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Skills Sheet
Writing the News
By now, you have a pretty good idea of how news stories are put together. They begin with an interesting lead
Uses: Copy machines, opaque projector or transparency master for overhead projector. PARADE magazine grants permission to reproduce this page for use of classrooms. Copyright © 2007 Advance Magazine Publications Inc. All Rights Reserved.
sentence, and the first paragraph generally includes five Ws and sometimes an H: who, what, where, when, why and
how. Now write your own news story. Try to imagine the plot of a story, fairy tale, novel or other work of literature as
a news story. Summarize and write that story! Here’s an example of a lead and first paragraph:
Pigs’ Quick Action Ends Wolf’s Terror
SWINEVILLE, OHIO — A hungry wolf ran loose in Swineville last night, blowing down two homes before he was killed
by a family of resourceful pigs. First, the unusually large wolf blew down the straw home of Maxwell Pig in the Porkville
Heights neighborhood. Mr. Pig managed to escape the wolf and ran to the wooden home of his brother, Stan, at the end of
the block. The Wolf gave chase, however, and soon blew that house down as well. Again, the pigs were able to retreat, to
the brick home of a third brother, Lionel. Although the wolf blew and blew, he was unable to topple that structure.
Eyewitness reports at the scene claimed that the frustrated wolf then attempted to enter the house through its chimney but
was foiled when the three pigs started a fire in the fireplace.
The grisly chain of events began at around 4 p.m. yesterday...
(continued on page B4)
Write your own news story in the space below. If you need more room, use the other side of the page.