Bridging Activity for Year 12 (Level 2) OCR Nationals in Media Written by Mrs S.Bierman (Head of Media Studies) Work based on: Unit 3: Introduction to Media Production You should spend approximately 4 hours on this work.

You will need to read the front page of the newspaper called FirstNews; you may want to buy your own copy to guide you here. This work will help you with a unit you will be studying called Unit 3 - Introduction to Media Production. Look at the following website to help you read one front cover and see how the newspaper is laid out or else see the hard copy attached to this pack: a.pdf What type of stories do you think this newspaper covers? Why? Find one story that interests you at the moment in any newspaper (local ones or national or a copy of FirstNews), and then answer the following questions about that story; word process your answers and add the actual article which can be cut-out of the newspaper and stuck down with annotations surrounding it alongside your work when handed in to your teacher for marking: What story are you focusing on? When did it happen? Where was the place it happened? Who was involved? Why did something happen? How did the story happen? You will need to read the front page of the newspaper called FirstNews; you may want to buy your own copy to guide you here. This work will help you with a unit you will be studying called Unit 3 - Introduction to Media Production. Look at the following website to help you read one front cover and see how the newspaper is laid out or else see the hard copy attached to this pack: a.pdf What type of stories do you think this newspaper covers? Why? Find one story that interests you at the moment in any newspaper (local ones or national or a copy of FirstNews), and then answer the following questions about that story; word process your answers and add the actual article which can be cut-out of the newspaper and stuck down with annotations surrounding it alongside your work when handed in to your teacher for marking: What story are you focusing on? When did it happen? Where was the place it happened? Who was involved? Why did something happen? How did the story happen?

Research Time Answer these questions but do this as a brainstorm on a Word document with the newspaper in the middle and annotations surrounding it about FirstNews (copy attached as a hard copy). Look at the masthead (title of the newspaper) what impressions does the name suggest to you about the contents of the newspaper and who it might be read by. How do we know when it comes out? How much does it cost? What does the tagline (“The weekly newspaper for kids”) suggest about who is reading the newspaper? What do you think about the colours used in the masthead? What type of headline has been used here? What type of questions do you think were being asked to the Prime Minister? Answer these questions but do this as a brainstorm on a Word document with the newspaper in the middle and annotations surrounding it about FirstNews (copy attached as a hard copy). Look at the masthead (title of the newspaper) what impressions does the name suggest to you about the contents of the newspaper and who it might be read by. How do we know when it comes out? How much does it cost? What does the tagline (“The weekly newspaper for kids”) suggest about who is reading the newspaper? What do you think about the colours used in the masthead? What type of headline has been used here? What type of questions do you think were being asked to the Prime Minister?

Example of how to set this out effectively Annotate around the newspaper The masthead means … The newspaper comes out on… so this makes it a type of paper.

Story to read from: 4,410kg choc bar A CHOCOLATE bar weighing a massive 4,410kg has been made in Armenia. The super-sized sweet was made by Grand Candy to celebrate their 10th anniversary. It took 48 hours to mix the chocolate, five of which were spent roasting and grinding cocoa beans. The huge bar is 5.6m long and 7.75m wide, and is officially the Guinness World Records largest bar of chocolate. Experts think it would take 107 years for one person to eat the entire thing. Instead, it will be broken into pieces and shared among the public in Yerevan. Pick out the key facts here:  Story Headline:  What happened?  When did it happen?  Where did it happen?  Who did it happen to?  Why did it happen?  How did it happen?  Task 2: Ask more questions to find out more.  Now, write three questions that would help you find more  information about this story.  Q1 ?  Q2 ?  Q3 ?  Can you identify the key facts in a news story and can you ask useful questions? files/worksheet_newspaper_4ccdf7b3 cb799.pdf

Possible Answers from Story Headline: 4,410kg choc bar (Crazy but True, Page 18) TASK ONE: Can you find the key points in this news story? What happened? The world’s largest chocolate bar has been made. When did it happen? Last week Where did it happen? Armenia Who did it happen to? The staff at Grand Candy made the bar. It will be shared and eaten by all the people who live in Yerevan. Why did it happen? The company, Grand Candy, made the chocolate bar to celebrate their 10th birthday. How did it happen? Cocoa beans were ground & roasted for five hours. It took two days in total to make the bar. TASK TWO: Can you ask more questions about this story that would help you find out more? Example questions:  How big is the chocolate bar?  What quantity of the different ingredients was used to make the chocolate bar?  What did the chocolate bar taste like?  How are they going to cut up the gigantic bar?  How much bigger than the previous world record holder was this chocolate bar?..etc.… Story Headline: 4,410kg choc bar (Crazy but True, Page 18) TASK ONE: Can you find the key points in this news story? What happened? The world’s largest chocolate bar has been made. When did it happen? Last week Where did it happen? Armenia Who did it happen to? The staff at Grand Candy made the bar. It will be shared and eaten by all the people who live in Yerevan. Why did it happen? The company, Grand Candy, made the chocolate bar to celebrate their 10th birthday. How did it happen? Cocoa beans were ground & roasted for five hours. It took two days in total to make the bar. TASK TWO: Can you ask more questions about this story that would help you find out more? Example questions:  How big is the chocolate bar?  What quantity of the different ingredients was used to make the chocolate bar?  What did the chocolate bar taste like?  How are they going to cut up the gigantic bar?  How much bigger than the previous world record holder was this chocolate bar?..etc.…

