Writing a news story

Think about something that has happened to you recently that you can write a news story about.

Answer these questions as you write the most important information about your news story.

  • Who?
  • What?
  • When?
  • Where?
  • Why?
  • How?

Use short, simple sentences and short paragraphs. Don’t forget to include a headline for your news story.

For more lessons on the news go to Unit 4 Reading News Reports.

Speaking about the news

Choose a current news story that you are interested in to talk about. You can either listen to the news story or read about it – in English of course!

Once you have chosen the news story take notes on these questions:

  1. Who is the story about?
  2. What happened?
  3. When did it happen?
  4. Where did it happen?
  5. Why did it happen?
  6. How did it happen?

Now use your notes to tell your partner what your news story is about. Once you have finished telling the news discuss what your opinion is on the news story.

For more lessons on the news go to Unit 4 Reading News Reports.

Online news

New research has found most Australians prefer online outlets as their main source of news.

Listen twice to the audio from ABC News Radio, 16th June 2015 and answer the questions that follow.

  1. What percentage of people use smart phones weekly to access news?
  2. What percentage of people use social media as a source of news?
  3. What are two examples of social media sites that offer the news?
  4. What age group primarily source the news online?
  5. What age group primarily read the newspaper and watch TV news?
  6. What are three forms of traditional news outlets?
  7. What is the percentage of people in Australia who pay for news in some form?
Answers
1.      59%, 2.      51%, 3.      Facebook and twitter, 4.      Under 35’s, 5.      Over 45’s, 6.      Print, TV and radio, 7.      11%

Go to Unit 2.2 Listening to the News for more listening activities.

The highest paid animal actors

Where have you seen animals acting?

Have a look at the photos in this article and see if you recognise any of the 10 animals from films or TV shows.

Now read through the article about the highest paid animal actors and answer these questions.

  1. What type of dog was Rin Tin Tin?
  2. Who employed Rin Tin Tin?
  3. What was Rin Tin Tin’s nickname?
  4. What movie was Keiko in?
  5. How did Keiko die?
  6. What type of animal was Bart?
  7. How old was Bart when he died?
  8. What was the name of the first dog who played Lassie?
  9. What type of dog was Lassie?
  10. What was the stage name of the dog on Frasier?
  11. What happened when Moose got too old to act?
  12. What type of animal is Crystal?
  13. Why did they stop filming Animal Practice?
  14. What type of dog played in The Wizard of Oz?
  15. What happened to the dog while filming The Wizard of Oz?
  16. What was the name of Skippy’s character in the movies?
  17. What tricks could Trigger do?
  18. What is the characters name of the most famous animal actor?
Answers:
1. German shepherd 2. Warner Brothers Studio 3. Rinty 4. Free Willy 5. from pneumonia 6. Alaskan brown bear 7. 23 years old 8. Pal 9. Collie 10. Eddie 11. his son Enzo started to act 12. Capuchin monkey 13. because of poor ratings 14. Terrier 15. the dog broke his foot 16. Asta 17. walking on hind legs and untying hands 18.Benji

Go to Unit 2 Reading Books for more reading activities.