Mentor Texts

Today we spent a majority of our time looking at mentor texts.  These are texts that we should read and imitate because they are written so well and offer insight into how we might transfer those skills into our own writing.

One of the first pieces we looked at was Snow Fall by John Branch.  I had mentioned this one on my last post, but not every class had a chance to see it, so we took a closer look at his award winning writing.  He does a superb job using the narrative craft-with a focus on action-to build interest in the reader and to focus them on the severity of the issue.  He builds drama and suspense throughout the first chunk of the article as he describes the avalanche.  Just when the avalanche stops with people trapped inside, he shifts to a more informational style that helps to establish the background for the avalanche event.  This narrative action approach is one you could imitate.

Another piece we discussed was "Operation Overload" by Matt McCarthy about the increase in the number of Tommy John surgeries being performed.  McCarthy opens with a detailed account of Matt Ferreira's operation.  We saw how McCarthy used Matt as an example of his larger topic of the surgeries.  This single story to exemplify a larger issue approach is another style you might attempt.

I then sent you off to look at other Sports Illustrated articles and investigative journalistic books like Where Men Win Glory and The Blindside.  Lots to learn from mentor texts! Read as much as you can in the investigative journal format so that you feel comfortable when it comes time to officially write your paper.

Tonight you should be interviewing, researching and writing.  Let's get a solid draft of this paper together by Friday so we can do some peer editing.  Then be ready to submit it early next week.

Until next time...

Taking a Breather

We paused our pace today.  After reading about and listening to your issues yesterday it became apparent that a slow down was needed.

With that in mind, I had you share your issues today.  We discussed the validity of the topics, problems which may arise and sources that should be tapped.  By the end of the class, some of you were ready to dive into the investigating; others will be fine after a little tweaking; still others are going to need to go back to the drawing board.  No matter the situation you find yourself in, today's discussion helped to eradicate some misconceptions and clarify some confusing elements to our investigative journalism stories.

This weekend you should start investigating.  You should be planning out your attack.

Who will you interview?  When?  Remember you need a minimum of three interview sources.

Do any research you might need for background information. Write notes in your writer's notebook.

Start drafting some ideas.  Play with a variety of leads.

Try to balance the narrative and informational writing techniques.

Check out John Branch's sensational investigative journalism piece called "Snow Fall".   It is long but it is an amazing story.  Look at how he opens with a gripping description of an avalanche and the fear embodied in Elsie. Just when the avalanche stops, Branch shifts gears and throws in a little history.   He is doing what I want you to do: offer a rhythmic balance between the narrative tone and the informational (journalistic) tone.

Be sure to write this weekend and come to class with some progress on your investigative journalism piece.

Until next time...

Narrative Craft and Committing Time

I can't just write all facts and details.  It's boring and no one will want to read it.

So what do investigative journalists do to make their writing more enticing?

They use their narrative craft.  They use the skills they have when writing stories to make their writing more engaging.  They use dialogue.  They describe the setting.  They offer a piece of action. They use figurative language.  They do some of  everyone of those.

That's what I had you try to do today.  I asked that you use dialogue or descriptive action or setting description to help pique your reader's interest.

Tell a brief story to help convey the important issue you are trying to get across.

Create a scene that demonstrates your issue.

Doing these things will generate more readers for your writing.  Practice more tonight if you have the chance.

Tonight I want you to commit to an issue.  You came in with five ideas on Wednesday.  You narrowed them down to two issues for today.  Tonight, commit to the one issue you want to investigate thoroughly.  In addition, write a (minimum) one page reflection on your selection.  Be sure to answer the following two questions in your reflection:

1) Of all the stories to tell, why do I want to write this one?

2) What message do I want to send my readers?

After you complete this, you'll be prepared for the next step.

Until next time...

Topics to Issues to What Matters

It just doesn't matter.

It just doesn't matter.

It just doesn't matter.

Then don't write about it.

Today you came to class with a bevy of topics.  We heard everything from grandma to motocross to internet interactions.  Those topics might be interesting, but do they matter?

You're job is to make sure they do.

We are looking for investigative journalism issues that are important, that matter to people, that people care about.  You know, issues that are socially significant.

Today we started with those topics you brought in and then started changing them into issues of significance.  We discussed how the issues would matter to people.  We also identified sources that the writers could use.

