Writing the headlines

Writing the headlines

Pencil and paperOnline interactive
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about summarising news items to write headlines.
Read each of the following newspaper items. Write a headline for each one in the space above the item. The first one has been done as an example.
 
Great NZ cleanup

More than 50,000 school children and 200 community groups will be involved in next week's Clean Up New Zealand week as part of the Clean Up The World programme. So far 5,500 people have volunteered in Wellington. Organisers are hoping for 10,000.

Question 1Change answer

a)
 
Rodney the jet-setting rodent has been disposed of. The rat, which startled a passenger on an Air New Zealand international flight earlier this week, was found under the floor of the aircraft's cockpit yesterday.

Question 1Change answer

b) 
 
A trailer full of furniture broke away from a truck and its contents plunged down a bank on a steep Wellington hill yesterday, demolishing a garden shed in the process. Police said the truck was heading down Mt Albert Rd, near the National Hockey Stadium, when the trailer broke loose and plunged down a bank.

Question 1Change answer

c) 
 
Two hundred bundles of paper used for official documents have gone missing between Lower Hutt and Christchurch. The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages said the office was taking the matter seriously. The paper was of high quality and water-marked.  

Question 1Change answer

d) 
 
New Zealand lost again yesterday in the Commonwealth women's golf tournament in Vancouver, Canada. They were beaten 4-2 by the hosts after a bye on Wednesday. Victory over Britain left defending champions Australia the only unbeaten team at the tournament.
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper or online.
Level:
4
Curriculum info: 
English, Creating meaning, Writing
Key Competencies: 
Using language, symbols, and texts
Keywords: 
headlines, news articles, organisation
Description of task: 
Students write headlines for brief newspaper items. This task assesses student ability to summarise text as a headline.
Curriculum Links: 
Links to the Literacy Learning Progressions for Writing:
This resource helps to identify students’ ability to:
  • generate content that is relevant to the task
as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Writing at: http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/The-Structure-of-the-Progressions.
Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with
Creating texts to communicate knowledge and understanding, sets 4-5
within the Writing Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
    Y8 (10/1999)
Brevity and fit with text are necessary for this task.
a) E.g., (Rodney)Rat disposed of/(Rodney) Rat found/Goodbye Rodney easy
b) E.g., Truck damages cables/Truck tumbles/Furniture escapes. easy
c) E.g., Paper goes missing/Paper pinched
[do not accept "documents ..."]		 easy
d) E.g., Kiwi golfers lose. easy