Lesson video

Hi there, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and I'm so glad you decided to join me for today's lesson.

Now, today, we're preparing to write our own journalistic reports about a climate protest by planning our writing really carefully.

Now, if we do this well, it's going to make our job as writers so much easier.

So let's make a start and make sure we do some really good work today.

Today's lesson is called Planning a Journalistic Report About a Climate Protest, and it comes from our unit called Climate Emergency Journalistic Report Writing.

By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to plan the structure and content of a journalistic report about a fictional climate protest.

So this lesson builds on the issue discussed in the last lesson where we worked as journalists collecting different perspectives on a fictional climate protest.

If you have the quotations you gathered in that lesson with you, that's fantastic.

If you didn't do that lesson, please don't panic.

I'll provide you with some quotations you can use in this lesson instead.

Let's get to work.

Here are our key words for today's lesson.

My turn, your turn.

Summary, direct speech, reported speech and subject specific vocabulary.

Well done.

So a summary is an overview of the main points of a text or of an event.

And direct speech is where we write the exact words spoken by someone enclosed in inverted comments to indicate speech.

Reported speech is when we write what someone said without using the exact word they spoke and without using inverted comments.

And subject specific vocabulary is vocabulary we use when writing about a particular subject.

So here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to be planning a journalistic report.

So we're going to start off by planning the introduction, then we'll plan the three main paragraphs, and then we'll plan the conclusion.

So over the next few lessons, we are going to be writing a journalistic report about a protest against a new road being built.

And we know this is a fictional scenario, but we've got the flyer here that tells us that the protest took place on June the 8th in Great Oak Wood.

And remember as a journalist, we attended it.

So in the last lesson, in role as a journalist, we did the following things.

We attended the protest to establish the facts.

We interviewed some key people to gain their perspectives.

It was a protestor, a police spokesperson, a council spokesperson and a climate expert.

And we also recorded their exact words as quotations.

And if you've got those with you, fantastic.

So what were the facts of the protest that we have established? And you can think about what we noticed when we attended the protest in role, and also what you saw on the flyer as well.

What facts do we know about this protest? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, good job.

So we know from the flyer and from our own in-person attendance as the journalist that it was on June 8th.

It took place at the Great Oak Wood in Oakville.

It aimed to stop the new bypass being built.

The protestors were shouting and carrying placards.

The police were there in attendance.

One protestor was chained to a tree, and there was a bulldozer from the construction company there as well.

So we have lots of facts that we've established about this protest.

So our journalistic report is going to follow this structure.

We're going to start off with an introduction that summarises the key details.

Then we'll have some main paragraphs that give different perspectives and extra details.

And we'll have a conclusion that tells us the newest information and the official position from the council and looks to the future.

So let's think about this introduction which we're going to plan first of all.

The introduction is gonna cover the following information.

It's going to have a brief summary of the event, what's happened, why did it happen, who was involved, where did it happen and when did it happen? It's going to have a summary of the argument between the two sides.

So what the is council saying and what the protest is saying.

And a description of what was seen at the event, which we already discussed in our facts that we've established about the event.

So let's look at this example introduction.

What information does each sentence cover? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, good job.

So if you look at this first sentence, we can see this is the summary of the event.

It tells us who, where, what, when, what and why.

So the who is the residents of Oakville, the where is the streets, the when is this weekend, the what is the protest and the why is against the planned removal of the trees by the city council.

So we've got all of that information packed into one summary sentence.

Then we have this next sentence, which gives us a summary of the arguments involved.

So the council claims it's necessary, the protesters are opposed.

Really brief summary of the two sides.

And then our final sentence says the description of what was seen at the event.

There were handmade signs and vociferous chants, and the police were there.

So in this introduction, we've given our reader all the information they need to know, oh, what's this article, this journalistic report going to be about? Am I interested in this or not? And we need to try and give that same information in our own introduction that we plan.

So can you match the parts of the summary of the event to the details about the bypass protest? We've got who, what, where, when and why? Which one is which for the bypass protest? Pause the video and match them up.

Well done, good job.

So the who is, again, residents of Oakville.

The what is held a protest.

The where is Great Oak Wood.

When would be earlier today on June the 8th.

And the why would be to protest a new bypass.

Now for the when, I've said earlier today.

So I'm imagining the newspaper report is being written in the evening maybe, but newspapers will try and publish this story as soon as possible.

So maybe for this newspaper, it could be earlier today, but it could also be yesterday or this weekend.

It would depend, wouldn't it, how often the newspaper was published.

So that's up to you to decide.

So talk to your partner about these details about our protest.

Why might the council say the road should be built? Why are the protesters opposed to the road? And what did we as the journalists see when we arrived? Can you see how the answers here will build into the rest of the information we need in our introduction? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, really good job.

