Teaching notes and ideas – full version
Name of resource:
Newspaper report writing – alien attack
Age group(s)
Subject(s)
8 to 11
English
Topic
Language Level
Newspaper reports
Intermediate/Advanced
Description of resource
♦ Alien attack mingle activity (including vocab eliciting, structure eliciting, pairs
activity and instructions , mingle activity and tables)
♦ Alien attack newspaper reports worksheets
Preparation needed
You will need:
♦ a set of ‘pairs’ cards for each pair
♦ a set of cut-up mingle cards for each group of six learners
♦ an unfilled sentence table for each learner in class
♦ newspaper report worksheets as required.
Curriculum objectives
♦ Write newspaper reports
♦ Vary sentence starts using ‘-ing’ verbs
Language/Literacy objectives
Functions
Structures
♦ Recounting
 When/While ___ ing, ___ed
 ___ed when/while ___ing …
♦ Reporting
 Sentences starting with -ing
♦ Asking and answering
questions
 What happened?
 What were you doing when …?
Vocabulary
♦ playing, going, shopping, reading, sleeping, reading, rang, broke, knocked, hurt,
met, hit, drank, fell, hovered, shot, sent, took, smelled, felt, heard, vibrate, flying
saucer, alien, rotten eggs, television, book, water telephone, computer
This resource could be used:
♦ with the whole class
♦ in small groups.
Ideas for using the resource
What to do
Pairs activity
 Show the first picture from pairs activity – someone working on the computer.
 Show the second picture – the phone ringing.
 Model these structures and write them on the board:
She was working on the computer when the telephone rang.
While she was working on the computer the telephone rang.
 Show the second pair of cards and ask learners to make sentences, preferably
collaboratively in groups.
 Model this structure, explaining that newspaper reporters sometimes use it
when they are writing their reports:
Working on her computer, the telephone rang
 Learners make a sentence like this for their pair of cards.
 Play pairs game in pairs/groups.
o Cut up the cards and place face down into two piles, A and B.
o One player takes a card from each pile and makes a sentence with ‘while’
or ‘when’.
o The other player is the newspaper reporter and reports what happened,
starting the sentence with –ing.
o The pair write down the sentence for the newspaper report together on a
Post-it note/piece of paper and put it with the cards.
o Repeat until all the cards are used.
o You could let the learners match the cards up however they wish to make
funny sentences.
o Learners could then say what they think was happening before, or next.
o The Post-it notes/pieces of paper with ‘-ing’ sentences could be used as
models for writing.
Alien attack mingle activity
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Set up the scenario; Aliens seen in local town! This is an opportunity for
discussion where learners discuss what they know about aliens and what they
think might have happened.
Pre-teach vocabulary by showing vocabulary sheet. If you have time you
might like to re-enforce the vocabulary by playing ‘Back to the board’. ‘Back to
the board’ is a definition game where learners are in mixed-ability groups of
four. One learner in each group closes their eyes (Learner A) and the teacher
points to a word or picture on the board. Teacher says ‘Go’. Learner A opens
their eyes. The other learners give definitions of the word without actually
saying it. When Learner A has guessed correctly, the whole group put their
hands up and sit in silence. The first group to do this correctly wins three
points, the group who come second get two points, the third team get one
point. You could give a demonstration of the activity before starting, for clarity.
Model the mingle activity.
o Choose a confident learner. Ask them ‘What is your name?’ and ‘What
happened to you last night’. They should read what is written on their card.
o Using the learner’s response, model how to fill in the table.
Hand out mingle cards so that each group has six.
Learners read the text on their mingle cards. If there is a group with fewer
than six learners, distribute the remaining cards to the more able readers so
they have two each.
The students then complete the activity in groups by asking each other
questions and filling in the table.
Learners can then convert the sentences starting with -ing, and fill in on the
second table.
Possible extension activities
Understanding newspaper article genre frame
 Use the generic genre frame to illustrate how a newspaper report is laid out
and what is needed for each section.
 Cut up the completed newspaper article and hand out a set for each pair in
the class.
 Learners could reorder it by placing it in the correct place on the empty genre
table.
 Then check their answers against the finished frame.
Writing
 Students write their own newspaper report on an alien invasion.
o They could start by filling in their own empty genre frame with notes.
o You could give them sentence starts for the ‘lead’ and ‘latest update’.
o The more able learners could use their own made-up characters and
situations using ‘-ing’ verbs to start their sentences.
o Alternatively, learners could write a police report or a simple recount.