UNIT 1
Investigative Journalism

BEND I: Reporting the Real Story: Newscasts

Session 1 — Journalists Develop Their Powers of Observation to Capture Events

Chart: 5W's

Chart: Journalist's Notebook

Chart: Journalist's Sequence

Chart: Writing = Bacon

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Session 2 — Turning Moments of Drama into Cogent Newscasts

Student exemplar: Danielle's excerpts showing the difference between a fiction tone and a news tone

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Session 3 — Researching and Reporting Experience

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Student exemplar: Danielle strings scenes together to bring out meaning and social significance

Session 4 — Making Short Nonfiction Writing Pack a Punch

Chart: Techniques for Making Short Writing Powerful

Mentor Newscast

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Session 5 — Setting Ambitious Goals and Publishing

Narrative Writing Checklist, Grades 7 and 8

Chart: Last Minute Editing Checklist

BEND II: Investigative Journalism: Writing to Inform and Illuminate

Session 6 — Journalists Delve Deeply to Reveal Underlying Issues

Chart: Journalists Seek and Tell Stories

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Session 7 — Harnessing Narrative Craft to Reveal Central Ideas and Stir Empathy

Narrative Writing Checklist, Grades 7 and 8

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

FIG 7-2 chart: Writers Ask Themselves

Session 8 — Harnessing Narrative and Information Writing Techniques to Engage the Reader

Chart: When Engaging Readers, Journalists Might Begin By...

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Mentor Text Excerpts

Session 9 — Elaborating to Deepen Readers' Connections

Chart: Transitions Journalists Use to Elaborate Perspective

Mentor Text Excerpts

Narrative Writing Checklist, Grades 7 and 8

Chart: Cultural References

Session 10 — Writing Partners Have Each Other's Backs

FIG. 10-2 chart: Techniques Writing Partners Use

Chart: Publishing Newspaper Articles Checklist

Narrative Writing Checklist, Grade 8

Session 11 — Attending to Voice and Verb Tense when Editing for Publication

Narrative Writing Checklist, Grade 8

FIG. 11-1 Zipporah and Patricia's finished investigative piece

FIG. 11-2 Breonnah's finished investigative piece

FIG. 11-3 Layla's finished investigative piece

FIG. 11-4 Celia's finished investigative piece

BEND III: Investigating the Bigger Story

Session 12 — Mentoring Oneself to a Pro to Envision the Arc of Investigative Reporting

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Article: "The Trouble with Sleep Texting"

Session 13 — Expanding a Repertoire of Research Tools

Chart: Some Wow-type Questions That Journalists Ask

FIG. 13-2 chart: Narrative Writers Aim Toward Goals Such As...

FIG. 13-2 chart: Narrative Writers Use Techniques Such As...

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Chart: Water Cooler Talk!

Session 14 — Structuring Investigative Pieces and Leading the Reader with Key Transitions

Article: "The Trouble with Sleep Texting"

Chart: Sophisticated Transitions Journalists Might Use

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Session 15 — Crafting Endings that Call Readers to Action

Anchor chart: To Write a News Story, Journalists...

Session 16 - Publication and Celebration

FIG. 16-1 Breonnah's final piece

FIG. 16-2 Florio's final investigative piece

FIG. 16-3 Evan's final piece

FIG. 16-4 Layla's final investigative piece