BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Level: B1 and above
Age: 13+
Time: A lesson of 45 minutes
Materials/equipment: Support Pack materials (handouts, a presentation), a computer, a whiteboard / a smart board
Skills: Developing critical thinking, speaking, writing
Topic: Introduction to Journalism
Anticipated learning outcomes: By the end of the lesson, learners will increase their vocabulary related to journalism by means of some controlled and freer exercises.
Anticipated difficulties: The learners might not know LGP (Language for General Purposes) – (Journalism)
BEFORE THE LESSON: Print out enough copies of the handouts. Prepare the presentation for demonstration.
Handout 1. Target language (TL) list
An article is a story about a particular topic in a newspaper or other periodicals.
A beat is the subject or location a reporter regularly covers for his or her job; an important moment, event, or subject in a story, film, etc. (спец. репортаж, обозрение)
A billboard is a very large board on which advertisements are shown, especially at the side of a road or a very large sign in a public place on which advertisements are shown.
Broadcast journalism is a type of journalism that is distributed through radio or television.
To cover a story is to report it or provide information about the subject.
Current events are significant events that happened recently or are continuing to happen, and are of interest to a particular group or community.
Five Ws - the five Ws are a set of questions used in basic research and information collection in order to write a complete story. The questions begin with the words “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why,” and sometimes “how” is also included.
Hard news is a type of news that is serious and significant to a wide audience.
A headline is large, bold text printed above an article, and serves as the title of the article.
Journalism is the range of activities that are involved in the presentation of news stories, including collecting, writing, and editing stories.
A journalist or a reporter is a person who gathers, writes, covers, and/or delivers the news to the public.
To investigate something is to carefully and extensively search for facts and evidence about something in order to learn more about it.
A layout is the way in which a newspaper is designed or arranged.
A magazine is a collection of news, stories, and pictures presented in a thin, book-like object that is published and distributed weekly or monthly.
Mass Media - different methods of giving information to lots of people, for example, through newspapers, television and radio.
A peg is an event or situation that is an appropriate or relevant subject for a news story.
The press is the general group of people working for news agencies, such as newspapers and television networks, and includes reporters, photographers, editors and many others.
Radio is the broadcast of news programs and other information by sound over airwaves.
Soft news is a type of news that is not considered very serious or widely important, and is typically related to features and human-interest stories.
Television (TV) is the visual and audio broadcast of programs and other information through electronic signals on a screen.
PROCEDURE
1. Lead-in. (2-3 minutes)
Greet your students and draw their attention to the picture and ask them to answer the questions in the picture. (Ss' answers and ideas).
Picture 1
Give students 2 minutes to brainstorm for relevant vocabulary, connected with journalism, eg. news, journalist, press, media, current events, report, etc.
2. Warm-up. (3-5 minutes)
The following questions are offered for pupils for discussion: What is the job of a journalist? How do reporters investigate stories? How do journalists use social media to gather and report news? At this stage a teacher should be ready to help pupils introducing new vocabulary with the help of definitions.
"Journalism largely consists of saying 'Lord Jones is Dead' to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive."
- Gilbert K.Chesterton
Let’s discuss the following questions:
1. What is the job of a journalist? (Generally, journalists first gather information and organize their stories. They write and edit the story to make sure it is accurate. Then the story is delivered to the public).
2. How do reporters investigate stories? (Investigating is the careful search for facts and evidence. The purpose is to find out the cause of an event; to examine something carefully, esp. to discover the truth about it. Sometimes, the purpose is just to learn more about something. When people investigate, they conduct detailed searches. Often, they interview witnesses and review scenes. The process often involves extensive research and may even require travelling).
3. How do journalists use social media to gather and report news? (Social media has taken over society and is becoming increasingly vital. Many journalists now write stories about what happens on social media, they leverage on social media to receive, gather and distribute news).
