Hear ye! Hear ye! We wrote newspaper articles!

In this writing unit, the goal was to write a newspaper article about an event in an organized and clear way. Students learned how to introduce topics clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections as well as develop topics with facts, details, and quotes.

First, we spent a lot of time exploring different types of newspapers, printed and online ones. We reviewed nonfiction text features once again and analyzed the format of an article. We learned that reporters grab the attention of the readers with a catchy headline and a lead sentence that introduces the 5Ws (who, what, where, when, why) in the beginning.

Then, we took our analysis and used it to begin writing our own articles. Some of us wrote about historical events, regarding Amelia Earhart or Titanic, while others wrote about more recent events. Whichever it was, the challenge was to write it as if it just happened yesterday. And they did it!

They drafted, peer revised, edited and published. Some of the writers decided to use a newspaper template on Canva, an online design platform, to publish their articles. Fifth graders celebrated the end of the unit by reading each others’ and giving feedback.