Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Unit guide
Overview
This unit explores how newspapers and magazines are written, looking at audience, the
language and structure of headlines, news, feature articles and reviews.
The end-of-unit assessment focuses on writing to inform, persuade and advise. Students
follow a step-by-step guide to help them plan and write their article.
Framework objectives
Year 7: S1 Subordinate clauses; S12 Sequencing paragraphs; R2 Extract information; R7
Identify main ideas; R10 Media audiences; R11 Print, sound and image; R13 Non-fiction
style; R14 Language choices; Wr1 Drafting process; Wr11 Present information; Wr14
Evocative description; Wr19 Reflective writing
Year 8: S1 Complex sentences; R5 Trace developments; R9 Influence of technology; R10
Development of key ideas; Wr1 Effective planning; Wr10 Effective information; Wr12 Formal
description; Wr18 Critical review
Year 9: W7 Layers of meaning; S1 Complex sentences; R1 Information retrieval; R7
Compare texts; R11 Author’s standpoint; R12 Rhetorical devices; R13 Evaluate own
reading; Wr1 Review own writing; Wr7 ‘Infotainment’; Wr9 Integrate information; Wr11
Descriptive detail; Wr17 Cite textual evidence
Assessment foci
Reading AF2, AF3, AF4, AF5, AF6; Writing AF1, AF2, AF3, AF5, AF7
Suggested lesson allocation (see individual lesson plans)
Getting started
1.1 Exploring
newspaper
headlines
1.2a Looking at
news stories
1.2b Looking at
news stories
1.3 Reading a
newspaper
article
1.4 Comparing
news articles
1.5a Looking at
features articles
1.5b Looking at
features articles
1.6 Reading a
feature article
1.7a Writing for
a specialist
magazine
1.7b Writing for
a specialist
magazine
1.8 Looking at
reviews
1.9 Comparing
reviews
1.10a Looking at
sports
journalism
1.10b Looking at
sports
journalism
Review and
assess progress
(distributed
appropriately)
Assessment
task
Extra lessons
Unit guide
19
Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Medium-term study plan
Lesson aims
Assessment foci
Framework objectives
Lesson: Getting
started
To explore the key features and purpose
of newspapers.
Reading AF2, AF6
Year 7: R11 Print sound and image
Year 8: R9 Influence of technology
Lesson 1.1
To explore the effects of key features of
newspaper headlines.
Reading AF5
Writing AF7
Year 7: R10 Media audiences; R14 Language choices
Year 9: W7 Layers of meaning; R12 Rhetorical devices
Lesson 1.2a
To learn how to structure a news article.
Reading AF4
Year 7: S12 Sequencing paragraphs; R7 Identify main ideas
Lesson 1.2b
To demonstrate understanding of how to
structure a news article.
Writing AF3
Year 7: S1 Subordinate clauses; Wr11 Present information
Year 8: S1 Complex sentences; Wr10 Effective information
Year 9: S1 Complex sentences; Wr9 Integrate information
Lesson 1.3
To reinforce the essential features of
newspaper articles.
To learn how to summarise.
Reading AF2
Year 7: R2 Extract information
Year 9: R1 Information retrieval
Leson 1.4
To explore the differences in language,
purpose and audience in different
newspapers.
Reading AF2, AF6
Year 7: S15 Vary formality; R10 Media audiences
Year 8: W12 Formality and word choice; R8 Transposition
Year 9: R8 Readers and texts
Lesson 1.5a
To learn to identify the origins and
purposes of a variety of newspaper texts.
Reading AF6
Lesson 1.5b
To use the drafting process to experiment
with different ways of starting writing.
Writing AF1
Week of study: 1
Week of study: 2
Week of study: 3
Study plan
Year 7: Wr1 Drafting process
Year 8: Wr1 Effective planning
Year 9: Wr1 Review own writing
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Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson aims
Assessment foci
Framework objectives
To explore the audience, purpose,
content and structure of a feature article.
Reading AF6
Year 7: R13 Non-fiction style
Year 8: R10 Development of key ideas
Year 9: R11 Author’s standpoint
Lesson 1.7a
To explore an article from a specialist
magazine.
Reading AF3, AF4
Year 7: R7 Identify main ideas; R10 Media audiences
Year 8: R5 Trace developments
Lesson 1.7b
To write a specialist article with clear
audience and purpose, appropriate
language choice and level of formality.
