Lesson 1 is provided at the following link:  Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O) | Online Courses | TVO Learn

 

1.1   When and how do we read?

Learning goals

We are learning to:

• make a list of what you read and how often
• compare reading texts with reading images
• look for the form and main idea of a text
• set your S.M.A.R.T. reading goal
• create your Logbook and write the first entry

1.1: When and how do we read?

Welcome to the Ontario Literacy Course.

Over the next 20 lesson we will be exploring how to improve reading and writing skills. You will be reading a variety of materials and practising the use of reading strategies. You will be also learning to brainstorm ideas, create rough drafts, and write good copies of articles, information paragraphs, and summaries.

Don’t worry, though! This isn’t going to happen at once. Each learning activity is designed to help you build on your skills at a pace you can follow so that you can successfully complete the literacy expectations for this course and graduation.

With some effort and a little patience, I’m confident that you will successfully complete this course.

Remembering reading

Reading takes place all the time. Often, we don’t even realize we’re doing it.

Maybe you don’t think of yourself as a reader because you don’t read novels. Many people who don’t read novels will claim that they are not readers; however, reading takes place in a variety of ways

Let’s see what types of items you read and how often you do so. Take a few minutes to complete this "Personal reading inventory"(Opens in new window) Once you’ve completed the survey, save it to your computer, as you will be looking at it again, later on.

Were you surprised at how often you did read? Most people read a fair bit, but not everyone reads the same type of reading materials. Which types of materials do you read most often? It makes sense that these will be the reading forms you are most familiar with. When you are familiar with the form of the item that you are reading, you have more strategies to help you interpret the information

 

Visual clues can help us to “read” what people are feeling. Use your strategies to read these images.

Slide 1: How is he feeling? 

Slide 2: And him? 

Slide 3: And what about her?

 

Sometimes, the little clues are visual. Using all the visual clues that you are given, decide what these people do for a living.

 

Photo 1

We would guess that this young woman doesn't work in an office most of the day because of her hard hat and vest.

 

Photo 2

However, we might think that this man does work in an office because he is wearing a shirt and tie.

 

Sometimes the clues come from the context or situation.

 

Slide 1: 

Money is falling and people are happy, so we might predict that they have won a lottery or contest. Sometimes, we don't know the entire story but we can make connections to our knowledge and experiences.

What What do you think is happening here? here?

 

Slide 3: And here?

Sometimes the clues come from the context or situation.

 

Slide 1: Money is falling and people are happy, so we might predict that they have won a lottery or contest. Sometimes, we don't know the entire story but we can make connections to our knowledge and experiences.

Slide 2: What do you think is happening here? 

 

Slide 3: And here?

And here?

Sometimes we don’t know what will happen next. So, we make a prediction or a best guess by reading the information that is available

 

Based on all the clues that you are given in the photo, what do you think will happen next?

Student Answer

 

So, what does all this have to do with regular reading? Pretty much everything. In order to read, you look for all these things.

Let’s go over this again

You look for:

• the form of the text that you are reading
• the overall idea of what you are reading

Then you look for the smaller details. And you make predictions. You make connections.

You ask yourself questions about what you are seeing and you sum things up.

For example, when you look at a text you might ask, “Is this a novel or a textbook?”

That’s the form.

When you examine features a little more closely, you ask more specific questions, like “What is this about?”

That’s the overall idea.

Then you look for smaller clues.

Those are the details.

Then you ask yourself, “What’s going to happen next?”

That’s the prediction.

Then you think about how this relates to you.

That’s the connection

While we read, we respond to the parts that we do know and we ask questions about the parts that we don’t know.

 

 

Form

Consider form. 

Even if you’ve only ever looked at a magazine when you visited the doctor or dentist, you know that the form of a magazine includes pictures, articles, and lots of advertising.

So, what about textbooks? What is their form?

Textbooks have:

• A title
• Chapters
• Subtitles
• A table of contents
• An index
• Images
• Questions

These are the characteristics of the form of a textbook.

By expecting to see a textbook organized that way, you will be ready to read it more successfully.

If you were looking at a movie poster, what would you expect to see in that form? Click on each of the links to see the different components of the poster form.

The point is that you use the bigger pieces – like form – that you know and understand, to make assumptions, predictions, and connections with the smaller parts you are trying to interpret.

Quite simply, paying attention to the form will help you read more successfully.

 

• Title

The title “Plan 9 from outer space” appears in the middle of the poster in very large font.

• Stars

A short information about the movie appears at the top part of the poster (above the Title). The text in this section is: Unspeakable horrors from outer space paralyze the living and resurrect the dead!

• About

The name of the stars appear on separate lines, in the right bottom corner of the poster, following the word “with”. Here is the text:

with
Bela Lugosi
Vampira
Lyle Talbot

• Producer

The name of the producer appears underneath the stars names: A J. Edward Reynolds Production

 

• Director

The name of the director appears underneath the producer’s name:

Produced and Directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr.

 

 

Occupations that read

Often, people’s occupations require them to read certain types of things. In other words, the form is determined by the purpose.

Listen to these people talking about their occupations and the kinds of things they have to read. Think about the purpose of their reading. While you listen, record the form and purpose of reading for each person. There may be more than one form and purpose for each person.

Meet Dave. Listen to how he uses reading.

Transcript(Opens in new window)

 

[Dave] I thought I would do the same job my dad did and I came to work at GM. I work on the line with a bunch of other guys and we have to keep up our numbers and inventory each day.

The big board up there shows us how many parts we need to make and how we are doing with our quota. We have to read manuals on the equipment and fill in reports at the end of each shift. We also have to go for training about workplace safety and new equipment-handling guidelines a couple of times a year.

Around the house I just like to read the sport pages really. Sometimes I read a magazine if it's something good but most of the time I'm reading things on the Internet, you know, emails, Facebook, and chatting.

 

List all the things Dave reads.

Student Answer

 

 

Meet Sarah. Sarah reads very different things to Dave.

 

Transcript(Opens in new window)

[Sarah] Selling real estate is something that I always thought would be...well, interesting. I used to sell clothes in a retail store so I didn't think it would be that big a difference. I was pretty surprised how much reading and writing I needed to do though.

I still need to get some help with some of the details in the legal work like the clauses in some of the contracts. I also need to write advertisements and contracts for my clients. It takes a long time to read through all the listings and the details of properties to find the right home for my clients. I thought it would be mostly about seeing houses and selling houses but it's a lot more than that.

I have really unpredictable hours – I am available all the time for people. At home I try to find time to read my magazines and if I'm on holidays or have a break, I like to read a good novel. I do not like to see any electronics when I do have some time off so no emails, texts, or even updates.

List all the things Sarah reads. What form do these things that Sarah reads often take?

Student Answer

 

Here is Glen. He is also a reader. What he reads is very different from Dave and Sarah.

 

Transcript(Opens in new window)

[Glen] I've been a baker for about 12 years now.

I learned most of what I do from working with other bakers but now that I am working somewhere where I can do more of my own recipes and create some new baked goods, I need to read more about the different types of combinations of ingredients.

Before, I worked for a company that had recipes that I just had to follow. Now, I need to do more research and understand combinations better. I also have to check invoices, sales slips, orders, price lists, and contracts. The recipes are still the best part of my job, but it's only a part of the job.

I don't really read much at work because it's too busy. My reading happens at home when it's quiet. I find some new inspiration from magazines, cookbooks, the Internet, and just messing around with stuff in my kitchen.

How has Glen’s reading changed since he began this career? Explain.

Student Answer

 

You may know someone like Leighton. Listen to what he has to say about how he reads.

 

Transcript(Opens in new window)

Most of my work is pretty straightforward and I need to do just car repairs like changing the oil and checking fluid levels – stuff like that.

There's a lot of paperwork though too. Even for an oil change I need to make sure the client's information is accurate and up to date, record their car information and what we did to their car. I have to fill in the customer forms for their records and enter information in the system.

I need to complete payment information as well but that's not too bad. When we go for new training there's a lot we need to review as well but they show us, so it's okay.

 

And last, but not least, listen to Sue telling you her story.

Transcript(Opens in new window)

[Sue] I started my yard and garden maintenance business just over two years ago. At first the biggest part was learning about setting up the files and a system to keep track of my clients and know the kind of services I offered them.

Once my business started to grow I needed to think more about how I was advertising things to get more and more clients. I even hired someone to help with the work but there are always new products that I need to learn about because you have to be careful when you are mixing chemicals for people's yards and gardens. They get pretty funny about things if you kill their plants.

I try to watch the weather channel for items that might affect my plants. I read the Farmer's Almanac because it's more reliable. I read my horoscope too, just to be safe.

 

Which of these occupations could do away with reading?

Student Answer

 

Suggested Answer:  None!

 

The form of what these people read depends on the purpose for reading them. For example, a contract is different from an ingredient order list and that is certainly different from a real estate advertisement. The point is that you must learn to read well and recognize that reading happens in every occupation. What you read and how well you understand it depends on your ability to recognize and deal with:

• Form and purpose
• Overall idea
• Details
• Predictions
• Connections

Setting goals

Now that you’ve had a chance to see and hear what other people read in their daily lives, stop and think about all the ways that you read, from morning to night. One of the requirements of this course is that you create a reading goal and monitor your progress toward achieving it.

Your general goal should be to improve your reading and writing skills so that you can be successful in this course and in life. Think about making your goal S.M.A.R.T. What is a S.M.A.R.T. goal? To find out, look at the example and the S.M.A.R.T. definitions.

As you read the example, click on the S.M.A.R.T. letters to see how each definition in the S.M.A.R.T. goal matches each part of the example.

What is a SMART goal? It’s one that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

• S – Specific
• M – Measurable
• A – Attainable
• R – Relevant
• T – Time-bound

 

Specific

The goal should identify a specific action or event that will take place. It answers questions like…

• What do you want to achieve?
• Why do you want to achieve it?

 

Measurable

A measurable goal is quantifiable and indicates how you will be able to tell that you have achieved your goal. It answers questions like…

• How often will you need to do it?
• How will you know when it is accomplished?

Attainable

The goal should be achievable, given available resources. It answers questions like…

• How do you know this can happen?
• How can you be successful?

Relevant

The goal is only valuable if it is realistically connected to what you want to accomplish. It answers questions like…

• Is this the best time for this goal?
• Does this goal seem worthwhile?

Time-bound

A time-bound goal holds everyone involved accountable and helps with the goal's measurability. It asks questions like...

• When can you plan the next step?
• When will you have met your goal?

 

My S.M.A.R.T. goal is to learn how to drive a car within the next four months by taking 24 driving lessons.

My specific goal is to learn how to drive a car within the next four months.

My goal is measurable because after having taken 24 driving lessons over four months, I will be able to tell whether I can drive a car or not.

My goal is attainable because, after 24 driving lessons over four months, I should be able to learn how to drive.

My goal is realistic because, with lessons, I should be able to learn how to drive within four months.

My goal is time-bound, because I have given myself four months within which to achieve my goal.

 

Setting my goal

Now it’s time to set your S.M.A.R.T. reading goal for the course. Complete this “S.M.A.R.T. goal sheet(Opens in new window).” Fill in the blanks and save it to your computer. You’ll refer to it later in the course.

Now that you have mapped out your reading goal, think about how you can start working towards achieving it.

• You might need to find a quiet place to work.
• You might need to find some reading materials that would be interesting for you.

Libraries have so much more to offer these days and it might be worth a trip. Many libraries have online materials, too, so you could browse through them without even needing to leave your house!

Don’t wait.

Get started now!

 

First Notebook entry

Here you are near the end of learning activity 1.1. Already!

So far, you have:

• Completed a personal reading inventory
• Learned how you use form, purpose, details, predictions, and connections as reading strategies
• Learned about reading in other people’s lives
• Set a reading goal

That’s pretty good for just one learning activity! At this rate, you will be finished this course in no time at all.

Before we end this learning activity, there is one more thing you need to do.

You need to create a Notebook folder and add one file to it. The file needs to be a paragraph written by you that includes:

• What you have learned so far
• Your reading goal

Your Notebook will need to be electronic so that you can submit it at the end of the course. You will be using your Notebook lots of times.

 

Now, create a folder on your computer called Notebook.

Open a file on your computer, and write the date and your thoughts and reflections on what you have learned so far about yourself and reading. Call the file learning activity 1.1 Logbook Entry. You can name all the Logbook entries by their learning activity number.

Here is a learning activity 1.1 Logbook sample entry, if you are having trouble getting started:

If you asked me before I would have told you I didn’t read. I probably would have told you that I hated to read. I guess I don’t mind reading if it’s things I like. I don’t like novels about olden times or Shakespeare. I don’t get him. Of course I like magazines about flying and travel and interesting places. I like some books on gardening and things like that but I usually look at the pictures and read the information when I like what I see. I like books on facts too, like the Guinness Book of World Records and unsolved mysteries or true crime. Mostly, I text and send emails and chat online. I know I need to improve my skills so I can have a better job but I would also like to be able to read the handwritten letters my grandma sends. I’m not very good at reading handwriting and I don’t like that I can’t read all of her message.

Here are some guiding questions to get you started:

1. Which items do you read most often? Why?
2. Which items do you never read? Why?
3. How often do you read?
4. Were you surprised at all the different things that you read?
5. Were you surprised at how often you read?
6. Were there any items that you don’t mind reading but you don’t read very often?
7. Which area of your reading would you like to improve?
8. Did you include something from your personal reading inventory results as a goal?
9. Do you see the connection between your reading habits and your needs in the future?
10. Where are you when you read? At home? School? Work

Portfolio

Evaluations during the course will be based on a variety of teacher-assigned and student-selected reading and writing tasks and these will take place towards the end of units. In addition, you will be required to submit a literacy Portfolio, along with your Logbook, at the end of the course.

You now have your notebook set up and underway.

Let’s get your Portfolio started.

Just as with your Logbook, you need to create a folder on your computer for all your Portfolio entries. Save each one by the learning activity number. And, just as there is an image associated with your Logbook entries, so, too, is there an image associated with your Portfolio tasks.

 

Whenever you see this image, it is time to prepare and save a Portfolio item.

You will submit this Portfolio at the end of the course.

 

In this lesson, you learned about what is involved when you read.

Go online and do a search on these words: “what reading means to me.”

You should view several hits before you choose one. The one you choose must have these criteria:

• It must be at least one page long.
• It cannot be a video

Read what the person has written and write a paragraph in response. (See Paragraph Rubric)

Pretend that the person who wrote it will read your response. Tell them whether you feel the same way about reading or not. Explain your reasons.

Note: You must save the URL and include it with your work.

Save your work in your Portfolio and call the file "Learning activity 1.1 portfolio item" or something similar.

 

Supplementary Reading Package

In your content section, you will find your “Supplementary Reading Package(Opens in new window).” For this course, you are required to complete the reading activities in the package and submit them in the final Assessment of Learning in the last learning activity. The instructions can be found in the Supplementary Reading Package.

Lesson 1.2 is provided at the following link:  Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O) | Online Courses | TVO Learn

 

1.2   What are reading comprehension strategies?

Read through the lesson and complete all activities.  Be sure you submit all work to your teacher for assessment.

 

1.2: What are reading comprehension strategies

 

Learning Goals

After completing this learning activity, you will be able to:

• look for clues in images and texts
• use clues to sort the content of a text
• think about the reading strategies you use
• use reading strategies to read a text and answer questions about it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome back! In the first learning activity, we looked at what we read, how often we read, and which strategies we used while we read.

In this learning activity we’re going to build on that knowledge and consider purposes for reading, and look more closely at some of the strategies we use to read with understanding.

Reading is hard to explain to someone because we can’t really see what is happening in their mind when they are reading words or images.

Once we can read some words and make sense of what we are reading, it is even harder to explain because reading sometimes seems to happen automatically. That isn’t the case, though; even good readers have trouble with new words and need to rely on strategies to help them interpret new information. We all have strategies that we use, and sometimes we don’t even know we have these skills.

Let’s get started and you’ll see what I mean.

Acknowledgements(Opens in new window)

Looking for clues

Have a really good look at this image.

 

What is going on here? What questions would you ask to find out what is going on?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

Is this the young woman’s house? What happened? Where was she when it happened?

 

 

 

Do you need to know exactly what happened to make a good guess?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

No, you can guess what is happening from what you see.

 

Clues could be:

• Symbols
• Images
• Words

Sometimes, clues come from how symbols, words, and images are connected to each other. Reading comprehension (understanding what you read) depends on how well you use the clues.

Try this again. Look at this image. What is happening? What clues could you use to try and find out?

 

Try and think about how you looked for clues.

Match each clue to the specific example of it from this image.

Question 1Symbolsselect:AndroidDid they win phones? Do they work for the phone company?People receiving an award, giant pretend phoneLetter symbols from another language, 2010

Question 2Words I knowselect:AndroidDid they win phones? Do they work for the phone company?People receiving an award, giant pretend phoneLetter symbols from another language, 2010

Question 3Imagesselect:AndroidDid they win phones? Do they work for the phone company?People receiving an award, giant pretend phoneLetter symbols from another language, 2010

Question 4Questions I still haveselect:AndroidDid they win phones? Do they work for the phone company?People receiving an award, giant pretend phoneLetter symbols from another language, 2010

Submit

 

Match each clue to the specific example of it from this image.

Question 1Symbolsselect:AndroidDid they win phones? Do they work for the phone company?People receiving an award, giant pretend phoneLetter symbols from another language, 2010 You are right!

Question 2Words I knowselect:AndroidDid they win phones? Do they work for the phone company?People receiving an award, giant pretend phoneLetter symbols from another language, 2010 You are right!

Question 3Imagesselect:AndroidDid they win phones? Do they work for the phone company?People receiving an award, giant pretend phoneLetter symbols from another language, 2010 You are right!

Question 4Questions I still haveselect:AndroidDid they win phones? Do they work for the phone company?People receiving an award, giant pretend phoneLetter symbols from another language, 2010 You are right!

Submit

You got 4 out of 4 right!

