A Student's Guide to Writing Short Articles

• English
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Learning Objective

Understand the key elements of writing a short article and apply them to create your own  article.

What presentational devices/layout features might you find in an article?

An article should have a title.

1. True
2. False

Begin your article "Dear Sir/Madam"

1. True
2. False

Understanding audience and purpose

• Do you know who your  target audience is?
• What do you want them to take away from this article?
• What is the purpose of the article : inform, instruct, persuade or describe?

Text that wants you to do something is:

1. Informative
2. Instructive
3. Persuasive
4. Descriptive

Give examples of informative pieces of text

Select a Title 

• A good title should attract  readers' attention.
• It should be Interesting and engaging.
• It should reflect what the article is going to be about.

Introduction

Create an attention-grabbing opening that introduces the topic and entices the reader to continue.

Developing Key Points

• Outline the main points or arguments that support your topic.
•  Ensuring each point is clear, concise, and relevant to the audience.
• Each new point should be in a separate paragraph.
• Leave a clear line between each paragraph.

Engaging the Reader

Incorporate anecdotes, examples, or quotes to captivate the reader and make the content relatable and impactful.

Can you use any language techniques to engage the reader and make the article more interesting?

Concluding Effectively

Summarize the key points and leave the reader with a thought-provoking conclusion that reinforces the main message.

Polishing the Draft

Revise and edit the article for clarity, coherence, grammar, and spelling to ensure a polished final piece.

Task

Write an article for your college magazine about how to look after your health on holiday.

You should aim to write about 150 word.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.