Writing AF2
Year 7: Wr11 Present information; Wr14 Evocative description
Year 8: Wr10 Effective information; Wr12 Formal description
Year 9: Wr9 Integrate information; Wr11 Descriptive detail
Lesson 1.8
To identify the key features of a review
and write an opening paragraph of one.
Reading AF6
Writing AF2
Year 7: R7 Identify main ideas; Wr19 Reflective writing
Year 8: R5 Trace developments; Wr18 Critical review
Year 9: R7 Compare texts; Wr17 Cite textual evidence
Lesson 1.9
To develop review writing skills focusing
on structure and language choice.
Reading AF6
Writing AF2, AF7
Year 7: R7 Identify main ideas; Wr19 Reflective writing
Year 8: R5 Trace developments; Wr18 Critical review
Year 9: R7 Compare texts; Wr17 Cite textual evidence
Lesson 1.10a
To identify the language and structural
features of sports journalism.
Reading AF2, AF4,
AF5, AF6
Year 7: R13 Non-fiction style; R14 Language choices
Year 8: R10 Development of key ideas
Year 9: R11 Author’s standpoint; R12 Rhetorical devices
Lesson 1.10b
To write a piece of sports journalism to
entertain and inform.
Writing AF2
Year 7: Wr11 Present information
Year 8: Wr10 Effective information
Year 9: Wr7 ‘Infotainment’; Wr9 Integrate information
Lesson 1.6
Week of study: 4
Week of study: 5
Homework/follow-on options are given in the short-term lesson plans to maximise teacher choice.
Study plan
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Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
Getting started
Resources needed: A range of newspapers: red tops and ‘quality’; tabloid and
broadsheet; local and national
Lesson aims: To explore the key features and purpose of newspapers
Prior learning/knowledge: Some exposure to newspapers and recent news
Student Book pages: 5
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: R11 Print sound and image
Year 8: R9 Influence of technology
Reading AF2, AF6
Starter (15 minutes)
Ask students what they think are the three most important stories in the news at the
moment. This will suggest how aware class members are of recent news and determine
which of the following starters you want to use. The first choice explores and prompts
students’ awareness of news; the second allows students who are less familiar with
current affairs to practise information retrieval and develop their awareness of news.
Either: using five prepared questions taken from recent news, divide the class into groups
of four for a team news quiz. Teams write down their answers and self-mark at the end.
Or: give each team of four a newspaper from which to write their own five-question news
quiz. All answers should be found in headlines or first paragraphs in the newspaper’s first
five pages. Groups then swap newspapers to answer each other’s questions.
Development (35 minutes)
Introduction (15 minutes)
Ask students to brainstorm responses to: ‘Why do people want to know what’s in the
news?’ Take feedback. Secondary questions: ‘Why are people interested in news that
does not directly affect them?’; ‘What reactions do we have to news?’, e.g. interest,
sympathy, shock, worry, laughter, action, etc. Ask students to give a possible story for
each reaction.
Ask students to brainstorm sources of news, e.g. radio, newspaper, television, Internet.
Discuss the relative merits of each.
Development (20 minutes)
Focusing on newspapers, ask students to complete the Getting started activity on page 5
of the Student Book. Students can record their responses on Student worksheet 1.1. This
can be extended and developed by asking students, for each key feature of newspapers,
to think of a similarity with another news source and a difference, e.g. newspapers use
images to illustrate their stories and so does the Internet; however, radio cannot. Take
feedback.
Plenary (10 minutes)
In pairs, students brainstorm and record five reasons why it’s good to read a newspaper at
least once a week. Forewarn two pairs that they will give feedback to the whole class.
After their feedback, ask other pairs to comment on, disagree with and verbally amend the
top five.
Homework
Students should select and bring in a newspaper article with a headline that appeals to
them.
Lesson plans
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Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.1 Exploring newspaper headlines
Resources needed: A range of recent newspaper headlines from students’
homework, or teacher’s own
Lesson aims: To explore the effects of key features of newspaper headlines
Prior learning/knowledge: Some features of newspaper headlines
Student Book pages: 6–7
Electronic activity: 1 Newspaper headlines
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: R10 Media audiences; R14 Language choices
Year 9: W7 Layers of meaning; R12 Rhetorical devices
Reading AF5
Writing AF7
Starter (15 minutes)
Electronic activity 1
Develop a headline by exploring the addition of generic features: using only keywords;
focus on human interest; use of present tense; emotive language choice; use of
alliteration.