 

 

In 20 words or fewer, provide your best guess as to what is actually happening in the picture.

Student Answer

Take a minute to recap.

So far you have learned that:

• Form can help you understand what you are reading.
• The purpose for something is closely connected to the form.
• Once you know the form, you can look at the details.
• Form, purpose, and details help you make predictions and connections.

And you’ve learned to look for clues!

• Symbols
• Images
• Words you already know
• Questions you ask yourself

are all clues that can help you.

The next strategy to think about is sorting.

 

 

 

 

Sorting

Peter is in Grade 3. He is pretty good at math. But, while there are some things in math he is doing really well at, there are other things that he can keep working at, in order to improve.

Practise sorting these “Report card comments(Opens in new window).”

 

Sorting: A reading comprehension strategy?

If you were Peter’s parents, you would want to know whether there were more things he was doing well or more things he needed to improve at. In other words, you would want to know what conclusion you could make from sorting the comments.

What conclusion can you make from sorting Peter’s report card comments?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

He is doing well at most things.

 

 

 

As a family member, there are many things you need to read:

• Directions to put something together
• Recipes
• Directions for taking medicine
• Shopping lists
• Calendars
• Television and movie items

Certainly the list is different, depending on your age, your role in the family, and so on, but there are lots of things to read, that’s for sure! It is amazing how many of the things you read depend on putting ideas in order. Ordering is our next strategy!

 

What is the best order?

Click on each tab to look at the different ordered items. Pay close attention to their specific and common features.

• Recipe for crispy baked chicken fingers

Recipe for crispy baked chicken fingers

Note: Be sure to fully thaw your chicken pieces overnight so that the meat is nice and juicy when it's baked. Microwaving or cooking it partially frozen makes the chicken dry, and the coating mushy.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white flour
• 2 tbsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. garlic salt
• 4 tbsp. paprika
• ½ tbsp. thyme
• ⅛ tbsp. oregano
• 2 tbsp. celery salt

• 2 tbsp. black pepper
• 1 tbsp. dry mustard
• 1 tbsp. ground ginger
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Olive oil in a spray bottle (A dollar-store water spray bottle will do.)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375º.
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, making sure that you distribute the seasonings thoroughly.
3. Cut the chicken breasts into strips for chicken fingers or nuggets. (If full pieces are preferred, adjust the cooking time accordingly.)
4. Place the dry mixture in a re-sealable plastic container. Place the individual chicken pieces in a container and shake them until the chicken is coated with the seasoning mix. Place the pieces on a cooking sheet. Spray a mist of olive oil over all of the chicken pieces with the olive oil spray.
5. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, turning the pieces halfway through. You can sprinkle additional seasoning on the flipped chicken and re-spray it with the olive oil. Serve it with your favourite dipping sauce and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• How to blow bubble gum bubbles

How to blow bubble gum bubbles

Materials: Fresh piece of bubble gum

Caution: If you have braces, this could get messy.

Directions:

1. First, unwrap a fresh piece of bubble gum.
2. Then place the gum in your mouth.
3. Chew the gum until it is soft and easy to shape with your tongue.
4. Using your tongue, flatten the gum against the roof of your mouth.
5. Slide the flattened piece of gum so that it sits behind your upper and lower teeth.
6. Open your teeth so that you can press the gum with your tongue through your teeth.
7. Next, use the sides of your mouth and cheeks to hold the gum in place.
8. Slowly blow air around your tongue until a small bubble starts to appear.
9. Re-adjust your mouth and cheeks so that you can hold the gum in place but blow a bigger bubble.
10. Blow the bubble until it pops.

 

 

 

 

• How to play Tic-Tac-Toe

How to play Tic-Tac-Toe

Materials:

• Pen, pencil, or chalk
• Paper, sidewalk, or chalkboard

Note: You may use other suitable writing materials.

Instructions:

1. Draw a simple grid on a piece of paper. The grid should have nine spaces, much like a # sign.
2. Choose which player will be X and which will be O.
3. Player X begins the game by placing his or her mark in one of the nine spaces on the grid.
4. Player O then places his or her mark on one of the remaining eight spaces.
5. Players take turns until there is a row of three X's or a row of three O's, or all the spaces are filled.
6. A player wins if he or she gets three marks in a row. The game is tied if neither player has a row of three.

 

 

 

What are some of the common features that each ordered item had?

In every case, there were directions. The steps may have been different, but there was definitely an order to each set of instructions.

See which features you can identify for each text form. Put your answers in the spaces provided below. If the same feature is found in all three text forms, list that feature in the last text entry box.

Recipe

 

 

 

Game direction features

 

 

How-to instructions features

 

 

Student Answer

 

 

 

 

 

Putting it all together

It is time to put several strategies together at once.

Like a good baseball player who has to be able to hit, run, and catch, a good reader also has more than one strength or strategy. As you have reviewed several of them, here is your chance to put them all together!

Read here about the “Semaphore flag signalling system(Opens in new window),” then answer the questions below about the strategies that you used.

 

1. Form and purpose
What does this seem to be? Who is it for?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

A set of directions for a beginner in semaphore.

2. Details
What details help you understand what this is about?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

The flags are like symbols for three letters of the alphabet. If I think about it, semaphore flag positions are like the times on a clock face.

3. Predictions
If you could see more of this item, what do you think it would say or include?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

I think it would give some messages to practice semaphore with.

 

4. Connections
What does this remind you of?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

This reminds me of road crews signalling, or a compass and how you find directions.

5. Symbols
Are there any symbols that help you understand what this is about?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Yes, the flags help explain what semaphore is.

6. Images
Are there any images that help you understand what this is about?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Yes, the little man using the flags helps.

7. Words I already know
Which words are familiar?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

The letters A, B, C, and D and the word “alphabet” are familiar.

 

 

8. Questions I ask myself
What questions would you ask yourself about this item?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Who invented this? Who uses this?

9. Sorting vs. ordering
Is this information sorted or ordered?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

It is sorted by the letters of the alphabet. But it is also ordered because it follows the letters of the alphabet in order.

 

 

Strategies review

In this learning activity, you have been using strategies to uncover information from a variety of text forms. Sometimes you use these strategies so well, you don’t even realize you are doing it!

Think about the strategies you use in everyday reading. How often do you use them? Use this Strategies Review Survey to answer.

• N - Never
• S - Seldom
• O - Occasionally
• M - Mostly
• A - Always

View an accessible version of the Strategies Review Survey here.(Opens in new window)

 

Rating statements

	N	S	O	M	A
I find a place to work where I can concentrate on what I’m reading.
I have my notes and pens with me so I can review from the previous learning activity.
I read over the instructions to make sure I know what I need to do.
I look at the title to get an idea of what the reading will be about.
I skim to look for italicized words or bolded items.
I scroll down or flip ahead to see how much I will be reading.
I think about why I’m reading the information.
I make notes when I read.
I highlight some features that might be important or confusing.
I create questions in my mind when I'm reading.
I try and connect this new information with information I already know.
I try and predict what the materials will be discussing.
I try to use strategies to help me understand.
I consider whether or not I will need to remember or use this information later.
I reread information if I don’t understand it the first time.

 

For your final task in this learning activity, consider the following questions. These questions are meant to guide you, so feel free to add additional information or ideas that you learned during this learning activity. Remember that your Logbook is marked at the end of the course, so write detailed comments.

Save your answers in your Logbook folder. Call the file Learning Activity 1.2 Logbook Entry.

• What reading strategies have you learned so far in this course? Name them and explain them.
• Which of these strategies is a new one for you?
• Which of these strategies have you used lots of times?
• When you completed the Strategies Review Survey, what was the one area that you thought you could improve on?

Assessment for Learning

(Opens in a new window)Start(Opens in a new window)

 

Press Enter here for an accessible version of the the learning activity 1.2 Assessment for Learning.

Assessment for Learning: Computer-based

This is an Assessment for Learning, so no marks will be assigned; instead, the assessment will help you determine where you are in your learning, where you need to go, and how best to get there. You will be provided with computer-based feedback on your work. This feedback will help you in your future learning.

There are three tasks in this Assessment for Learning.

Press any task to begin.

• Task 1
• Task 1: Reviewing reading strategies
• In this first task, you’ll review some key terms and clues associated with different reading strategies.
• Let's begin your assessment by looking at some key terms from earlier in the course. In the question that follows, you'll complete a series of fill-in-the-blanks associated with different reading strategies.
• Press Next to begin…

Complete each sentence by selecting the correct term from the drop-down list. Then click Submit to see if you are right!

Choices:  Form    Overall idea    Details    Prediction    Connection

When looking at the text to determine whether it is, for instance, a novel, textbook, or instruction manual, you are identifying its 

select 

 .

When you closely examine the features of the document you are reading, asking questions like, "What is this about?", you are identifying its 

select 

 .

As you read, and you begin to look for smaller clues, you are identifying the __________select 

 of the text.

When, as you read, you begin to ask yourself "What's going to happen?", you are making a 

_______ select      about the text.

When you begin to think about how what you are reading relates to you on a personal level, you are making a ________ select    to the text.

 

• Task 2

As you have learned, identifying the form, overall idea, and details of any text, as well as making predictions about it and connections to it, requires you as a reader to make use of clues. As you know, clues come in many forms, including:

• Symbols
• Images
• Words you are familiar with
• Questions you are able to ask yourself

Using these four types of clues, respond in sentence form to each of the questions that follow. Sample responses have been provided for you to check your work.

Press Next to begin…

 

What is the form of this text?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

The form of this text is a catalogue.

 

 

What clue(s) did you use to determine the form?

 

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

I used images and words I already knew to identify the form of this text. I recognized the shape and style of a catalogue, and I knew the name “IKEA.”

What is the overall idea of this image?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

The overall idea of this image is that these athletes have won track-and-field events.

 

What clue(s) did you use to determine the overall idea?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

I used images and symbols to determine the overall idea. I recognized the athletic outfits and the background of a track stadium, and understood the symbolism behind medals.

What are the key details of this image?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

The key details of this image are that a man in his 20s or 30s, dressed in business-casual attire, is checking his watch and holding his phone, and there is an airline schedule on the wall behind him.

 

What clue(s) did you use to identify these details?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

I used images, taking apart the different components of the overall image to identify its details.

Having now identified its details, what prediction(s) can you make about this image?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

Based on the details of the image, I predict that this is a businessman who is late for his plane, or who has just learned that his flight has been cancelled and is trying to figure out alternative arrangements.

 

What clue(s) did you use to make these predictions?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

I used images as clues to make these predictions. The man’s clothing, facial expression, and focus on his watch and his phone all led me to make these predictions.

What connection(s) are you able to make, upon looking at this poster?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

Upon looking at this poster, I immediately feel empathy for the owners of this lost dog.

 

What clue(s) enabled you to make this connection?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

I relied on images and words I was familiar with to establish this connection. The image of a poster showing a dog enabled me to recognize that someone’s pet was missing. Also, the word “REWARD” was one that I recognized as holding meaning as it showed that the owners must have been distraught over having lost their pet if they were willing to pay for its safe return.

What connection can you make between the form and purpose of this poster?

Student's Answer:Compare Answer Hide Answer

There is a major connection between the form and purpose of this poster. The poster takes the form of words and an image. The words are in large print, and the image is prominent, so everything about it is eye-catching and easy to understand. This connects to the purpose because it is designed to draw people’s attention and get them thinking about whether they have seen this dog.

 

• Task 3

Task 3: Implementing your S.M.A.R.T. goal

Earlier in the course, you identified and developed a S.M.A.R.T. goal related to reading. The goal that you created is already sorted into sections, in that you have identified how it is:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

Your challenge now is to review your goal in light of the strategies you learned previously, and order it into a series of steps to ensure you carry it out over the remainder of the course and – ideally – beyond!

How will you accomplish this task? Review your previous responses to each of the following questions, and develop them into a more ordered action plan:

• What is your goal?

My goal is to read for half an hour each night between now and the end of this course.

• What makes your goal specific?
• My goal is specific in that it has a specified time frame and end goal.
•  
• How is your goal measurable?
• My goal is measurable in that it is set to occur on a daily basis, so I can evaluate my progress daily.
•  
• How is your goal attainable?
• My goal is attainable in that there is no barrier to my completing it – I am in control of the allocation of my daily time.

 

• What makes your goal realistic?

My goal is realistic because it is a manageable daily time commitment within a manageable time frame.

•  
• How is your goal time-bound?

My goal is time-bound, both on a daily basis and a longer-term basis, because it is set to be completed at the end of the course.

If you’re unsure of what to write, use the Example and Checklist buttons for helpful guides. When you have finished writing your ordered action plan, click the All Done! button to complete the task.

Press Next to begin…

My ordered action plan

• explores and develops the S.M.A.R.T. goal I proposed in Lesson 1
• orders the elements of my S.M.A.R.T. goal into stages or steps that are chronological and/or cumulative
• makes use of transition words and/or phrases to clarify the ordering process (e.g., First; Second; Next; Then…)
• has been edited for clarity and language conventions
• Ordered action plan example:
• In order to ensure that I fully engage in and commit to my S.M.A.R.T. goal of reading for at least half an hour each night between now and the end of the course, I will first need to find something to read that will hold my attention! I often find myself reading magazine headlines while in line at the grocery store, so I will start by buying three magazines that have caught my attention – Style at Home, People, and Sports Illustrated.
• Next, I will place the magazines on the nightstand next to my bed to ensure that they are close at hand, at the end of the day.
• I have read that it takes 21 days for something to become a habit, so my next step will be to set a reminder on my phone for the next three weeks so that I can’t forget to read! Ideally, after incorporating reading into my evening routine on a daily basis for 21 consecutive days, I will no longer need the reminder!
• At the end of the 21 days, if my routine has not become a habit, I will re-evaluate both the timing of my reading and the form – perhaps, for instance, attempting a novel rather than magazines. At that point, I could re-establish my S.M.A.R.T. goal, depending on what I have learned.

 

Lesson 1.3 is provided at the following link:  Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O) | Online Courses | TVO Learn

 

1.3   The Main Idea

 

Read through the lesson and complete all activities.  Be sure you submit all work to your teacher for assessment.

 

1.3: The Main Idea

• Learning goals

  We are learning to:

• use the features of a text to find its purpose
• learn the triple-burger model of a paragraph
• use strategies to find the main idea and supporting ideas of a paragraph
• write good opening sentences for paragraphs
•  

 

In this learning activity you’ll be exploring a greater variety of text forms. You will continue to expand on your comprehension of text features and the various components required of each text form.

In addition, you will continue to build on your reading strategies by practising the strategies to identify the main idea and supporting details.

Acknowledgements(Opens in new window)

Sifting and Sorting

Let's start with a sorting activity

• Envelope
• Textbook
• Newspaper

If you were to look at an envelope, what unique features of envelopes would you expect to find?

Probably these:

• Name
• Street address
• City
• Province
• Postal code
• Stamp

Remember what you have learned: the features of various text forms help you to understand the purpose of the material.

Why does this matter? When you understand the text form you are better prepared to understand:

• What you will be reading
• Where you will locate the information

Consider, for example, if you were reading a paragraph, what would you expect of that text form? You’d expect a triple burger, right?

What?

Yes indeed, a paragraph is like a triple burger. Look at the picture and see for yourself. Begin with the topic sentence and work your way down.

How is a paragraph like a burger?

Start with the top of the bun, mmm, I mean…the topic sentence. Remember, the topic sentence is the main idea, the key focus, of the paragraph. The main idea can often be stated in a couple of words.

Supporting details are the burger’s patties. They are placed between the buns. They are connected to the main idea.

Supporting details expand the main idea, defend the main idea, or explain the main idea.

The concluding sentence is the bottom bun of the hamburger. It sums up the main point made in the topic sentence and paragraphs.

So, once you know the features of a paragraph, you can read them with more understanding.

Here are three sentences that would appear early in paragraphs. What is the topic or main idea of each one?

1. It has often been said that a dog is man’s best friend and I certainly agree.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

2. Studying for final exams can be stressful unless you have a good study plan.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

3. An essential first step in finding a job is putting together an effective resume.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

The opening sentence of a paragraph usually, almost always states the topic.

Usually…almost always…? That’s right. Sometimes the topic sentence isn’t the very first sentence

Keep this in mind as you read “My amazing grandma” on the following tabs. Can you find the top of the bun, or main idea?

Press Enter here for an accessible version of Analyzing the paragraph, My amazing grandma.(Opens in new window)

Breaking down a paragraph

• 
  Home
• 
  Title
• 
  Main idea
• Supporting Details
• Concluding sentence

My Amazing Grandma

Grandmothers are often thought of as sweet, frail, little old ladies. For the most part that is true. My grandmother would certainly qualify for some of those items. However, she is not feeble or frail at all. She has always been quiet and pretty soft-spoken but she is also a dynamo. When she retired she took up downhill skiing, billiards, and roller blading. She already skated, golfed, and bowled so she thought it would not be a very big deal to learn a few more things. Even though she is 88 now, she still does all those activities and we are still trying to keep up. I cannot think of anyone I admire more than my grandma, since she is so dynamic and unlike what you might expect her to be.

How do we find the main idea?

Sometimes the topic is very clear, but what the writer actually wants to say about that topic may take a little more thought. For example, you have just read a paragraph about “Grandma.” The topic was definitely Grandma. The main idea that you should have taken away from that paragraph is that Grandma is still a very active woman.

Find the topic and the main idea in the following paragraphs. The first one has been done for you.

Bark beats meow

There are cat people and there are dog people. Although cats are pretty great, dogs are where it’s at. Dogs always know what you’re feeling. They know to bounce around and get playful to cheer you up or to sit quietly and close by when you’re not feeling well. Dogs always come to greet you at the end of a long day at work, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve been away for five minutes or five hours, they’re just as excited to see you. No wonder they’re known as man’s best friend.

