News Values and the Upside-Down Pyramid

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Communications and Media · Journalism / Yearbook / Media
SP-JOURN-001 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 2
News Values and the Upside-Down Pyramid
Communications and Media · Journalism / Yearbook / Media · Grades 8-9 · 50 minutes
Time needed
50 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Copy the 2-page worksheet (one per student). Draw a large upside-down triangle on the board.
Technology
None.
Student
independence
High. Students work alone, then compare with a partner.
Copies to make
One 2-page worksheet per student
Materials
Pencils, Worksheet, Whiteboard or chalkboard
Goal for today: Students will identify news values in sample situations and will arrange the facts of an invented story
from most to least important.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (2 pages).
☐ Draw a big upside-down triangle on the board. Label the wide top MOST IMPORTANT FACTS, the middle
IMPORTANT DETAILS, and the narrow point LEAST IMPORTANT.
☐ Keep the answer key (page after the worksheet) on your desk. Several answers are opinion-based, so the key
gives sample answers.
Say this to start
Good morning! Your teacher left a journalism lesson for today. News writers put the most important facts first, in a
shape called the upside-down pyramid. Today you will learn how reporters decide what counts as news and then
practice building a story in that shape. Read the instructions on each part, work quietly on your own, and then we will
check answers together.

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Communications and Media · Journalism / Yearbook / Media
SP-JOURN-001 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 3
Run of show
Minutes
What you do
What students do
0–5
Take attendance the way the school requires. Hand out the
worksheet face down, then ask students to turn it over
together.
Settle in, take out a pencil, and wait for
directions.
5–13
Ask a volunteer to read the passage “The Upside-Down
Pyramid” aloud (or read it yourself). Point to the triangle on
the board as the passage explains it.
Follow along and underline the six news
values as they are named.
13–23
Tell students to complete Part A (questions 1–6). They
match each situation to the news value that fits best. Each
value is used once.
Match the situations to the values. If two
seem possible, choose the one that fits
best.
23–33
Tell students to complete Part B, the sorting table. They
write TOP, MIDDLE or BOTTOM next to each fact. Let
neighbors compare quietly.
Decide how important each fact is and label
it.
33–45
Tell students to finish Part C (questions 7–10). Question 9 is
a one-sentence opening and question 10 is a short news
story. Remind them to put TOP facts first.
Answer the two multiple-choice questions,
then write the opening sentence and the
short story.
45–50
Ask two or three volunteers to read their opening
sentences aloud. Then collect all worksheets and put them
in a stack for the teacher.
Listen to classmates’ openings and hand in
the worksheet.
If things go wrong
• If students say two values fit one situation, tell them to pick the best fit and write a tiny note in the margin.
The key accepts a short explanation.
• If students seem unsure how to sort the facts, ask, “If a reader only read one sentence, which fact must be in
it?” That fact is TOP.
• If a student finishes early, check that the story in question 10 starts with the TOP facts, then use the early
finisher list.
• If the class gets noisy, remind them this is individual practice time and partners may whisper only during Part
B.
Early finishers
• Write a second headline for the library story that is under six words.
• Think of one real event at your school this week and name which news value makes it newsworthy.
• Add a made-up quote from Ms. Ortega to your story and decide which paragraph it belongs in.
Support and challenge
• Support: Let students complete only questions 1–6, the Part B table and question 7, and write a two-sentence
story for question 10.
• Challenge: Ask students to write a different story order that hides the main news until the last paragraph,
then explain why readers would dislike it.

SubstitutePlans.com
Communications and Media · Journalism / Yearbook / Media
SP-JOURN-001 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 4
Notes for the teacher (you fill this in)
Jot a few lines before you leave. A full Daily Sub Report is in the free Sub Survival Kit at SubstitutePlans.com.
How far the class got / what to pick up next:
Students who were especially helpful:
Anything the teacher should know: