warning

Content guidance

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Adult supervision recommended

video

Lesson video

In progress...

Loading...

Hello everyone and welcome to your lesson on concluding newspaper articles.

I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today.

Our learning outcome for today is to be able to write an article conclusion.

So we'll be learning a little bit about what a good article conclusion looks like and what we should include in our very own article conclusion.

Our keywords for today are tail.

The tail is the final section of an article.

Conclude, conclude means to bring something to an end.

And tone.

Tone is the general attitude of a piece of writing.

I'm gonna give you a chance now to pause the video, reread any definitions and make notes of any you may want to.

(no audio) Great, let's move on.

So in the first part of today's lesson we'll be looking at an example tail of a newspaper article and looking into what makes it effective.

Then, in our second learning cycle, we'll write our very own tail for a newspaper article.

So let's begin learning about the tail of a newspaper article.

What is the tail of a newspaper article? As we said today we're focusing on writing the tail of our article.

This is the last section of the newspaper article.

The tail of the article is where we conclude our news story and here are some elements that we are going to include in our tail today.

We are going to include the least essential information of the story, any interesting related facts to the person involved, or about the place that the crime occurred at.

And finally, we're going to include a conclusive tone to show our article has ended.

So let's go back to this article called "A Roaring Mistake." We will read it and we'll recap all the other elements that come before the tail.

For example, we'll recap the headline, subheading, opening, and main body, and that will help us understand how the tail fits into the article.

So let's begin reading, "A Roaring Mistake." "A roaring mistake.

Unfortunate error leaves zookeeper fighting for her life.

Yesterday morning a savage and brutal tiger attack left an innocent well-loved zookeeper in the most desperate fight for her life.

London Zoo was forced to shut up shop early when dedicated worker Hana Ahmed, 28, entered what she believed was an empty tiger cage.

However, Hana was shocked to be met with the unstoppable force of a 35 stone tiger, Owen." So what we have here is the headline, the subheading and the opening.

Remember, the opening contains the main information.

It actually summarises the whole story.

So what comes after the opening? After the opening is the main body where the key details are explained a bit further.

So lets take a look.

"Early report suggests that Ahmed was planning on cleaning the cage before the terrifying tiger attacked.

The zookeeper howled in pain in front of horrified visitors.

Other employees reportedly witnessed the gruesome mishap, yet did not bother to intervene to save their colleague.

Ahmed battled bravely to break free for more than 40 seconds before the animal finally let go.

She was then rushed to nearby Princess Alexandra Hospital.

One unlucky zoo visitor heard Ahmed's desperate screams. 'It was so scary and loud.

I know she was seen to straight away.

So hopefully she'll be okay.

'" So there we have the main body of the article.

The tail comes next.

So let's take a look at the tail.

Here is the tail for the article, "A Roaring Mistake." Pay close attention 'cause this is the section you'll be writing later today as well.

"The last tiger attack on a human reported from a UK zoo was in 2003 at Chessington Zoo.

Since this, UK zoos have been under strict health and safety regulations, including the rule of two workers being present when dealing with high risk animals.

It remains unknown why Hana was on duty to clean the tiger cage alone but the chief officer at London Zoo said that they are reviewing the incident with close scrutiny.

Hana started working at London Zoo in 2019 and has always been passionate about animals, she plans to make a full return once recovered." So there we have the tail of the article for "A Roaring Mistake." I want you to now think about what features you can see here that tell you this is the tail or end of the article.

Pause the video and have a think.

(no audio) Let's go through what you may have said.

You may have said that this paragraph is clearly the tail because it contains background information.

It contains information about how common tiger attacks are in the UK.

It tells us information about the rules and regulations around working in a zoo, and it tells us what the people in charge at the zoo are doing next.

This is information that's not essential for the news story, but it gives the reader a little bit more insight if they are interested.

Next, the article tail also includes related interesting facts such as knowing when Hana started working there and that she's always been passionate about animals.

Again, this is not essential for the reader in their understanding of the event, but it helps us, it helps us gain an insight into the person involved in this story and how they might feel about the event.

Lastly, the article contains a conclusive tone when it states she plans to make a full return once recovered.

A focus on the future helps us to know that the article has ended because it has stopped talking about the event in question and it instead talks about what's going to happen next.

Well done, if you said any of that.

Let's check your understanding of the tail of an article.

What would you not expect to see in the tail of an article? Pause the video and have a think.

(no audio) Well done if you said, we would not expect to see the who, what, where, when, and why of the story in the tail.

This is because the who, what, where, when, and why of the story should appear in the opening.

Now that's the very first paragraph of the article.

The tail is the very last paragraph, so we would not expect to see that in the tail.

We would however, expect to see the background information to the story in the tail and we would expect to see a conclusive tone in the tail to show the article has ended.

Well done if you've got that right.

Now answer this question, how can you ensure you have a conclusive tone at the very end of your article? Pause the video and have a think.

(no audio) Well done if you said, we can ensure we have a conclusive tone at the very end of our article by including details about the next steps for the person or institution involved.

The reason for this is because it gives the reader a sense of we are moving on now.

We finished reporting on the main details.

Here's what's going to happen next.