3. Vocabulary. (5-7 minutes)
It is a good idea to talk about mass media in general. The teacher may give a task to prepare a word-web or mind-map “Mass Media” writing down all the words they know connected with the topic. Pupils work in pairs or small groups with the following checking of the words with the whole class.
Fill in a word-web:
Picture 2
For example, newspapers, magazines, outdoor advertising, films, radio, television, the World Wide Web, books, CDs, DVDs, videocassettes, computer games, and other forms of publishing.
- Print Media: Newspapers, Banners, Billboards, Brochures, Flyers, Magazines;
- Broadcast Media: Television , Radio;
- Internet Media: Social networks or websites (Vkontakte, Telegram, Odnoklassniki (OK.ru), Dzen, RUTUBE, Yappy, etc), Online forums, Podcasts, AI content (Artificial Intelligence tools like ChatGPT).
4. Discussion. (10-12 minutes)
There are a number of different types of journalism. Can you name them?
It is important to pay pupil’s attention at different types of journalism (print journalism, broadcast journalism, online journalism) because after finishing studying each unit they should be ready to prepare projects or final assessment works for each type. For example, the first unit is “Print Journalism” – a final project is to prepare an article for a school magazine or newspaper. The second unit is “Broadcast Journalism”, so a final project could be - to prepare a video clip with interviews about school, school news or a podcast introducing pupil’s own material on a chosen topic. The third unit is “Online Journalism” with a final task – writing a longread.
5. Writing: “Fill in an application form”. (10-12 minutes)
Students fill in an application form providing details about what they consider their most important experience in journalism they have ever had and explaining how this experience fired their interest in journalism. For those pupils who do not have any experience the task is to write down what they expect from the course, want to learn and what kind of practice they want to have, eg.: how to write an article, to make a film, to prepare a podcast, to learn to write an advert, etc. These application forms may help a teacher to plan the further work taking into account student’s preferences.
Handout 2
6. An interview: “Let's get acquainted”. (10-12 minutes)
Now imagine you are journalists. You want to interview someone for a school magazine.
Work in pairs. Prepare your questions and interview each other.
Examples of questions:
You
What’s your name?
How old are you?
Do you go to school?
How long have you been______?
Family
Is your family big or small?
Do you have any sisters or brothers?
Have you got any _____? How many?
Home
Where do you live?
How long have you lived in______?
What is your hobby?
7. Consolidation. (3-5 minutes)
At the end of a lesson, provide each student with a copy of the 3-2-1 Feedback template. On the worksheet students record three things they learned in the lesson, two fun facts and one question they still have. Ask the students to share their thoughts with a partner.
Encourage students to try and answer their questions or suggest ways in which they can find the answer. Alternatively, complete a ‘3-2-1 Feedback’ together as a whole class and ask students to find the answer for homework. At the start of the next lesson, ask the students to share their answers with the class.
Handout 3
3 PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENTS TASKS (with real examples)
Level: B1 and above
Age: 13+
Skills: Critical thinking, problem-solving skills, collaboration and communication skills, IT literacy, innovation, creativity, global awareness, time management, soft skills
Task 1. Writing an article about school news. (print media)
Take any recent school story you have heard, seen or read and write your own article for our school newspaper.
Use the following tips:
1. Choose the story/a piece of news you are going to write about and think of a catchy title for your article to grab reader’s attention. Headlines can take many forms, including questions, statements, or phrases that highlight the most important or intriguing aspect of the article. They may also include puns, humor, or other creative elements to make them more memorable and engaging.
2. Stick to the topic and do not write about unrelated things. Use the technique of five Ws questions (‘who,' ‘what,' ‘when,' ‘where,' and ‘why’) to get comprehensive information from sources to write a thorough article. Also, you may interview people.
3. Try to use various adjectives, idioms, phrasal verbs, synonyms, linking words to make your article sound more interesting. You may use proverbs, statements, rhetorical questions, quotes.
