The Newspaper
Teaching Activities for Key Stage 2
Ideas for using The Newspaper in the classroom at Key Stage 2:
Many of the following activities will probably fill a 40 minute lesson period however; this will depend of the ability level of your pupils.
Give each of your pupils a copy of The Newspaper. Ask them to select an article to read which clearly demonstrates an introduction, a body containing several paragraphs, and a conclusion. Tell them to cut out the article then to cut it into paragraphs. Give them an envelope and ask them to write the article's title on the front. After placing the paragraphs in the envelope, get them to exchange envelopes with another member of the class. This pupil is to arrange the paragraphs in proper order. Once the article is in order, ask the original pupil to check the article for proper order.
Give each pupil a copy of The Newspaper. Ask them to select an article to read. Give each pupil a piece of unlined white paper. Get them to fold the paper into six or eight blocks, numbering each. Tell them they are to retell the article in pictures, no words allowed. When they are finished, let them share their visual articles with the class. See if the other students can retell the article from the pictures.
Teach children about local, national and international news. Find examples of local, national, and international news articles within The Newspaper. Use a map to help your pupils to understand the difference between these.
Introduce the class to the different jobs involved in putting together a newspaper: publisher, editor, reporters, photographers, designer, press/printing, sale, etc. Discuss how they all must work together to deliver the news to the reader.
Get your pupils to rewrite a news article from The Newspaper in their own words.
Remove the headlines from a number of news stories. Display the headline-less stories. Provide your pupils with the headlines, and ask them to match each to one of the stories. As pupils replace the missing headlines, ask them to point out the words in the headlines that helped them find the correct story.
Distribute headlines from less prominent stories and ask pupils to choose one and write a news story to go with it. When the stories have been completed, provide each student with the story that originally accompanied the headline. Ask: How close was your story to the original? How effectively did the headline convey the meaning of the story?