Concise writing is a key skill that cuts across nearly all disciplines. And that's not just the former newspaper editor in me, or the journalism club moderator speaking. It's the mindset of a U.S. and world history teacher who constantly sees writing issues with research papers.
The attached seven worksheets are great tools to teach writing and critical thinking about writing which I use in journalism classes and journalism clubs. But I also use a couple of them in some of my history classes before I assign a major research paper, if I expect there will be a particular writing issue requiring attention.
They're great for any English or Journalism class focusing upon writing skills, and they can be used as sub-plans. Most of the worksheets have an answer sheet included.
1. Omitting Needless Words/Concision Worksheet (with answer sheet): Wordy sentences must be re-written with half as many words but include all the same information (my Journalism class students love this challenge).
2. Lead-Writing Exercise: Poorly written leads for news stories must be re-written into inverted pyramid form.
3. Editing … A worksheet: Students must diagnose problems with five lead paragraphs in news stories.
4. Active Voice Worksheet (with answer sheet): Sentences written with passive voice verbs must be re-written to include active verbs.
5. A Tale of Two Cities Journalistic Rewrite: This is a difficult exercise that involves some Internet research on the history of London and Paris to conform the opening paragraphs of Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" to a journalistic-style story. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
6. Copy Editing Exercise (with answer sheet): A poorly-written news story must be fixed
7. Review Exercise on Active Voice and Concision (with answer sheet)
The attached seven worksheets are great tools to teach writing and critical thinking about writing which I use in journalism classes and journalism clubs. But I also use a couple of them in some of my history classes before I assign a major research paper, if I expect there will be a particular writing issue requiring attention.
They're great for any English or Journalism class focusing upon writing skills, and they can be used as sub-plans. Most of the worksheets have an answer sheet included.
1. Omitting Needless Words/Concision Worksheet (with answer sheet): Wordy sentences must be re-written with half as many words but include all the same information (my Journalism class students love this challenge).
2. Lead-Writing Exercise: Poorly written leads for news stories must be re-written into inverted pyramid form.
3. Editing … A worksheet: Students must diagnose problems with five lead paragraphs in news stories.
4. Active Voice Worksheet (with answer sheet): Sentences written with passive voice verbs must be re-written to include active verbs.
5. A Tale of Two Cities Journalistic Rewrite: This is a difficult exercise that involves some Internet research on the history of London and Paris to conform the opening paragraphs of Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" to a journalistic-style story. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
6. Copy Editing Exercise (with answer sheet): A poorly-written news story must be fixed
7. Review Exercise on Active Voice and Concision (with answer sheet)
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