Hello everyone and welcome to your lesson today on writing the opening of a newspaper article.

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

Our learning outcome for today is to be able to create an effective opening for a newspaper article.

We have three key words for today and they are, opening.

An opening is the beginning section of a text.

Interview, an interview is a conversation between two or more people where one party is asked questions about something.

And speculation, speculation is a theory or idea formed about something without the full concrete evidence.

Pause the video, reread the definitions, and get familiar with the words.

(no audio) So we have two learning cycles in today's lesson.

We're going to start off by learning a little bit about what makes a good article opening and what are the ingredients of an article opening.

We are then going to write our own article opening for the Sherlock Holmes Mystery.

So let's begin with learning about article openings.

So when we're structuring a newspaper article, we have to follow certain steps to make a coherent article.

The first section is the opening.

The second section is the body, and the third section of an article is called the tail.

I want you to discuss where do you think each feature in that list below will go in the pyramid.

The information I want you to sort is the who, what, where, when, and why.

Where does that go? Does that go in the opening, the body or the tail? I next want you to consider where the essential information goes.

So for example, where would the interview with witnesses go? Would that go in the opening, the body or the tail? And finally, where would the background information go, in the opening, in the body or in the tail? Pause the video and discuss where you think each of those features will go in the pyramid.

(no audio) Let's go through some answers.

The who, what, where, when, and why.

Usually called the five Ws will go in the opening.

The reason for that is because the who, what, where, when, and why essentially summarise the story.

So they must go first.

Next, the essential information such as interviews with witnesses would go in the body because the body is the main bulk of the article in which the most important information is detailed.

An interview with a witness is quite an important piece of information, therefore it goes in the body.

Lastly, background information.

The background information is considered least important, therefore it goes at the end of the article, it goes in the tail.

Well done if you've got those right.

In today's lesson, we are going to be focusing on writing the opening of our article.

So we'll have to include the who, what, where, when, and why of our story today.

We'll have to write all about that.

Let's check your understanding of each part of the article writing process.

What information does the opening of an article contain? Pause the video and have a think.

(no audio) Well done if you said the opening of an article contains the who, what, where, when, why, the five Ws of the event.

This is so the article opening can effectively summarise the story.

Interviews with witnesses will not be found in the opening.

That's considered detailed information.

It would go in the main body and background information would not go in the opening because that's considered less important information.

Therefore, it goes at the end of the article.

So, as we said before, every article opening includes the five Ws.

Who, who is involved in the event? What, what was the main occurrence? What is the story or event that you're even detailing? What happened? When, when did the event take place? Where, where did the event take place? And why, why did the event happen or why is it assumed the event happened? I now want you to discuss what are the five Ws in the case of "The Speckled Band" so far? In other words, what has happened? What's the main event that Helen Stoner is reporting on? Who does the main event involve? Where did it take place? When did it take place and why did it take place? Pause the video and discuss that question.

(no audio) Let's go through through the five Ws for the events of "The Speckled Band" so far.

So when we talk about the events of "The Speckled Band", we are talking about the mysterious death of Julia Stoner.

So the who would be Julia Stoner.

The what would be that she died a mysterious death.

She died approximately two years ago from when Helen tells the story.

She died in her bedroom at Stoke Moran.

And the why? Well, it's believed there is a dark and sinister force behind her death.

So it is assumed she was murdered.

So when we are writing our article about Julia Stoner's death, we will have to include all of that information in our opening paragraph.

So, we are going to read an example opening to an article.

This one is called "A Roaring Mistake".

It's about an accident at a zoo.

What we're going to do as we read is highlight the five Ws and we're going to annotate where any language devices have been used.

So let's start reading.

"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 35 stone tiger, Owen." I want you to have a go at highlighting the five Ws in that opening and annotate where any language devices have been used.

Pause the video and have a go.

(no audio) Let's annotate the article.

The when is yesterday morning, that's when the event took place.

The what is that a zookeeper fought for her life after an attack.

The who was the dedicated worker named Hana Ahmed.

The where was London Zoo.

And the why was because she entered what she thought was an empty tiger cage, but in fact it wasn't empty at all.

