How was it used?

A resource that forms the basis for work on the topic of Newspapers for Y3/4 classes over a number of weeks.

Initially we spent a lot of time looking at real newspapers, the local one was particularly useful as it has local interest and the reading age isn’t too high. We contrasted them with other forms of text (magazines, story books and non-fiction books).  We identified the common features of newspaper front pages, including the report. Focussing on the report, we identified the 5Ws; questions that the report should provide answers to.

I created a number of ICT activities, similar to the ones in this resource, based on real stories in the local paper and pupils answered the 5W questions based on the information in the report.  We used video cameras and mp3 microphones in role play of TV interviews, based on the news stories that they had been reading, to develop oracy skills in this context.

Equipped with all this background knowledge the pupils then created their own newspapers on the computer.  

Impact and Outcomes

Using the interactive white board, initially for modelling the activities and subsequently for displaying pupils’ work for AFL activities, made a significant contribution to their understanding and the quality of the discussion about the work.

A series of differentiated tasks, progressively more demanding meant that pupils could work more independently at their own pace and the more able were challenged.

When the pupils were using the ICT for answering questions and subsequently creating their own newspapers, they made full use of the facilities like cut and paste, spell checking and redrafting that ICT provides but which aren’t available when using pencil and paper. Reluctant writers find these features really encouraging.

The promise to publish their newspapers on the school website for a real audience also significantly enhanced pupil motivation.

They persisted with these writing activities for longer, particularly the boys, than they do when using traditional methods and consequently produced more substantial and better quality pieces of work at the end.

The use of video cameras and mp3 microphones gave a real boost to their motivation in the interviews that the pupils conducted and also meant that I had a valuable record of their oracy skills. These were presented to the school via a projector in assembly, giving due status to oral skills and again motivating them to try even harder in the next activity

Learner Feedback

'Can we carry on with our newspaper today please?'

Other Resources

It’s essential to start with real newspapers and then keep referring back to them to give the tasks authenticity.

As this was taught once a week during PPA cover, refreshing last weeks focus was important, sometimes this was done orally and sometimes with a presentation (interactive so the pupils could come out to the IWB and respond to it).  My own ICT activities reflected the reading ability of the group as well as using local, current  news stories.

Lesson Learnt

When it comes around again in the planning cycle I’ll do it in a very similar way but I’ll recreate some resources as they’ll no longer be current news.  Writing on the computer always takes longer than I anticipate but it’s very important to allow time for reflection and redrafting