What is the topic?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

What is the main idea?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Now try this one on your own:

Nature at its finest

Nature is meant to be enjoyed by all types of people. In the spring, many people enjoy seeing birds return and the new buds on plants and trees, as the season begins to green. Summer brings new flowers, fresh cut grass, the planting of crops, and a host of outdoor activities. In the fall, farmers harvest their crops and the trees shed their leaves to colourfully blanket the ground. Winter is the season for those brave souls who love the crispness of the air, fresh fallen snow, and frozen lakes and ponds. No matter which season is your favourite, nature will always have treasures to share.

What is the topic?

Student Answer

What is the main idea?

Student Answer

Silent reading in class

Teachers have been encouraging students to read silently in class for years but it can be pretty frustrating. Some students really love to curl up and read a book or magazine and others just try to pass the time and make it look like they are reading. So many times, though, students have to read boring things that they don’t really want to read. When teachers finally do let students pick something that they want to read, they never give students enough time. Just when they get into what they are reading, the time is up. Even though silent reading is a strategy many teachers still use in class today, they never quite get it right.

What is the topic?

Student Answer

What is the main idea?

Student Answer

Museums, art galleries, and auto shows

Did you ever wonder why teachers picked certain places for class field trips? If you were to give students a list of all the possibilities they could consider for a class field trip, do you think that museums, art galleries, and auto shows would make the top three choices? Teachers are not required to have field trips for their classes but many teachers like to reward good student behaviour with an out-of-school class experience. Teachers would also love to consider other options for field trips but they must select items that are connected to the course content, are affordable for most students, and are available during the course and school year. They also have to keep safety and student interest in mind when they are booking these trips. When you factor in all those elements, it’s no wonder that art galleries, museums, and auto shows often end up being the field trips of choice.

What is the topic?

Student Answer

What is the main idea?

Student Answer

Supporting ideas

In the “My active grandma” paragraph, you saw that the supporting ideas came between the main idea and the concluding sentence.

Find three supporting details for each of these paragraphs. Write them in point form. The first one has been done for you.

Bark beats meow

There are cat people and there are dog people. Although cats are pretty great, dogs are where it’s at. Dogs always know what you’re feeling. They know to bounce around and get playful to cheer you up or to sit quietly and close by when you’re not feeling well. Dogs always come to greet you at the end of a long day at work, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve been away for five minutes or five hours, they’re just as excited to see you. No wonder they’re known as man’s best friend

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Now try this one:

Nature at its finest

Nature is meant to be enjoyed by all types of people. In the spring, many people enjoy seeing birds return and the new buds on plants and trees as the season begins to green. Summer brings new flowers, fresh cut grass, the planting of crops, and a host of outdoor activities. In the fall, farmers harvest their crops and the trees shed their leaves to colourfully blanket the ground. Winter is the season for the brave souls who love the crispness of the air, fresh fallen snow, and frozen lakes and ponds. No matter which season is your favourite, nature will always have treasures to share

Student Answer

And how about this one:

Silent reading in class

Teachers have been encouraging students to read silently in class for years but it can be pretty frustrating. Some students really love to curl up and read a book or magazine and others just try to pass the time and make it look like they are reading. So many times, though, students have to read boring things that they don’t really want to read. When teachers finally do let students pick something that they want to read, they never give students enough time. Just when they get into what they are reading, the time is up. Even though silent reading is a strategy many teachers still use in class today, they never quite get it right

Student Answer

And this one:

Museums, art galleries, and auto shows

Did you ever wonder why teachers picked certain places for class field trips? If you were to give students a list of all the possibilities they could consider for a class field trip, do you think that museums, art galleries, and auto shows would make the top three choices? Teachers are not required to have field trips for their classes but many teachers like to reward good student behaviour with an out-of-school class experience. Teachers would also love to consider other options for field trips but they must select items that are connected to the course content, are affordable for most students, and are available during the course and school year. They also have to keep safety and student interest in mind when they are booking these trips. When you factor in all those elements, it’s no wonder that art galleries, museums, and auto shows often end up being the field trips of choice

Student Answer

Strategies for finding the main idea

Now you should feel comfortable finding the topic, the main idea, the supporting details, and the concluding sentence in a paragraph. You know how to dissect the paragraph to find what you need.

But if the format wasn’t a paragraph, could you still find what you needed?

The image below shows several other text formats. What do you already know about how these other items are organized? Which features of these text forms will help you find what you are looking for?

Look at this first item, “Bay Street RFC 2013 schedule(Opens in new window).”

What is the topic of this text?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

What is the main idea of this text?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

What are some of the supporting details? For example, who are they playing on July 20th and at what time and where?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

What are some of the supporting details? For example, on which Saturdays in July could I take my kids to a home game?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Look at this second item, “What is a graphic novel?(Opens in new window)”

What is the topic of this text?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

What is the main idea of this text?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

What are some of the supporting details? For example, where do you start reading the page of a graphic novel?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

For a third item, search online using the question “How do I help a family member or friend apply to visit Canada?” You should find a Government of Canada website that provides the answers.

What is the topic of this text?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

What is the main idea of this text?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

What are some of the supporting details? Choose one.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

For a third item, search online using the question “How do I help a family member or friend apply to visit Canada?” You should find a Government of Canada website that provides the answers.

Using text features as clues is just one strategy to use to understand texts. Consider these reading strategies. Make a list of the strategies that you use when you read.

(Opens in a new window)Start(Opens in a new window)

Press Enter here for an accessible version of Reading strategies.(Opens in new window)

Notebook

Make a Notebook entry and list the strategies that you currently use. Remember, your Notebook will be submitted at the end of the course, so it’s important to keep track of all your reflections as you complete them.

Call the file "Learning Activity 1.3 Notebook Entry." Be sure to save the file in your Notebook folder.

Listening for the main idea

Once you learn to identify the main idea and supporting details in print, it becomes easier to identify the main idea in audio and video items too. You are going to be watching two videos about their main idea and supporting details. To help you organize your thoughts, you are going to use graphic organizers.

Watch the following public service announcement by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office called Make it Stop! While watching the video, use the “Public service announcement(Opens in new window)” graphic organizer to determine the main idea and supporting details. You can watch the video more than once, if necessary.

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Watch the OYAP Commercial for the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program. While watching the video, use the “Youth apprenticeship commercial(Opens in new window)” graphic organizer to determine the main idea and supporting details.

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Identifying the main idea

You have practised finding the main idea by reading and by listening. You understand that it appears early in a paragraph. And you understand that the text form helps you determine the main idea when something isn’t written in a paragraph.

In this activity you will identify the main idea by reading and writing!

Paragraph 1

A graph needs a title. Without a title, you would have a tough time figuring out what the graph is communicating. Just as the title of a painting lets the viewer know what the painter was trying to show them, a title on a graph lets the viewer know what the mathematician meant to show.

What is the main idea of this paragraph?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Paragraph 2

Adam Smith, known as the Father of Economics, saw assembly-line specialization as a way to increase prosperity. In his example of a pin factory, Smith demonstrated that 10 workers could produce 48 000 pins per day if each worker specialized in one task. One worker laid out a stiff wire, a second worker cut the wire, a third sharpened the wire, a fourth attached a head to the wire, a fifth ran the forge, and so on. On average, each of the 10 workers produced 4800 pins per day. Yet, if each worker produced the pins alone from start to finish, how many pins would one worker produce? According to Smith, each worker would produce maybe one pin per day, a total of 10 pins, instead of 48 000

What is the main idea of this paragraph?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Paragraph 3

Fresh water is as important to human survival as the air you breathe. In that respect, we are very fortunate as Canadians: there are few countries in the world that can match Canada’s fresh water resources. Most of the fresh water used is replaced annually with precipitation Close to one hundred percent of the Canadian population has access to safe drinking water. Ontario alone contains four of the five Great Lakes, as well as over 250 000 other rivers, streams, and smaller lakes - a huge reservoir of fresh water.

What is the main idea of this paragraph?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Portfolio

It is time to complete your learning activity 1.3 Portfolio task.

Task 1

Use your imagination to write an interesting sentence for each of the following topics. The sentence must state the main idea. The first one has been done for you.

• Topic 1: Summer holidays
• Main idea: Summer holidays bring out the best and worst in families.
• Topic 2: Ice cream
• Topic 3: Alarm clocks
• Topic 4: Dreams versus nightmares
• Topic 5: Laughter

Task 2

Choose one topic from Task 1. Use the main idea you generated, and then write a full paragraph about that topic and main idea

Task 3

Save the file as "Learning Activity 1.3 Portfolio" in your Portfolio folder.

Conclusion

Good work! You are making great progress.

Remember to take steps to accomplish your reading goal. Record an entry on what you have done so far (for example, if your goal is to read more, or if it is to record what you read, how long you read for, and when you read). Later on, you will need to report on your progress.

 

 

 

Lesson 1.4 is provided at the following link:  Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O) | Online Courses | TVO Learn

 

1.4   Writing the first draft

 

Read through the lesson and complete all activities.  Be sure you submit all work to your teacher for assessment.

 

1.4: Writing the first draft

 

Learning Goals

After completing this learning activity, you will be able to:

• brainstorm ideas for an essay
• organize your ideas
• write a first draft

 

 

So far, we concentrated on text forms and reading strategies, and determining the main idea and supporting details.

Now we’re going to begin working on the writing process, which includes brainstorming, organizing, writing, editing, and rewriting.

For this learning activity, though, we will focus on brainstorming, organizing, and writing the first draft.

Acknowledgements(Opens in new window)

How do we write?

Writing is a process. First, you need to think of ideas and then you need to organize those ideas before you can begin to write a draft. But before you submit your work for grading or publication you need to edit and rewrite sections to make sure your thoughts are clear to your audience. For many writers, even the best ones, half the battle is coming up with ideas.

If you Tweet, go now and ask: Where do people get their ideas for writing a song?

Record what people tweeted.

Student Answer

How about ideas for a story?

Student Answer

Moving past topics

In the last learning activity, you identified topics and main ideas. You even wrote a paragraph using a topic and main idea. So, think about that process. How do you move past a topic to ideas?

Imagine that your topic is cell phones. How do you start?

• If you know a lot about cell phones, you can list some interesting facts about them.

But what if you don’t know much about them?

• If you’re like me, you use your cell phone all the time but you don’t give much thought to its history or how it works. Does this mean that you can’t brainstorm? No, it just means that as well as brainstorming ideas or facts, you can start by brainstorming questions.

To get started, record your ideas and questions about cell phones using a format similar to that shown in the image.

These are the ideas and questions you might have come up with...

Once you have collected your ideas, you need to organize them.

How?

By separating your ideas into “piles.” The “piles” are your categories of ideas.

For this cell phone topic you could use the following sub-topics:

• Cell phone history
• Cell phone features
• Why have a cell phone?
• Miscellaneous

If these were the topics, could you sort the ideas below into piles or topics?

Sort these ideas about “Cell phones(Opens in new window)” into their “piles” by cutting and pasting them into the table.

How did you determine where each item would be listed?

Student Answer

Did you read all of the options first to get an impression of the types of information you would be sorting?

Student Answer

How did you know that one of the items wasn’t important in connection with the three main categories?

Student Answer

What did you do if you weren’t sure about an item?

Student Answer

Logbook entry: Practising the writing process

Copy some of your answers to these questions down in your Logbook while the information is still fresh in your mind. Call the entry Learning Activity 4 Logbook Entry.

Choose one of these two questions to answer:

• Choice #1
  Should our family buy a dog?
• Choice #2
  Should our family buy a new car?

Type the question in the topic box in the form. Then type ideas about that topic in the next box. When you are thinking of your ideas try to think of ideas that support buying a car or dog and ideas that support not buying a car or dog.

Topic:

 

Ideas:

Logbook entry: Organizing ideas for writing

You will need to think of how to sort your ideas for writing. This is part of the brainstorming or pre-writing process.

Sort your ideas into two categories:

• Pros
• Cons

Topic:

 

Ideas:

 

Pros:

 

Cons:

---

Look at your brainstorming ideas.

Do you have more ideas for one side of the argument than the other?

Student Answer

Do you think you are missing some ideas? Are there some other ideas that could be used? Could you expand on some of the ideas that are already there?

Student Answer

No one is going to hold you to this opinion so choose the side that you think you can defend the best. Then organize your points into a chart. Save the chart; you will be using it shortly.

Opinion essay

You are going to take your brainstorming ideas and use them to create a series of paragraphs expressing an opinion. On the next page is a sample for a different topic: whether or not teenagers should have part-time jobs.

Series of paragraphs expressing an opinion – Getting started

Task: Write a minimum of three paragraphs expressing an opinion on the topic. Develop your main idea with supporting details (proof, facts, examples, etc.).

Purpose and audience: An adult who is interested in your opinion

Should teenagers have a part-time job?

Yes	No
First point – Responsibility Time management Accountable to employer Need to do the job well	First point – Distracts from homework and studying
Second point – Job skills Communication (with customers and other employees) doing paperwork Skills like using tools, equipment, or maybe cash	Second point – Takes time away from volunteer and extra-curricular activities
Third point – Extra cash Clothes and cell phone For education For bills and groceries	Third point – People work for enough years in their lives. They don’t need to start so young.
In conclusion, a part-time job is a good experience for high school students to have.	In conclusion, a part-time job is not a good experience for high school students to have.

Now complete “Organizing your opinion essay(Opens in new window),” the blank form for whether your family should buy a dog or a car.

Once you have all of your ideas, it’s time to start putting them into sentences and paragraphs.

First draft of the opinion essay

The next step in writing the essay is to take each point and expand on the idea so it becomes a full paragraph. In the example below, we have expanded on the Yes side of the argument only. In a five-paragraph opinion essay the three body paragraphs contain your fleshed-out ideas or sub-topics, and the first and last paragraphs form an introduction and conclusion.

Series of paragraphs expressing an opinion – Sample of draft essay

Notice how the rough draft above begins.

Use a sentence starter like:

• In my opinion…
• I believe that…
• It seems to me that…
• There is no doubt that…

Use a concluding sentence like:

• As you can see…
• Without a doubt we should…
• For the reasons listed above, I believe…

Reviewing the writing process

Brainstorming: What do I write down at this stage?

Student Answer

 

Show Suggested Answer

Organizing: What do I do with my ideas and questions to organize them?

Student Answer

 

Show Suggested Answer

Drafting: How do I write the first draft of an opinion paragraph?

Student Answer

 

Show Suggested Answer

Portfolio item

Now it’s time to draft a rough copy of your opinion essay about whether your family should buy a car or a dog. Remember, for this learning activity, we are focusing on the first three steps of the writing process:

• Brainstorming
• Organizing ideas
• Writing a draft

There will be time to reflect and revise in the next learning activity.

Save your rough draft in a file called Learning Activity 1.4 Portfolio Item and save it in your Portfolio folder.

Conclusion

Half the battle is getting a draft copy completed. In the next learning activity, we will take time to reflect, revise, and examine how well we meet the expectations of the opinion essay rubric

Learning activity 1.5 awaits!

 

 

Lesson 1.5 is provided at the following link:  Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O) | Online Courses | TVO Learn

 

1.5 Editing and revising the final draft

 

Read through the lesson and complete all activities.  Be sure you submit all work to your teacher for assessment.

 

1.5: Editing and revising the final draft

 

Learning Goals

After completing this learning activity, you will be able to:

• learn some helpful spelling, grammar, and punctuation rules
• edit and revise the draft essay you wrote last learning activity

During this learning activity you will be completing the last two stages of the writing process: editing and revising. Even though you’ve completed a draft of your essay, there are still some things you can do to improve what you have completed so far. And that is what editing and revising are all about.

 

Acknowledgements(Opens in new window)

Revising your writing

Think of revising as a final polish. You may need to take some things away. Look at these images to see what that means.

Which items in the rooms are similar?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

What items are different?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

When you revise or edit your writing, fewer decorations are better.

You may need to move some sentences or ideas around (like furniture) to improve the flow of your argument.

Word processors can find and correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. But, can you always rely on them?

No!

A spell checker will tell you if a word is spelled correctly. But it won’t tell you if it’s the correct word to use. A grammar checker will tell you if a sentence makes sense. But it won’t tell you whether it really says what you want it to say.

Always check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

• Open the rough draft of your opinion essay – the one you wrote in learning activity 1.4 and saved to your computer.
• Make sure that you keep a saved copy of the original rough draft. You will edit it in this learning activity.
• You will hand in your rough draft and your edited copy at the end of this learning activity.

Keep the rough draft open in a separate window for this entire learning activity. You will need it many times.

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Sentence fragments: Idea #1

Complete sentences must have subjects and verbs. A sentence that doesn't have a subject and a verb is called a sentence fragment.

What are these sentence fragments missing?

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Went to the park.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Fix these incomplete sentences. Add something to the sentence fragment to make the sentence complete.

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To apply for a job at the mall.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

In each group, choose the sentence that is not a sentence fragment. Remember, a complete sentence has a subject and a verb.

Question 1 of 3

Group 1?

Decided to repaint the walls of my bedroom.

My room looked great when I’d finished.

After going to the paint store and choosing a colour that went with my furniture.

Submitquestion 1

 

Next question

Sentence fragments: Idea #2

Be careful! A sentence might seem to be complete but may be missing a part of the verb.

Add a word to fix these incomplete sentences.

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She gone to see her mother.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Check now that all of the sentences in your rough draft are complete sentences with a subject and a verb. Fix the ones that aren’t complete sentences.

Verb tense: Idea #3

Be careful not to mix tenses in sentences.

This sentence is incorrect: I wake up, eat breakfast, and took the bus to school.

Can you fix the sentence?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

For each of these sentences, choose the correct verb by matching it to the tense of the bolded verb in the sentence.

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I called him on the phone and (texted/text/will text) him.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Check your rough draft now. Do all the verb tenses match? Fix them if they don’t.

Subject-verb agreement: Idea #4

Be careful not to mix tenses in sentences.

Incorrect: The quarterback, like all the football players, practise every day.

Why? Because one quarterback is singular and the verb practise is plural. The plural verb practise must be changed to the singular verb, practises.

