Laura Bernadette McNamara 06599753

Postgraduate Diploma in Education

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Laura Bernadette McNamara 06599753

Instructional Plan – English (ED 178)

Section 1: Context and Rationale
The topic to be taught is Media Studies with particular attention paid to the

Newspaper; the broadsheet and the tabloid will be the main focus of this plan. The lesson is

for first year students, and so it is based on the Junior Certificate Syllabus where the

‘intellectual, imaginative and emotional growth of each student by developing his/her

personal proficiency in the arts and skills of language’1 are of foremost importance. The

lesson begins with the basics of media as the students have not studied newspapers at a deep

level. However, this lesson is to be taught towards the Christmas Holiday, and so the students

will have a knowledge base in descriptive writing. Particularly, knowledge of verbs, adverbs,

and adjectives; the students will have practice in using these in an exciting and descriptive

manner. A solid base in the technicalities of the language is important when it comes to

journalism, the writing of headlines, and of articles. The class are accustomed to

brainstorming. Through earlier study of poetry the class will be familiar with the terms

alliteration and rhyme; these are to be revisited through the study of headlines.

The class in which this lesson is to be taught is a group of twenty-four first years. The

students are of mixed ability with reading ages between ten and fifteen. Two students require

Special Needs Assistants; both students have extreme difficulty in comprehension and written

work. An SNA is available for each student; the assistant helps the student to whom she is

assigned with the class work. However, for pair work the student is matched with another

classmate and is not left to work with only the assistant; preferably the weaker student is

paired with a classmate who can help, and work with him rather than do the work for him.

The general aims of this lesson on newspapers in media are as follows:

1
The Department of Education and Science, English – Junior Certificate Syllabus, [Online] Available at:
http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/jc_english_sy.pdf?language=EN (Accessed: 22nd October 2009)

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Cater for the mixed ability level of the class

Encourage students to read newspapers, especially headlines

Make sure all students are actively participating in the lesson

Include plenty of practical exercises in the class to support the learning outcomes

Make use of media and technology in this lesson

To use brainstorming to aid student learning

To show a ‘real-life’ and everyday application of writing

Section 2: Introduction and development of the topic

Learning outcomes for two classes in which Headlines and Report writing are explored.

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On completion of this topic, Newspapers in Media Studies, it is expected that the students

should be able to:

Distinguish between a broadsheet and a tabloid through the comparison of size, use of

colour, use of pictures, the content of the article, and the style of language used in and

size of the headline and the article.

Explain the terms alliteration, rhyme, pun, and identify the use of these techniques in

headlines.

Write headlines through the application of their knowledge of alliteration, rhyme, and

the pun.

Explain the terms sensational, biased, factual, and unbiased in relation to article and

newspaper content.

Write within the discipline of a report.

Identify the layout and structure of a newspaper article.

The teacher must be prepared with headlines that cover stories first year students will

relate to and will enjoy; there must be a variety of headlines that show alliteration, rhyme and

the pun; the students should be able to recognise alliteration and rhyme from the study of

poetry and so the only new term is the pun. Some headlines are timeless and can be used in

future lessons. To introduce the lesson on headlines the teacher should write an entertaining

and eye catching headline on the board; in the case of this lesson I would use the headline

that reads ‘Curious Case of the Chihuahua in the holdall.2’ After asking the class what is this?

I would attach actual clipping from the newspaper. Following this initial headline I would

write and attach the remaining headlines; ‘Doggy Bag 3’, ‘The Marathon that Just keeps on

2
Heffernan, B. (2009) Curious Case of the Chihuahua in the holdall, Irish Independent,24th
October, p.11
3
Cox, R., (2009) Doggy Bag, The Irish Daily Mirror, 24th October, p.1

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Running4’ and ‘Georgie Porgie has waved goodbye, he kissed the Gaels & made ‘em cry’ 5.

This class discussion should last no more than ten minutes. Through the use of the actual

clippings from the newspapers the students will be able to see the visual difference between

tabloid headlines and those in broadsheets; size, font, colour. The words dramatic, factual and

sensational mentioned in earlier lessons on newspapers in Media Studies will be revisited

here. These definitions and explanations need to be repeated for the class and written on the

board. Finally, the students will be given a handout with photocopies of the headlines to

staple into their copies.

The class will be then given 3 minutes to discuss, in pairs, and write down points to

answer the question written on the board: why do journalists write headlines? Each pair will

offer one reason and these will be written underneath the question; if not mentioned the

teacher should add in to catch the readers eye, to sell newspapers, to synopsise the contents of

the article. The class will be motivated by the teacher to think and see the world through the

eyes of a journalist; they must be encouraged to look at the headlines in newspapers.

Finally, the students will then be told to close all their books and listen

carefully to the poem Why Brownlee Left by Paul Muldoon.6 A copy of this poem will be

provided for each student and as homework he/she must write two headlines; one in the style

of a tabloid and another in the style of a broadsheet.

