School news
Interactive exercises to consolidate your students’ learning.
Writing a news report for a school website, seen through Maya's report on a school team whose recycling robot won a national prize: the facts, a quote and what the judges said. Pupils answer questions on the report, read the useful phrases, complete a concert report with the right verb forms, then report a story from a card (the choir on TV, a sponsored walk, a new school garden, a football final) or real school news and tick a checklist; model report and answer key included.
Documents to download (2)
- Worksheet In your teacher account
- Worksheet (black and white) In your teacher account
Teaching guide
Objective & content
This writing sheet teaches pupils to write a short news report (a headline in the present; Last Saturday, a team of... won...; The teams were asked to...; It was designed and built...; "...," said...; The judges said that... had been...; ... is now planning...). Pupils read Maya's report for the school website, take its phrases and write their own. By the end, they can write a report of 150 to 180 words with the passive, a quote and reported speech.
Pedagogical guide
Page 1 has Maya's report, with a photo of a pupil building a robot. A team of four pupils from Hill Park School won first prize at a national robot competition, against more than sixty teams; their robot, Binny, had to sort rubbish for recycling and was designed and built in eight weeks, mostly at lunchtimes and after school. The captain says they didn't think they had a chance; the judges said Binny had been the fastest and most accurate robot. The team won £1,000 for the science department and has been invited to show the robot at the Science Museum in London. The school and the competition are made up. Pupils answer six questions with three options each, then read the useful phrases, set out in the order of a news report (headline, first paragraph, details with the passive, quotes, reported speech, what next). Page 2 starts with four lines of a report on a school concert to complete with the right verb forms. Then pupils report a story from a card (the choir on TV, a sponsored walk for an animal shelter, a new school garden, the girls' football team in the county final, each with who, what and a quote) or real news from their school, and tick the checklist. The answer key gives a model report.
Suggested procedure
- (5 min) Ask "What happened at our school this month?" and write one headline together.
- (10 min) Read Maya's report aloud; pupils answer the questions.
- (5 min) Read the useful phrases with the class; pupils find the passives and the quotes.
- (5 min) Page 2: pupils complete the concert report.
- (20 min) Pupils choose a story, write their report and tick the checklist.
- (5 min) Pupils read out only their headline and first sentence, as on the news.
Adaptations
[S] Pupils write one paragraph for each line of the phrases box.
[A] Pupils add a second quote and turn it into reported speech.
Materials & prerequisites
One copy of pages 1 and 2 per pupil. Page 3 is the answer key, the model report and the teacher notes: keep it. Pupils need the passive in the past, reported speech with said that and the past simple. To take it further, the class makes a one-page school newspaper.
Possible adaptations
- Lower levels: Offer segmented listening and additional visual aids.
- Advanced levels: Encourage an oral summary and a debate in English on the theme.
- Large groups: Organise group work with differentiated roles.
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