Activity: Write a brief newspaper article for the Portsmouth Gazette or Mottleys

Naval and Military Journal about the choice of Port Jackson for the convict
settlement. Save a copy to your desktop, type over the sections in the template
below, then delete these instructions. If you are working on paper, use the template
as a guide.

Name of your newspaper Date of issue

MAIN Your main photo should grab the

readers attention. Copy and paste
a photo from a website.
STORY
HEADLINE Name of writer

Newspapers usually lead with a dramatic and

attention-grabbing headline and story so as to
Write a caption for your photo.
entice people to buy the paper.
Your story will be about 150-200 words. More stories:
In newspapers, paragraphs and sentences are Story 1 headlinepage xx
short. Often the paragraphs are only one or two
sentences. Story 2 headlinepage xx

Choose a sentence from your story to Story 3 headlinepage xx

highlight an important point. Write the
In other news
sentence in single quotation marks.
Headline 1.page xx
Continue your main story.
Headline 2.page xx
Headline 3.page xx
(choose headlines appropriate to
the topic)
 Key features of a newspaper article

Headline usually only four or five words. It tries to attract the interest of the
reader by telling them what the story is about, in a short and interesting way.

What is the headline for your article?

How many words are in the headline?

By-line who wrote the article

Who wrote your article?

Introduction It will set the scene and summarise the main points of the
article: who, what, when, where.

Can you identify these important points in your article?

- Who is the article about?

- What happened?

- When did it happen?

- Where did it happen?

Body provides more detail about the event, in particular it answers the
questions how and why.
What else do you know now?
Quotes sometimes articles will include what a person (like an eye-witness or
an expert) has said. These will be in speech marks.

Does you article have quotes? If so,

- What was said?

- Who said it?

- How are they related to the event?

Photograph and caption sometimes articles have a photograph, and a

sentence explaining the photograph

Does your article have a photograph? What does it show describe exactly
what you see?

What does the caption say?

Headline usually only four or five words. It
tries to attract the interest of the reader by
telling them what the story is about, in a short
and interesting way.

By-line who wrote the article.

Introduction It will set the scene and

summarise the main points of the article:
who, what, when, where.

Body provides more detail about the event,

in particular it answers the questions how and
why.

Quotes sometimes articles will include what

a person (like an eye-witness or an expert) has
said. These will be in speech marks.

Photograph and caption sometimes

articles have a photograph, and a sentence
explaining the photograph.