The next class will begin with a short five-minute written brainstorm on headlines for

collection. During the brainstorm the teacher will read the individual headlines written by the

students for homework. Once the brainstorm is completed and collected there will be an oral

discussion, for roughly ten minutes, of the headlines written for homework. Each student will

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O’Riordan, I., (2009) The Marathon that Just Keeps on Running, The Irish Times, Sports Weekend, 24th
October.
5
McEntee, M. Georgie Porgie Ran Away, The Irish Sun, 10th Feburary 2010 p. 1
6
Muldoon, P. (1980) ‘Why Brownlee Left’ in Muldoon, P. Why Brownlee Left, London: Faber and Faber, p. 22

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be asked to read his/her favourite headline. The teacher will repeat each headline and ask the

class what the student has done.

The class will be told that now they have a headline they need an article to

complement it. The report, or article, will be introduced through a PowerPoint presentation.

As the literary ability of the class is very mixed a simple set of guidelines are provided which

makes the article very simple and clear cut for the very weak students who need to see their

work in simple points; these are What, Who, Where, When, Why, and How. The stronger

students on the other hand take them as an outline of an article. The inverted pyramid

included in this presentation is aimed at the stronger students in the class who are able to

analyse the story and use quotation. However, for the majority of the class an understanding

of the report as covering the main facts about a story is sufficient. An exercise during this

presentation is a handout with two articles from a tabloid and a broadsheet covering the same

story; the students must compare and contrast the two articles with regard to size, number of

words used, style of language, techniques such as alliteration, puns etc. I provide two

different handouts as the class is quite large and I want every student to have the opportunity

to offer some information. An audio clip of Why Brownlee left, previously used for the

homework on headlines, is included in the presentation. As homework the students must

write the article to match one of the headlines he or she composed about the poem. The final

slide of the PowerPoint presentation will display the What, Who, Where, When, Why, and

How; the students will be given the remaining five minutes of the class to make a brainstorm

to help them with their homework.

Section 3: Resources and Materials

The students of this class are a mix of visual learners, auditory learners and reading/writing

learners and so the resources include a mix of these different learning styles to accommodate

all students as well as to encourage an active and varied learning environment.

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Headlines - A photocopy of the various headlines will be provided for each student to

include in his/her copy. However, the originals will be stuck to the whiteboard for the whole

class to see the colour and size; these examples can be reused by the teacher. I chose this

selection of headlines firstly, because they are good examples of rhyme, alliteration and puns,

secondly they cover stories that would be interesting and memorable for a first year group; in

particular the story of the dog that was smuggled onto flights around Europe. Finally, the mix

of headlines I chose are not gender specific; this is important in a mixed class as I want all

students to be engaged and relate to what is being taught.

Articles for Comparison - During the comparison of these articles the original cut-outs will

be attached to the whiteboard so that the colours and visual impact that is not clear on the

handout is visible to students.

Handout one compares two articles that report on the story of the dog who was

smuggled on board various aircrafts. This was chosen not only because it is appealing to

thirteen year old imaginations and relates to the headlines already examined, but because it

does not date and can be used in media classes in the future. The two articles to be compared

are, again, Curious case of the chihuahua in the holdall from the Irish Independent and

Officers Foil a Terrier-ist Plot7 from The Irish Daily Mirror. These two articles can be

compared visually, headline size, colours used. The content of the articles are excellent

examples for the students to compare, because it is clear that the language of the article from

the broadsheet is factual whereas the tabloid article is conversational and has run a riot with

puns. It leads to very interesting and entertaining reading for the students.

Handout two is more serious in that it covers the death, from swine flu, of a teenage

boy. However, the topic of this flu is relevant to students this year. The first article is from

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Cox, R. (2009),Officers Foil a Terrier-ist Plot, The Irish Daily Mirror, 24th October, p. 4

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The Irish Daily Mirror, Lethal Swine Flu Claims Life of 14-Year-Old Boy 8; this article is a

good example of dramatic and sensational reporting. It shows the eye-catching use of white

on black, and how the article contains fewer words. On the other hand, the broadsheet article 9

covering the same story is an example of factual and serious reporting. It contains mostly text

and does not make use of any dramatic colour layout.

PowerPoint Presentation - The PowerPoint presentation offers the students a change from

the whiteboard and from routine. If used infrequently, and used well, a PowerPoint

presentation can be memorable to students. This presentation covers the topic of reporting;

the two images at the beginning show that the tools of journalism have changed, but the

guidelines remain the same. The criteria for success, ‘who, what, where, when, why and

how’, are repeated throughout the slide through a rhyme, bullet points, and a brainstorm in

order for the students to recall this outline. The inclusion of the article comparison exercise,

the reading of the poem, and the brainstorm in the presentation allow the students to become

active and provides a break from teacher talk and monotony. The sound file of the poem Why

Brownlee Left10 moves poetry into the realm of technology; the poem will not be associated

with paper, or the textbook, but rather with the computer and YouTube.