This can be run either as a whole class activity using the addition of generic features as
an opportunity to define key terms and explore their effects, or with a more confident class
as an independent or paired activity with whole class feedback at the end.
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 1: Exploring newspaper headlines
Complete Activities 1, questions 1 (5 minutes) and 2 (10 minutes), taking feedback after each.
Ensure understanding of key terms, particularly pun and word-play.
Draw out that language choice not only conveys information but also tone: this is a dramatic
and potentially tragic story; puns and word-play create an inappropriately humorous tone.
Student worksheet 1.2 can be used to support this activity.
Activity 2: Unpicking newspaper headlines
Using headlines students have brought in for homework from the previous lesson
(supplemented by teacher’s own, accessible from newspaper websites) or those provided in
the Student Book, students work in groups of three or four to complete Activity 2 using Student
worksheet 1.3. Take feedback focusing on the most and least important ingredients and why
groups made this decision.
Activity 3: Writing headlines
Complete Activity 3. Offer students additional support by first establishing the tone of the article
(positive) and if humour is appropriate; then identifying key words (wolves, cubs, etc).
Plenary (10 minutes)
Assess your progress
Students complete Assess your progress, either independently or peer-assessing in pairs.
Give an initial deadline to identify the ingredients used, a second deadline for students to
identify any missing in their own or their partner’s work, and a third to act on these targets.
Take feedback, asking students for examples that demonstrate specific ingredients.
Homework
Think of or find a news story and write as few headlines as possible to demonstrate all
seven ingredients.
Lesson plans
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Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
Newspapers and magazines
1
Lesson plan
1.2a Looking at news stories
Lesson aims: To learn how to structure a news article
Student Book pages: 8–9
Electronic activities: 2 Changing sentence length; 3 Sequencing a newspaper
article
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: S12 Sequencing paragraphs; R7
Identify main ideas
Reading AF4
Starter (15 minutes)
Electronic activity 2
Identify overlong sentences. Click to rewrite them as shorter, more easily understood
sentences. This not only addresses the issue in the text on Student Book page 8, but also
the tendency of the less able writer to over-extend sentences with conjunctions,
particularly ‘and’.
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 1: Looking at a poorly written news story
Complete Activity 1 (15 minutes). Students can note their thoughts independently or in
pairs on Student worksheet 1.4 followed by feedback, or orally as a whole class. Compile
comments using the Worksheet on OHT or electronic whiteboard.
Electronic activity 3
Sequence the text from Activity 2 into a framework that requires students to identify the
headline, opening paragraph, etc. This will familiarise students with the content and
structure of this article, and an effective structure for writing their own articles.
Activity 2: Advice for writing and improving articles
Complete Activity 2 (15 minutes). As in Activity 1, Student worksheet 1.5 can be used to
record students’ comments and compile them on OHT or the whiteboard.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Students should compile a written list of criteria for structuring a newspaper article using
Julia Upton’s advice and their own learning from this lesson. Explain that this will guide
their work on the Assess your progress question and be the criteria used to peer-assess it.
A model text is provided on Student worksheet 1.6. Students can assess their own and
others’ work using Student worksheet 1.7.
Homework
Think of a story for the Assess your progress question. Write a headline, key details and
two quotes from two different people involved in the story.
Lesson plans
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Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.2b Looking at news stories
Lesson aims: To demonstrate understanding of how to structure a news article
Student Book pages: 9
Electronic activity: 4 Understanding simple, compound and complex
sentences
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: S1 Subordinate clauses; Wr11
Present information
Year 8: S1 Complex sentences; Wr10
Effective information
Year 9: S1 Complex sentences; Wr9
Integrate information
Writing AF3
Starter (15 minutes)
Electronic activity 4
This builds on Electronic activity 2 to focus students on the three main sentence types. It
explains the key features and asks students to join simple sentences using connectives to
create compound and complex sentences.
Development (35 minutes)
Assess your progress
Take brief feedback on the criteria for an effective newspaper article which students
compiled in the plenary of lesson 1.2a, to remind and reintroduce the writing task that
follows.
