In the Newsroom: Editorial Reporting
Language Arts 5 – Carley Holsted (RMS) and Terra Kaliszuk
Premise:
Students will examine opinion news writing, participate in a debate to learn about an issue, and then write
their own opinion piece on one of the debate issues (editorial).
General Curriculum Connections:
Text Annotation: 2.1 Use Comprehension Strategies
· comprehend new ideas and information by responding personally, taking notes and discussing ideas with others
Criteria Building: 2.3 Understand Forms and Genres
· identify and discuss similarities and differences among a variety of forms of oral, print and other media texts
· identify the main characteristics of familiar media and media texts
Creating Own News Articles: 2.4 Structure texts
· use structures encountered in texts to organize and present ideas in own oral, print and other media texts
Unit Introduction
o Introduce unit with a Fact vs. Opinion lesson.
 Here are some Fact vs. Opinion resources to help you create an introductory
lesson.
Opinion News Writing
Specific Curriculum Connections (in addition to General Connections):
Writing Own Factual Article: 1.2 Consider Others’ Ideas
· seek others’ viewpoints to build on personal responses and understanding
5WH Organization: 1.1.3 Express ideas and develop understanding
· use own experience as a basis for exploring and expressing opinions and understanding
Week 1: Reading Opinion Articles
Materials:
o
o
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Class set copies (plus 1 overhead transparency) of 6 Opinion Articles
 Opinion_FacebookApp.doc
 Opinion_AnimalObesity.doc
 Opinion_NHL.doc
 Opinion_NovemberHoldiay.doc
 Opinion_PetAdoption.doc
 Opinion_RoyalWedding.doc
 Opinion_SlaveLakeFire.doc
Overhead projector or SMARTBoard.
Overhead markers (different colours if possible)
Lesson Progression:
1.
Text Annotation Comprehension Strategy: Opinion Article #1
a. Distribute article to the students.
i. Introduce focus for reading: How do you know what the reporter’s opinion is on this
issue? (identify clues that reveal opinion)
b. Using overhead projector/transparency/markers, Teacher models (Think Aloud modelling) text
annotation for the first couple of paragraphs.
c. Students continue reading/annotating on their own for the remainder of the article.
d. Students compare their text annotations with an elbow partner and prepare responses for the
focus question.
e. Discuss the focus question as a class.
2.
Text Annotation Comprehension Strategy: Opinion Article #2
a. Distribute article to the students.
i. Introduce focus for reading: Who is the author and why do they feel this way about the
topic?
b. If necessary (judging by the success of the last lesson), Teacher again models (Think Aloud
modelling) text annotation for the first couple of paragraphs.
c. Students continue reading/annotating on their own for the remainder of the article.
d. Students compare their text annotations with an elbow partner and prepare responses for the
focus question.
e. Discuss the focus question as a class.
3.
Text Annotation Comprehension Strategy: Opinion Article #3
a. Distribute article to the students.
i. Introduce focus for reading: Where do you agree or disagree with the author’s opinion?
Explain why you feel that way.
b. Students read/annotate the article.
c. Students compare their text annotations with an elbow partner and prepare responses for the
focus question.
d. Discuss the focus question as a class.
4.
Text Annotation Comprehension Strategy: Opinion Article Jigsaw Activity

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Jigsaw the three remaining opinion articles (Expert groups and Home groups). Students
read/annotate their article, identifying:
 How do you know what the reporter’s opinion is on this issue?
 Who is the author and why do they feel this way about the topic?
 Where do you agree or disagree with the author’s opinion? Explain why you feel that
way.
Students bring their information to their expert group to compare, add, revise their ideas.
Students meet back with their home group to tell about their findings (partners will do the
same).
 Home group discussion: What do these articles all have in common?
After home group discussions – As a class, build criteria for writing a factual article. What
makes for a good opinion article?
Sample Criteria:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
State your opinion.
Give reasons for your opinion.
Mention an argument to your opinion and refute it.
Conclusion – Re-state your opinion and why you are right.
Week 2: Formulating Our Opinions
Examining an issue – How do we read information to form our own opinion?
1. Introduce students to the Debate topics and asks students to select their top 3 topics, and submit them
(Teacher could say that they will do their best to give students one of their top 3 topics). As well,
Teacher assigns students a side for their topic.
i. Should unhealthy foods be banned from schools?
http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=760
ii. Should children be allowed to own and use mobile phones (cellphones)?
http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=647
iii. Should schoolchildren be allowed to choose whether to attend school or not?
http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=930
iv. Should we have homework in Grade 5?
http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=793
Debate Information Source: http://www.idebate.org/index.php
2. Students debate the issue. Here is a sample debate format that worked well with one Grade 5 class:
Debate Preparation:
a. Each student and his/her teammates prepare several points that support their position on the
issue. They also prepare several points that may serve as a rebuttal to their opponent’s
points.
b. Each student takes a note sheet into the debate, listing their points for speaking and rebuttal.
Side:
Team Agree
1. First team member states a point that
explains their side of the argument.
Team Disagree
2. Team takes 30 seconds to discuss a rebuttal
to the point.
PART 1
3. First team member states a point that is a
rebuttal to the first point.
4. Second team member states a point that
explains their side of the argument.
5. Team takes 30 seconds to discuss a rebuttal
to the point.
6. Second team member states a point that is a
rebuttal to the point.
7. Third team member states a point that
explains their side of the argument.
8. Team takes 30 seconds to discuss a rebuttal
to the point.
PART 2
9. Third team member states a point that is a
rebuttal to the point.
Repeat protocol with the “Disagree” side presenting arguments, and the “Agree” side discussing
and stating rebuttal points.
3. Reflect on the debate:
i. What is one point that you REALLY disagreed with?
ii. What is one point that you REALLY agreed with?
4. Choose an issue/side to write their own opinion article.
Week 2/3: Writing Our Opinion Article
Criteria:
 State your opinion. (1 sentence)
 Give reasons for your opinion. (3 sentences)
 Mention an argument to your opinion and refute it. (2 sentences)
 Conclusion – Re-state your opinion and why you are right. (1 sentence)
Process:
1. Teacher models writing an opinion article on the board.
2. Teacher takes 2 Stars and a Wish from students to improve the exemplar article.
3. Teacher models editing to improve the article.
4. Students write their own opinion article based on their debate topic.
5. 2 Stars and a Wish (twice)
6. Good Copy.