"Suggestions" for Prewriting Activities

For the contest "Yes! Yes! We Can Stop Litter" students will write a news article. The contest is about litter, the problems it creates, and what we can do to change the effect litter has on the environment.

Prewriting Suggestions:

Research Topics
• Learn about county/neighborhood/school rules concerning litter
• Find out about the impact of litter on the environment and society

Keep a Litter Journal
• Observe areas where there is litter
• Record observations

Conduct a Campus Cleanup
• Clean up an area of your school
• Graph litter from the cleanup project
• Discuss the implication of litter at your school and in other places

Other
• Choose another appropriate prewriting activity
• Be creative

Begin Writing.
After students have completed a prewriting activity, it's time for each student to write a news article about litter. Use the enclosed pages to assist your students in prewriting and planning.

Anchors Aweigh.
Demonstrate to students the inverted pyramid format of a news article. The "W's" are located in the lead paragraph. Less important information appears in the lower part of the store. Have the students draw and inverted pyramid over a news story and locate the answers to the "W's."

Introduce the students to the criteria for selecting a newsworthy story. Write each word on the board or chart as you discuss it. Have students select news stories and write the headlines on a chart. Then they should check the criteria which apply to the story. They may have more than one criterion.

Importance - Important to the reader's life, well-being
Timeliness - Events happen and news is of interest to the reader right now
Proximity - Events occur near the reader
Uniqueness - Events are unusual
Prominence - Well-known people are involved
Suspense - The outcome of an event is not yet known
Conflict - People of groups opposing each other
Emotions - Love, hate, fear, horror, pity
Progress - Advances in science, technology, medicine