Correct: The quarterback, like all the football players, practises every day.

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Subject-verb agreement: Idea #5

Watch out for tricky subjects that look as if they are plural but are really singular.

Incorrect: Everyone love pizza.

Even though “everyone” means a lot of people, the word itself is singular.

Correct: Everyone loves pizza.

Here are some more sentences with tricky subjects. Are they singular or plural? Type the correct word to complete each of these sentences.

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Most of the games in the tournament (was/were) very close.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Subject-verb agreement: Idea #6

When subjects are connected by or, the subject closer to the verb determines whether the verb is singular or plural.

Incorrect: Either the students or the teacher are making a mistake.

Correct: Either the students or the teacher is making a mistake.

Complete these sentences by typing the correct word.

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Either the cake or the chocolates (is/are) ready to be decorated.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Check your rough draft now. Do all your subjects and verbs agree? Fix them if they don’t.

Pronoun-antecedent agreement: Idea #7

 

A pronoun stands in for a noun. The antecedent is the noun that the pronoun replaces. The pronoun must match or agree with the antecedent.

A pronoun is a short word like “he,” “she,” or “it” that is used instead of a noun.

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My brother is the team’s vice-captain. He will stand in for me.

What is the pronoun that replaces the noun, brother?

What is the antecedent in this sentence?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Pronouns should always match their antecedents.

• Incorrect: The whole team gave their approval.
• Correct: The whole team gave its approval.

Although there are many team members, there’s only one team. Therefore, you have to use the singular pronoun, its.

Here’s a common mistake:

• Incorrect: If anyone has a question, they should raise their hand.
• Correct: If anyone has a question, he or she should raise his or her hand.

Anyone is singular, so you have to use he or she instead of they, and his or her instead of their.

In each of these sentences, type the correct pronoun.

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My uncle and his family enjoyed (his/their) trip to Disneyland.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Check your rough draft now. Do all your pronouns and antecedents agree? Fix them if they don’t.

Spelling rules

No question about it, English words have some crazy spellings.

What else can you say about a language in which the words “kernel” and “colonel” sound exactly the same?

And the word B-A-S-S sounds different in these sentences:

“I play the bass drum.”

“I caught a bass.”

Use i before e except after c or when pronounced “ay” as in “neighbour” and “weigh.”

But there are some exceptions.

Here are just a few:

• Weird
• Height
• Neither
• Their

However, these next English spelling rules are more useful!

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Suffix rules

Suffixes are added to the ends of words to change their meaning. Sometimes they change their spelling as well.

-ed, -er, -est, -ing

When adding one of these suffixes, there are three rules, with no exceptions.

After reading the rules, try adding the suffixes to the words provided.

Rule:

If the word ends with an “e,” take away the “e” before adding the suffix.

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lie + ed =

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Rule:

If a word ends with a short vowel followed by a consonant, double the last consonant. A short vowel is one where the vowel does not sound like its name (e.g., the way “a” sounds in “apple”). If it does sound like its name, then it is a long vowel (e.g., the way “a” sounds in “ape”).

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hop + ed =

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Rule:

If a word ends in “y,” change the “y” to an “i” before adding the suffix.

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cry + ed =

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

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Plural rules

The plural of a word means that there’s more than one. Usually you change a word to its plural by adding “s.” But there are a lot of exceptions.

Pencil

Pencils

Rule:

If a word ends in “ch,” “sh,” or “s,” add “es” instead of “s.”

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• 3

bunch (plural) =

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Rule:

If a word ends in “f” or “fe,” change the “f” or “fe” to “ve” before adding “s.”/”

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wife (plural) =

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Rule:

Some words have irregular plurals that you just have to remember.

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child (plural) =

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

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Homonyms

Homonyms are words that sound the same but are spelled differently.

Like clothes…

and close...

Usually you change a word to its plural by adding “s.”

But there are a lot of exceptions.

Here is another example of a homonym.

Question 1 of 1

Who is the head of your school?

Principle

Principal

Submitquestion 1

Another way to keep homonyms straight is to remember their meanings and look for similar patterns. That will help you with three of the most common sets of homonyms:

“Its” and “it’s”

“Its” means “belonging to it.”

• Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow.

“It’s” is short for “it is.”

• It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood.

The next pair of homonyms follows the same pattern. Select the proper match for each sentence.

“Your” and “You’re”

Question 1I hear that ________ happy.select:youryou're

Question 2It looks like ________ team won.select:youryou're

Submit

There are three homonyms in the next group. Select the proper match for each sentence.

“They’re,” “Their,” and “There”

• Think of they’re as they are.
• Think of there as the opposite of here.
• So their must mean belonging to them.

Question 1I went to ________ concert.select:they'retheirthere

Question 2Is it here? No, it's ________.select:they'retheirthere

Question 3don't know what ________ doing.select:they'retheirthere

Submit

Using spelling resources

When your parents were in school and didn’t know how to spell a word, they were told to look it up in the dictionary. That provided a lot of material for stand-up comedians, who wondered how you could possibly find a word like “pneumonia” if you didn’t know to look under “p.”

Fortunately, today we have much better tools to help us spell correctly.

Most online dictionaries will try to guess the word you want: type in “neumonia” and they’ll ask you if you meant “pneumonia.”

To practise using an online dictionary, find one using a search engine and use it to find the correct spellings of this list of words. Type your answers into the text boxes and then click the button to check if you were right.

Check your rough draft now for spelling mistakes.

sychology
the study of the mind

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

nesesary
needed

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

definat
certain

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

which
a magic user

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

foren
from another country

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

seperate
apart

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

maintainance
the act of maintaining

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

playwrite
a person who writes plays

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

wether
sun or rain

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

mispell
to spell wrongly

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

Punctuation

Comma

Semicolons

Check your rough draft now for mistakes with commas, periods, and semicolons.

Apostrophes

Double quotations

Indirect quotations

Check your rough draft now for mistakes with apostrophes and quotation marks.

Colons

Parentheses

Dashes

Ellipses

Check your rough draft now for mistakes with these other forms of punctuation.

Now, take this punctuation quiz. Select whether each of these sentences is punctuated correctly or incorrectly. If the item is correctly punctuated, select True. If it is incorrectly punctuated, select False.

Question 1 of 9

I want to buy the blue sports car, but its too expensive.

True

False

Submitquestion 1

 

Next question

Editing for content

Once you’ve corrected grammar, spelling, and punctuation in your essay, your next task is to improve the writing itself. Sometimes it can be hard to think of what to change when there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the essay.

There is an introduction, supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion.

The spelling and grammar look pretty reasonable.

So what else can you do to improve your writing?

Think again about the before and after pictures of the living room. If we were to look at the before picture, we might have suggested moving a few pieces into different locations. We might have thought that there were too many pillows or accessories. We might have thought that some items just didn’t quite fit in with the image.

The same is true of writing.

Let’s try revising the sample draft opinion essay from the last learning activity.

This is the learning activity 1.4 draft essay.

Draft Essay

The first step in editing is to decide what needs changing. Use this checklist of tasks to help you.

Checklist for editing – Revision suggestions

1. Title of the essay
   • Is there a title?
   • Is the title 5-7 words long?
   • Does it grab the reader’s attention?
   • Does it indicate the writer’s opinion on the topic?
2. Statement of opinion
   • Is the opinion stated? Is it consistent and clear?
3. Introduction
   • Does the introduction state the points that the essay will develop?
   • Look over the body of the essay. Did the writer remember to include and expand on all the points from the introduction?
4. Topic sentences
   • Did the writer indicate which point the paragraph would argue?
5. Concluding statements
   • Did the writer remember to conclude each paragraph with a closing comment?
6. Punctuation
   • Did the writer use correct punctuation everywhere?
7. Specific words
   • Did the writer use specific words to help get the point across? For example, the word “think” might be replaced with “consider” or “contemplate” to more accurately explain what the writer is trying to say.
8. Word variety
   • Did the writer use a variety of words or synonyms to make the essay more engaging? Using the same word more than 3 or 4 times makes the writing too repetitive and boring to read.
9. Supporting details
   • Did the writer include enough information and examples to make sure the points were clear?
10. Order of paragraphs
    • Did the writer remember to keep the weakest supporting paragraph tucked away, in the middle of the essay? This helps to keep the argument stronger throughout the paper.

In the old days, people would edit their essays by making marks on the paper.

Some people still prefer to work with a paper and pencil, but today we have other options.

Look at this marked-up version of the learning activity 1.4 essay.

Seeing all those marks can be a bit overwhelming, but if we deal with one item at a time, we can revise an essay in no time.

Have a look at the revised essay.

Revised Essay

Assessment of Learning: Teacher-marked

Revising your essay

You are a quarter of the way through this course. This is an Assessment of Learning, which is used to evaluate your work based on established criteria and to assign a mark. Your teacher will provide you with feedback and a mark. This Assessment of Learning is worth 12% of your final mark for the course.

Now that you’ve seen how to edit and revise a sample essay, it’s time to write a five-paragraph opinion essay, from start to finish.

There are six tasks in this Assessment of Learning.

 

Task 1: Select an essay question

Select an opinion from one of the following questions and write an opinion essay. Brainstorm ideas and questions that you have about the topic. Save your brainstorming work so that you can submit it.

• Are arranged marriages good or bad?
• Should the government place a tax on smoking?
• Are actors and professional athletes paid too much?
• Should students have to wear uniforms or have a dress code?
• Are we too dependent on our “devices”?

 

Task 2: Choose your sources

Find three credible website sources with information about your topic. Create a document and save the website addresses for those sites in the document. For each source, explain why it is credible.                

 

Task 3: Prepare a comparison chart

 Prepare a chart showing three ideas for the Yes argument and three ideas for the No argument.

Choose the side you want to argue on, and write the rough draft of a five-paragraph opinion essay.

Task 4: Write your rough draft

Edit and proofread. Correct spelling, and make sure that you have not copied and pasted any words from any other sources. Every sentence must be your own!

Task 5: Revise/finalize your essay

Place all your documents in one file, name it “learning activity 1.5 Assessment of Learning,” and submit your work. Save the file to your Portfolio too! Call the file “learning activity 1.5 Portfolio Item.”

 

Task 6: Submit the assessment

The submitted file should have:

• Brainstorming about a topic
• Three credible sources and an explanation of why they are credible
• A chart showing three Yes and No ideas
• A rough edited draft of your five-paragraph opinion essay
• A final copy of your five-paragraph opinion essay

 

Feedback and marking

You will receive three kinds of feedback:

• Your teacher will highlight the phrases in the rubric that best describe your assignment to show you how you have done.
• Your teacher will also provide you with detailed comments about the strengths of your assignment, the areas of the assignment that need improvement, and the steps you should take before submitting another assignment like this one.
• The final piece of feedback that you will receive will be your mark. Each of the four categories of knowledge and skills is weighted equally at 25 marks, making a total of 100 marks. The final mark on this Assessment of Learning is determined by your teacher based on their professional judgement of the requirements for the assignment.

Rubric

Pay careful attention to the “Learning Activity 1.5: Assessment of Learning rubric. (Opens in new window)” Your teacher will use it to assess your work. You should refer to it too, so you’ll know exactly what your finished assignment should look like.

Submission

This is your Unit 1 assessment for feedback and a grade. This assessment is worth 12% of your course grade.

The teacher will assess your work using the rubric. Before submitting your assessment, review the rubric to ensure that you are meeting the success criteria to the best of your ability.

When you are ready, submit your assessment for feedback and a grade by selecting the “Assignment” link and follow the submission directions.

 

Lesson 2.1 is provided at the following link:  Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O) | Online Courses | TVO Learn

 

2.1   Inferring and summarizing

 

Read through the lesson and complete all activities.  Be sure you submit all work to your teacher for assessment.

 

Learning activity 2.1: Inferring and summarizing

• MINDS ON
• ACTION
• CONSOLIDATION

Learning goals

We are learning to:

• earn about inferences and summaries
• practise making inferences and summaries with different types of text
• apply the skills of inferring and summarizing to your own development as a reader

 

 

What does it mean to infer?

To infer means to draw conclusions based on fact and prior knowledge. Although you may have some ideas based on what you think you know, sometimes events may not be what they seem. Examine each of the following images. Based on the clues and evidence that are provided and your background knowledge, infer what has occurred.

What do you think is happening in these images? Fill in the chart below each image, based on your inferences.

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Based on my own knowledge and prior experience, I think that..

 

https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4oa_6.2.3.jpg

 

Based on my own knowledge and prior experience, I think that..

https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4oa_6.2.5.jpg

 

Based on my own knowledge and prior experience, I think that..

 

 

 

Student Answer

 

 

One reason I think so is…

Student Answer

 

A second reason I think so is…

Student Answer

 

 

 

 

How do people make inferences?

Next, you’re going to read something in print. Some of the information about what is happening has been left out. Examine the passage and think about what inferences you could make about the text.

For each of these sentences, choose the correct verb by matching it to the tense of the bolded verb in the sentence.

She slips $20 to the man in the booth. He slides her two tickets and $5. She smiles and he asks if she needs glasses. The man she is with nods. He finds them seats and leaves to get some snacks.

What can you infer about what is happening?

Based on my own knowledge and prior experience, I think that..

Student Answer

Reason 1:

Student Answer

Reason 2:

Student Answer

Now, examine the passage again.

She slips $20 to the man in the booth. He slides her two tickets and $5. She smiles and he asks if she needs glasses. The man she is with nods. He finds them seats and leaves to get some snacks.

Which portions of the passage caused some confusion? Do some pieces of evidence help to clarify the information? Did you use the 5 Ws and 1 H (who, what, where, when, why, and how) to help you to infer?

Using specific evidence from the text, what inferences can you make? Enter your responses in the spaces provided. Suggested answers have been included.

She slips $20 to the man in the booth.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

She is paying for something. She could be at a drive-thru, a ticket booth, or a parking lot.

 

 

 

 

 

The man she is with nods.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

Is the man nodding because he is “in” on something with the ticket seller? Or is he just indicating that they will need glasses?

 

 

He finds them seats and leaves to get some snacks.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

They need to find seats so it’s not likely a booked event like a theatre show, concert, or opera. You might get snacks at a game, concert, movie, or fair. Is it one of those events?

Inferring is sometimes called reading between the lines. Can you see why?

 

Inferring is sometimes called reading between the lines. Can you see why?

Summarizing: Alike or different?

What have you figured out so far?

• Well, when you infer, you consider the information you have and you try to fill in what’s missing.

So, what do you do when you summarize?

• With summarizing, you take all of the facts and information that are provided and narrow them down to just the important points.

But, whether you are inferring or summarizing, you are looking for important details to make sense of what you are seeing, hearing, or reading.

Record how inferences and summaries are alike and different. In a Venn diagram like this one, put the things that are the same in the overlapping centre. Put the things that are different in the two outer circles.

For each of these sentences, choose the correct verb by matching it to the tense of the bolded verb in the sentence.

• Venn diagram
• Venn diagram - Answers

Venn diagram with first circle reading “Inference”, the middle part reading “Similarities”, and the last circle reading “Summary

Okay, so let’s take a look at that passage again. If we consider the details we selected from inferring, we see how creating a summary can be similar.

 

 

You’ve considered how inferring and summarizing are used to examine information in different ways. You can likely see that who you are and what your experiences have been can influence how much you are able to understand. For example, what if you had never been to a movie theatre and you didn’t know about 3-D glasses? What might you have guessed the text was about? What if you weren’t familiar with the currency of dollars? Would you have considered this ticket price expensive or inexpensive?

You’ve considered how inferring and summarizing are used to examine information in different ways. You can likely see that who you are and what your experiences have been can influence how much you are able to understand. For example, what if you had never been to a movie theatre and you didn’t know about 3-D glasses? What might you have guessed the text was about? What if you weren’t familiar with the currency of dollars? Would you have considered this ticket price expensive or inexpensive?

How much of your personal experiences influence what you see and understand? Jot down a few ideas while your ideas are still fresh. You will need these ideas for your Logbook entry at the end of the learning activity.

Inference

Who: man and woman

Where: purchase something

When: earlier

Where: at an event

Why: for entertainment

How: by paying for entry and snacks

I would infer that they are on a date and are seeing a 3-D movie. I would infer that they seem happy and relxed being there.

Passage

She slips $20 to the man in the booth. He slides her two tickets and $5. She smiles and he asks if she needs glasses. The man she is with nods. He finds them seats and leaves to get some snacks.

Summary

Who: man and woman

Where: purchasing tickets

When: earlier

Where: at an event

Why: for entertainment

How: by paying for entry and snacks

I would summarize that a mand and a woman attended an event that costs $7.50 per person. She paid for entry to the event and after he found them seats, he bought them snacks.

Summarizing a textbook page

How you summarize a page of text might be different, depending on the page length or style of writing used. How would you summarize a chapter in a textbook? This is an important skill to have, when you are taking courses that use textbooks

• You might take short notes.
• You could use the titles and subtitles of the textbook to help you.
• And you might answer the 5 Ws and 1 H (who, what, when, where, why, and how) to help you.

Give it a try.

 

Practice #1

Look at how the first textbook page on “Mad Cow Disease(Opens in new window)” is laid out.

Just use the first two paragraphs on prions to answer these questions in full sentences.

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• 6
• 7

 

1. Write down all the words that are shown in colour, in the body portion of the text.

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

 

prions (two different colours) and PrP

 

2. Now read each section attached to one of these coloured headings or words. After you read a section ask yourself: What is important to know about…? Answer your own question, aloud. Now write down your question and your answer.

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

What is important to know about prions? Prions are tiny infectious particles of protein

3. Now ask yourself why they are important. Write down your question and your answer

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

Why are prions important? Prions are important because they cause the creation of more prions, which can lead to an infectious disease.

4. Now ask yourself: Where are they found? Write down your question and your answer.

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

Where are prions found? Prions are found in the brain.

5. Now ask yourself: Who figured this out? Write down your question and your answer.

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

Who figured this out? An American scientist named Stanley Prusiner figured this out.