We definitely heard some issues that could be turned into terrific some great investigative journalism:

* Are concussions diagnosed and handled properly on the middle school football sideline?

* Are the Discovery bathrooms truly clean?

* Is there equity in the purchasing of team uniforms at DMS?

* What are the effects of being raised in a home without a father?

* Are middle school students over-scheduled?

Those are just a few of what will be a raging river of issues coming in tomorrow.

For tomorrow, you should identify two issues you would be willing to investigate.  These should not be mere words but clear statements explaining what your issues are.  Write these in your writer's notebook. Then I want you to identify three potential sources you might use to help you gather info for your news story.

Bring that to class tomorrow and be ready to start writing.

Until next time...

The Start of the Second Bend of Investigative Journalism

News stories from the first part of our investigative journalism unit have now all been submitted.  I'll start assessing those news stories soon.  You can check my progress on your own by seeing if I have been commenting on your paper and completing the rubric.

Today we had a good discussion on the Kim Kilbride article.

We discussed the effectiveness of her lead ( good specific case study story to personalize the info that followed).

We discussed the social significance of her story (it was vast!).

We discussed the ways in which it was an example of investigative journalism (too many to count!).

We discussed the bias the piece contained (hard to argue against that).

We even looked at the closing and discussed its shortcomings.

Finally, I informed you that you are going to be doing something similar.  With that in mind...

Tonight I want you to identify 5 topics that you would tend to write about if I told you you had to write about something.  For example, in class I told you the first things I would tend to write about would be my son, my daughter, and my wife (oh I have some stories to tell you about her!)

Aside from those, I would likely write about biking or running or eating ( I love eating!  Tacos anyone?)

I might also choose to write about life in a big family (five brothers and sisters), funny things (I like to find the humor in everything...it just makes it easier to handle) or teaching (it's amazing what 12-14 year olds say, do and write!).

So there you have it.  That's my list of five things I tend to write about...okay actually it's more like nine, but you get the idea.

Write these down in your writer's notebooks and bring them to class tomorrow.  We will start finding the social significance angle you could focus on and discover who might be an expert on your topic in the class.

Sound good?  I thought so too.

Until next time...

The Quick Post

Just wanted to let you know that all of your news story submissions (up to three quality ones if you want to do your best) should be turned into your folder by tomorrow before class ends.  You wont have a lot of time to type them in, but we will do a quick check of some basic information and  the presentation format.

Tomorrow we will also look at that news story by Kim Kilbride that you read today.  Was it investigative journalism?  Did it have social significance?  Should tickets be given to students?  We will examine these and other questions tomorrow in an assessed discussion.  Be sure to have all the prompts you received today answered to the best of your ability so that you can participate to the fullest tomorrow.

Here's a link to the rubric I will use to assess your news stories.

Until next time...

Folders For Your News Stories

Period One

 https://drive.google.com/a/phm.k12.in.us/?tab=mo#folders/0B3mQljYsFpgNbERlaDNVZXB0d3c

Period Two

https://drive.google.com/a/phm.k12.in.us/?tab=mo#folders/0B3mQljYsFpgNRzEzOUhLN2pRVHM

Period Three

https://drive.google.com/a/phm.k12.in.us/?tab=mo#folders/0B3mQljYsFpgNOU9za2lCVFhrLW8

Period Four

https://drive.google.com/a/phm.k12.in.us/?tab=mo#folders/0B3mQljYsFpgNSGRXR0ZZbkJrS3c

Period Six

https://drive.google.com/a/phm.k12.in.us/?tab=mo#folders/0B3mQljYsFpgNNUF0Znd5ejMyNW8

Publishing Day Tomorrow!

Woohoo!

Tomorrow is the day!

Publication day!

Sorry for all those exclamation points, but I'm a little excited.  I can't wait to see what you will be producing and sharing as your final copies.  Be sure to revise those pieces tonight.  

Then revise again.

Then revise again.

You want your writing to be the best you've produced.  You should understand all the expectations by this point: a journalistic tone, staying focused, opening creatively, closing with a POW! All the lessons from the last couple of weeks are on previous blogs.  Check them out if you need to .

.I've included the checklist here that I shared with you today too.  USE IT!  It will help to make sure your writing is meeting all the expectations.  Use it when you read your piece.  Let Mom or Dad or brother or sister use it when they read your piece.  Let your peer use it when he/she reads your piece.  Have a discussion about your writing using the checklist as a guide.     