Using notes prepared for homework, students write a newspaper article as badly as
possible, intentionally ignoring or contradicting the criteria. Remind students to use labels
and arrows to explain their decisions.
Touring the classroom, identify intentionally poor examples of key criteria to write on the
board for the class to comment on and improve. This can reinforce or add to the students’
criteria. Alternatively, a peer-assessment sheet on Student worksheet 1.7 lists definitive
criteria.
Students write a newspaper article as well as possible, closely following the identified
criteria. Refer students back to Electronic activity 3, asking them to identify in their writing
whether they have used a range of simple, compound and complex sentences.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Students swap and read articles, using their criteria to identify features achieved and
targets for improvement. These should be clearly listed below the article to support
improvements.
Homework
Improve your newspaper article by acting on targets identified in peer-assessment. Write
in a different colour to show where and how much improvement has been made.
Lesson plans
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Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.3 Reading a newspaper article
Lesson aims: To reinforce the essential features of newspaper articles; to learn
how to summarise
Student Book pages: 10–11
Electronic activities: 5 Finding and retrieving information; 6 Learning to
summarise
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: R2 Extract information
Year 9: R1 Information retrieval
Reading AF2
Starter (15 minutes)
Electronic activity 5
A scanning activity to identify key words in questions that will lead to the answers. Note
that the answers are not provided. Students should record the answers that the activity
leads them to. Finish by taking feedback to validate the keywords and the answers.
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 1: Understanding and interpreting an article
If you have used Electronic activity 5, omit Question 1 – they cover the same material.
Complete Question 2. Take feedback and validate answers.
Electronic activity 6
Introduce and read Activity 2. Explain that:
 summary is a good way to practise identifying key points in a piece of writing.
 this activity models identifying what to keep and what to reject when summarising a
text.
Activity 2: Summarising the text
Students complete Activity 2 using the skills developed in the electronic activity.
Emphasise the instruction to ‘use a combination of the original words and your own’.
Students can use Student worksheet 1.8 to complete the initial stage of crossing out
unnecessary paragraphs, sentences, etc., before re-writing. Alternatively, they can work it
as a live document on a computer.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Assess your progress
Students identify those features which they have retained and which they have rejected
using Student worksheet 1.8. As a class, identify which of these are the key features of an
effective newspaper article.
Homework
Re-write the article written for Assess your progress (Student Book page 11), reducing
word count by around 75 per cent, i.e. reduce the 100-word article to 25 words.
Lesson plans
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Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.4 Comparing news articles
Lesson aims: To explore the differences in language, purpose and audience in
different newspapers
Prior learning/knowledge: The differences between formal and informal
language
Student Book pages: 12–14
Electronic activity: 7 Understanding levels of formality
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: S15 Vary formality; R10 Media audiences
Year 8: W12 Formality and word choice; R8 Transposition
Year 9: R8 Readers and texts
Reading AF2, AF6
Starter (15 minutes)
Electronic activity 7
Identify whether headlines/sentences from two newspaper articles belong in the more
formal, ‘quality’ newspaper, or the more informal ‘tabloid’ newspaper.
Begin by asking students to read the introduction on Student Book page 12. Explain that
the level of formality is a key difference in the language of these two types of newspaper.
Complete the electronic activity.
Explore through questioning the difference in tone created by the two levels of formality.
Look for responses that suggest awareness of the different audiences to which these two
types of newspaper are aiming to appeal.
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 1: Reading the same story in different newspapers
Complete Activity 1, Question 1. Take feedback to ensure understanding.
Complete Activity 1, Question 2. Students can record their answers on Student worksheet
1.9. Take feedback, beginning with responses to f to establish a key difference that
reflects on and informs responses to earlier questions. On a–e, continually refer back to
audience and language as a key factor in these differences. Note that it is better to focus
on how literate a reader is rather than how intelligent!
Assess your progress
A three-stage approach will support differentiation. Ask students to:
 divide the bullet-pointed features into similarities and differences between the two
newspapers
 add notes to each bullet point, explaining in detail how these features are different
 add further notes explaining how this reflects on the newspapers’ differing audiences.
Student worksheet 1.10 can be used to record answers.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Take feedback on Assess your progress. Ask students to read their explanations without
mentioning which newspaper or which bullet point they are referring to. Ask the rest of the
class to guess which newspaper/bullet point they are talking about.