6. Now ask yourself: When did he figure this out? Write down your question and your answer

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

When did he figure this out? He figured this out in 1922.

7. Now ask yourself: How do prions spread disease? Write down your question and your answer.

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

How do prions spread disease? When meat infected with prions is cooked, the prions can’t be killed off by the heat, so the disease is spread when people eat the infected meat.

 

 

 

 

Do you see how you have used the 5 Ws and 1 H to summarize two paragraphs of a textbook page?

Take your short answers to each of the questions and use them to make your summary.

Like this:

Prions are tiny infectious particles of protein found in the brain. They can cause the creation of more prions, which can lead to an infectious disease. An American scientist named Stanley Prusiner figured this out in 1972. Prions spread disease because they can’t be killed off by cooking, so when someone eats infected meat, they get infected too.

Summaries must be in your own words.

Let me say that again: You must write your summary in your own words.

Why? Because doing anything else is considered to be plagiarism.

How long should a summary be?

Here is a good rule of thumb: However many sentences it takes to briefly answer each of the questions who, what, when, where, why, and how, is how long your summary should be.

Practice #2

Now try it again. Answer these questions using only the second subheading of the previous textbook page in your downloaded document on mad cow disease.

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1. What is important to know about mad cow disease?

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

It can kill you, and you get it from eating infected meat.

2. Why does it happen?

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

Prions infect animal tissue. People eat the meat.

3. Where was it found?

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

It has been found in Britain, the United States, and Canada.

4. Who figured this out?

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

British authorities figured out that it was possible for humans to get mad cow disease from eating beef that had been fed with feed made from animal tissues infected with BSE.

5. When did they figure this out?

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

There was an epidemic in Britain in 1996, and discoveries of infected cattle were made in the U.S. and Canada in 2002.

6. How was it stopped?

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

Health authorities banned the use of cattle tissue in cattle feed.

 

 

Practice #3

Here is another textbook page. Use the skills you have just learned to write a summary of Absolute Advantage between Individuals. Use the 5 Ws and 1 H to help you create a summary.

Absolute Advantage between Individuals

Consider the following situation.

Graham and Manuel are neighbours. Graham is very good at solving home electrical problems. In one hour, he can fix a malfunctioning electrical outlet. Manuel is very good at doing income tax returns. He can complete one tax return in an hour. One Saturday in April, Manuel tries to fix an electrical outlet that’s not working. First, he does research on the Internet. Then, he tries several solutions, but nothing works. Nine hours pass before he finally stumbles upon a solution and manages to get his electrical outlet working again.

https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4oa_6.7.1a.jpg

Meanwhile, next door, Graham is struggling to complete his income tax return. There are a dozen forms to fill out, and each one seems to make less sense than the one before. Graham looks for help on the Internet but comes away more confused than ever. Finally, after nine hours, he fills in the last line on the last form and wearily heads off to bed.

https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4oa_6.7.1b.jpg

In this situation, Graham has an absolute advantage over Manuel in doing electrical work. He could have solved Manuel’s problem in only one hour. On the other hand, Manuel has an absolute advantage over Graham in doing income tax returns. He could have completed Graham’s return in a fraction of the time it took Graham to do so.

How could both Graham and Manuel accomplish more, with greater efficiency, on this Saturday?

Manuel could pay Graham $50 to come over and fix his electrical problem in an hour. Then Manuel would have the whole day to work on other tasks. Graham could pay Manuel $50 to come over and complete his income taxes in an hour. Then Graham would have the whole day to work on other tasks.

The two payments of $50 would cancel each other out, and Manuel and Graham would each gain eight hours of valuable time. Both Manuel and Graham would benefit from specialization (in electrical work or income tax preparation) and from trade (exchanging one skill for another skill). The same principle used in the case of Manuel and Graham can be applied to economic regions and countries.

 

 

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1. Record the answers to the 5 Ws and 1 H in full sentences.

Student Answer

 

2. Did you include all the key information? Did you leave out unimportant or repeated information? To decide if your summary is detailed enough, imagine your teacher is about to give you a pop quiz. Your friend didn’t have time to do the homework reading. Would your summary be enough to help your friend pass the quiz?

Student Answer

 

 

Did you include all the key information? Did you leave out unimportant or repeated information? To decide if your summary is detailed enough, imagine your teacher is about to give you a pop quiz. Your friend didn’t have time to do the homework reading. Would your summary be enough to help your friend pass the quiz?

Summarizing a news article

A news article has some features that are similar to those found in a story and other features that are similar to those found on a textbook page. Can you think what they are?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

News articles and stories both have a set of events that happened in a certain order. Newspapers and textbook pages both have headlines or titles and subtitles.

 

Read the following news article about how Canada Post treats the media and residential customers differently.

The Fixer: Canada Post fast-tracks graffiti removal for media, but not for customers

 

Published on Sunday May 27, 2012
Jack Lakey
Staff Reporter

Canada Post moves like a rocket to fix a problem, but only if you know who to call.

An email came in last week from Ruth Lucas, expressing frustration over her inability to get Canada Post to remove graffiti from her community mailbox on Dakin Dr. in Ajax.

“I have tried talking to the post office (and) actually went to the depot and spoke to a supervisor, with no result,” said Lucas.

“It’s impossible to file a complaint by phone. I have tried and tried.”

The letters “FDP” were spray-painted across the front of the mailbox, which may offend folks on Dakin, but isn’t nearly as bad as the graffiti on other postal boxes.

After checking it out, we called Eugene Knapic, who deals with media for Canada Post, on his cellphone and interrupted his dinner to report it.

Knapic said he could get a work order started right away if we sent him an email, which we fired off at 7:09 p.m. Thursday, along with a photo.

He replied at 10:10 p.m. – three hours after our email to him – saying the graffiti had been removed.

Whoever said the post office delivers snail mail wasn’t talking about its ability to quickly resolve an irritating local problem. It was truly impressive.

But it left us wondering why it isn’t as easy for Canada Post’s customers to report a problem.

We visited the Canada Post website and found tips on tracking mail, postal rates, products and services – including collector stamps and coins for sale – and a guide to parcel preparation, among other things.

Nowhere could we find a “report a problem” link. Under “contact us,” an obscure link at the bottom of the home page, we discovered a postal security category, where we clicked on “about security and investigations.”

It revealed a phone number – 1-800-267-1177 – which can be called to report “mail at risk or damage/vandalism to Canada Post property and equipment.”

Shouldn’t that number be at the top of Canada Post’s home page, along with a report a problem link, and stencilled on every mailbox it owns?

And if we were the head mailman, employees would be encouraged to report graffiti and vandalism, and a process created to make it easy for them.

What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To email us, go to www.thestar.com/thefixer and click on the submit a problem link. Or call us at 416-869-4823.

Reproduced with permission – Torstar Syndication Services

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, to summarize the facts, ask yourself the 5 Ws and 1 H.

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1. What is this news article about?

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2. Who is involved?

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3. When did it happen?

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4. Why is it important?

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5. When did they figure this out?

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6. How is it being dealt with?

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Now write a summary using your short answers to each of these questions.

Student Answer

Being a better reader

When you summarize or infer, you consider:

• the purpose of what you have read
• the content of what you have read
• the format or structure (e.g., a textbook versus a news article) of what you have read

Inferring requires you to consider your previous knowledge and experience to help you understand the missing or confusing information. (For example: You’ve been to the movies, and this sounds like a trip to the movies.)

Summarizing requires you to consider which pieces of the information provided are the most important. (For example: How you can get mad cow disease is pretty important to know.)

Putting it all together

It’s all about adding more tools to your reader/writer toolkit!

 

Record your responses to these questions in your Notebook. Write your responses in full sentences. Call the file Learning activity 2.1 Notebook Entry.

1. All written texts have particular formats or structures. Consider a blog, for example. How would the purpose of a blog affect how you would summarize it?
2. To understand a magazine advertisement, do you need to infer? Explain.
3. Does the structure of a text message require you to infer certain information? How so?
4. If you needed to summarize a short story on teen pregnancy and then a pamphlet on teen pregnancy, how might the content of your two summaries be the same? How would the two summaries be different?
5. If you were to read two lifestyle magazines, how could the cover help you infer who the audience is supposed to be?
6. How much of your personal experiences influence what you understand and infer when reading? Explain.

 

For this Portfolio item you will read an online “micro-story.” A micro-story is a story that has less than 500 words.

Task 1:

Do a search on online micro-stories and several should come up. You might want to skim through a few, before you choose one to work with.

Task 2:

Copy and paste the URL for the website where you found the story into your Word document and then answer these micro-story questions.

Micro-story questions

1. Summarize the micro-story in two sentences. Make sure that you use your own words.
2. From what you have read in the micro-story, infer what you think will happen next.

Task 3:

Save this item in your Portfolio folder and call it Learning Activity 2.1 Portfolio Item.

Conclusion

In this learning activity you’ve learned the difference between summarizing and inferring. When you summarize, you pick out only the most important parts. When you infer, you use your own knowledge to make educated guesses about what hasn’t been written in the text.

Summarizing and inferring can help you become a better reader because they involve two different ways to think about what you’re reading, and the more you think about what you’re reading, the better you’ll understand it.

Continue to use summarizing and inferring throughout the course. Make sure that you understand how they are alike and how they are different. When you are asked to summarize a text, remember the 5 Ws and 1 H. When you are asked to infer, make sure that you use all the clues at your disposal. For now, it’s on to learning activity 2.2!

 

 

Lesson 2.3 is provided at the following link:  Learning activity 2.3: Get your story right (ilc.org)

 

2.3   

 

Read through the lesson and complete all activities.  Be sure you submit all work to your teacher for assessment.

 

Learning activity 2.3: Get your story right

 

Learning Goals

After completing this learning activity, you will be able to:

• recognize that narrative writing comes in many forms
• examine bias and how it shapes the way people respond
• create a short narrative of your own

 

“Can you please explain your side of the story? Tell me, from your perspective, what really happened?”

This learning activity will focus on the narrative form of writing. You will see narratives written in a variety of formats, including poetry, essays, and short stories.

As you learn more about narratives, you will examine how bias helps to shape the way people see and respond to events. By the end of the learning activity you’ll be able create a short narrative of your own.

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03.01.jpeg

 

Acknowledgements(Opens in new window)

What is a narrative?

A narrative is writing that tells a story.

These stories can be written in the form of a poem, a song, or a short story. Narratives can be:

• biographical, which means they tell a person’s life story;
• historical, which means they tell the story of an event that happened in the past; and
• fictional, which means that the story being told is made up – it didn’t really happen.

Do you know the story about the Berlin Wall being torn down? This was a real event in history. Therefore you would say that it is a historical narrative.

However, depending on who told you the story, you certainly would hear different things about it. Do a quick search on tearing down the Berlin Wall and see how many hits you get!

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03.02.jpeg

 

Narratives connect us

Narratives help people to connect, and to understand one another.

Have you ever heard the expression “walk a mile in my shoes”? Well, that is what a narrative tries to help you do…walk in someone else’s shoes. By “walking in their shoes,” you see things from their perspective.

Narratives help us to empathize with others. What does empathize mean? It means to relate, to feel another’s situation deeply, or to “walk a mile in another’s shoes.”

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03.03.jpeg

 

What else do narratives do?

• Narratives take place at a particular time and place.
• Narratives can be made up of true, personal events.
• Narratives can be made up of fictitious or made-up events.
• Narratives are told from a particular perspective, e.g., “I,” “We,” or “They.”

 

In my own words

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03.04.jpeg

 

What is the best narrative that you have ever read or heard? Do you remember when and where you were when you read it or heard it? Was it around a campfire? Was it online?

Was it biographical, historical, or fictional?

Write what you remember of when and where you were when you read or heard the best narrative ever.

Student Answer

What’s in a narrative?

News articles and narratives are similar in that they both answer the 5 Ws and 1 H. In narratives, though, they are referred to as:

• Setting (when and where)
• Characters (who)
• Plot (what, how)
• Theme (why)

But the other way that a narrative is quite different from a news story is that the structure of a narrative is very different from that of a news report. As you have just learned, a news report uses the structure of an inverted pyramid to organize the content. But narratives use a different structure.

Narratives have a beginning, middle, and end.

The sequence of a narrative needs to make sense to the readers so that they can follow along and understand what is happening.

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03.04.b.jpg

 

Take a look at the following panels from a comic strip called Sandra and Woo. Their order has been scrambled. Look for clues that will help you put the panels in the correct order. To do this, click and drag the panels from the comic strip into their correct order in the blank slots above them.

 

 

 

 

Comics

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Press Enter here for an accessible version of Unscrambling a comic strip.(Opens in new window)

 (Opens in a new window)Start(Opens in a new window)

How did you know which panel went first?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

It was the one with the question.

 

 

How did you determine the last panel?

Student Answer

 

 

Could the panels possibly have been arranged differently?

Student Answer

Now imagine that you’re looking at a narrative paragraph instead of a comic strip. If the sentences were scrambled, what clues would you use to determine the correct order?

Take a look at the following sentences. These belong to a narrative paragraph. See if you can place them in the correct order in the activity below. As you do, reflect on the clues that you used to organize the sentences.

We played a lot of music trivia and stayed out later than we planned.

I fed my dog and then got myself ready to visit with some friends.

I met my friends at a local pub around 9 o'clock.

By the time I arrived home last night it was around 6 o’clock.

Since it was still sunny and bright, I barbequed some chicken and vegetables and ate dinner on the patio.

Question 11.select:We played a lot of music trivia and stayed out later than we planned.I fed my dog and then got myself ready to visit with some friends.I met my friends at a local pub around 9 o'clock.By the time I arrived home last night it was around 6 o’clock.Since it was still sunny and bright, I barbequed some chicken and vegetables and ate dinner on the patio.

Question 22.select:We played a lot of music trivia and stayed out later than we planned.I fed my dog and then got myself ready to visit with some friends.I met my friends at a local pub around 9 o'clock.By the time I arrived home last night it was around 6 o’clock.Since it was still sunny and bright, I barbequed some chicken and vegetables and ate dinner on the patio.

Question 33.select:We played a lot of music trivia and stayed out later than we planned.I fed my dog and then got myself ready to visit with some friends.I met my friends at a local pub around 9 o'clock.By the time I arrived home last night it was around 6 o’clock.Since it was still sunny and bright, I barbequed some chicken and vegetables and ate dinner on the patio.

Question 44.select:We played a lot of music trivia and stayed out later than we planned.I fed my dog and then got myself ready to visit with some friends.I met my friends at a local pub around 9 o'clock.By the time I arrived home last night it was around 6 o’clock.Since it was still sunny and bright, I barbequed some chicken and vegetables and ate dinner on the patio.

Question 55.select:We played a lot of music trivia and stayed out later than we planned.I fed my dog and then got myself ready to visit with some friends.I met my friends at a local pub around 9 o'clock.By the time I arrived home last night it was around 6 o’clock.Since it was still sunny and bright, I barbequed some chicken and vegetables and ate dinner on the patio.

Submit

Which words helped you to organize the order of these sentences?

Student Answer

How does this information help you to understand how you would write a narrative?

Student Answer

 

 

 

What is a plot?

Question 1 of 1

Select the correct answer.

Making time for friends

Losing track of time

What I did last night

Live music and good times

Submitquestion 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The structure of a narrative

Every narrative has a plot. It doesn’t matter whether the narrative is a play, a poem, a story, a song, a graphic novel, or a comic strip. The narrative will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. However, this is a Grade 12 English course. So, that means you need to understand more complex terms for organizing a narrative than simply a beginning, middle, and end.

For example, by Grade 12, you need to be able to recognize these distinctive elements, which can be arranged in a plot development chart like this one. To view each of these elements, click on “Beginning,” “Middle,” and “End.”

• Beginning
• Middle
• End

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning

In a narrative, the 5Ws and 1H are usually presented here.

Introduction

This is where the characters, setting and premise of the story are introduced.

Time

The length of the narrative. Does it take place over an hour, a day, or several years?

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03_t1b.png

 

 

 

 

Middle

The section where most of the action takes place. The conflicts are presented and the tension increases.

Rising action

Something happens to create a problem, or conflict, for the characters. As they try to resolve the conflict, other things happen. The tension begins to build.

Tension

The level of tension, or excitement. It peaks at the climax because the conflict is coming to a resolution.

Climax

The highest point of interest. It's the moment when the conflict is resolved, for better or for worse.

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03_t2b.png

 

 

End

The conflict is resolved and the reader sees how the characters were affected.

Falling action

Once the conflict has been resolved, the tension quickly decreases as the story moves toward the conclusion.

Tension

The level of tension, or excitement. It peaks at the climax because the conflict is coming to a resolution.

Conclusion

Wraps up the story and answers the question, "How will the story end?"

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Point of view

Consider the following scenario:

A child wanders into a neighbour’s back yard and is bitten by this dog. The fence and gate have “Beware of the Dog” signs on them. Because the child requires so many stitches, the family that owns the dog has been ordered to have the dog put down.

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03.07.jpeg

 

 

Who are the characters in this narrative?

Student Answer

Pretend to be the different characters in this narrative. Write two to three sentences for each character that tell their version of what happened.

The family who owned the dog

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The child’s parents

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The veterinarian who put the dog down

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The dog

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It’s clear. Narratives can be told from different points of view. Our point of view is our bias. We see things in a certain way…very often only in our way.

Let’s explore this idea a little further. For the following narratives, indicate whether they are told from a first person, omniscient, or third person limited point of view. Enter your responses in the spaces provided.

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When someone asks me what business I am in, I am seized with embarrassment: I blush and stammer, I who am otherwise known as a man of poise.”

Source: The Laugher by Heinrich Boll

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

 

This is a first person point of view. The character uses “I” when telling the story. We only hear this character’s point of view or his/her side of the story.

 

 

Trisha was anxious to get started on her new job. Her older brother, Denver, was silently worrying about whether Trish could keep up with the job’s physical demands, but the whole family was delighted to discover that Trish wasn’t just keeping up, she was excelling at her new role. That is, until Nathan arrived.

