LESSON PLAN DESIGN

SENIOR PHASE AND FET PHASE

Student name: JAMES BOND

Student number: 22100000

Name of school: APPLE HIGH SCHOOL

Public or private school: PUBLIC SCHOOL

Date: 16 MARCH 2020

Grade: 8

Subject: ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

Content area: WRITING AND PRESENTING

Lesson topic: TRANSACTIONAL TEXTS: NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

Time duration of lesson: 1 HOUR

CAPS/Curriculum page number: PAGE 79 (Appendix 1)

Number of learners in class: 30

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Prior Learning:
CAPS (2011:69) indicates that the topic of newspaper articles is part of the Grade 7
curriculum in Term 3. Therefore, it would be fair to assume that learners should be
familiar with the basic structure/characteristics of newspaper articles. Furthermore,
learners should be accustomed to seeing (and possibly engaging with) newspapers
and newspaper articles in their daily lives.

Learning Objectives/Outcomes:
By the end of the lesson/learning experience the learners should be able to:

Knowledge
✓ Identify the main parts of a newspaper
✓ Describe the purpose/s of newspapers
✓ Identify and explain the characteristics of a newspaper article

Skills
✓ Apply the 5WH writing technique (who, what, when, where, why and how)
✓ Write an effective lead using this writing technique
✓ Produce a front-page newspaper article using basic editing and layout principles

Values/Attitudes
✓ Acknowledge the value of newspapers as a source of news and information
✓ Develop an appreciation for journalistic writing

Assessment:
 Informal Observation-Based Assessment during introductory class discussion
 Informal Peer Assessment on Newspaper Article Scavenger Hunt pair activity
 Informal Observation-Based Assessment during 5WH/Lead group activity
 Formal Individual Assessment of Learner Newspaper Article (teacher – 30 marks)

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Resources:
◼ PowerPoint presentation (Appendix 2)
◼ Newspapers
◼ Newspaper Article Scavenger Hunt activity (Appendix 3)
◼ 5WH/Lead Sentence worksheet (Appendix 4)

Lesson Phases:
Introduction (15min)
The teacher will introduce the lesson with the following question: What are some of the
different types of professional writing in the world?
Learners take a moment to brainstorm in their groups (5 learners in each group) all
the different types of professional writing that they can think of that exist in the world.
Learners share their answers with the class while I transcribe their responses into a
list on the board which should include: Novels, short stories, non-fiction, plays, movies,
newspapers, magazines, television, radio, advertising, public relations, websites etc.

Intro question: Let’s look at newspapers. Besides local and international news,
what other content is often featured in newspapers?
The teacher will allow for a brief class discussion and sharing of thoughts in response
to this question. Some answers should include: sports, weather, classifieds, politics,
entertainment/celebrity news, finance reports, TV listings, comics, crosswords,
horoscopes, movies, announcements (weddings/births), obituaries, crime report,
health, education, home (gardening, DIY, cooking), travel, opinion pieces etc.

PowerPoint presentation (Slide 1): Cartoon asking, “what is a newspaper?”

PowerPoint presentation (Slide 2): Summarises the main parts of a newspaper

Follow-up question: Based on what we have discussed, what do you think is the purpose of
newspapers? Any ideas?
The learners take a few seconds to formulate an answer for the question and I will ask
for volunteer responses which should lead to an understanding of the purpose of
newspapers. That is: A publication that is easily accessible and provides information,
current news and entertainment to the general public on a regular basis.

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PowerPoint presentation (Slide 3): The purpose of newspapers

Development (35min)
PowerPoint presentation (slide 4): Showing the same newspaper article that will be
held up in front of the class.

Dev. question 1 (while holding up a newspaper article): Who can tell me what I am
holding?
Most of the learners should volunteer to answer and state that I am showing them a
newspaper article.

I will then handout a photocopy of the newspaper article to each learner in preparation
for the Newspaper Article Scavenger Hunt (pair activity & informal peer assessment).

Follow-up question (and intro to the pair activity): In pairs, highlight all the characteristics
that indicate this is a newspaper article. What is it about the structure or layout of this piece of
paper that tells you it is a newspaper article?

Learners will be given a couple minutes to discuss with their partners and complete
the task while I monitor their progress. Leaners will then be instructed to swap their
sheets and prompted to share their answers with myself and the class. I will take this
opportunity to provide proper terminology for certain characteristics that may be
mentioned (e.g. author details is actually called the ‘Byline’). As the learners
successfully identify each structural element of the newspaper article, I will highlight
this on the PowerPoint presentation and provide further explanation when necessary
(slide 5). The learners will also ‘mark’ each other’s work and add information to their
answers. I will ask for a show of hands to indicate how many characteristics were
correctly identified within the class to gauge the knowledge level of the learners.

Dev. question 2: Who can remind us what is the purpose of the ‘lead’ in a newspaper article?
What does it do or why is it important?

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Having just covered this, most learners should willingly volunteer to remind the class
of the importance of the lead in introducing the story by answering the who, what,
when, where, why and how (5WH) and to grab the reader’s attention.

I will then distribute the 5WH/Lead Sentence worksheet which focuses on the use of
the 5WH writing technique in order to write an effective lead for a newspaper article.
The classroom is constituted of 6 groups, I will go around the class and number each
group (1-6). I will then draw the learners’ attention to the PowerPoint presentation.
Slide 6 contains six different images. The learners are required to respond to their
group’s allocated image by implementing the 5WH writing technique and develop an
effective lead sentence for a newspaper article.