Tomorrow, we type.  I'll explain what it is all going to look like then.  Your task tonight is to get that writing to a publishable level.  

Until next time..

Leads

Open with a BANG!

That's what today was all about.

Okay that and computer trouble, but that's a separate issue.

Leads are your openings.  Your hooks.  The "most important part of a news story" according to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL).  The lead is the section that will decide if the reader will read the rest of your story or move on to something else.

You need to write leads that shine!

With that in mind we looked at two websites today in class.  Here is the link to the OWL site. And here is the link to the site with the cartoon bear.  I want you to read over the different examples of leads the two sites offered and try your hand at several of them.  Part of your homework is to try three different leads for the same story.  Identify which one you like the best and use it.

The OWL site also offered some lead writing tips.  These are posted below for easy access.

Tips for Writing a Lead

The Five W’s and H: Before writing a lead, decide which aspect of the story – who, what, when, where, why, how – is most important. You should emphasize those aspects in your lead. Wait to explain less important aspects until the second or third sentence.

Conflict: Good stories have conflict. So do many good leads.

Specificity: Though you are essentially summarizing information in most leads, try to be specific as possible. If your lead is too broad, it won’t be informative or interesting.

Brevity: Readers want to know why the story matters to them and they won’t wait long for the answer. Leads are often one sentence, sometimes two. Generally, they are 25 to 30 words and should rarely be more than 40. This is somewhat arbitrary, but it’s important – especially for young journalists – to learn how to deliver information concisely. See the OWL’s page on concise writing for specific tips. The Paramedic Method is also good for writing concisely.

Active sentences: Strong verbs will make your lead lively and interesting. Passive constructions, on the other hand, can sound dull and leave out important information, such as the person or thing that caused the action. Incomplete reporting is often a source of passive leads.

Audience and context: Take into account what your reader already knows. Remember that in today’s media culture, most readers become aware of breaking news as it happens. If you’re writing for a print publication the next day, your lead should do more than merely regurgitate yesterday’s news.

Honesty: A lead is an implicit promise to your readers. You must be able to deliver what you promise in your lead.

What to Avoid

Flowery language: Many beginning writers make the mistake of overusing adverbs and adjectives in their leads. Concentrate instead on using strong verbs and nouns.

Unnecessary words or phrases: Watch out for unintentional redundancy. For example, 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, or very unique. You can’t afford to waste space in a news story, especially in the lead. Avoid clutter and cut right to the heart of the story.

Formulaic leads: Because a lot of news writing is done on deadline, the temptation to write tired leads is strong. Resist it. Readers want information, but they also want to be entertained. Your lead must sound genuine, not merely mechanical.

It: Most editors frown on leads that begin with the word it because it is not precise and disorients the reader.

If you examine the lead options and remember the tips, you should be on your way to writing some extraordinary investigative journalism pieces.

Now in addition to the leads, you need to be revising, revising, revising as you prepare up to three pieces for publication.  The more pieces you have brought effectively to publication, the better off you will be.  

Don't do nothing tonight.  Be sure you revise your best news stories into even better news stories.  

Keep on writing.

Until next time...   

Techniques for Making Short Writing Powerful

As publishing day approaches we must start doing our revisions.  That's a great time to introduce Roy Peter Clark's Four Techniques for Making Short Writing Powerful!

Now we discussed these in class and here is a link to the presentation.  You also pasted the techniques in your writer's notebook.  Nevertheless, here they are again.

Include specific, vivid, physical details

Dare to use a single elegant word in otherwise straightforward prose

End the passage with a delightful jolt-a clever ending

Keep it focused-it all has to be about what it’s really about

Use them as you write and your writing will improve.

Remember that tonight you should also write one more news story.  Find the drama, observe, write the five Ws, and elaborate.  Then apply Clark's techniques listed above.

In addition you should be thinking about the social significance of your news story.  Why does it matter to other people?  Try to find a story that matters to people outside of you and your family.

You should also be revising two of your previous pieces.  Don't just add a comma or change word; instead, rewrite the pieces so that they can reach their potential.

You should have 5-6 pieces by tomorrow's class.  We are publishing soon, so it's time to start making some selections and polishing those drafts.

Until next time...