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

 

This is an omniscient point of view. This narrator can get inside the heads of all the characters to tell everyone’s point of view.

 

“Barry cradled his father’s head in the crook of his left arm, so that the man could tilt back his head, exposing the throat. He brushed fresh lather under the chin and into the hollows alongside the stretched tendons. Barry was filled with unreasoning protective love. He lifted the razor and began to shave.”

Source: Shaving by Leslie Norris

Student AnswerHide Suggested Answer

 

This is a third person limited point of view. The narrator uses the pronouns “he” or “she” when telling the story. The narrator reveals only this character’s inner thoughts.

 

 

 

Putting it all together

As you read these narratives, record the following:

• Setting – where and when
• Characters – who
• Plot – what happened
• Theme – why and how

Narrative #1

By the time I arrived home last night it was around 6 o’clock. Since it was still sunny and bright, I barbequed some chicken and vegetables and ate dinner on the patio. After I cleaned up, I weeded in the vegetable garden for an hour while my dog dug holes behind me. I hosed off the dog and then got myself ready to visit with some friends. My friends arrived around 9 o’clock and we listened to music and relaxed on the patio, chatting for a bit. Suddenly, we heard one of our favourite songs and decided to head out and listen to some live music. It was only a couple of minutes before we went to a local club to listen to a band. The music and the crowd were great so we stayed out later than planned. We finally left for home around 2 o’clock in the morning.

Setting (When and where is the story taking place?)

Student Answer

Characters (Who is involved in the events?)

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Plot (What is happening?)

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Theme (Why did the author write the narrative?)

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Would it be easier or more difficult to identify those same elements in a poem? Read the following poem and identify the elements of a narrative, just as you did with the previous paragraph.

Narrative #2

Sweet Dancer
by William Butler Yeats

The girl goes dancing there
On the leaf-sown, new-mown, smooth
Grass plot of the garden;
Escaped from bitter youth,
Escaped out of her crowd,
Or out of her black cloud.

Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer!
If strange men come from the house
To lead her away, do not say
That she is happy being crazy;
Lead them gently astray;
Let her finish her dance,
Let her finish her dance.
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer!

Setting (When and where is the story taking place?)

Student Answer

Characters (Who is involved in the events?)

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Plot (What is happening?)

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Theme (Why did the author write the narrative?)

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Try this again with a narrative taken from the beginning of a short story.

…Consider the case of Henry Pifield Rice, detective.

Try this again with a narrative taken from the beginning of a short story.

Narrative #3

Excerpt from the short story “Bill the Bloodhound”
by P.G. Wodehouse

I must explain Henry early, to avoid disappointment. If I simply said he was a detective, and let it go at that, I should be obtaining the reader’s interest under false pretenses. He was really only a sort of detective, a species of sleuth. At Stafford’s International Investigation Bureau, in the Strand, where he was employed, they did not require him to solve mysteries which had baffled the police. He had never measured a footprint in his life, and what he did not know about bloodstains would have filled a library. The sort of job they gave Henry was to stand outside a restaurant in the rain, and note what time someone inside left it. …

Henry lived in a boarding-house in Guildford Street. One day a new girl came to the boarding-house, and sat next to Henry at meals. Her name was Alice Weston. She was small and quiet, and rather pretty. They got on splendidly. Their conversation, at first confined to the weather and the moving-pictures, rapidly became more intimate. Henry was surprised to find that she was on the stage, in the chorus. …Alice Weston was different.

Setting (When and where is the story taking place?)

Student Answer

Characters (Who is involved in the events?)

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Plot (What is happening?)

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Theme (Why did the author write the narrative?)

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You can see that narratives take many forms! But, with a little work, you can still determine some common elements.

Generating ideas for your narrative

It helps to brainstorm your ideas before you start to write. When you brainstorm, you think about all the details of your narrative. Will it be the names of characters? Will it be funny or sad? Will you tell a story as it happened or will you add or remove pieces? Will you change the names of characters? Will it be real or fictitious? What will be the turning point, or climax, in your narrative? Will you tell your narrative as a poem, essay, story, or paragraph? What do you want your readers to think when they read your narrative? Do you want them to reflect on something? Learn a learning activity? Be entertained or informed?

Brainstorming ideas is the place to begin.

Brainstorm ideas for a narrative based on these images. They all look like pretty ordinary pictures. How could you make the ordinary, extraordinary? In each text box, record an idea for a story using the image to get you started.

 

 

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03.09.jpg

Student Answer

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.03.09b.jpg

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Using story beginnings

Sometimes ideas can come from a part of something else that you have read. Consider these story beginnings and see which one appeals to you the most.

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A child stood on a street corner. He leaned one shoulder against a high board fence and swayed to and fro, while kicking carelessly at the gravel. Sunshine beat upon the cobbles, and a lazy summer wind raised yellow dust, which trailed in clouds down the avenue. Clattering trucks moved past. The child stood gazing dreamily. After a while, a little dark-brown dog with an intent air came trotting down the sidewalk. A short rope was dragging from its neck. Occasionally, the dog trod on the end of it and stumbled. He stopped opposite the child, and the two regarded each other.

Which one do you think has the most potential for a good narrative?

Student Answer

 

The wind roars up the avenue. Trees stoop and bend this way and that. Leaves fall and fly wildly in the rain. A flicker of light moves in the upstairs window. A candle burns in the empty house. Wandering through the hallways, opening windows, whispering in the darkness, a ghostly figure seeks company.

Which one do you think has the most potential for a good narrative?

Student Answer

 

Every morning I hoped to see her on the way to class. When I passed her dorm one morning and saw her leave, my heart leaped. In my hurry to follow her, I dropped my books and had to rush to keep up. Just as we came near the point at which our ways diverged, I quickened my pace and passed her. I wanted to speak to her, but couldn't think of anything to say. Just the thought of saying her name made my pulse race and my courage fail me.

Which one do you think has the most potential for a good narrative?

Student Answer

 

He was still looking at the weapon, and, raising the hammer, caught a glimpse of a cap gleaming beneath it like a tiny red flame. By good fortune or forgetfulness, the cap gun was still loaded. At the knowledge, he was filled with a strangely inexplicable sense of joy.

Which one do you think has the most potential for a good narrative?

Student Answer

 

 

 

Using images for story ideas

Sometimes it is a fleeting memory from a dream that becomes the inspiration for a story. These are art pieces created by some students based on their dreams. Look carefully: there is more to each image than meets the eye. Could you use these to write a story or a poem?

Think of one title for a narrative for each of these images.

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Student Answer

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Student Answer

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Student Answer

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Student Answer

Assessment for Learning: Peer evaluation

Narrative writing

You are almost halfway through this course. This is an Assessment for Learning, so no marks will be assigned; instead, the assessment will help you determine where you are in your learning, where you need to go, and how best to get there. For this Assessment for Learning, you will ask a friend or relative to give you feedback. There is no need for this person to be an expert on this subject.

There is one task in this Assessment for Learning.

Task: Creating a narrative from an image

1. Choose one of the images shown in this learning activity.
2. Brainstorm ideas for the plot of the story.
3. Write a story (called a narrative) using the image to help you get started. The story should be 2–3 pages long.
4. Proofread your story and correct it as necessary.
5. When you are finished writing your narrative, write down what was easy and what was hard about writing it.
6. Show all your work to a friend or relative and let them use the rubric on the next page to assess your work. They should also add comments in the comment boxes under the rubric.
7. Take a screenshot of their feedback on the rubric and add this screenshot to the end of your story. Call the file “Learning Activity 2.3 Assessment for Learning.”

Rubric

Print this "Rubric(Opens in new window)” for your friend or relative to select the phrases that best describe your work.

Encourage your friend or relative to provide you with detailed comments about the strengths of your assignment, the areas of the assignment that need improvement, and the steps you should take before submitting another assignment like this one.

Once your friend or relative has completed the printed rubric, have them return it to you.

Knowledge & Understanding

Expectations

• Demonstrate knowledge of the narrative form
• Demonstrate knowledge of the writing process

Level 4 80-100%	Level 3 70-79%	Level 2 60-69%	Level 1 50-59%
With a high degree of effectiveness	With considerable effectiveness	With some effectiveness	With limited effectiveness

 

Thinking

Success Criteria:

• Use creative thinking skills in writing by developing ideas
• Demonstrate self-assessment and awareness of writing skills

Level 4 80-100%	Level 3 70-79%	Level 2 60-69%	Level 1 50-59%
With a high degree of effectiveness	With considerable effectiveness	With some effectiveness	With limited effectiveness

 

Communication

Success Criteria:

• Communicate ideas clearly in writing

Level 4 80-100%	Level 3 70-79%	Level 2 60-69%	Level 1 50-59%
With a high degree of effectiveness	With considerable effectiveness	With some effectiveness	With limited effectiveness

 

Application

Success Criteria:

• Apply the use of language conventions including grammar, punctuation, and accurate spelling
• Apply the writing process

Level 4 80-100%	Level 3 70-79%	Level 2 60-69%	Level 1 50-59%
With a high degree of effectiveness	With considerable effectiveness	With some effectiveness	With limited effectiveness

Lesson 2.2 is provided at the following link:  Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O) | Online Courses | TVO Learn

 

2.2   Inferring and summarizing

 

Read through the lesson and complete all activities.  Be sure you submit all work to your teacher for assessment.

Learning activity 2.2: Exploring the news

Learning Goals

After completing this learning activity, you will be able to:

• examine the elements that make up a news story
• determine what makes an item newsworthy
• learn the inverted pyramid model of news stories
• use the inverted pyramid model to brainstorm, draft, and write your own news article

 

So just what is it that makes news, news? In this learning activity, you’ll learn how to write a news article. Don’t worry – it’s not as hard as it sounds. News reporters use a writing model called the inverted pyramid to make their job easier. In this learning activity you’ll learn how to use it too.

You’ll also learn how reporters decide what news to report. Just because something happened doesn’t mean people will be interested and it certainly doesn’t mean that it is worthy to be called news!

Acknowledgements(Opens in new window)

Where do you find your news?

Consider, for a moment, all the places where you can find the news.

Do you know, for example, what these items are? They all deliver the news:

• Skytracker
• The Globe and Mail
• Fluent News Reader
• The New York Times
• The Guardian
• Twitter

Perform an online search using the terms “magazine newspaper apps ios android.” Your search should return an impressive number of results. Do you use any of these apps yourself?

Where might you look if you were trying to find out who won the game last night? Where would you look for the list of winning lottery numbers? How could you find out what is happening in celebrities’ lives?

Match the news source to the type of “news” that it delivers.

When you’re finished the activity, think about the following: When we say “news,” what do we really mean? Do all of the items from this activity actually qualify as news?

Question 1A company-owned websiteselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Question 2A mobile app like Skytrackerselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Question 3A Twitter feedselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Question 4A national newspaperselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Question 5An online blogselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Submit

 

What is news?

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.02.jpeg

 

Why are there different sources of news?

Student Answer

What is news? How is it different from other information?

Why does the news matter? Watch this brief video clip from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting called “What is News?” and see if you can determine the answers to some of the questions that follow. Post your responses on the next page.

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The white and blue ILC logo appears on the lower-right corner of the screen.

A black slate reads "The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Presents."

Nathalie Applewhite stands outside a big building. She is in her mid-thirties, with brown hair tied-up. She wears a blue and white shirt and earrings.

A caption reads "On location The Newseum (under construction). Washington DC."

Nathalie says HI,
I'M NATHALIE APPLEWHITE
FROM THE PULITZER CENTER
ON CRISIS REPORTING.
WE'VE BEEN THINKING
A LOT ABOUT HOW THE PUBLIC
UNDERSTANDS WHAT NEWS IS,
AND WE WANT TO KNOW
WHAT YOU THINK.
I MEAN, WHAT ACTUALLY
MAKES NEWS NEWS?
I ASKED A FEW JOURNALISTS
WHAT THEY THOUGHT.

The caption changes to "Ellen Lee. San Francisco Chronicle." Ellen is in her late twenties, with long black hair. She wears a black shirt.

Ellen says SO WHAT IS NEWS?
WELL, I THINK THAT ANYTHING
THAT'S INTERESTING IS NEWS.

The caption changes to "Jeffrey Sheban. Columbus Dispatch." He is in early forties, clean-shaven with short black hair. He wears glasses and a black shirt.

Jeffrey says ONE OF MY KIDS WHEN
SHE WAS REAL YOUNG SAID,
"DAD, I LIKE
THE KIND OF NEWS
"THAT TELLS YOU
WHAT'S HAPPENING."
AND I THINK IN
THE MOST BASIC SENSE,
WE'RE OUT THERE ON
THE FRONT LINES
TELLING PEOPLE
WHAT'S HAPPENING.

The caption changes to "Carroll Wilson. Times Record News, Wichita Falls, Texas." He is in his fifties, with a beard and graying hair. He wears glasses and a yellow polo-shirt.

Carroll says I THINK WITH THE ADVENT
OF THE WEB,
WHAT WE'VE SEEN IS
A DIMINISHMENT OF EMPHASIS ON
NEWS AS NEWS,
AND A RE-ARRANGEMENT
IN PEOPLE'S MINDS
ABOUT WHAT NEWS IS.
IT'S WITH THIS KIND OF
EQUIPMENT,
AND WITH THE WEB,
WITH EVERYTHING ELSE,
IT'S NOW ALL ABOUT ME.

The caption changes to "Julian Pecquet. Tallahassee Democrat." Julian is in his mid-thirties, clean-shaven with short black hair. He wears a light blue shirt.

Julian says I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT
TO REALIZE
THAT WITHOUT PROFESSIONALS
REPORTING THE NEWS,
PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT
ADVERTISERS,
OR EVEN COMMUNITY PEOPLE
WHO MIGHT HAVE A SPIN,
OR MIGHT WANNA MAKE
SOMEBODY LOOK GOOD,
THEN THE PRODUCT THAT YOU GET
IS NO LONGER NEWS.

The caption changes to "Antigone Barton. The Palm Beach Post." She is in her fifties, with shoulder-length blond hair. She wears a black shirt, necklaces and glasses.

Antigone says I THINK NEWS IS
WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
AND WHAT PEOPLE
NEED TO KNOW,
AND THEY DON'T ALWAYS APPEAR TO
BE THE SAME THING,
AND I THINK THAT THAT'S
WHEN IT'S OUR JOB
TO MAKE THE CONNECTION CLEAR.

The caption changes to "J.B. Smith. Waco Tribune Herald." He is in his early thirties, with a goatee and receding hair. He wears glasses and a beige polo-shirt.

J.B. says I THINK THAT THE NEWS MEDIA
HAS A WAY OF ACTUALLY
CHANGING THE DEFINITION
OF WHAT NEWS IS,
BECAUSE AS WE REPORT MORE,
WE KNOW MORE ABOUT EACH OTHER,
AND WE BECOME MORE INTERESTED
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.

Back at the street, Nathalie says SOME SAY THE CENTRAL PURPOSE
OF JOURNALISM AS BEING
TO GIVE CITIZENS THE INFORMATION
THEY NEED TO FUNCTION
IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY,
THAT THE NEWS MEDIA SHOULD BE
A WATCHDOG OF THOSE IN POWER,
AND THAT IT'S JOB IS
TO EXPOSE DECEIT
AND LET TRUTH EMERGE.
MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT NEWS AS
INFORMATION IS A PUBLIC GOOD,
AND THAT U.S. BROADCASTERS
ARE EVEN MANDATED
TO SERVE THE
PUBLIC INTEREST.
BUT WHAT IS
THE PUBLIC INTEREST?

A clip shows people reading the newspaper in a public space.

Nathalie says MARK FOWLER,
FORMER HEAD OF
THE FEDERAL
COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION,
SAYS THAT WHAT'S IN
THE PUBLIC INTEREST
IS WHAT THE PUBLIC
IS INTERESTED IN.
WHICH, OF COURSE,
RAISES A FUNNY QUESTION.
I MEAN, HOW DO I KNOW
IF I'M INTERESTED IN SOMETHING
IF I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT
IN THE FIRST PLACE?
IF WE LET THE NEWS BE DETERMINED
BY WHAT WILL BRING IN
THE MOST ADVERTISING DOLLARS,
IS IT STILL NEWS?
I MEAN, WHAT IS
THE REAL PURPOSE OF NEWS?
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?
THE PULITZER CENTER
WOULD LIKE TO KNOW.
PLEASE SEND US YOUR VIDEO
RESPONSES,
AND WE'LL POST THEM
HERE ON YOUTUBE
AND ON OUR SITE AT
WWW.PULITZERCENTER.ORG.

The slate changes to "Special thanks to the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the World Affairs Journalism Fellowships."

 

Based on what the journalists said, what do you think news is?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

• What people want to know and what they need to know
• Information as a public good

What is the purpose of news?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

• To tell us what’s happening
• To give citizens the information they need to function in a democratic society
• To serve the public interest

 

Why should people be informed about what is going on in the world?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

• We know more about each other.
• We become more interested in other parts of the world.

What should the news be?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

• A watchdog that keeps an eye on those in power
• To expose deceit and let truth emerge

 

 

What makes an event newsworthy?

With so many places to locate and develop news items, it makes you wonder how reporters determine which events or stories are newsworthy. How does a reporter decide if people will find a story interesting? What criteria do they use to select a story so that they don’t spend their time writing an article that won’t be read?

Watch Rachel Zidon’s YouTube video “What Makes News News?” and see if you can determine the seven pillars that are used as a guide. You may want to take notes as you watch.

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The white and blue ILC logo appears on the lower-right corner of the screen.

A black slate reads "What Makes News News?. The Seven Pillars of News Writing. Rachel Zidon reports."