So why might the council say the road should be built? Well, they say to reduce traffic congestion.

Why are the protestors opposed? Because it will contribute to climate change.

And what did we see when we arrived? Well, we could say we saw people holding placards and shouting.

One was chained to a tree.

And we saw that the police were there.

We're gonna put all of this information into our plan for our introduction.

So I want you to complete the table with notes for the introduction, and you can use the example to help you.

So what could your notes be for the summary of the event? The who, what, where, when and why.

Your notes for the summary of the argument.

What did the council say? What did the protestors say? And the description of what was seen.

So what did we see when we attended? What was there? What was going on at the protest? These are notes, not complete sentences.

So you can use bullet points if you'd like.

Pause the video and complete your notes for your plan for your introduction.

Well done, really good job.

So here's an example of the notes you might have made.

So for the summary, maybe you said who is residents of Oakville.

What, held a protest.

Why, against the road.

Where, in Great Oak Wood.

And when, yesterday, June 8th.

So I've chosen to have my newspaper published the day after it happened.

What's the summary of the argument? Well, the council said the road is needed to reduce congestion, and the protestors say it will worsen climate change.

And what was seen? Well, the protestors were holding placards and one was chained to a tree, and the police attended.

Simple as that.

So I've just done notes which are gonna really help me to make a brilliant introduction here.

I'm sure you've done a great job too, well done.

So now we're ready to plan the main paragraphs.

So before we plan these main paragraphs, we want to think about some subject specific vocabulary that we might want to include in our report that relates to protests and climate change.

So let's go through a few words we might want to use.

A demonstration is another word for a protest.

We could use that word.

We could use the word activists.

Those are people who are campaigning for change.

We could use direct action.

That's where you try and stop things yourself without the government doing it for you.

So we could say that the person who chained themselves to a tree is taking direct action.

They're trying to stop that tree being cut down to build the road by taking action themselves.

They're not writing to the government and saying, "Please stop it being built." They're actually doing it themselves.

We could use the words chants and slogans.

Those are things that might be shouted at a demonstration.

If you're an advocate for something, you push for it and support it.

So you could say, "I'm an advocate for action on climate change." And greenhouse gas emissions are the gases that cause climate change.

If you contribute to something, you add to it.

So you could say greenhouse gas emissions contribute to climate change.

And if something is sustainable, it's good for the environment.

So these are all pieces of subject specific vocabulary we could use throughout our journalistic report.

So can you fill the gaps using the subject specific vocabulary in these sentences? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done, good job.

So for A, we would say greenhouse gas emissions from cars contribute to climate change.

For B, climate activists were chanting slogans at the demonstration against the bypass.

For C, she is an advocate for reducing car use and promoting more sustainable travel.

And for D, the activists took direct action by blocking the bulldozer's path.

Really well done if you got those words in the right places.

So we're now ready to plan the main paragraphs of our report.

And remember, each of these will give the perspective of a different person on the events.

So here's an example of a main paragraph.

It says, "The protest, "which took place outside city hall at Saturday lunchtime, "has drawn attention from the academic community as well." Then it says, "Professor Jacqui O'Keefe, "an urban sustainability expert, "offered a scientific perspective, "emphasising the role urban trees play "in combating climate change." So in that sentence, we introduced the person whose perspective we're giving.

Then it says, "Trees and urban areas are not just beautiful.

"They absorb CO2, cool our cities and support biodiversity." So there, we are giving some direct speech.

Then it says, "O'Keefe, "who did not attend the protest, "has argued for an increase in urban tree planting "as a means of reducing the severity of climate change." And that is some reported speech.

So each of our paragraphs is going to include these three features.

We'll introduce the person, we'll have some direct speech and we'll have some reported speech.

So where can you see each of those three features in this main paragraph? Pause the video.

Let's see if you can find them.

Well done, good job.

So I'm sure you saw us introducing the person here.

We said, "Superintendent Maryam Mirza, "a police spokesperson." Then we have some direct speech.

It says, "Commented, "'Our role is to ensure that all community members "'can safely exercise their right to free speech.

"'We attended the demonstration to maintain order "'and to protect all parties involved.

'" In inverted commas, so it must be direct speech.

And we also have some reported speech.

And that's here, the start.

"Local police, who attended in small numbers, "said that the protests had been peaceful and respectful." Those words, "Said that," indicate we're telling what that person thought, what that person said without using their exact words as we would do if it was direct speech.

Really well done if you spotted those three features.

So this paragraph also includes an additional fact that the journalist must have found out, and we can do this ourselves when we write.

And you can see it's here.

We've got a description of the event which is stated as fact.

It's not stated as the police's perspective.

This is just a fact that the journalist worked out or established for themselves.

So that might also happen in our main paragraphs as well.

