Creating a classroom newspaper
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=249
A lesson plan for Grades 4–5 English Language Arts
In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students write authentic newspaper stories. Various aspects of newspapers are covered, including parts of a newspaper, writing an article, online newspapers, newspaper reading habits, and layout and design techniques.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 4
- Goal 2: The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.03: Read a variety of texts, including:
- fiction (legends, novels, folklore, science fiction).
- nonfiction (autobiographies, informational books, diaries, journals).
- poetry (concrete, haiku).
- drama (skits, plays).
- Objective 2.03: Read a variety of texts, including:
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.03: Make oral and written presentations using visual aids with an awareness of purpose and audience.
- Objective 4.05: Use planning strategies to generate topics and organize ideas (e.g., brainstorming, mapping, webbing, reading, discussion).
- Objective 4.06: Compose a draft that conveys major ideas and maintains focus on the topic with specific, relevant, supporting details by using preliminary plans.
- Objective 4.07: Compose fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using self-selected and assigned topics and forms (e.g., personal and imaginative narratives, research reports, diaries, journals, logs, rules, instructions).
- Objective 4.08: Focus revision on a specific element such as:
- word choice.
- sequence of events and ideas.
- transitional words.
- sentence patterns.
- Objective 4.09: Produce work that follows the conventions of particular genres (e.g., personal and imaginative narrative, research reports, learning logs, letters of request, letters of complaint).
- Objective 4.10: Use technology as a tool to gather, organize, and present information.
Grade 5
- Goal 2: The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.03: Read a variety of texts, such as:
- fiction (tall tales, myths).
- nonfiction (books of true experience, newspaper and magazine articles, schedules).
- poetry (narrative, lyric, and cinquains).
- drama (plays and skits).
- Objective 2.03: Read a variety of texts, such as:
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.04: Select a self-evaluated composition for publication and justify rationale for selection.
- Objective 4.05: Use a variety of preliminary strategies to plan and organize the writing and speaking task considering purpose, audience, and timeline.
- Objective 4.06: Compose a draft that elaborates on major ideas and adheres to the topic by using an appropriate organizational pattern that accomplishes the purpose of the writing task and effectively communicates its content.
- Objective 4.07: Compose a variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using self-selected topic and format (e.g., poetry, research reports, news articles, letters to the editor, business letters).
- Objective 4.08: Focus revision on target elements by:
- improving word choice.
- rearranging text for clarity.
- creating simple and/or complex sentences for clarity or impact.
- developing a lead, characters, or mood.
- Objective 4.09: Produce work that follows the conventions of particular genres (e.g., clarification, essay, feature story, business letter).
- Objective 4.10: Use technology as a tool to enhance and/or publish a product.