In off, Rachel says THIS IS RACHEL ZIDON
WITH A SPECIAL REPORT
ON THE SEVEN QUALITIES
THAT MAKE A STORY NEWSWORTHY.
THE FIRST QUALITY
IS TIMELINESS.
THE MORE RECENTLY
SOMETHING HAPPENED,
THE MORE RELEVANT
THE STORY IS.
SAY, FOR EXAMPLE,
MR. STICK FIGURE
CAME TO OUR SCHOOL
TO GIVE A SPEECH
ABOUT HOW AWESOME JOURNALISM
IS TODAY.
SINCE IT HAPPENED RECENTLY,
IT'S NEWSWORTHY.
HOWEVER, IF MR. STICK FIGURE
GAVE THE EXACT SAME SPEECH
FIVE MONTHS AGO,
THAT'S NOT NEWSWORTHY.
IT'S NOT RECENT ENOUGH
FOR PEOPLE TO BE INTERESTED.

On split screens, two drawings show the story told. Then, a red cross appears on one of them.

Now, a map of the United States appears.

She continues THE NEXT QUALITY
IS PROXIMITY.
BEING PSYCHICALLY NEAR TO A
STORY MAKES IT MORE INTERESTING.
A SOCCER GAME THAT'S HAPPENING
ON OUR SCHOOL SOCCER FIELD
IS NEWSWORTHY BECAUSE
IT'S HAPPENING CLOSE BY.
BUT IF THE EXACT SAME SOCCER
GAME TOOK PLACE IN TIMBUKTU,
OUR READERS WOULDN'T
REALLY CARE.
IT'S NOT CLOSE ENOUGH
TO BE NEWSWORTHY.

Against a black screen, a red pointed shape appears.

She continues THE THIRD QUALITY OF
NEWSWORTHINESS IS RARITY.
MY FIRST JOURNALISM PROFESSOR
HAD A TEST
FOR WHETHER A STORY
HAD THIS QUALITY.
IT HAD TO MAKE THE READER STOP
AND SAY, "GEE WHIZ."
FOR EXAMPLE,
A DOG BITING A MAN
WOULD PROBABLY NOT MAKE
A READER SAY, "GEE WHIZ,"
BECAUSE IT'S NOT
A VERY UNUSUAL EVENT.
HOWEVER,
IF A MAN BIT A DOG,
A READER WOULD PROBABLY
BE SURPRISED,
AND EXCLAIM, "GEE WHIZ."
UPON READING THE STORY.
THE FOURTH QUALITY OF
NEWSWORTHINESS IS PROMINENCE.

A picture of Barack Obama appears.

She continues MINOR THINGS BECOME
INTERESTING TO READERS
WHEN THEY HAPPEN
TO PROMINENT PEOPLE.
IF AVERAGE JOE FALLS FLAT ON
HIS FACE WALKING TO SCHOOL,
NO ONE IS REALLY INTERESTED.
BUT IF PRESIDENT STICK FIGURE
FALLS FLAT ON HIS FACE
WALKING OUT OF
THE WHITE HOUSE,
IT'S SUDDENLY NEWSWORTHY,
BECAUSE IT'S HAPPENING TO
A PROMINENT PERSON.
THE FIFTH QUALITY OF
NEWSWORTHINESS IS IMPACT.
BASICALLY, HOW A STORY
AFFECTS THE READER'S LIFE.

A slate shows a close-up shot of an element hitting a surface.

She continues IF OUR SCHOOL DECIDED TO CHANGE
ITS GRADING POLICY,
IT WOULD BE NEWSWORTHY
BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE
A DIRECT IMPACT
ON OUR READER'S LIVES.
BUT IF A SCHOOL
IN AMHERST, TEXAS,
MADE IDENTICAL CHANGES TO
ITS GRADING POLICY,
OUR READERS WOULDN'T
BE INTERESTED,
BECAUSE IT DOESN'T AFFECT
THEIR LIVES AT ALL.
THE SIXTH QUALITY OF
NEWSWORTHINESS IS NOVELTY.

A picture shows a library.

She continues THIS BASICALLY MEANS
THE FIRST OR LAST TIME
AN EVENT TAKES PLACE.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE MAIDEN VOYAGE
OF THE OCEAN LINER
THE QUEEN ELIZABETH 2,
WAS NOVEL
BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST TIME
IT HAD EVER TAKEN PLACE.
HOWEVER, THE 571ST VOYAGE OF
THE QE2
IS NOT NOVEL,
AND THEREFORE
NOT NEWSWORTHY.
THE SEVENTH AND FINAL QUALITY
OF NEWSWORTHINESS
IS HUMAN INTEREST.
THIS IS WHERE YOU AS A WRITER
CAN EXPLORE VIRTUALLY ANY TOPIC,
AS LONG AS YOU CAN
MAKE IT INTERESTING
TO OTHER HUMAN
BEINGS.

A picture of a young woman looking away appears.

She continues YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT
THE CHALLENGES OF LIVING
WITH A DISABILITY,
OR PROFILE A YOUNG BALLERINA.
OR, YOU CAN FIND OUT
WHAT MAKES THE ICE CREAM
AT EVERYONE'S FAVOURITE SHOP
ON MAIN STREET SO DARN GOOD.
SKY'S THE LIMIT AS FAR
AS THESE STORIES GO.
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT,
THE SEVEN THINGS
THAT MAKE A STORY NEWSWORTHY.
REMEMBER TO ADDRESS
THESE CATEGORIES AS YOU
RESEARCH AND WRITE STORIES,
AND HAVE FUN WITH IT.
THIS IS RACHEL ZIDON,
SIGNING OFF FOR ETD NEWS.

The end credits roll.

 

Did you find all seven items? What were they? List them in the space provided below.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

1. Timeliness

2. Proximity

3. Rarity

4. Prominence

5. Impact

6. Novelty

7. Human Interest

 

Now that you know the seven pillars that determine the newsworthiness of an event, try the following activity.

Match each news headline to the correct pillar.

Question 1Timelinessselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 2Proximityselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 3Rarityselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 4Prominenceselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 5Impactselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 6Noveltyselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 7Human interestselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Submit

 

The inverted pyramid

A reporter builds a report around the 5 Ws and 1 H (who, what, when, where, why, and how) because these are the questions that people will want answered. The reporter uses this information in the early part of the report to generate interest and then expands on those details as the report progresses. An inverted pyramid framework looks like the following graph.

 

During the civil war in the United States, people had no telephone, television, or Internet to help keep them informed about the battles being fought. The only way they could find out who was winning was to read the newspapers. At that time, newspaper articles were written chronologically. This meant that readers would only find out who was winning the civil war right at the end of the article. Since newspapers had to place advertisements, space for articles was limited. As a result, the most important part of an article would often end up being cut off. This caused problems, because people would start reading an article, only to find that the most important information – who was winning the war – was missing. This gave birth to newspapers adopting the “inverted pyramid” structure, where all the important information was placed at the beginning of the news story. In that way, if anything got cut off at the bottom, it wouldn’t matter.

When you create a news article, you don’t actually make an upside down triangle, but the content is definitely shaped that way!

https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.06.svg

 

 

Reporters influence readers’ interest

Reporters use the inverted pyramid to keep the reader interested. But it is also their job to make sure that the news story provides answers to the 5 Ws and 1 H. And they put these details at the beginning of the story to grab the reader’s interest.

On June 15th, 2012, Nik Wallenda successfully walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. In the days and weeks leading up to the event, the news media built interest in the crossing by reporting on some of the dangers that Wallenda would face.

Try to locate the 5 Ws and 1 H in this Toronto Star article about tightrope walker Nik Wallenda.

Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda may face falcon attack on Niagara Falls crossing

Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda may face falcon attack on Niagara Falls crossing

Published on Wednesday May 23, 2012
Valerie Hauch
Staff Reporter

Could a Flying Wallenda meet a flying falcon?

There’s a “good possibility” a pair of nesting falcons at Niagara Falls could attack daredevil high-wire walker Nik Wallenda as he attempts a crossing over the famous waterway on June 15, say Mark and Marion Nash, spokespeople for the Canadian Peregrine Foundation.

Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of the circus and daredevil performers known as the Great Wallendas and the Flying Wallendas, will be crossing right through a major flight path used by the falcons, said Marion Nash.

The pair nest in the gorge of a decommissioned Ontario Power Generation plant, she said, and they will have babies in the nest, though it will be too early for them to be flying.

However, peregrine falcons — a species at risk in Canada — are “very protective” and it’s possible they could attack Wallenda as he crosses, she said.

“They go 360 kilometres an hour — he could get a 2-pound missile attacking at the back of his neck,” said Marion Nash, who was attending the banding of four fuzzy, peregrine falcon babies who nest on a 43rd floor ledge of the downtown Sheraton Centre Hotel with their parents.

The Niagara Falls peregrines “may take huge offence — they’ll be patrolling their air space,” said Mark Nash, adding it’s also possible the pair may not feel threatened. “Who knows what will happen?”

The Nashes say they alerted Natural Resources ministry staff about the dangers of a possible attack and suggested that Wallenda put off the crossing until September.

But the tightrope crossing is going ahead.

Wallenda recently reluctantly agreed to a safety tether being attached to the tightrope going across the Falls, at the insistence of ABC television which is producing a three-hour special about the event.

There was no response to a Star request for comment from Wallenda’s manager, Winston Simone.

Meanwhile, on the ledge of the Sheraton, all is well in the local falcon world.

The adult pair, Tiago (male) and Rea May (female), which have nested at the site for about seven years, have four healthy babies, two males and two females, ranging in age from 19 to 24 days.

Through a small hatch in the wall, the babies were plucked from the ledge by a Natural Resources ministry biologist and examined, weighed and banded, before being put back. Bursts of fierce squawking were interrupted only by volunteers on hand squirting water in their beaks to keep them hydrated.

They are expected to start flying around the age of 40 days. The early days of flight are risky, said Marion Nash, because the chicks are still pudgy and their flight muscles are not fully developed. Volunteer “fledge watchers’’ keep a close eye on them in case a rescue is needed.

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to the restoration and recovery of endangered and threatened birds of prey in Canada.

Reproduced with permission - Torstar Syndication Services

 

 

What are the 5 Ws and 1 H in this article?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

Who – Nik Wallenda

What – May face falcon attack

When – During his tightrope walk

Where – Niagara Falls

Why – Because he will come too close to the nesting area

How – 2 lb. falcon would attack at a speed of 360 km/h

 

 

 

How well did the reporter grab your interest? Did she make you want to watch Wallenda’s walk? You’re in luck: you can find it on YouTube by searching for “Nik Wallenda Niagara Falls.”

 

Writing a news article

If you were a reporter, you would be there to get the answers to the /5 Ws and 1 H first-hand. But since you aren’t a fully-fledged news reporter yet, you will use an image for your information. You will need to infer what has happened based on what you see in the image. You inferred in learning activity 2, when you saw an image of a woman looking at the wreckage of her house. You inferred information that you read in learning activity 6 when you reviewed the passage about the movies. To get the information for your news article, you will need to develop your 5 Ws and 1 H by inferring what is occurring in the following pictures.

Look at these pictures and headlines. You will choose one of them to write your article.

Pause Carousel

Carousel content with 4 slides.

A carousel is a rotating set of images, rotation stops on keyboard focus on carousel tab controls or hovering the mouse pointer over images. Use the tabs or the previous and next buttons to change the displayed slide.

1. Slide 1: Student car wash raises money for team

 

2. Slide 2: Students create community garden for low-income families

 

3. Slide 3: School highlights global warming

 

4. Slide 4: Pet therapy project good for seniors

 

Student car wash raises money for team

Ready to write? Terrific! Follow these instructions:

1. Choose one image and its headline, and type the headline you’ve chosen into the first line of the text box below.
2. Then, brainstorm answers to the 5 Ws and 1 H questions.
3. Don’t worry about the order for now, but remember to write in complete sentences.

 

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.08a.jpeg

Student car wash raises money for team

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.08b.jpeg

Students create community garden for low-income families

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.08c.jpeg

School highlights global warming

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.08d.jpeg

Pet therapy project good for seniors    

Choose one image and its headline.

Student Answer

Article opening line – Create an opening sentence for your article.

Student Answer

Who – (Who are the people involved? Are these people part of a group?)

Student Answer

What – (What did these people do? What inspired them to get involved? What do they hope to achieve?)

Student Answer

When – (When did this event take place? When did they start? When will the event /be over?)

Student Answer

Where – (Where did this take place?)

Student Answer

Why – (Why were these people participating in this activity? Why did the event need to take place?)

Student Answer

How – (How does this event help people? How can the community get involved, if they wish to? How have people reacted to the event?)

Student Answer

 

 

Logbook entry

 

Today, there is a lot that passes for news that isn’t really news. And sometimes, it’s difficult to tell whether a news item has actually been based on facts.

• If the format looks like news, does that make it news?
• Provide an example of something you read or watched that you thought was news, but wasn’t.
• Where do you get your news?
• If you were a reporter, what types of events would you enjoy writing about?

Answer these questions now in full sentences. Save this file as Learning Activity 2.2 Logbook Entry in your Logbook folder.

 

Portfolio

 

Read the section called "What is news?(Opens in new window)" (pages 18 and 19) from Chapter 2 of Inside Reporting (2nd edition) by Tim Harrower.

After reading this section, write down what you think Mr. Harrower’s main ideas are concerning what constitutes “news”.

Save your list as Learning Activity 2.2 Portfolio Item in your Portfolio folder.

 

 

Lesson 2.2 is provided at the following link:  Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O) | Online Courses | TVO Learn

 

2.2   Inferring and summarizing

 

Read through the lesson and complete all activities.  Be sure you submit all work to your teacher for assessment.

Learning activity 2.2: Exploring the news

• MINDS ON
• ACTION
• CONSOLIDATION

Learning Goals

After completing this learning activity, you will be able to:

• examine the elements that make up a news story
• determine what makes an item newsworthy
• learn the inverted pyramid model of news stories
• use the inverted pyramid model to brainstorm, draft, and write your own news article

 

So just what is it that makes news, news? In this learning activity, you’ll learn how to write a news article. Don’t worry – it’s not as hard as it sounds. News reporters use a writing model called the inverted pyramid to make their job easier. In this learning activity you’ll learn how to use it too.

You’ll also learn how reporters decide what news to report. Just because something happened doesn’t mean people will be interested and it certainly doesn’t mean that it is worthy to be called news!

Acknowledgements(Opens in new window)

Where do you find your news?

Consider, for a moment, all the places where you can find the news.

Do you know, for example, what these items are? They all deliver the news:

• Skytracker
• The Globe and Mail
• Fluent News Reader
• The New York Times
• The Guardian
• Twitter

Perform an online search using the terms “magazine newspaper apps ios android.” Your search should return an impressive number of results. Do you use any of these apps yourself?

Where might you look if you were trying to find out who won the game last night? Where would you look for the list of winning lottery numbers? How could you find out what is happening in celebrities’ lives?

Match the news source to the type of “news” that it delivers.

When you’re finished the activity, think about the following: When we say “news,” what do we really mean? Do all of the items from this activity actually qualify as news?

Question 1A company-owned websiteselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Question 2A mobile app like Skytrackerselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Question 3A Twitter feedselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Question 4A national newspaperselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Question 5An online blogselect:The details of the federal budgetUpdates on an uprising in the Middle East from a citizen’s perspectiveWho a celebrity is dating nowWeather forecast for the next three daysScores from last night’s Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game

Submit

 

What is news?

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.02.jpeg

 

Why are there different sources of news?

Student Answer

What is news? How is it different from other information?

Why does the news matter? Watch this brief video clip from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting called “What is News?” and see if you can determine the answers to some of the questions that follow. Post your responses on the next page.

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The white and blue ILC logo appears on the lower-right corner of the screen.

A black slate reads "The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Presents."

Nathalie Applewhite stands outside a big building. She is in her mid-thirties, with brown hair tied-up. She wears a blue and white shirt and earrings.

A caption reads "On location The Newseum (under construction). Washington DC."

Nathalie says HI,
I'M NATHALIE APPLEWHITE
FROM THE PULITZER CENTER
ON CRISIS REPORTING.
WE'VE BEEN THINKING
A LOT ABOUT HOW THE PUBLIC
UNDERSTANDS WHAT NEWS IS,
AND WE WANT TO KNOW
WHAT YOU THINK.
I MEAN, WHAT ACTUALLY
MAKES NEWS NEWS?
I ASKED A FEW JOURNALISTS
WHAT THEY THOUGHT.

The caption changes to "Ellen Lee. San Francisco Chronicle." Ellen is in her late twenties, with long black hair. She wears a black shirt.

Ellen says SO WHAT IS NEWS?
WELL, I THINK THAT ANYTHING
THAT'S INTERESTING IS NEWS.

The caption changes to "Jeffrey Sheban. Columbus Dispatch." He is in early forties, clean-shaven with short black hair. He wears glasses and a black shirt.

Jeffrey says ONE OF MY KIDS WHEN
SHE WAS REAL YOUNG SAID,
"DAD, I LIKE
THE KIND OF NEWS
"THAT TELLS YOU
WHAT'S HAPPENING."
AND I THINK IN
THE MOST BASIC SENSE,
WE'RE OUT THERE ON
THE FRONT LINES
TELLING PEOPLE
WHAT'S HAPPENING.

The caption changes to "Carroll Wilson. Times Record News, Wichita Falls, Texas." He is in his fifties, with a beard and graying hair. He wears glasses and a yellow polo-shirt.

Carroll says I THINK WITH THE ADVENT
OF THE WEB,
WHAT WE'VE SEEN IS
A DIMINISHMENT OF EMPHASIS ON
NEWS AS NEWS,
AND A RE-ARRANGEMENT
IN PEOPLE'S MINDS
ABOUT WHAT NEWS IS.
IT'S WITH THIS KIND OF
EQUIPMENT,
AND WITH THE WEB,
WITH EVERYTHING ELSE,
IT'S NOW ALL ABOUT ME.

The caption changes to "Julian Pecquet. Tallahassee Democrat." Julian is in his mid-thirties, clean-shaven with short black hair. He wears a light blue shirt.

