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Straight Talk
Module 1, Activity 2.6 - Inverted Pyramid Structure
Student Page
(teacher lesson for this page)

Introduction:

Once journalists have all the facts, they must decide how to write a story. The most common style for writing hard news is known as the inverted pyramid structure. In this lesson you will learn to recognize this structure through comparison/contrast and problem solving activities, and you will have the opportunity to write a story in the inverted pyramid style.

Activities:

Task One - Facts vs. Storytelling
There are different styles of writing used in journalism. This activity will help you to begin to recognize the inverted pyramid style of writing and the storytelling style of writing.

Look at the two different articles your teacher has provided about the same news item.

  • Note any similarities within the articles, specifically the facts of the story
  • Write down all the differences between the articles. You should be looking for stylistic differences such as: order, narration, word choice.
  • As a class, list the similarities and differences on the board.

Task Two - Piecing it Together
Watch this video with journalist Jason Warick discussing inverted pyramid writing.

Record the following notes on inverted pyramid writing in your notebook:

1. The inverted pyramid should allow readers to skim the first paragraph for any pertinent information and then decide whether to read the rest of the article.
2 .First paragraph should include all the most important details of the story (5Ws and H).
3. The first paragraph should only include necessary information; it is written in a very brief and concise manner.
4. Consecutive paragraphs should include supporting information in order of importance.
Once you have an understanding of the pyramid style, complete the following activity. Your teacher will give you and a partner a story from the newspaper. This story had been cut into pieces between paragraphs. You must put the paragraphs in order as you think the article was originally written.

Objectives:

You will be able to
- use the inverted pyramid style of news writing
- analyze and evaluate their own and others' writing
- speak to share thoughts, opinions, and feelings
Resources:

- newspaper articles
- fairytale
- video clip Re: inverted pyramid structure
Task Two - Continued . . .
Note - the article is written as an inverted pyramid
clue

Compare your final product with the actual article as it was written and discuss as a class.

Task Three - Fairytale Pyramid
It is time for you to experiment using the inverted pyramid style. Your teacher will read a well known fairytale. You must take down the details of the events and decide which details are most important, which are secondary and which do not need to be included. Once you have completed that, you will write a news story in the inverted pyramid structure.

After you have finished your article, switch with your partner. You will be responsible for reading your partner's article and commenting on the introduction and the rest of the article. Try to give your partner specific feedback on what he/she did well and a suggestion for anything that he/she could rework. You should:

  • make specific comments or suggestions on the introduction, as it it the most important part of the inverted pyramid structure.
  • write one comment and one suggestion regarding the rest of the article.
 

Last Updated
May 30, 2005

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