Name:
Writing a Newspaper Article
News articles cover the basics of current events. They answer the questions:
who, what, where, how, and when?
The Basic Story Outline
The best way to structure a newspaper article is to first write an outline.
Review your research and notes. Then jot down ideas for the following six
sections. Remember, this is just a foundation upon which to build your story!
Steps of Writing Your Article
I. Lead sentence
Grab and hook your reader right away!
II. Introduction
Which facts and figures will ground your story? You have to tell your readers
where and when this story is happening.
III. Opening quotation
What will give the reader a sense of the people involved and what they are
thinking?
IV. Main body
What is at the heart of your story?
V. Closing quotation
Find something that sums the article up in a few words.
VI. Conclusion (optional—the closing quote may do the job)
What is a memorable way to end your story?
STEP 1: Read an article from the Scholastic Kids Press Corps and fill in the following blanks
about what each part tells the reader. Remember, not ALL of these elements may be
represented in the story, or even in one place.
Title:
Lead sentence(s):
Introduction:
Who:
What:
When:
Where:
Why/How:
Details:
A Changing Long Island
Superstorm Sandy shows how climate change impacts coastal New York
By William Russell | April 17 , 2013
Long Island is 118 miles long and is the most populated island in the United
States. It's filled with beaches, wetlands, and marshes. It's also home to a lot of
wildlife.
But after Superstorm Sandy hit Long Island in October, habitats for both
people and local wildlife were left threatened and exposed. Trees were blown
down, which affected where deer and birds can live. The downed trees also
fell on homes and cars.
The bigger issue, though, was the strong storm surge caused by Sandy. It
washed over barrier islands and eroded Long Island's beaches. Not only did
this damage homes, but it caused serious ecological damage to Long Island.
"Storms like Sandy alter the pattern of the beaches and the shore lines," Art
DeGaetano says. DeGaetano is Professor and Associate Chair of the
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Director, NOAA Northeast
Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. "[These kinds of storms]
basically erode the sand dunes, [which] are the protection for areas inland. So
that makes areas more vulnerable to other storms that may come along."
Beach erosion is a big problem for the people and animals that make coastal
Long Island home. But it's only one part of the challenge Long Islanders face.
Rising sea levels caused by climate change also threaten costal areas and
habitats. In fact, the whole of Long Island is in danger.
"We know that Long Island s not far above sea level," Professor DeGaetano
says. "And if we look at the amount of sea level rise we expect to see in the
next 100 years, many of the places [such as] beaches the barrier islands will
be close to being totally underwater."
As the planet gets warmer and sea levels rise, the odds increase that storms
like Sandy will become more common. "Basically, storms on steroids," Rutgers
professor Kenneth Miller tells the Kids Press Corps.
Many Long Island homeowners have had to deal with the impacts of rising sea
levels and stronger storms when Sandy hit.
Kim Pawlowski lived in the Patchogue/Bellport area near Patchogue Bay
when Sandy made landfall. She has lived on Long Island her whole life. But she
lost her entire home and everything in it thanks an 11-foot wave churned up
by Sandy. Her home sat in six feet of water for a week after the storm.
Pawlowski said there was an "endless amounts of trash after the storm."
"I prepared the best I could, but the storm was really violent and took all my
stuff anyway," she adds. "I'm not sure what effects having all the garbage and
chemicals from the homes will have on her old neighborhood. We may not
know for years."
She says that after Sandy, she has relocated to another part of Long Island. She
doesn't want to experience something like Sandy again.
This kind of rethinking of living near water is taking place in other areas hit
hard by Sandy, like New Jersey. And while answers and solutions are still
being discovered, one thing's for sure: Thanks to climate change, the way
people live in coastal areas will never be the same.