Julian says I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT
TO REALIZE
THAT WITHOUT PROFESSIONALS
REPORTING THE NEWS,
PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT
ADVERTISERS,
OR EVEN COMMUNITY PEOPLE
WHO MIGHT HAVE A SPIN,
OR MIGHT WANNA MAKE
SOMEBODY LOOK GOOD,
THEN THE PRODUCT THAT YOU GET
IS NO LONGER NEWS.

The caption changes to "Antigone Barton. The Palm Beach Post." She is in her fifties, with shoulder-length blond hair. She wears a black shirt, necklaces and glasses.

Antigone says I THINK NEWS IS
WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
AND WHAT PEOPLE
NEED TO KNOW,
AND THEY DON'T ALWAYS APPEAR TO
BE THE SAME THING,
AND I THINK THAT THAT'S
WHEN IT'S OUR JOB
TO MAKE THE CONNECTION CLEAR.

The caption changes to "J.B. Smith. Waco Tribune Herald." He is in his early thirties, with a goatee and receding hair. He wears glasses and a beige polo-shirt.

J.B. says I THINK THAT THE NEWS MEDIA
HAS A WAY OF ACTUALLY
CHANGING THE DEFINITION
OF WHAT NEWS IS,
BECAUSE AS WE REPORT MORE,
WE KNOW MORE ABOUT EACH OTHER,
AND WE BECOME MORE INTERESTED
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.

Back at the street, Nathalie says SOME SAY THE CENTRAL PURPOSE
OF JOURNALISM AS BEING
TO GIVE CITIZENS THE INFORMATION
THEY NEED TO FUNCTION
IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY,
THAT THE NEWS MEDIA SHOULD BE
A WATCHDOG OF THOSE IN POWER,
AND THAT IT'S JOB IS
TO EXPOSE DECEIT
AND LET TRUTH EMERGE.
MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT NEWS AS
INFORMATION IS A PUBLIC GOOD,
AND THAT U.S. BROADCASTERS
ARE EVEN MANDATED
TO SERVE THE
PUBLIC INTEREST.
BUT WHAT IS
THE PUBLIC INTEREST?

A clip shows people reading the newspaper in a public space.

Nathalie says MARK FOWLER,
FORMER HEAD OF
THE FEDERAL
COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION,
SAYS THAT WHAT'S IN
THE PUBLIC INTEREST
IS WHAT THE PUBLIC
IS INTERESTED IN.
WHICH, OF COURSE,
RAISES A FUNNY QUESTION.
I MEAN, HOW DO I KNOW
IF I'M INTERESTED IN SOMETHING
IF I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT
IN THE FIRST PLACE?
IF WE LET THE NEWS BE DETERMINED
BY WHAT WILL BRING IN
THE MOST ADVERTISING DOLLARS,
IS IT STILL NEWS?
I MEAN, WHAT IS
THE REAL PURPOSE OF NEWS?
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?
THE PULITZER CENTER
WOULD LIKE TO KNOW.
PLEASE SEND US YOUR VIDEO
RESPONSES,
AND WE'LL POST THEM
HERE ON YOUTUBE
AND ON OUR SITE AT
WWW.PULITZERCENTER.ORG.

The slate changes to "Special thanks to the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the World Affairs Journalism Fellowships."

 

Based on what the journalists said, what do you think news is?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

• What people want to know and what they need to know
• Information as a public good

What is the purpose of news?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

• To tell us what’s happening
• To give citizens the information they need to function in a democratic society
• To serve the public interest

 

Why should people be informed about what is going on in the world?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

• We know more about each other.
• We become more interested in other parts of the world.

What should the news be?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

• A watchdog that keeps an eye on those in power
• To expose deceit and let truth emerge

 

 

What makes an event newsworthy?

With so many places to locate and develop news items, it makes you wonder how reporters determine which events or stories are newsworthy. How does a reporter decide if people will find a story interesting? What criteria do they use to select a story so that they don’t spend their time writing an article that won’t be read?

Watch Rachel Zidon’s YouTube video “What Makes News News?” and see if you can determine the seven pillars that are used as a guide. You may want to take notes as you watch.

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The white and blue ILC logo appears on the lower-right corner of the screen.

A black slate reads "What Makes News News?. The Seven Pillars of News Writing. Rachel Zidon reports."

In off, Rachel says THIS IS RACHEL ZIDON
WITH A SPECIAL REPORT
ON THE SEVEN QUALITIES
THAT MAKE A STORY NEWSWORTHY.
THE FIRST QUALITY
IS TIMELINESS.
THE MORE RECENTLY
SOMETHING HAPPENED,
THE MORE RELEVANT
THE STORY IS.
SAY, FOR EXAMPLE,
MR. STICK FIGURE
CAME TO OUR SCHOOL
TO GIVE A SPEECH
ABOUT HOW AWESOME JOURNALISM
IS TODAY.
SINCE IT HAPPENED RECENTLY,
IT'S NEWSWORTHY.
HOWEVER, IF MR. STICK FIGURE
GAVE THE EXACT SAME SPEECH
FIVE MONTHS AGO,
THAT'S NOT NEWSWORTHY.
IT'S NOT RECENT ENOUGH
FOR PEOPLE TO BE INTERESTED.

On split screens, two drawings show the story told. Then, a red cross appears on one of them.

Now, a map of the United States appears.

She continues THE NEXT QUALITY
IS PROXIMITY.
BEING PSYCHICALLY NEAR TO A
STORY MAKES IT MORE INTERESTING.
A SOCCER GAME THAT'S HAPPENING
ON OUR SCHOOL SOCCER FIELD
IS NEWSWORTHY BECAUSE
IT'S HAPPENING CLOSE BY.
BUT IF THE EXACT SAME SOCCER
GAME TOOK PLACE IN TIMBUKTU,
OUR READERS WOULDN'T
REALLY CARE.
IT'S NOT CLOSE ENOUGH
TO BE NEWSWORTHY.

Against a black screen, a red pointed shape appears.

She continues THE THIRD QUALITY OF
NEWSWORTHINESS IS RARITY.
MY FIRST JOURNALISM PROFESSOR
HAD A TEST
FOR WHETHER A STORY
HAD THIS QUALITY.
IT HAD TO MAKE THE READER STOP
AND SAY, "GEE WHIZ."
FOR EXAMPLE,
A DOG BITING A MAN
WOULD PROBABLY NOT MAKE
A READER SAY, "GEE WHIZ,"
BECAUSE IT'S NOT
A VERY UNUSUAL EVENT.
HOWEVER,
IF A MAN BIT A DOG,
A READER WOULD PROBABLY
BE SURPRISED,
AND EXCLAIM, "GEE WHIZ."
UPON READING THE STORY.
THE FOURTH QUALITY OF
NEWSWORTHINESS IS PROMINENCE.

A picture of Barack Obama appears.

She continues MINOR THINGS BECOME
INTERESTING TO READERS
WHEN THEY HAPPEN
TO PROMINENT PEOPLE.
IF AVERAGE JOE FALLS FLAT ON
HIS FACE WALKING TO SCHOOL,
NO ONE IS REALLY INTERESTED.
BUT IF PRESIDENT STICK FIGURE
FALLS FLAT ON HIS FACE
WALKING OUT OF
THE WHITE HOUSE,
IT'S SUDDENLY NEWSWORTHY,
BECAUSE IT'S HAPPENING TO
A PROMINENT PERSON.
THE FIFTH QUALITY OF
NEWSWORTHINESS IS IMPACT.
BASICALLY, HOW A STORY
AFFECTS THE READER'S LIFE.

A slate shows a close-up shot of an element hitting a surface.

She continues IF OUR SCHOOL DECIDED TO CHANGE
ITS GRADING POLICY,
IT WOULD BE NEWSWORTHY
BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE
A DIRECT IMPACT
ON OUR READER'S LIVES.
BUT IF A SCHOOL
IN AMHERST, TEXAS,
MADE IDENTICAL CHANGES TO
ITS GRADING POLICY,
OUR READERS WOULDN'T
BE INTERESTED,
BECAUSE IT DOESN'T AFFECT
THEIR LIVES AT ALL.
THE SIXTH QUALITY OF
NEWSWORTHINESS IS NOVELTY.

A picture shows a library.

She continues THIS BASICALLY MEANS
THE FIRST OR LAST TIME
AN EVENT TAKES PLACE.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE MAIDEN VOYAGE
OF THE OCEAN LINER
THE QUEEN ELIZABETH 2,
WAS NOVEL
BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST TIME
IT HAD EVER TAKEN PLACE.
HOWEVER, THE 571ST VOYAGE OF
THE QE2
IS NOT NOVEL,
AND THEREFORE
NOT NEWSWORTHY.
THE SEVENTH AND FINAL QUALITY
OF NEWSWORTHINESS
IS HUMAN INTEREST.
THIS IS WHERE YOU AS A WRITER
CAN EXPLORE VIRTUALLY ANY TOPIC,
AS LONG AS YOU CAN
MAKE IT INTERESTING
TO OTHER HUMAN
BEINGS.

A picture of a young woman looking away appears.

She continues YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT
THE CHALLENGES OF LIVING
WITH A DISABILITY,
OR PROFILE A YOUNG BALLERINA.
OR, YOU CAN FIND OUT
WHAT MAKES THE ICE CREAM
AT EVERYONE'S FAVOURITE SHOP
ON MAIN STREET SO DARN GOOD.
SKY'S THE LIMIT AS FAR
AS THESE STORIES GO.
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT,
THE SEVEN THINGS
THAT MAKE A STORY NEWSWORTHY.
REMEMBER TO ADDRESS
THESE CATEGORIES AS YOU
RESEARCH AND WRITE STORIES,
AND HAVE FUN WITH IT.
THIS IS RACHEL ZIDON,
SIGNING OFF FOR ETD NEWS.

The end credits roll.

 

Did you find all seven items? What were they? List them in the space provided below.

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

1. Timeliness

2. Proximity

3. Rarity

4. Prominence

5. Impact

6. Novelty

7. Human Interest

 

Now that you know the seven pillars that determine the newsworthiness of an event, try the following activity.

Match each news headline to the correct pillar.

Question 1Timelinessselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 2Proximityselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 3Rarityselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 4Prominenceselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 5Impactselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 6Noveltyselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Question 7Human interestselect:How to Succeed in Life and LoveWoman in France Gives Birth to OctupletsRoyals Announce Kate Gives Birth to a SonLeafs Win the CupLocal Boy Wins Prime Minister’s AwardFirst Teen-Only Space Launch SetStock Market Crash Worries Many

Submit

 

The inverted pyramid

A reporter builds a report around the 5 Ws and 1 H (who, what, when, where, why, and how) because these are the questions that people will want answered. The reporter uses this information in the early part of the report to generate interest and then expands on those details as the report progresses. An inverted pyramid framework looks like the following graph.

 

During the civil war in the United States, people had no telephone, television, or Internet to help keep them informed about the battles being fought. The only way they could find out who was winning was to read the newspapers. At that time, newspaper articles were written chronologically. This meant that readers would only find out who was winning the civil war right at the end of the article. Since newspapers had to place advertisements, space for articles was limited. As a result, the most important part of an article would often end up being cut off. This caused problems, because people would start reading an article, only to find that the most important information – who was winning the war – was missing. This gave birth to newspapers adopting the “inverted pyramid” structure, where all the important information was placed at the beginning of the news story. In that way, if anything got cut off at the bottom, it wouldn’t matter.

When you create a news article, you don’t actually make an upside down triangle, but the content is definitely shaped that way!

https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.06.svg

 

 

Reporters influence readers’ interest

Reporters use the inverted pyramid to keep the reader interested. But it is also their job to make sure that the news story provides answers to the 5 Ws and 1 H. And they put these details at the beginning of the story to grab the reader’s interest.

On June 15th, 2012, Nik Wallenda successfully walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. In the days and weeks leading up to the event, the news media built interest in the crossing by reporting on some of the dangers that Wallenda would face.

Try to locate the 5 Ws and 1 H in this Toronto Star article about tightrope walker Nik Wallenda.

Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda may face falcon attack on Niagara Falls crossing

Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda may face falcon attack on Niagara Falls crossing

Published on Wednesday May 23, 2012
Valerie Hauch
Staff Reporter

Could a Flying Wallenda meet a flying falcon?

There’s a “good possibility” a pair of nesting falcons at Niagara Falls could attack daredevil high-wire walker Nik Wallenda as he attempts a crossing over the famous waterway on June 15, say Mark and Marion Nash, spokespeople for the Canadian Peregrine Foundation.

Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of the circus and daredevil performers known as the Great Wallendas and the Flying Wallendas, will be crossing right through a major flight path used by the falcons, said Marion Nash.

The pair nest in the gorge of a decommissioned Ontario Power Generation plant, she said, and they will have babies in the nest, though it will be too early for them to be flying.

However, peregrine falcons — a species at risk in Canada — are “very protective” and it’s possible they could attack Wallenda as he crosses, she said.

“They go 360 kilometres an hour — he could get a 2-pound missile attacking at the back of his neck,” said Marion Nash, who was attending the banding of four fuzzy, peregrine falcon babies who nest on a 43rd floor ledge of the downtown Sheraton Centre Hotel with their parents.

The Niagara Falls peregrines “may take huge offence — they’ll be patrolling their air space,” said Mark Nash, adding it’s also possible the pair may not feel threatened. “Who knows what will happen?”

The Nashes say they alerted Natural Resources ministry staff about the dangers of a possible attack and suggested that Wallenda put off the crossing until September.

But the tightrope crossing is going ahead.

Wallenda recently reluctantly agreed to a safety tether being attached to the tightrope going across the Falls, at the insistence of ABC television which is producing a three-hour special about the event.

There was no response to a Star request for comment from Wallenda’s manager, Winston Simone.

Meanwhile, on the ledge of the Sheraton, all is well in the local falcon world.

The adult pair, Tiago (male) and Rea May (female), which have nested at the site for about seven years, have four healthy babies, two males and two females, ranging in age from 19 to 24 days.

Through a small hatch in the wall, the babies were plucked from the ledge by a Natural Resources ministry biologist and examined, weighed and banded, before being put back. Bursts of fierce squawking were interrupted only by volunteers on hand squirting water in their beaks to keep them hydrated.

They are expected to start flying around the age of 40 days. The early days of flight are risky, said Marion Nash, because the chicks are still pudgy and their flight muscles are not fully developed. Volunteer “fledge watchers’’ keep a close eye on them in case a rescue is needed.

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to the restoration and recovery of endangered and threatened birds of prey in Canada.

Reproduced with permission - Torstar Syndication Services

 

 

What are the 5 Ws and 1 H in this article?

Student AnswerShow Suggested Answer

 

Who – Nik Wallenda

What – May face falcon attack

When – During his tightrope walk

Where – Niagara Falls

Why – Because he will come too close to the nesting area

How – 2 lb. falcon would attack at a speed of 360 km/h

 

 

 

How well did the reporter grab your interest? Did she make you want to watch Wallenda’s walk? You’re in luck: you can find it on YouTube by searching for “Nik Wallenda Niagara Falls.”

 

Writing a news article

If you were a reporter, you would be there to get the answers to the /5 Ws and 1 H first-hand. But since you aren’t a fully-fledged news reporter yet, you will use an image for your information. You will need to infer what has happened based on what you see in the image. You inferred in learning activity 2, when you saw an image of a woman looking at the wreckage of her house. You inferred information that you read in learning activity 6 when you reviewed the passage about the movies. To get the information for your news article, you will need to develop your 5 Ws and 1 H by inferring what is occurring in the following pictures.

Look at these pictures and headlines. You will choose one of them to write your article.

Pause Carousel

Carousel content with 4 slides.

A carousel is a rotating set of images, rotation stops on keyboard focus on carousel tab controls or hovering the mouse pointer over images. Use the tabs or the previous and next buttons to change the displayed slide.

1. Slide 1: Student car wash raises money for team

 

2. Slide 2: Students create community garden for low-income families

 

3. Slide 3: School highlights global warming

 

4. Slide 4: Pet therapy project good for seniors

 

Student car wash raises money for team

Ready to write? Terrific! Follow these instructions:

1. Choose one image and its headline, and type the headline you’ve chosen into the first line of the text box below.
2. Then, brainstorm answers to the 5 Ws and 1 H questions.
3. Don’t worry about the order for now, but remember to write in complete sentences.

 

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.08a.jpeg

Student car wash raises money for team

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.08b.jpeg

Students create community garden for low-income families

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.08c.jpeg

School highlights global warming

 https://courseware-openhouse.ilc.org/olc4o_html/assets/img/olc4o_02.02.08d.jpeg

Pet therapy project good for seniors    

Choose one image and its headline.

Student Answer

Article opening line – Create an opening sentence for your article.

Student Answer

Who – (Who are the people involved? Are these people part of a group?)

Student Answer

What – (What did these people do? What inspired them to get involved? What do they hope to achieve?)

Student Answer

When – (When did this event take place? When did they start? When will the event /be over?)

Student Answer

Where – (Where did this take place?)

Student Answer

Why – (Why were these people participating in this activity? Why did the event need to take place?)

Student Answer

How – (How does this event help people? How can the community get involved, if they wish to? How have people reacted to the event?)

Student Answer

 

 

Logbook entry

 

Today, there is a lot that passes for news that isn’t really news. And sometimes, it’s difficult to tell whether a news item has actually been based on facts.

• If the format looks like news, does that make it news?
• Provide an example of something you read or watched that you thought was news, but wasn’t.
• Where do you get your news?
• If you were a reporter, what types of events would you enjoy writing about?

Answer these questions now in full sentences. Save this file as Learning Activity 2.2 Logbook Entry in your Logbook folder.

 

Portfolio

 

Read the section called "What is news?(Opens in new window)" (pages 18 and 19) from Chapter 2 of Inside Reporting (2nd edition) by Tim Harrower.

After reading this section, write down what you think Mr. Harrower’s main ideas are concerning what constitutes “news”.

Save your list as Learning Activity 2.2 Portfolio Item in your Portfolio folder.