Teaching notes
How to use this resource
This resource, Writing a feature article, is designed to support the Digital Education
Revolution – NSW (DER-NSW) program. The resources and tasks are aimed at supporting
student use of the DER-NSW laptops in both online and offline classroom environments.
If you have difficulty viewing this resource on the DER-NSW laptop screens you can
switch your web browser to full screen mode. With your web browser open press F11 to
switch between normal and full screen mode.
For more detailed support on how to use the DER-NSW laptop software referred to in this
resource please visit the TaLe Tools+ site. If you have a Department of Education and
Training portal identity go to www.tale.edu.au > log in to the Secondary section > Tools+
is a link in the top right of the page. If not, visit the Parents & community section of TaLe
and choose the quick link to DER-NSW laptop resources on the right side of the page.
Writing a feature article examines a range of features articles in print and online. Students
compose a feature article for publication in print or online. A model feature article is
provided for students to read, examine and analyse. To support them, students are provided
with a feature article writing scaffold, tips and a checklist to assess their draft response
before publication.
Explore
Students have the opportunity to read a selection of features articles from a variety of
online sources. They explore the CLI resource Worlds united (L6390) to learn more about
feature articles.
Your tasks
Students write a feature article on a current news story, human interest story or issue for
print or online publication. Students read, annotate and discuss a model of a feature article.
They search, collect and manipulate graphics as part of the design and development for
their feature article.
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© NSW DET 2011
Teaching resources
The Learning Federation: Letters to the editor
Three Learning Federation resources support students to write articles for a local
newspaper. Each resource focuses on building a feature article using a model text.
Access these resources on TaLe.
Links:
 Letters to the editor: survey residents
 Letters to the editor: community agrees
 Letters to the editor: community disagrees
Setting up a blog
You will have to set up a class blog before the students can start blogging.
A great place to set up a class blog is through Edublogs, http://edublogs.org/
This site also contains various video tutorials to guide you through setting up a blog.
It may be a good idea to structure your blog with links to class folders.
For more information on blogging visit the TaLe Tools+ blogging section.
Other resources
These websites provide sources for students to read a variety of print and online feature
articles.
Links:
 Film and TV
 Native animals
 The Hot Seat
 Music
Quality Teaching
This resource supports students to:

develop deep knowledge and understanding of feature article texts (deep
understanding)

use the metalanguage associated with writing for print and online (metalanguage)

integrate knowledge by making links to ideas and issues in the media
(connectedness).
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© NSW DET 2011