I can evaluate effective headlines. I can create effective headlines.

 Name of story or article (headline)  What moral questions is most prominently discussed?  What is a significant statement or quote from the story?  List the statement/quote AND the significance.  Who will be impacted and how?  Publication info: Where did the story come from? When was it published?  Is it local (within our state), national, or international news?  What is your opinion?

 What is the worst thing parents can do to their children?  What is something you are optimistic about?  Write about your plans for he weekend.

 Give the most general, overall focus/summary of the story.  Remember that the headline may be the only reason the reader decides to read the story (Entry point.)  Avoid headlines that can have more than one interpretation.  Limit the number of words -- 6 to 10, generally  Use strong, active verbs. (To be verbs are generally understood, but not written out.)

 Use present tense verbs.  Express a complete thought. Headlines usually read like simple sentences.  Use a secondary headline -- or subhead -- to convey an additional idea of a story.  Substitute a comma for the word "and."  Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns.  Write a headline that is grammatically correct.

 Mislead the reader about the content of the article. Avoid downplay, exaggeration, sensationalism.  Use the name of the school unless it's absolutely necessary.  Use the verbs "participate" or "experience."  Use labels or phrases for headlines.  Put a period at the end of a headline.  Use names, unless very well recognized. Use grades or positions instead.

 Use abbreviations or slang.  Trivialize a serious story with the inappropriate use of puns or other word play.  Separate words that belong together in a phrase. (All words in infinitives and prepositional phrases should be on one line.)  Use more than one banner headline on a page.  Repeat words on the same page. (Very common on sports pages.)  Capitalize every word or every important word.  Use "a," "an" or "the."

 Vary the length and number of lines in headlines on a single page.  Use a smaller point size as you work down the page. (The most important stories are highest on the page and have the largest headlines.)  Make sure the headline "touches" the byline or first paragraph of its article. (Don't put a photo between them.)

 These are real headlines that appeared in daily newspapers.

1.What can you tell about each person in this photograph? 2.Do you think everyone in the group is reacting to the same thing? How can you tell? What are they reacting to that we cannot see within the framing of this photograph? 3.How do we you react in front of a camera? 4.How are the women's expressions different from those of the kids? 5.Where does this scene take place? 6.What do you think has happened to bring this group together? 7.How do we respond today when we hear about or see scenes of murder on the television? s/classroom_resources/curricula/head lines/ib_firstmurder.html

 1)Your teacher has praised students for raising more than $2,000 for a charity. Students held cake sales and took part in a sponsored swim to raise the money. The teacher says he is very proud of their efforts.  2) The school football team has won a place in the final of the local schools tournament. They secured their place in a 3 -0 win against the school’s biggest rival. Two of the goals were scored by the team captain Ronan, who said he was proud of the way the team had performed throughout the season.

 Find 3 different pictures in a newspaper or magazine and create 3 separate headlines (one for each picture).  You may choose a picture from current news events, sports, action stories, etc.  Share your pictures and headlines with the class. Discuss how others might interpret the meaning (image and headline).  Use your headline do’s and don’t’s and your most used word/phrase list.

 Wrap up the lesson with a discussion of the role of photographs in newspapers using the following questions.  - Most often, an image in a newspaper or magazine is used to direct your attention to a story. Do you feel that you tend to read more stories that have images with them, or without them? Why do you think that is?  - Look back at the images pulled from the newspapers. How well do you think most images in newspapers connect with the story they accompany?  - What do the images add to the story, or leave out? What moment in the story do they tend to focus on? Why do you think the photographers and/or editors chose that moment?