4. Take photos or find suitable pictures if it is necessary. Remember, your choice of photo also plays a role in readers’ perception of the article.
5. Design a layout*. (*A layout is the way elements are arranged on a printed page. The layout includes such elements as the type of letters, the use of bold type, italics, underlining, bullets (= dots or other symbols used at the beginning of a next passage), the size and number of columns, color, the placement of illustrations. The layout determines whether a text is attractive to the eye and it helps writers to structure their texts and to emphasize certain words, phrases or passages).
6. To indicate the author of a piece of writing – do not forget to use a byline at the end of your article. “The article was written by…”
Below you can see articles prepared by my students of the 10th grade from school 1561.
Task 2. A video clip or a podcast about our school. (broadcast journalism)
Imagine 2 following situations:
Situation 1 – A Virtual Tour in School 1561.
Situation 1 – An Exchange Programme.
We are going to make a video clip with interviews about our school, school news or pupils’ life in school 1561 or a podcast introducing your own material on a chosen topic. Work in pairs and discuss what questions you may ask and who you are going to interview.
Write down a plan of your work.
1. Topics for discussion (school life, subjects, homework, extracurricular activities, canteen, teachers) + questions for the interview (For example: What is your favourite thing about school 1561? / What is pupil’s life like in school 1561? Why? / What are your favourite subjects? Why? / Do you take part in contests and competitions? / Do you think you get too much homework? / How would your best friend describe you? / Do you often go to the library? / Do you eat in our school canteen? / What do you usually do during breaks?)
2. Interviewees: pupils (which classes), teachers, parents, a librarian, a head teacher, parents, etc.
3. Delegate the roles: a producer, a video editor, a camera man/operator, interviewers, assistants, a location manager, a script supervisor, a sound recordist, etc.
4. Choose the right setting/location: classrooms, a canteen, a gym, a library, etc.
5. Discuss the format and style of your video. (on-camera or off-camera interview with subtitles)
6. Make a video-clip.
Task 3. A longread. (online Journalism)
Create a digital storytelling on a free topic, and present it in the format of a multimedia project, a longread.
A longread is journalistic material, which is based on a rather long text with various interactive inserts. Modern journalism is experiencing a powerful influence of Internet technologies. Digitalization of content leads to today’s fashionable longreads, like long reading. It is a mixture of various forms of text presentation (photos, videos, infographics, online quizes, etc.).
To create a project you may follow the plan:
1. Define the portrait of the target audience. (For children / teenagers / teachers / parents / adults…)
2. View and discuss the most popular longreads posted on the Internet.
3. Think and select a topic for your project. (Examples: 1. A story about a great personality or a vivid historical event. 2. Travel to cities, countries and continents. 3. Analysis of work of art or an artistic image of the characters. 4. A set of recommendations, rules, and tips on a specific topic, eg.: how to prepare for the exams. 5. The history of an event, scientific discovery or invention).
4. Find, read and study special literature on a chosen topic, watch videos, listen to the interviews. Define which material should be included.
5. Make a plan for the article. To write a high-quality longrid, you need a plan. It will help you to structure large amounts of information and will not let you miss something important.
6. Explore the possibilities of various services for creating longreads: Tilda Publishing platform, Exposure, Medium, Myalbum, Readymag, medium.com, stampsy.com, exposure.co, readymag.com, creatavist.com, racontr.com, shorthand.com, etc. You may also prepare a longread as an interactive presentation, using the following services: projeqt.com, slides.com or prezi.com.
7. Prepare the materials and simultaneously select visual illustrations. It is important to do both at the same time. If you ignore this recommendation, multimedia elements may not fit well into the text. Remember, headlines, subheadings, graphics and video content significantly increase reader’s engagement.
8. Design the material and reread it to a potential reader who is interested in such a topic.
9. The last stage of the work is the publication of the longread in social networks. You can make QR codes.
10. Present you projects; discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the projects, be ready to answer the questions.