Lesson Plan www.eslkidstuff.

com

Date: TBD Mon.

Teacher: Ryan Heath Class: Writing 6C No of Ss: 12
(5:00-6:20)
Lesson Topic: The Moon Landing/News Articles – Lesson 1
Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson students will:

l Be able to identify the basic elements of a news article

l Gain a basic understanding of the history of the moon landing (social context)
l Explain the inverted pyramid approach to journalism

Main skill / system objective: Introduction to basic features of news articles

An understanding of the historical and social context of the

Secondary skill / system objective: moon landing and the ways in which newspaper articles
represent the social context in which they’re written
Worksheets / etc. Digital copy NYTs article (see link below).
Physical copies of old newspapers (available at the school)

Materials / Resources / Supplies / Learner tablet PCs: for access to digital media
Flashcards / etc. Smart-board: for in-class viewing of video

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning
/general/onthisday/big/0720.html?module=inline
The above link is the main text of this lesson plan: a NYTs
article by J.N. Wilford announcing Neil Armstrong’s landing
on the moon.

Learners bring: notebooks, writing utensil, creative thinking

Listenings / Video etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E96EPhqT-ds

This above link is a video of CBS’s coverage of the Apollo
11 moon landing. Run time: start 14:00 (1 minute before
touchdown) end at 26:00 (after Armstrong has taken first
steps on the moon)

Board Plans:

Vocabulary: Headline, byline, caption, Homework: Finish reading “Men Walk on

deadline, feature story, inverted pyramid,
journalism.
Watch: Moon Landing Video (see link above)
Examine: features of “Men Walk on the Moon”
front page of NYT
Moon”
Choose another news article for class on
Wednesday print out your article, cut it from a
Newspaper (available if learners want them), or
email the link to the teacher.
Try to choose a text less than 1,000 words (non-
feature article).
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Lesson Plan www.eslkidstuff.com

Stage Procedure Resources / Page No. Time

1. Lesson introduction: quick discussion on N/A 5:00-5:10

background knowledge of the moon landing (e.g.
Date, Armstrong & Aldrin, NASA, Cold War, etc.)

2. Introduction to vocabulary: Vocabulary terms Smartboard 5:10-5:20

written on the board: Headline, byline, caption,
deadline, feature story, inverted pyramid, journalism.
Teacher will ask students to discuss in small groups
the vocabulary, write a quick definition for each
word, and an inference on the unit focus for this
week. Then a class discussion will clarify vocabulary
and lesson focus.

3. Building background knowledge: Class will watch YouTube link 5:20-5:40

Video of CBS’s moon landing coverage, then will (see above);
discuss the nature of the moon landing and the smart-board
historical context to gain a better understanding of
the social context in which the article for examination
was written.

4. Pre-reading: Before reading, the class will view a NYT Archive link 5:40-5:45
digital copy of the front page article from the NYTs (see above)
article. They will examine the visual features and Smart-board
arrangement of the paper, and identify features
typical of a newspaper article; they will also attempt
to identify any unique features of this particular
article.

5. Introduction to the ‘Inverted Pyramid’: The class Smart-board 5:45-5:50

will explore the features of the inverted pyramid style
of newspaper journalism: characteristics; its benefits,
its weaknesses, why it’s used

6: In class reading: As a class, students will read Learner tablets, 5:50-6:15

aloud the first 500 words of this article. Teacher will NYT Archive link
draw attention to the connections between the
vocabulary and the features present in the article

7. Class conclusion: Discussion of homework, Smart-board 6:15-6:20

clarification of any themes or ideas from the lesson

8. Homework/Assessment: Finish Reading Moon Written on board

landing, choose a news article to bring to class for
tomorrow’s lesson

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