So there are our five Ws annotated on the opening, but we can also see some emotive language such as the word savage, brutal, shocked, and unstoppable.

You may want to use emotive language in your opening to hook the reader into your article.

We are now going to move on to writing our very own article opening for the Sherlock Holmes story.

So as we mentioned previously, we are going to write the opening of an article reporting on Julia Stoner's death.

I'm going to show you two example openings and I want you to think about which student succeeds in writing a more effective opening.

So let's start with Sam's opening.

"A young woman has died in Surrey.

At present, the exact cause of her death is unknown.

Her sister is reportedly distraught, stating her sister was 'horror stricken' upon her death.

Helen Stoner consulted Sherlock Holmes for his help." Now let's take a look at Izzy's opening.

"Julia Stoner, 30, of Stoke Moran died a suspicious death at her family estate in the early hours of Thursday morning.

There is speculation that there are sinister intentions behind her death, but investigations are ongoing." I want you to discuss which student succeeds in writing a more effective opening.

Pause a video and discuss.

You may want to consider which student successfully references the five Ws in a clear and concise way.

Pause a video and discuss which student succeeds in writing a more effective introduction.

(no audio) Both students refer to the five Ws of the event.

However, Izzy's details are more precise.

Izzy only includes the necessary information as well.

Remember, there is no need to include any witness statement or quotes in the introduction.

In other words, Izzy's kept her introduction concise and clear without revealing too much.

You could say Sam has revealed too much in his introduction because he includes Helen Stoner's witness quote, which wasn't necessary, in fact that it is best left till the main body of the writing.

We also see here how Izzy's been more precise with her who of the event.

For example, she says, Julia Stoner, age 30, whereas Sam has said a young woman.

You are much better off being precise in your details.

Similarly, Izzy says, Julia Stoner died in Stoke Moran or lived in Stoke Moran, whereas Sam says that she died in Surrey.

So, we need to be very clear on the details to make the readers feel educated and informed about the event appropriately.

Also, notice how Izzy leaves the why of the event until last.

She dedicates the first section of the opening to talking about the who, the where, the when.

She then goes on to talk about the why.

When she says there is speculation that there are sinister intentions behind her death, but investigations are ongoing.

That is more effective than including the why first, because the why is more of a deep question to consider.

The reader really wants to know the main information first.

They want to know the who, the where, and the when first.

Answer this question, what does not fit into a newspaper article opening? Pause the video and have a think.

(no audio) Well done if you said quotes from witnesses do not fit into a newspaper article opening.

Where the event took place definitely fits into a newspaper article opening and when the event took place also fits into a newspaper article opening.

They are both part of the five Ws, which enable you to summarise the story.

Therefore, they both fit into a newspaper article opening.

However, quotes from witnesses are more detailed and they require more space and consideration.

They are not part of a summary.

They need to go in the main body of the article.

Well done if you got that right.

I now want you to write your newspaper article opening reporting on the recent death of Julia Stoner.

Your introduction will need to include the five Ws, and we discussed exactly those details for Julia Stoner's death earlier and they're on the screen to help you.

So pause the video and have a go at writing your newspaper article opening reporting on the recent death of Julia Stoner.

Using all of that information on the screen and perhaps trying to include some emotive language.

Pause the video and write your article opening.

(no audio) It is now time to reread your newspaper article opening.

Highlight where you've included the five Ws.

Highlight where you've included the who, Julius Stoner, the what, that she died a mysterious death, the when that she died two years ago.

But we are reporting as if it's happening, as if it's just happened because newspaper articles tend to focus on recent news.

The where, Stoke Moran in her bedroom, and the why, it is believed there is a dark and sinister force behind her death.

It is believed she was murdered, but of course you could have mentioned that investigations were ongoing.

Pause the video and highlight your work accordingly.

(no audio) Great job on your writing and self-assessment today, everyone.

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

An article opening begins a newspaper article.

The opening must contain the main information about the event.

The main information about the event covers the who, what, where, when, and why of the event.

And you should be able and you should be as precise as possible when reporting on the who, what, where, when, and why of an event to make it clear for your reader.

Thank you so much for joining me in today's lesson, everyone, and I look forward to seeing you next time.