Homework
Write 100 words advising someone which newspaper would suit them best. Remember to
explain the different features of the two newspapers and how they might appeal to
different people.
Lesson plans
27
Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.5a Looking at features articles
Lesson aims: To learn to identify the origins and purposes of a variety of
newspaper texts
Prior learning/knowledge: Exposure to a range of newspaper texts, e.g.
horoscopes, food writing, etc.
Student Book pages: 16–17
Electronic activity: 8 Identifying newspaper articles
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Reading AF6
Starter (15 minutes)
Electronic activity 8
Click to identify the origin of the extract, choosing from a range of non-news writing
typically found in newspapers, e.g. sports feature, film review, horoscope, etc. This can,
instead, be used to replace Activity 1, question 3, focusing on the clues that students use
to identify the texts.
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 1: Exploring feature articles
Use this activity to focus on the difference between news and feature articles, and the
range of purposes they fulfil: to entertain, to persuade, to inform. Depending on their
ability, students may feel more confident in tackling questions 1 and 2 after they have
identified the origins of the text, either by completing question 3 or the electronic starter
activity 8.
Discuss with students before attempting question 2:
 key features of inform (often contains facts)
 key features of persuade (often contains opinions)
 whether entertain is ever the sole purpose of a newspaper article.
Students can compile their responses on Student worksheet 1.11, including the clues they
used to identify each text.
Take feedback after each question to ensure understanding.
Assess your progress
Students swap answers to questions 2 and 3a with a partner. Emphasise that the
students’ key purpose here is not to correct their answers but to assess how confident
they are in identifying text-types and their purposes. Take a hands-up survey to identify
how many students are in each self-assessment category (Expert, Not bad, etc.). If a
significant number fall into the last category (Need more help), further texts can be
compiled from newspapers or newspaper websites to work on and analyse as a class.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Ask students to imagine and write headlines for (or simply describe the content of) articles
that a entertain, b inform and c persuade. Take feedback.
Homework
Think of a subject that could be written about in a feature article: a hobby or interest, a
style of music, a sport, or something else … Will it inform, persuade or entertain?
Lesson plans
28
Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.5b Looking at features articles
Lesson aims: To use the drafting process to experiment with different ways of
starting writing
Student Book pages: 18–19
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: Wr1 Drafting process
Year 8: Wr1 Effective planning
Year 9: Wr1 Review own writing
Writing AF1
Starter (15 minutes)
Ask students to write down an unlikely (but appropriate!) subject for a newspaper feature
article. Students swap and try to write the opening sentence of an article on that subject in
one minute. Take feedback. An alternative starting point is to use a prop bag or a range of
random items written on slips of paper, to be picked ‘blind’. The word or item must be
included in the headline.
Note that the quality, purpose, intention, etc. of this writing is less important than the
element of surprise and challenge, intended to dispel concerns about starting writing.
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 2: Getting started
For question 1, explain to students that they are going to write three different openings to
a feature article. Model a range of opening sentences on the suggested topic of vending
machines.
Ask students to identify the kind of article that might follow (i.e. negative, positive,
descriptive). Ask students to write three different opening sentences on Key Stage 2 tests,
using the same approaches.
Take feedback; ask the rest of the class to identify the kind of article that might follow.
For question 3, read through and discuss how interesting and effective these article’s
openings are – bearing in mind the nature of the subject!
Activity 3: Writing a feature article
Before beginning, ask students to think of every detail, fact, idea and opinion that could
possibly be included in their article. Then select which they will use in their opening
paragraph. Following that, students can work through the bullet-pointed tips on page 19 of
the Student Book. More able students will be capable of writing four or more different
openings. Encourage less able students to write two, based on the two different
approaches that most appealed to them earlier in the lesson.
Assess your progress
Students can either do this on their own work or swap and peer-assess each other’s work.
Student worksheet 1.12 suggests the kinds of annotations students might use – and can
act as prompts to develop the content of the article.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Ask students to list and feed back the advantages of considering and writing more than
one opening to a piece of writing. Aim to emphasise the importance of planning and
considering your approach, rather than writing down the first thing that comes to mind!
Homework
Produce a perfect final draft of your opening paragraph.
