Meet our new reporters

Objective & content

This writing sheet teaches pupils to write a short profile of themselves for a school newspaper, under headings (I'm twelve, I live in... with..., I'm good at..., but I'm not very good at..., I usually..., On Mondays..., because..., My first article is going to be about...). Pupils read Zara's profile, take its phrases and write their own. By the end, they can write a profile of 60 to 80 words about themselves, their week and their plans.

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 has Zara's profile in The Park Lane Times, with a photo of her at the drums. Zara is twelve and lives in Manchester with her mum, her grandad and her two little brothers; her cat, Pepper, sleeps all day. She plays the drums, she is good at maths but not very good at art, she has drum lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays and usually plays basketball at the weekend. She wants to be a journalist, and her first article is going to be about the school band. Pupils answer six questions with three options each, then read the useful phrases, set out in the order of the profile. Page 2 starts with four lines of Kai's profile to complete with words from a box. Then pupils write about themselves, or about one of four reporter cards (Max, Amara, Kenji and Holly, each with a photo, a family, hobbies, what they are good at and why they want to be a reporter), and tick the checklist. The cards let pupils who prefer not to write about their own family still do the task. The answer key gives a model profile.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Ask "What do you put in a profile?" and list ideas on the board.
2. (10 min) Read Zara's profile aloud; pupils answer the questions.
3. (5 min) Read the useful phrases with the class.
4. (5 min) Page 2: pupils complete Kai's profile.
5. (20 min) Pupils write their profile, about themselves or a card, and tick the checklist.
6. (5 min) Pupils read a partner's profile and find one thing they have in common.

Adaptations

[S] Pupils use a card and follow Zara's headings line by line.

[A] Pupils add a sentence about their first article and why.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 and 2 per pupil. Page 3 is the answer key, the model profile and the teacher notes: keep it. Pupils need the present simple, always / usually / often / never, good at, because and going to. To take it further, the class makes a "Meet the class" wall with every profile.