So we've gathered quotations from three different perspectives that we're going to use in our main paragraphs.

So we'll have three main paragraphs.

Now, your quotations will look different.

If you don't have those quotations from the previous lesson, you can use these ones for this lesson.

So we'll have one main paragraph from the protester's perspective.

Here's my quotation from the protestor.

"This protest was vital.

"We just can't let this road be built.

"We want to make people aware of what's being done here "and get this development stopped.

"The protest was great, everyone was chanting and cheering." So we'll use that as the basis for one main paragraph.

Then we'll have a main paragraph about the police spokesperson's perspective, which is, "We attended the protest to maintain order.

"Part of our role is to protect people's freedom of speech.

"Although there was some violence, with two arrests, "the majority of protesters "behaved peacefully and respectfully." So I'm gonna take that quotation as the basis for another paragraph.

Then I have my climate expert's perspective in the third main paragraph, and this is the quotation we have for them.

"Climate change is driven in part by vehicle emissions.

"New roads like these only add to the problem.

"I applaud the protestors.

"We need to see investment in public transport and cycling "rather than in new roads." Now, you might have spotted that one of our perspectives we've gathered a quotation for is missing here.

That's because we'll save the council spokesperson's viewpoint for the conclusion.

Basically, the conclusion is where we give the official perspective, and that would be the council in this case.

So this is what our three main paragraphs will look like.

Now, we can take these quotations and produce both direct speech and reported speech to include like we saw in the example paragraphs.

So here is a quotation from Professor Janet Li, my climate change expert.

And I can make this quotation into both direct and reported speech.

So I could do some reported speech here.

"Professor Janet Lee, "a climate expert at the University of Oakville, "explained that climate change is driven in part "by vehicle emissions." I could use it for direct speech as well.

"New roads like these only add to the problem.

"I applaud the protestors." So remember, direct speech use inverted commas, and it's the exact words they said.

And reported speech does not.

Now because, we are making up the words they said anyway, we don't have to use the exact words that we used in our quotations we made in the previous session.

You can change them.

If we were real journalists then we would have to make sure we stuck to those exact words that we gathered before.

So how could you create a piece of direct speech and a piece of reported speech using this quotation from Inspector Ben Braddock? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, really good job.

So maybe you said a piece of reported speech like this, "Inspector Ben Braddock of Oakville Police "said that officers had attended the protest "to maintain order." And you can see that in the first part of the quotation we've got there.

You could use some direct speech as well.

"Part of our role "is to protect people's freedom of speech," he explained.

So you put some exact words there in inverted commas.

We've got reported speech and direct speech.

So like I said, we're going to use our quotations that we've gathered before as the basis for our plan for each main paragraph.

And for each main paragraph, our plan's going to cover three parts.

We're gonna introduce the person, make some notes about that, make a note for direct speech and make a note for reported speech.

So if I start out with my quotation here from Anna Samsonova, which is my name I've given my protestor, I'm going to start off by introducing her.

So I'm going to write, "Anna Samsonova, "advocate for climate action, present at demonstration, led chants." Just some notes to introduce that person.

Then using my quotation, I can make a direct speech note.

So I'm going to say, "Vital, can't let road be built." "Everyone chanting plus cheering." Now, I haven't put her exact words there, have I? I've just written notes that are going to link me back to my quotation I've already written as the basis for my direct speech when I come to write.

So that's fine for now to just have them in notes.

And my reported speech note could be explained that want to make people aware and get development stopped, direct action.

So I'm adding there at the end, she's willing to use direct action if needs be.

So you can change your quotation here from what we did before because we are not real journalists, we are making this up.

So it's okay for you to change the words that the person used, even though a real journalist wouldn't do that.

So can you talk to a partner about how to complete the notes for this quotation? We've got Janet Li's quotation here.

What could our notes be to introduce her, as a direct speech note and for a reported speech note? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, good job.

So maybe to introduce her, you said Professor Janet Li, climate change expert, University of Oakville.

And you can add a bit of your own imagination there, can't you? For the direct speech note, maybe you said, "Applaud the protestors: "need to invest in public transport rather than roads." I can see that's gonna allow me to expand that out to make a complete piece of direct speech when it comes to writing.

And finally, for reported speech, I could say explain that climate change driven by vehicles, greenhouse gas emissions.

So remember, we are writing notes here based on the quotations that we've already gathered.

So let's do our second task.

For each of your three quotations for those three perspectives that we've got, can you plan a main paragraph that introduces the person and includes direct and reported speech? So you can choose the names and job titles that go with the quotations if you'd like.

And you can remember we're writing notes, not complete sentences here.

Direct speech of course is gonna have inverted commas, and reported speech often uses the word that.

For instance, said that, explained that and argued that.

And of course, you can change the quotations, as I said, from the ones that you've written previously.

