2. Lead: The first sentence of a news story that gives the most important and interesting facts of the story in 20-30 words.

4. How lead Through a grass roots voting effort, senior Gilbert Castillo won the mayoral election to become the youngest mayor in the city’s history.

5. Why lead Because they wanted to carry on the tradition, four seniors streaked across the football stadium during the homecoming pep rally wearing a paper leis and tennis shoes.

6. What lead The Harry Potter series and Lord of the Rings series will be removed from all school libraries in the district this fall.

8. Who lead President Barack Obama will make a brief appearance at the high school Thursday after giving a speech at the County Expo Center. Principal Joe Rocker announced Tuesday that students will no longer be allowed to leave campus for lunch due to excessive tardies. Not so good… Better… These are rare because the person must be a famous person. The principal is well-known, but he is not that exciting and he is definitely NOT the story.

9. When lead On Saturday President Barack Obama will speak to the senior class about how important community organizing and volunteering are to the country. On Tuesday Principal Joe Rocker announced that students will no longer be able to leave campus for lunch. Not so good: Better… but only because it is a future event … still, yukky though: Avoid when leads – the news is almost never about when something happened He ANNOUNCED something on Tuesday? The day is not the news at all

10. Where lead Maybe … probably yes. In the principal’s office, the senior class dumped 30 pounds of sand to protest the cancellation of the senior trip to Cancun. Avoid where leads – the news is almost never about where something happened At the school board meeting on Tuesday, Principal Joe Blow announced that he has ended the off-campus lunch policy.

11. Now that we know the type of lead we are looking for, how do we write a good lead? 1.List the five W’s and H for the story 2.Decide which is the most interesting and important 3.Think of a good action verb – no linking verbs! 4.Start writing – the first three words are very important – avoid articles and when/where references as starters 5.Put in the when 6.Finish the sentence – 20 to 30 words in total

12. Lead Writing Formula Key idea + action verb + when + other Ws = 20-30 words Lead Writing Rules 1.Use third person 2.Avoid overcrowding 3.Never ask a question 4.No opinion allowed 5.Past Tense (all news stories are in past tense)

13. Let’s Try It! Story idea and Information: Senior class took a test last month. It was the national Cyborg Test that just started this year. One of the seniors got 100 percent on the test. No one else in the country did this. Senior’s name is James Crenshaw. He has never taken an honors course in his life. Test date was September 16 th, 2013. Scores were given to the school on October 20 th 2013. The principal announced Crenshaw’s score to the school on October 22 nd. Discuss with partner: 1.What is the Key Idea? 2.What is a good action verb? 3.What is the When? 4.What else is important? 5.Do you need attribution for this lead?

14. The only student to ace September’s National Cyborg Test in the entire country was a Sunnyslope senior who has never taken an honors course in his life. One possibility: Is this the key idea? Is this a good action verb? Does the WHEN follow the verb? Was this the next most important W?

15. Do readers want to know MORE? What W should come first in the Bridge paragraph? What else should be in the Bridge? Discuss with your partner:

16. Now you’re ready to practice on your own