We are now going to check if we understand how to create a conclusive tone and if we know what a conclusive tone looks like.

So I want you to read the two student sentences on the screen and think about which students' sentence contains a more conclusive tone.

So let's read Aisha's sentence first.

"Julia was only 30 at the time of her death in her bedroom at Stoke Moran and it has deeply saddened her family members." Lucas says, "Julia is survived by her twin sister Helen, who plans to plant a memorial garden in the grounds of Stoke Moran and continue to fight for justice for her sister." Pause the video and have a think, which students' sentence contains a more conclusive tone? (no audio) Well done if you said Lucas's response focuses on the future and what is going to happen following the event.

For example, he says that Helen's going to plant a memorial garden and continue to fight for justice.

This gives the feeling that the article has finished discussing the main events and so brings it to a close.

Thus, his sentence has a more conclusive tone.

However, Aisha on the other hand, seems to still be talking about the main events of the article.

She talks about Julia's age, she talks about where Julia died, and she talks about her family's reaction.

That information does not create a conclusive tone.

In fact, that information should be included in the main body because that's still reporting on the main events of the story.

We are now going to read this student's tail for their article about Julia Stoner's death.

"Julia Stoner's sister, Helen, plans to continue to seek justice on Julia's behalf.

She's reportedly in consultation with none other than renowned detective Sherlock Holmes.

Julia was a beloved member of the community, very much in love with her fiance, and lived at Stoke Moran for 28 years with their stepfather.

She was only 30 when she died and her death has saddened many family members." I want you to give this student feedback on their work.

What went well and what could they do better next time? Pause the video and have a go at giving the student meaningful feedback.

(no audio) Let's go through some of the feedback.

So what went well? This student has definitely included the family's future plans.

For example, it talks about how Helen plans to still seek justice and that she's talking to Sherlock Holmes about solving this case.

However, this tail could be improved if the future plans were put at the end of the paragraph to create a conclusive tone.

For example, it would've been better to say that Helen plans to seek justice on Julia's behalf and that she's talking to Sherlock Holmes at the very end to show that this is what's happening next.

The information about Julia's age when she died and family feelings should have gone in previous paragraphs as it is considered main information.

So the information that Julia was a beloved member of the community, how she felt about her fiance, and how long she lived at Stoke Moran for, as well as her family being deeply saddened by her death, that is considered main information and that should have gone in previous paragraphs.

Let's move on to the next section of our lesson, where we are going to learn to write our very own tail for a newspaper article.

I now want you to think about what information will you include in the tail of your article about the death of Julia Stoner.

What information is considered background in this story? What are some interesting facts that are not essential, but the reader may like to know? And how can you create a conclusive tone? What future plans might the family have? Pause the video and have a think about what information you will include in the tail of your article about the death of Julia Stoner.

Off you go.

(no audio) Great ideas, everyone.

Let's go through what you may have said.

So for the background information you may have considered reporting on any suspicious previous activity at the Stoke Moran property and the engagements of Julia's stepfather, Dr.

Roylott, where relevant.

When you are writing about the interesting related facts, you might talk about the lifestyle of Julia, what kind of woman she was, and how long she'd been living at Stoke Moran for.

To create a conclusive tone to show the article's ended, we might tell the reader what Helen or Roylott will now do in the aftermath of Julia's passing.

Well done if you said any of that.

Let's have a think about this question.

What is the most appropriate piece of information to be mentioned in the tail of your article about Julia Stoner? Pause the video and have a think.

(no audio) Well done if you said the most appropriate piece of information to be mentioned in the tail of your article about Julia Stoner would be her sister Helen's plans to keep Julia's legacy alive.

Now that's because that piece of information will help to create a conclusive tone because it talks about the future.

Answer A, that she died at Stoke Moran age 30, which is very young, is not relevant to be in the tail.

In fact, that's essential information that should be included in the main body.

And answer B, that her sister Helen witnessed her death and was deeply distressed, again, is an essential piece of information.

The witness information in the interview quotes go in the main body, not the tail.

Well done if you got that right.

I now want you to write your tail paragraph concluding your article on Julia Stoner's death.

Make sure to include the background information, any related interesting facts and a conclusive tone to show that your article has ended.

Pause the video and write your tail paragraph.

(no audio) Well done on that writing task, everybody.

Excellent job.

Let's give ourselves some feedback.

I want you to reread your tail paragraph concluding your article on Julia Stoner's death.

It's really important to go back over the work you've written to make sure you've got everything you need and to ensure you haven't made any silly mistakes.

So reread it and check that you've got the background information.

Some suggestions on the screen there for you.

Any interesting related facts.

Again, information is there on the screen to help you.

And lastly, have you created a conclusive tone to show your article has ended? Pause the video and self-assess your work.

(no audio) Great job, everyone.

Let's go through what we've learned today.

The final part of a newspaper article is called the tail.

The tail of an article contains background information, interesting facts, and a conclusive tone.

A conclusive tone is important as it shows the reader that you are bringing your article to an end.

And one way to create a conclusive tone is to talk about future plans in the aftermath of the event.

I've really enjoyed learning with you today, and I hope to see you next time.

(no audio).