Why Brownlee Left by Paul Muldoon11 - This is a short, simple poem that contains the story

of a man who disappeared; I feel that it can be easily interpreted by the students into the form

of a headline and a report for either a tabloid or a broadsheet.

8
Cox, R. (2009), Lethal Swine Flu Claims Life of 14-Year-Old Boy, The Irish Daily Mirror, 24th October, p. 2
9
Holland, K., (2009) Death of youth brings swine flu fatalities in State to nine, The Irish Times, 24th October
10
Chrisallenfilms, (2008), Why Brownlee Left, YouTube. Available
at:http://www.youtube.com/user/chrisallenfilms. Accessed on 27th October 2009.
11
Muldoon, P. (1980) ‘Why Brownlee Left’ in Muldoon, P. Why Brownlee Left, London: Faber and Faber, p. 22

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Section 4: Student Assessment

I will use a mix of informal and formal assessment throughout these two lessons on

the headline and the report. The concept of assessment for learning or formative assessment

is the greatest influence on the way in which I will assess the lesson; in particular the idea of

criteria for success. Assessment for learning is part of the learning process and I feel that it is

important for the students to know the objectives of the lesson and to provide feedback on

homework. By continually assessing the students throughout the learning process through

questioning, brainstorms and exercises carried out in class I can adjust the pace of the class

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and revise any information that is causing confusion. I do not make use of any summative

assessments as I feel English, particularly first year English, should not be focused on grades.

In lessons prior to these two students will have learned the different writing styles

used in, the layout of, and the characteristics of broadsheet and tabloid newspapers; the

assessment of these will be informal and ongoing. Questioning, as a valid form of

assessment, will be used continuously throughout the lesson; questions provide the teacher

with an idea of the prior knowledge of the students. There will be a mixture of closed

questions, which will see if the students can give the right answer and identify terms

introduced in class, and open questions which will allow for class discussion and peer

learning.

The headlines brainstorm at the beginning of the class is another means by which the

teacher can establish the level of understanding; students will be instructed to write down

every piece of information they can recall about headlines during this exercise. This is

revision for the students.

Homework is the final form of assessment. Students will be given clear guidelines,

written on the white board and on the PowerPoint presentation as to what is required for

homework. The criteria for success for the report are provided to the class on numerous

occasions; this is so that the students are aware of what is expected within their report.

Similarly, students know what is expected for each style of headline. The homework is to

reinforce the learning outcomes of the class. The teacher will be able to check the headlines

of each student while the class are completing the brainstorm; this will indicate whether or

not the class need another lesson on headlines and also allows the teacher the opportunity to

provide feedback to the students. Similarly, the reports written by the students must be

collected in order to fully establish if the class have achieved the learning outcomes and once

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again, and an integral part of assessment for learning, provide feedback in a constructive

manner.

Section 5: Reflection and evaluation

In order to motivate a class and ensure that all students are active participants it is

essential to plan a lesson in advance. The Junior Certificate English syllabus cannot be solely

based on a particular textbook, and so through advanced planning a teacher will build up a

bank of resources. Through my own experience as both a teacher and a student I have found

that a lesson is not as engaging when it is introduced through the textbook; students react in a

positive manner to inventive and different approaches to teaching. As an English teacher I

often tell the class that the parts of an essay remembered best are the opening and the close,

and so they must make these memorable; the same can be applied to teaching a lesson. The
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teacher must take the time to prepare an innovative and interesting introduction that hooks the

students and a conclusion that sums up the learning outcomes, but is also memorable.

The brainstorm is a useful skill for the students to develop and I try to incorporate it

as much as possible into the end of classes in order for the students to have ideas for their

homework, rather than the ‘blank-page,’ and it also allows the teacher to assess the student

understanding as well as repeating and reinforcing the lesson. With older classes I would not

use so many brainstorms and would not collect them for assessment, but would encourage

them at the end of certain classes in which an essay is assigned. The brainstorms and

handouts keep the students active throughout the class period. They provide comprehension

activities, written work, reading exercises and student talk as opposed to teacher talk.

It is important to provide the students with variety rather than following the book; it

keeps the students active and learning. It is as important in English to incorporate hands-on

activities as it is in Science, Music or other practical subjects. By leaving the textbook aside

and incorporating the everyday media (articles, front pages and headlines) into the lesson the

students see a practical use of the English they study. I believe this lesson could be greatly

enhanced through the use of an Interactive white board, especially since the media today is so

interactive; the interactive whiteboard means that the teacher can have all the points,

definitions, examples of headlines and articles prepared which cuts down on the class time

wasted writing this information. In a world that is moving away from paper and books it is

important to keep English up to date for the students; the poems, short stories and newspaper

articles that were written with pens and pencils need to be integrated with the technology of

the students rather than that of the nineteenth-century in order for them to learn and to

develop a love for English from the beginning.

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