Lesson plans
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Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.6 Reading a feature article
Lesson aims: To explore the audience, purpose, content and structure of a
feature article
Student Book pages: 20–21
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: R13 Non-fiction style
Year 8: R10 Development of key ideas
Year 9: R11 Author’s standpoint
Reading AF6
Starter (15 minutes)
If students were to start a student newspaper, what would the writers need to remember?
Ask students to work in pairs to brainstorm bullet point advice to student journalists. Take
feedback, exploring why they would give this advice. Look for answers that reinforce clear
awareness of audience and purpose. Some prompt questions, such as those that follow,
will help thinking.
 What is the tone? (Not too formal, but no slang, to appeal to student reader.)
 What is the level of language? (Appropriate to all year groups, without being
patronising.)
 What is the purpose? (To inform, explain, advise, persuade, and entertain.)
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 1: Studying information in feature articles
Read feature article, ‘Flu and you’, as a whole class or independently – depending on the
ability of students. Students complete question 1. Take feedback to ensure understanding
before moving onto questions 2–4.
Assess your progress
A summary of important things that writers of feature articles use is given in Student
worksheet 1.13. This can be used as a prompt or for less able students to record their
views on which are the five most essential things for success.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Ask students to write headlines which, for reasons of content, purpose, language or tone,
would be wholly inappropriate for the school newspaper. Take feedback, identifying the
cause of the inappropriateness in all cases.
Homework
In preparation for the next lesson, write a list of five newspapers or magazines that are
aimed at as wide an audience as possible and five that are aimed at a specific group of
people, describing them (e.g. gender, age, hobby or interest).
Lesson plans
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Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.7a Writing for a specialist magazine
Lesson aims: To explore an article from a specialist magazine
Student Book pages: 22–25
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: R7 Identify main ideas; R10 Media
audiences
Year 8: R5 Trace developments
Reading AF3, AF4
Starter (15 minutes)
Take feedback from students’ homework. Alternatively, if homework wasn’t set, adapt and
use as a starter here. Choose three general and three specialist magazines from
feedback. Survey with hands up how many students they would appeal to. Is the
difference between specialist and general only in the number of people who want to read
them? What specialist magazines do students read?
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 1: Exploring specialist writing
Explain to students that they are about to look at a range of writing, and one specialist
article, to develop reading skills and prepare for a writing task in which they will write on a
specialist subject of their own choice.
Students complete Activity 1 in pairs. Take feedback on answers and clues. Compile a list
of features typical of general magazines and of specialist magazines.
Activity 2: Reading a specialist article
Read the article. Compare it to the list of features identified at the end of Activity 1. Is this
article typical of specialist writing? If not, do we need to alter the list?
Answers questions independently. Take feedback.
Plenary (10 minutes)
As a whole class, revise the list of features typical of a specialist article in the light of
Activity 2. Emphasise that this will support students in their homework and in next lesson’s
writing task.
Homework
Plan for your specialist article.
My subject is …
Five facts about my subject …
To give readers a flavour of my subject, I will describe …
The details I will describe are …
Lesson plans
31
Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.7b Writing for a specialist magazine
Resources needed: thesauruses
Lesson aims: To write a specialist article with clear audience and purpose,
appropriate language choice and level of formality
Student Book pages: 25
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: Wr11 Present information; Wr14
Evocative description
Year 8: Wr10 Effective information; Wr12
Formal description
Year 9: Wr9 Integrate information; Wr11
Descriptive detail
Writing AF2
Starter (15 minutes)
Ask students to write down the word that sums up the main focus of their article, e.g.
‘singing’. Students use a thesaurus to find synonyms which they can organise under three
headings: ‘formal’ (e.g. vocalise), ‘informal’ (belt out), and ‘in between’ (hum). Emphasise
the importance of only selecting words that students know and understand! Take
feedback.
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 3: Writing for a specialist audience
Using their planning completed for homework, the bullet point advice on Student Book
page 25 and Student worksheet 1.14, students plan their writing. Tour the classroom to
ensure successful, detailed planning.
Students complete the writing task.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Assess your progress
Students work in pairs to identify successes and areas for improvement in each other’s
work using Student worksheet 1.15 either as a prompt on OHT or individually on paper.
The evidence column can be ignored or deleted and students asked to annotate the
article, clearly labelling:
 the purpose of each paragraph
 two examples of appropriately formal/informal language
 a piece of interesting information
 an effective description
 the writer’s opinion
 an example of technical or specialist language.
