my students writing and I am glad to notice a significant difference between their OSSLT practice test and their Romeo and Juliet act 1, scene 1 fight scene articles.

Inverted Pyramid courtesy of Joshua Hollis, Wannabe Hacks.
Full article link: http://www.wannabehacks.co.uk/2014/08/06/how-to-write-a-news-story-5-top-tips/