By Peter B-G
Welcome
Welcome to crafting the journalistic lead with Mr. B-G!
This lesson will provide you with the nuts and bolts of how to write what is arguably journalism's most important and challenging sentence - the lead. During this lesson, you will have an opportunity to learn about the elements which compose a journalistic lead, read a professionally published story, and then write your own lead based on the events from that story.
In essence, you will demonstrate your understanding of the elements of a journalistic lead by rewriting an existing lead and focusing on different aspects of the story in your introduction.
If you have any questions or problems, please contact me at bgvocab [at] gmail [dot] com.
Learning Goals
Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to write an original journalistic lead from an existing news story.
Learning Objectives
Students will learn how to identify the who, what, when, where, why, and how in a story.
Students will be able to identify which of those elements are most newsworthy.
Students will be able to clearly and effectively write a lead utilizing the most important five Ws and H.
Learning Standards
Common Core Writing Standard 4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Readings and Resources
Required:
1. Thinking Through Leads
2. Lead Writing Types & Examples
Supplementary:
1. The Lexicon of Leads
2. Who, What, When, Where, Why, How & Writing the News Lead
Multimedia
Crafting the Journalistic Lead
Activities and Assignments
1. Watch the YouTube video Crafting the Journalistic Lead
2. Read Thinking Through Leads and Lead Writing Types & Examples. (The other two readings, The Lexicon of Leads and Who, What, When, Where, Why, How & Writing the News Lead are supplemental resources.)
3. Visit one of these top 10 best newspaper websites (or your own local paper's website if you'd prefer) and peruse the day's stories. Pick one article that captures your interest.
4. Identify the who, what, when, where, why, and how in the article you chose. Which of those did the reporter feature prominently in the lead?
5. Choose a different subject or topic to serve as the focus of your lead rewrite. For example, if the article you read began with who, you would start your lead rewrite with either what, when, where, why or how.
6. Post your lead rewrite to this Google Document. Follow the instructions at the top. You may type directly onto the document or compose your lead in a separate document if there are a number of students simultaneously trying to type into the document.
7. Before finalizing your lead, review the Lead Writing Checklist listed below to ensure your lead has all of the required "ingredients."
8. Evaluate one of your classmate's leads using the Assessing Leads Worksheet listed below.
Assessment
Lead Writing Checklist
Assessing Leads Worksheet
About Mr. B-G
Peter B-G is an English and Journalism teacher at South Hadley High School in South Hadley, MA. Peter believes in the power of technology to engage students in meaningful learning activities that foster collaboration and utilize higher-order thinking skills. This May, Peter will complete a Master of Educational Technology degree from Boise State University. A former newspaper reporter, Peter holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a M.Ed. in English Education from Plymouth State University. Peter is the advisor to Spotlight, South Hadley High School's award-winning student newspaper. A graduate of Westborough High School, Peter began his career in education as a substitute teacher at Shrewsbury Middle School. He's been teaching high school for nine years.
Flickr Creative Commons image by London College of Fashion short courses
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