After a couple minutes working in their groups, I will request a volunteer to share their
group’s lead sentence with the class. Informal observation-based assessment of each
group’s answer will allow me to evaluate their level of understanding.

Dev. question 3: So, we have covered the structure/layout of a newspaper article. Now, what
could we say about the language of a newspaper article? How would you describe the type of
language that is used?

Learners will be given a few moments to think on the question and then provide some
suggestions. They should be able to identify that the language is more formal, focused
on being factual and concise and written in the 3rd person.

PowerPoint presentation (slides 8-9): Summarises the language conventions of

newspaper articles and a print outs of these two slides will be given to the learners as
a reference for completing their homework/individual work.

Consolidation (10min)
Consol. question: What did we learn today about newspaper articles?

After receiving some responses, I will then conclude the lesson by explaining their
homework/individual activity using the final PowerPoint presentation slide (further
details can be found in the section titled ‘Homework/Individual Work’).

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Planned Questions:
Opening question: What are some of the different types of professional writing in the
world?
Intro question: What other content is often featured in newspapers?
Follow-up question: What do you think is the purpose of newspapers? Any ideas?

Dev. question 1 (while holding up a newspaper article): Who can tell me what I am
holding?
Follow-up question (and intro to the pair activity): In pairs, highlight all the
characteristics that indicate this is a newspaper article. What is it about the structure
or layout of this piece of paper that tells you it is a newspaper article?
Dev. question 2: Who can remind us what is the purpose of the ‘lead’ in a newspaper
article? What does it do or why is it important?
Dev. question 3: So, we have covered the structure/layout of a newspaper article.
Now, what could we say about the language of a newspaper article? How would you
describe the type of language that is used?

Consol. question: What did we learn today about newspaper articles?

Homework/Independent Work:
Having covered the structure/layout and the language conventions of newspaper
articles during the lesson, the learners will be required to create their own front-page
newspaper article. Learners will be expected to create a newspaper front-page in
accordance to the proper structure/layout and write their own article. Learners are free
to create their newspaper article using their own materials or via any free online
newspaper template. The newspaper name can be real or fictitious. The newspaper
article should be based on an actual event that has happened in their
school/community/province/country. Learners are encouraged to use their creativity

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and have fun while completing the task. This homework is a formal teacher
assessment that will count for 30 marks and the learners will have a week to complete
the work.

Special Attention Learners:

There are no learners who require special attention in terms of any notable
visual/hearing impairments nor are there any learners in grade 8 with diagnosed
learning disabilities. Although some learners might not have computer or internet
access at home to complete the homework, the school is well-resourced, and the
learners have access to computers in the Media Centre where they will be able to
complete the task. A few days before the due date I will be sure to check that the
learners are on track with their homework, answer any questions they might have and
offer to read a draft of their newspaper article – that way, any learners requiring
additional attention and guidance are able to receive the assistance needed.

References:
Department of Basic Education. South Africa. 2011. Curriculum and Assessment
Policy Statement (CAPS): Senior Phase. Grades 7-9: English Home Language.
Pretoria: Government Printing Works.

Du Toit, E. 2016. ‘Planning your Lesson’. In: du Toit, E., Louw, L.P. and Jacobs, L. (eds.) Help, I’m a
Student Teacher!, pp.139-161. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.

Jones, S. 2018. ‘3 Reasons Why it is Important to Plan Lessons’. In The E-Learning

Network. [online]. Available at: https://www.eln.io/blog/3-reasons-lesson-planning.
[Accessed on 18 March 2020].

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Linde, S. n.d. ‘Newspaper Lesson Plan’. In Study.com. [online]. Available at:
https://study.com/academy/lesson/newspaper-lesson-plan.html

Newspaper in Education. n.d. Let’s Write a Newspaper Story!. [online]. Available at:
https://nieonline.com/coloradonie/downloads/journalism/Lets-Write-Newspaper-
Story.pdf. [Accessed on 16 March 2020].

Van Joosten, M. 2018. ‘Tea Overboard!’. In Jamestown Settlement & American

Revolution Museum at Yorktown. [online]. Available at:
https://www.historyisfun.org/pdf/tea-overboard/Newspaper_Article_Format.pdf.
[Accessed on 16 March 2020].

Self-Reflection on Lesson:
Since this lesson has yet to be taught, the following reflection is based on assumptions
on what achievements, challenges and improvements could possibly be experienced.

Achievements
The lesson went well as the learners were interested and engagement from the outset
and participated enthusiastically during class discussion and activities. The learners
appeared to enjoy the subject matter and had fun during the activities because they
were creative and fairly easy to comprehend and complete. The lesson was successful
in fulfilling the learning objectives/outcomes set out at the start of the learning event.

Challenges
Since the activities required pair and group work, some challenges were experienced
in that learners did become a little over excited and noisy. Learners who completed
the task quicker than others started to distract other learners. It took some effort to
restore decorum and regain the learners’ focus onto the lesson. However, these
challenges are to be expected with the nature of the activities and was not particularly
difficult to overcome.

Improvements

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I would improve the lesson by finding a way to dedicate some more time to the
language conventions of a newspaper article since this is a critical component of the
homework/individual work.

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APPENDIX 1: CAPS English Home Language. Senior Phase, Grade 7-9

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APPENDIX 2: Newspaper Article PowerPoint Presentation

1 2

3 4

5 6

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7 8

9 10

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APPENDIX 3: Newspaper Article Scavenger Hunt

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APPENDIX 4: 5WH/Lead Sentence Worksheet

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