Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
New
New
Year 6

Linguistic features of a journalistic report

I can use direct and reported speech and I can use a range of cohesive devices to connect ideas.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils
New
New
Year 6

Linguistic features of a journalistic report

I can use direct and reported speech and I can use a range of cohesive devices to connect ideas.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A journalistic report contains factual statements mixed with different individuals' perspectives.
  2. It has a formal tone and it is written in the third person, using both past and present tense.
  3. When we give individuals' perspectives, we can use direct speech or reported speech.
  4. Direct speech uses inverted commas to say the exact words a person said; reported speech does not.
  5. A journalistic report contains a range of cohesive devices used to connect ideas together.

Common misconception

Pupils may struggle to punctuate direct speech correctly.

Visual prompts for punctuating different types of direct speech can be found in our KS2 Grammar curriculum.

Keywords

  • Formal tone - the effect created by using serious, factual language

  • Direct speech - when the exact words spoken by someone are written down, usually enclosed in inverted commas to indicate speech

  • Reported speech - when we write what someone said without using the exact words they spoke and without using inverted commas

  • Inverted commas - punctuation marks used to indicate the beginning and end of direct speech or a quotation

  • Cohesive devices - language structures that develop text cohesion

Complete lessons on the use of direct speech, different sentence types and parenthesis can be found throughout our KS2 Grammar curriculum. You may wish to select slides from these lessons to supplement this content if you feel your pupils are not secure in a particular area.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Video

Skip video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these statements are true?
Correct answer: A journalistic report can be found in a newspaper, a magazine or online
A journalistic report is a fiction text
A journalistic report is always written in columns
Correct answer: A journalistic report usually focuses on something that happened recently
Q2.
Match the words to their meanings.
Correct Answer:advocate,someone who pushes for something to happen

someone who pushes for something to happen

Correct Answer:severity,seriousness

seriousness

Correct Answer:projectile,something you throw

something you throw

Correct Answer:maintain order,keep things calm

keep things calm

Q3.
Which section of a journalistic report is likely to contain a brief summary of the event that has happened?
Correct answer: introduction
main paragraphs
conclusion
Q4.
Which of these sentences are not appropriate for a journalistic report?
Correct answer: We must stop these trees being destroyed at all costs!
Protestors argue that we must stop the trees being destroyed at all costs.
Police said that the protest was largely peaceful.
Correct answer: The police were hopelessly weak in dealing with the protest.
Q5.
Which of the below means 'a quotation to show the exact words someone said'?
perspective
fact
Correct answer: direct speech
reported speech
Q6.
Why would we include both perspectives and facts in a journalistic report?
Perspectives are more important than facts
Correct answer: Perspectives help us understand how different groups feel about an issue
Facts are much easier to find than perspectives
Correct answer: We want to know the facts about an event so that we have a clear picture of it

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following linguistic features are common in a journalistic report?
Correct answer: formal tone
informal tone
first person
Correct answer: third person
Correct answer: both past and present tense
Q2.
Which is the correct definition of 'reported speech'?
when we make up what someone said
when we write the exact words someone said
Correct answer: when we explain what someone said without using their exact words
Q3.
Which type of punctuation will we always use for direct speech?
question mark
exclamation mark
colon
Correct answer: inverted commas
Q4.
Tick the examples of reported speech.
Correct answer: The police spokesperson said that the event was peaceful.
The event was peaceful.
"We need to protect these trees!" one protestor explained.
Correct answer: A protestor explained that the trees needed to be protected.
Q5.
Match the sentence types to the examples.
Correct Answer:compound sentence,Objects were thrown, but no-one was hurt.

Objects were thrown, but no-one was hurt.

Correct Answer:adverbial complex sentence,Although objects were thrown, no-one was hurt.

Although objects were thrown, no-one was hurt.

Correct Answer:relative complex sentence,Projectiles, which were thrown by protestors, caused no injuries.

Projectiles, which were thrown by protestors, caused no injuries.

Q6.
Which sentences have the parenthesis correctly punctuated?
Correct answer: The protest (outside City Hall) was relatively peaceful.
O'Keefe a, local professor, added her voice to the protestors' concerns.
The (protest outside City Hall) was relatively peaceful.
Correct answer: O'Keefe, a local professor, added her voice to the protestors' concerns.