Homework
Students use peer-assessment to improve their article, making changes to their writing in
a different colour to allow clear identification of their quantity and quality.
Lesson plans
32
Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.8 Looking at reviews
Lesson aims: To identify the key features of a review and write an opening
paragraph of one
Student Book pages: 26–27
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: R7 Identify main ideas; Wr19 Reflective
writing
Year 8: R5 Trace developments; Wr18 Critical
review
Year 9: R7 Compare texts; Wr17 Cite textual
evidence
Reading AF6
Writing AF2
Starter (15 minutes)
Ask students to write a definition of a review. Take feedback to develop a whole class
definition on the board.
What should a good review include? Take feedback. Look for answers that suggest: gives
writer’s opinion; enough to help reader decide whether to buy/go to subject of review;
gives good and bad points, though not balanced; explains and describes its subject.
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 1: Examining a bad review
Complete and take feedback. Record on the whiteboard under two headings: A review
should … and A review should not … .Explain to students that this will support their review
writing later in the lesson.
Activity 2: Examining a review
Complete and take feedback. Record on the whiteboard, as above.
Activity 3: Writing a review
To avoid their subject being the first thing that came into their heads, ask students to think
of three things about which they could write a review. Then make a final choice. Take
feedback from a selection of students on why they made their final choice.
Ask students to write their opening sentence, focusing on grabbing the reader’s attention.
Use the Hints box in the Student Book (page 27) to prompt and model. Students plan the
remainder of their review using Student worksheet 1.16, then complete their first draft.
You could omit this question and use Section 9, Activity 2, page 29 to develop and assess
students’ writing to review – but use hints and criteria from this unit to support.
Assess your progress
Students self- or peer-assess, identifying those of the bullet-point criteria in the Student
Book they have achieved and those that need more work.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Ask students or peer-assessors to identify a sentence in their review that successfully
demonstrates one of the bulleted criteria. Take feedback on examples of each, one by
one.
Homework
Add or develop features of your review which have been identified as needing more work.
Lesson plans
33
Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.9 Comparing reviews
Lesson aims: To develop review writing skills focusing on structure and
language choice
Electronic activity: 9 Varying language in a review
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: R7 Identify main ideas; Wr19
Reflective writing
Year 8: R5 Trace developments; Wr18
Critical review
Year 9: R7 Compare texts; Wr17 Cite
textual evidence
Reading AF6
Writing AF2, AF7
Starter (15 minutes)
Electronic activity 9
This is a positive review of a mobile phone containing nine uses of the words ‘good’ or
‘better’. Students select from a wider range of vocabulary to improve the review’s
language variety. Emphasise that the vocabulary options are much more specific to the
details given than simply ‘good’ or ‘better’.
Development (35 minutes)
Activity 1: Exploring opinions and style
Students should complete the activity in pairs. Emphasise that many questions ask for
student opinions; there are no right or wrong answers to these but an
explanation/justification is essential.
Activity 2: Write a review
Read the instructions. As a whole class, use Student worksheet 1.18 on OHT (or
individually on paper) to annotate which of the identified criteria in this question have been
applied in this model review (a transcription of the text from the electronic starter). Then
identify how it could be improved using the criteria given.
Before writing their own review, students should plan using Student worksheet 1.17.
Assess your progress
Students work in pairs to identify strengths and areas for improvement in each others’
work. These should be listed clearly below the piece of writing to be acted on for
homework.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Take feedback from students of an area that has been identified for improvement in their
work. Ask the rest of the class for good examples (from their partner’s work) in that area,
to be read aloud as models.
Homework
Add or develop features of your review which have been identified as needing more work.
Lesson plans
34
Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.10a Looking at sports journalism
Lesson aims: To identify the language and structural features of sports
journalism
Student Book pages: 30–32
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: R13 Non-fiction style; R14
Language choices
Year 8: R10 Development of key ideas
Year 9: R11 Author’s standpoint; R12
Rhetorical devices
Reading AF2, AF4, AF5, AF6
Starter (15 minutes)
Ask students which of them watches sport on television and which of them reads
newspaper sports reports. Which do students prefer? Do any of them do both? How could
those who do not read newspapers be persuaded to?
Activity 1: Exploring sports journalism
Students complete question 1, recording their responses on Student worksheet 1.19. Take
feedback.
