Scott Foresman Reading Street

Genre News Story
Writer's Craft 5 Ws and How
Writing Trait Sentences

Identify the characteristics of a news story.
Write a news story that answers the questions who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Focus on sentences.
Use a rubric.

Sentences Have language learners read their sentences aloud to check rhythm, completeness, and sense. Point out opportunities to change a declarative sentence to another type, or to vary sentence beginnings.

FOCUS/IDEAS The news story

answers the questions who, what, where, when, why, and how about an event in nature.

ORGANIZATION/PARAGRAPHS

The story is in time order.

VOICE The writer explains the

facts in a trustworthy voice.

WORD CHOICE The writer uses

time-order words to make the order clear.

SENTENCES Sentences are of

varied lengths and kinds.

CONVENTIONS Grammar and

mechanics are excellent.

Model the Trait

Improve Writing

Prewrite and Draft

Draft and Revise

Connect to Unit Writing

READING-WRITING CONNECTION

A Symphony of Whales is about the rescue of whales by using music.
The story includes facts about whales and a rescue mission.
Students will write a news story using a variety of sentences and 5 Ws and How.

MODEL SENTENCES Discuss transparency 14A. Then discuss the model and the writing trait of sentences.

The writer has used sentence variety to make the article interesting. Sentence beginnings, such as on April 18 and at the same time, change the rhythm and sound different from sentences that begin with a subject and verb. In the middle of longer sentences, the writer has put a short sentence. Different sentence lengths and a quote add variety and interest.

Writing Transparency 14A

with | without Answers

WRITER'S CRAFT

5 Ws and How

Display Writing Transparency 14B. Read the directions and work together to identify article facts that tell who, where, and why.

INCLUDE 5 WS AND HOW
Tomorrow we will write a news story. If I write about our town's fall festival, I need to tell readers what it is, who plans it, why it exists, where and when it takes place, and how it helps the town. For example, by writing "Main Street in Greenup will be busy Friday to Sunday, October 10–12, as the annual Apple Fest takes place" tells where, when, and what.

GUIDED WRITING Some students may need more help recognizing the 5 Ws in a story. Have them find the answers to the 5 Ws in a brief news story.

Writing Transparency 14B

with | without Answers

READ THE WRITING PROMPT

on page 375 in the Student Edition.

A Symphony of Whales describes an event in a small village that could be the subject of a real-life news story.

Think about an event that took place in your town or neighborhood.

Now write a news story about it that answers the 5 Ws and How.

Writing Test Tips

Begin by summarizing what happened. Then tell who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Add details about each part of the story.
Put events in time order and use time-order words.

GETTING STARTED Students can do any of the following:

Talk with a group about events that have happened or are happening in your town.
Brainstorm a list of events in your school that would make good feature articles.
Write the article topic at the top of a page, then complete a chart answering who, what, when, where, why, and how.

EDITING/REVISING
CHECKLIST

Does the news story tell about an event in time order with no wordiness?
Does the story answer the 5 Ws and how?
Are present, past, and future tenses used correctly?
Are words with the suffixes -ly, -ful, -ness, and -less spelled correctly?

See The Grammar and Writing Book, pp. 128–133.

Revising Tips

Sentences

Support your news story by writing sentences that tell the facts without being wordy.
Use a combination of short, simple sentences and longer compound sentences.
Begin some sentences with time-order words for variety.

PUBLISHING Students can put stories together in a class "nature newspaper." Some students may wish to revise their work later.

ASSESSMENT Use the scoring rubric to evaluate students' work.

Week 1

Journal Entry
303g–303h

Week 2

Skit 329g–329h

Week 3

Friendly Letter
353g–353h

Week 4

News Story
379g–379h

Week 5

Compare/Contrast Paragraph 399g–399h

Compare and Contrast Essay

PREVIEW THE UNIT PROMPT

Write an essay that compares and contrasts two things in nature.
Your subjects could be two plants, animals, seasons, or weather conditions. Use words that show
what you are describing.

APPLY

A compare and contrast essay uses transitions and details to show likenesses and differences.
Like a news story, a compare/contrast essay includes details that show likenesses and differences.

Writing Workshop News Story

Sentences