Let’s Make the News!

(writing a fictional news article)

AUTHOR’S NAME: Jake Taylor

DATE OF LESSON: April 5th- 8th 2021 (Week 4 Monday-Thursday)
LENGTH OF LESSON: From introduction to completion, four fifty-minute class periods.
NAME OF COURSE: English II
SOURCE OF THE LESSON: This lesson is not in any resource book but can instead be found in the
English 2 Google Drive
TEKS ADDRESSED: (10) Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using
multiple texts--genres. The student uses genre characteristics and craft to compose multiple texts that are
meaningful. The student is expected to:
(A) compose literary texts such as fiction and poetry using genre characteristics and craft;
(B) compose informational texts such as explanatory essays, reports, and personal essays using genre
characteristics and craft;
(11) Inquiry and research: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The
student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes.
The student is expected to:
(E) locate relevant sources;
(F) synthesize information from a variety of sources;
(G) examine sources for:
(i) credibility and bias, including omission; and
(ii) faulty reasoning such as incorrect premise, hasty generalizations, and either-or.
CONCEPT STATEMENT (GOAL): The goal of this lesson is for the student to create a fictional news
article about their dystopian society. This lesson gives the student an opportunity to explore their literary
creativity in a form outside of the basic fictional short story but instead a novel news article. The student
will reference previously published news articles, studying (all and not limited to) the writers voice,
diction, and exploratory/informative language. As analyzing everything from diction, tone, and voice is
important when observing news articles Combining the student’s vast creativity of their fictional
dystopian society with the critical observance of published new articles the student will compose a
informative (fictional) news article containing items such as (but not limited to) first-hand
accounts/reports, interviews, essays and personal narratives.
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to compose a fictional piece of text that
contains items such as reports, essays, narratives, numerical evidence, and interviews. Students will be
able to analyze information from multiple sources, examining for of potential biases and varying levels
credibility. Students will be able to identify when hasty or over generalizations have been used in
literature as a means of persuading the reader.
RESOURCES: Non-specific previously published news articles
SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: There are no safety considerations associated with this lesson plan.
MATERIALS: Materials are quite low as this lesson is mainly conducted via the internet and computer
software. In their groups of three to four students will all have access to the internet for research purposes
and Microsoft office for creation of their article.
ENGAGEMENT
What the Teacher Will Do
Probe initial thoughts and
ideas of what the news or
newspaper is. Ask students
what news sources they elect
to get their information from.
Probe students as to why
there are so many news
sources.
Briefly explain that biases
exist in the news and certain
authors may slant their
words in order to push their
agenda.
EXPLORATION
What the Teacher Will Do
To explore news articles
initially the teacher will hand
out printed news articles
ranging from a wide variety
of topics consisting of (but not
limited to) sports,
entertainment news, and
weather news articles
The teacher will probe the
students to “read between
the lines” of the published
author in order to gain
insight of their intentions.
EXPLANATION
What the Teacher Will Do
Have the students present
their article, what the
unbiased message is, and what
the biased message is. Ask
students if they formed any
newly found stance on the
various articles they read and
critiqued or if their stances
were reinforced, or not
What the Students will do
The students will answer the
teachers questions in part of
an open class discussion.
The students are to give a
explanation in their words of
what the news is to them
The student may blurb
their opinions at this time
(it is important to keep this
as a-political as possible)
What the Students will do
The students will read and
analyze various news articles
in their project groups.
Students will summarize
what the author originally
wrote, then beneath write
their perceived intention of
the article
What the Students will do
The students will first
present the article they read
amongst their group
members. Then the students
will present their thoughts of
what the author was trying
to convey.
Time: ___10_minutes___
Probing Questions/Expected
student Responses
As “what is the news” is
questioned rather what is on the
news students will begin to discuss
and question what is reported on
the news and why it is reported.
Anticipate students asking for
your favored news source and
why you choose so.
Time: __40_minutes_
Probing Questions/Expected
student Responses
Students will discuss amongst
themselves their personal views
and beliefs on the news articles.
While this requires maturity and
higher-level thinking students
may challenge their own thoughts
and opinions upon consideration
of author biases.
Time: _____50 minutes___
Probing Questions/Expected
student Responses
Students will comment and chime
in on discussions, this is fine and
encouraged if done in a organized
manner
affected.
ELABORATION
What the Teacher Will Do
To tie the lesson into the PBL
of the students fictional
dystopian society the teacher
will assign students to write a
news article depicting either
the catastrophic event which
caused the dystopia or the
current state of the fictional
dystopian society.
EVALUATION
What the Teacher Will Do
To assess the students
capability of composing
literary texts such as fiction
the teacher will read each
groups news article
submission, carefully looking
for different literary items in
their article (ie reports,
exploratory essays, and first
hand accounts). To assess the
students capability of being
able to detect biases in texts,
the teacher will objectively
debate what the student
perceived as the authors
intent.
What the Students will do
In their groups of three to
four students will write a
fictional article worthy of
local newspaper publication.
The newspaper article is to
be descriptive, convincing,
and entertaining.
What the Students will do
The students will submit
their completed articles
depicting and detailing
either the catastrophic event
which caused the dystopia or
current state of their
dystopian society. The
students will participate in a
civil short form debate in
support of their perceived
views on the previously
published articles.
Time: _____80 minutes___
Probing Questions/Expected
student Responses
The students may ask if this can
be satirical which is ok and
encouraged as will engage them
more actively.
Time: ____20 minutes____
Probing Questions/Expected
student Responses
At this time students will be
excited about each groups
dystopia and the news articles
that go along with them. Expect
students to ask questions and
probe potential solutions to
different groups events or states
of dystopia. While discussing
biases expect students to initially
stick with first outlook or
understanding of an article. After
a civil class debate or discussion,
anticipate students views to begin
to alter or differ, upon
considering the views expressed in
the news articles objectively and
critically vs subjectively.