Development (35 minutes)
Show the bingo grid in question 2 on OHT (Student worksheet 1.20). Write the numbers
1–9 on nine pieces of paper; fold the papers and pick one at a time. Tell the class the
number you have chosen. Students then race to find an example of the numbered feature
on the bingo grid in one of the three texts and either feedback instantly or record their
answers, ‘calling’ when they have completed a row, or a line or the whole grid.
Alternatively, students can complete the question independently. This may make question
3 a more accurate assessment of students’ reading ability by assessment foci (find
information AF2; comment on language AF5; identify opinion AF6).
Activity 2: Reading sports journalism
Students complete the questions. Take feedback. Emphasise the skills of identifying
evidence to support assertion (2c); of identifying structure (2e); of identifying purpose (3).
Student worksheet 1.21 can be used with Question 2.
Plenary (10 minutes)
As a whole class, gather and note the features of these sports articles which can help
contribute to students successfully completing Activity 3, next lesson. Student worksheet
1.22 has a summary of likely features.
Homework
Decide on the question from Activity 3 you will complete. Prepare by choosing a topic;
deciding the details you will include; doing any necessary research. You may engage
students who are less keen on sport by suggesting that they can imagine a fictitious sport
or match.
Lesson plans
35
Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
1.10b Looking at sports journalism
Lesson aims: To write a piece of sports journalism to entertain and inform
Student Book pages: 33
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: Wr11 Present information
Year 8: Wr10 Effective information
Year 9: Wr7 ‘Infotainment’; Wr9 Integrate
information
Writing AF2
Starter (15 minutes)
Activity 3: Writing sports journalism
Using Student worksheet 1.22 on OHT, show students some key features of sports
journalism as outlined in the previous lesson. You can cover the model sentences on the
OHT to prevent students following them too closely! Ask students to look over their
preparation homework and, using one of the key features, to write the first sentence of
their article. Ask students to read out their sentence; the rest of the class should guess
which of the key features the sentence demonstrates.
Development (35 minutes)
Students use Student worksheet 1.23 to plan the structure of their article by cutting and
organising the cards. Encourage students not only to decide on the order in which they will
use these ideas but also to group the cards into a sequence of paragraphs.
Students can then complete their first draft.
Assess your progress
Students can then either self- or peer-assess their writing, using the criteria given in the
student book. Areas identified as needing work should be listed below the writing.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Take feedback from self- or peer-assessors on sentences or paragraphs they feel
particularly successfully demonstrate one of the five bullet-pointed criteria in Assess your
progress.
Homework
Add or develop features of your sports article that have been identified as needing more
work.
Lesson plans
36
Interactive Non-Fiction and Media Teacher’s Guide
Unit 1 Newspapers and magazines
1
Newspapers and magazines
Lesson plan
Assessment task
Lesson aims: To assess and reinforce students’ learning throughout the unit
Student Book pages: 34
Electronic activity: 10 Selecting information for a newspaper article
Framework objectives
Assessment foci
Year 7: Wr11 Present information
Year 8: Wr10 Effective information
Year 9: Wr9 Integrate information
Writing AF2, AF3, AF5, AF6, AF7
Starter (15 minutes)
Electronic activity 10
Presented with a reporter’s notebook full of notes on a major traffic incident, students
select the information, quotes, etc, which they would include in a newspaper report, then
sequence them to create a plan.
Emphasise to students that, although this news article is not connected to the subsequent
assessment task, it does practise the skills of selection and sequencing which they will
use in preparation for their own writing.
Development (35 minutes)
Depending on your assessment needs and those of your students, you can either set this
as a task under timed examination conditions or pause after each of the numbered stages
to take feedback to support and develop students’ thinking and progress.
A list of success criteria is provided on Student worksheet 1.24. You can display this
during the assessment on OHT, or use it as a support for self- or peer-assessment prior to
your own assessment. Alternatively, an effective preparation for this assessment would be
for students to write their own success criteria, based on their learning in this unit,
particularly lessons 1.1, 1.2a and 1.2b.
Students can record their planning on Student worksheet 1.25.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Following the assessment, students can use Student worksheet 1.24 (the success criteria)
to assess their confidence in each area, by traffic lighting (Red, Amber, Green). Taken in
conjunction with their writing, this will support you in identifying areas for further work with
the class as a whole and/or individual students.
Lesson plans
37