So pause the video and plan your three main paragraphs.

Introducing the person, making a note of their direct speech and a note for their reported speech.

Have a go.

Well done, really good job.

So we've already seen examples of how the notes might look for two of our perspectives.

So I'm just going to show you now an example of the notes you might have made for the police spokesperson.

So to introduce them, you might have said Inspector Ben Braddock, Oakville Police, attended the protest with several other officers.

The direct speech note maybe said, "Attended to maintain order.

"The majority of protestors peaceful and respectful." And for your reported speech, explain that part of police role to protect freedom of speech, said that two arrests were made.

So this is gonna really help me when it comes to write because I've shown exactly what I need to include in my paragraph.

So we've now written notes to plan an introduction and three main paragraphs.

Really good job.

So now let's finally plan the conclusion to our journalistic report.

So our conclusion's gonna be slightly different to one of the main paragraphs.

Let's look at this example.

It says, "Earlier today, "protestors returned to City Hall, "presenting a petition of over 500 signatures "opposing the tree's removal." So this is the most up to date information about the situation, isn't it? It's telling us what is happening now, what's the most recent thing.

Then it says, "Adam MacKenzie, "the city council spokesperson, "said the council was listening to local people's concerns.

"'We understand the strength of feeling "'regarding the St.

Andrew's Street trees.

"'For this reason, "'we'll be holding a public forum in the days to come.

"'Until then, no tree removal will take place.

'" So this is giving us the official perspective from the council, including both direct and reported speech.

And then finally, it says, "The meeting, which is due to take place "on Wednesday evening at City Hall, "will be open to the public." And this is giving us what will happen next.

Notice that verb will be, so we've got here the future of what's going to happen.

This is gonna be the next step, which will be this public forum.

So our conclusion is gonna cover these three main points.

So we can use our imagination a little bit here.

Can you talk to your partner about these two points for our conclusion? What might be the most up-to-date information? What has happened since the protest? And what do you think might happen next? So using our imagination now, pause the video, and let's see if we can think what's up to date about our protest and what's gonna be the next step.

Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, great ideas.

So maybe for the first one, the up-to-date information, you said, well, the police have removed that protestor who was chained to the tree, and the protestors have actually set up camp in the woods.

So they're gonna try and stay there until they win.

And for what might happen next, well, maybe the protestors are going to meet with the council, and the road building has been postponed for a week while they sort out the situation.

You might have thought of some different ones, and that's great, well done.

So how could we convert this quotation from the council spokesperson into pieces of both direct and reported speech, just like we did for our main paragraphs? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, good thinking.

So maybe you said as an introduction to the person and a piece of reported speech, "Alison Hughes, a council spokesperson, "said the council understood "that some local activists were opposed to the road." You could do some direct speech.

"'However, many others are in favour,' she argued." And here, I've got another piece of reported speech.

"Miss Hughes confirmed "that the council remains committed to delivering the road." So we've taken the quotation and we've made both direct and reported speech, just like we did before.

So let's do our final task for this lesson.

Using your quotation from your council spokesperson, or mine if you need to, can you plan a conclusion that includes the features in the table? We're gonna give the most up-to-date information.

We're gonna introduce the person, give some notes for direct and reported speech, and what will happen next.

And as usual, we're using notes.

So we're not gonna use complete sentences here.

We're gonna remember that direct speech has inverted commas and that reported speech often but not always uses that.

For instance, said that, explained that or argued that.

And remember, you can still change your quotations.

Pause the video and have a go at planning your conclusion.

Well done, fantastic effort.

So here's an example of the notes you might have written for the conclusion.

Maybe for the most up-to-date information, you said protestors have set up a camp in the forest and plan to stay.

To introduce the person, I put Alison Hughes, a spokesperson for Oakville Council.

For the direct and reported speech, I've got understand some strongly opposed, many others in favour, as my direct speech.

And then committed to delivering road, but happy to meet protestors.

That's where I'm gonna put my reported speech.

So it might end up saying, "Alison Hughes said that the council was committed "to delivering the road." And for what will happen next, I'm going to say building works temporarily suspended while resolved.

So hopefully, you've got some really good notes there for your conclusion.

And the great thing is we've now got a complete plan for our report.

We've planned an introduction, three main paragraphs and a conclusion.

Really well done.

So let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We've said that the introduction of a journalistic report includes a summary of the event, including who, what, where, when and why.

We've said that the main paragraphs are focused on different perspectives, using direct and reported speech and subject specific vocabulary.

And we've said that the conclusion includes an official perspective, the most upstate information and a look to the future.

I hope you're really pleased with the work that you've done in this lesson.

You've made a fantastic effort, and you've now got a plan that is going to make your writing so much easier when you come to do it in future lessons.

I'll see you there, goodbye.