Story to read from: 4,410kg choc bar A CHOCOLATE bar weighing a massive 4,410kg has been made in Armenia. The super-sized sweet was made by Grand Candy to celebrate their 10th anniversary. It took 48 hours to mix the chocolate, five of which were spent roasting and grinding cocoa beans. The huge bar is 5.6m long and 7.75m wide, and is officially the Guinness World Records largest bar of chocolate. Experts think it would take 107 years for one person to eat the entire thing. Instead, it will be broken into pieces and shared among the public in Yerevan. Pick out the key facts here:  Story Headline:  What happened?  When did it happen?  Where did it happen?  Who did it happen to?  Why did it happen?  How did it happen?  Task 2: Ask more questions to find out more.  Now, write three questions that would help you find more  information about this story.  Q1 ?  Q2 ?  Q3 ?  Can you identify the key facts in a news story and can you ask useful questions? files/worksheet_newspaper_4ccdf7b3 cb799.pdf

Write your own newspaper front page story for Imagine have approached you to write an interesting front page leader (the front page story). They have asked you to do some research and find a suitable topic that could appear as their main news story. This leader needs to be approximately 100 words (the first words appear on the front page but it is continued inside the newspaper for the rest of the story!) Word process your newspaper leader using Word and set this out with an appropriate headline, the byline (journalist’s name = your name!) and using the Five W’s – who, what, where, why and when. Re-read it to check it makes sense and re-draft and make any corrections. Imagine have approached you to write an interesting front page leader (the front page story). They have asked you to do some research and find a suitable topic that could appear as their main news story. This leader needs to be approximately 100 words (the first words appear on the front page but it is continued inside the newspaper for the rest of the story!) Word process your newspaper leader using Word and set this out with an appropriate headline, the byline (journalist’s name = your name!) and using the Five W’s – who, what, where, why and when. Re-read it to check it makes sense and re-draft and make any corrections.

How to choose an effective headline for your leader Look at the following link on First News about effective headlines: 6.pdf 6.pdf You will need to think about your story and play around with various headlines until you are happy with the final choice. Please write down all the choices you have made and annotate why you have got rid of some but kept the final choice. Here are some extra top tips to help you here: Appeal to your target audience's emotions Start with "How to Make a statement or exclamation Use a number (6 ways to…) Use puns, alliteration or humour to appeal to the audience Be obvious with what you are writing about e.g. “Prime Minster Answers Your Questions” Look at the following link on First News about effective headlines: 6.pdf 6.pdf You will need to think about your story and play around with various headlines until you are happy with the final choice. Please write down all the choices you have made and annotate why you have got rid of some but kept the final choice. Here are some extra top tips to help you here: Appeal to your target audience's emotions Start with "How to Make a statement or exclamation Use a number (6 ways to…) Use puns, alliteration or humour to appeal to the audience Be obvious with what you are writing about e.g. “Prime Minster Answers Your Questions”

Masthead designs Design a new masthead for - this is the name of the newspaper and works like a visual logo for people to remember it. You may want to design three or four new ways of how to present the name: FirstNews still sticking with their red/blue colours but being creative with fonts, images and actual shape of the masthead – see the ideas below for some examples. Design a new masthead for - this is the name of the newspaper and works like a visual logo for people to remember it. You may want to design three or four new ways of how to present the name: FirstNews still sticking with their red/blue colours but being creative with fonts, images and actual shape of the masthead – see the ideas below for some examples.

Evaluation What skills have you learnt from doing this type of work? How did you select the story that you chose to write the leader for? How did you pick out the key facts for the story? Would it appeal to children who read ? Were you pleased with your headline? Why/why not? Find THREE things you would improve in your leader. Find THREE things you would improve in your favourite masthead. What skills would you like to develop in the future based on work undertaken here? What skills have you learnt from doing this type of work? How did you select the story that you chose to write the leader for? How did you pick out the key facts for the story? Would it appeal to children who read ? Were you pleased with your headline? Why/why not? Find THREE things you would improve in your leader. Find THREE things you would improve in your favourite masthead. What skills would you like to develop in the future based on work undertaken here?