OSSLT Module 2: News Report Mastery

Welcome back! Now that we have a baseline of your skills, it's time to tackle one of the most important parts of the OSSLT: the News Report.

In Ontario, news reports follow a very specific "Inverted Pyramid" style. This means the most important information goes right at the top!

1. Deconstructing the Headline (1 Hour)

Your prompt is: "Students Lead Community Clean-up".

We are learning to generate ideas from a single headline.
Open Canva and find a "Graphic Organizer" template.
Fill it out with the 5 Ws: Who were the students? Where in Ontario did this happen? When did it occur? What exactly did they clean? Why did they decide to do it?

2. Writing the Report (2 Hours)

Now, write your story!

I can write in the third person (use names and "they," never "I" or "me").
I can include a quote from a "witness" or "participant" to make the story feel real.
I can use formal language. Instead of saying "The kids did a great job," try "The participants demonstrated a strong commitment to environmental stewardship."

3. The AI Objectivity Check (1 Hour)

News reports must be objective—that means sticking to the facts without sharing your personal opinion.

Copy your draft into a Google Doc.
Ask an AI (like Gemini or ChatGPT): "Please highlight any words in this news report that show personal bias or opinion rather than objective facts. Suggest more professional alternatives."
Record a quick 45-60 second video in Canva explaining one change the AI suggested and why you chose to keep it or change it.

Pro-tip: Remember to use Canadian spelling! Words like "centre," "organized," and "neighbourhood" are your friends here.

You're doing great—keep that momentum going! Submit your Canva PDF to Google Classroom when you're finished.

Assessment

What to Turn In

📤
Canva PDF containing:
- A '5 Ws' Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
- One original News Report based on the 'Lead-Found' prompt (approx. 250 words)
- A short video (45-60 seconds) explaining how you used AI to check your objectivity

Learning Goals

We are learning to:

🎯

Deconstruct a headline and image to identify the 5 Ws
🎯

Write an objective news report using a formal tone and third-person point of view
🎯

Use AI as an editor to identify and remove subjective language or bias

Success Criteria

I can:

✅

generate and organize ideas for a news report based on a provided headline and image

Expectations: W1.1, W1.2, W1.5
✅

produce a news report that uses a formal, objective tone and follows the conventions of Canadian journalism

Expectations: W2.1, W3.1, W3.2
✅

use digital tools and AI to proofread, edit, and refine my writing for clarity and bias

Expectations: W3.7, W4.2

Rubric

Category	Level 4	Level 3	Level 2	Level 1
Knowledge/Understanding How well does the student demonstrate an understanding of the news report form (inverted pyramid, 5 Ws)?	Demonstrates a thorough and insightful understanding of the news report form	Demonstrates a considerable understanding of the news report form	Demonstrates some understanding of the news report form	Demonstrates limited understanding of the news report form
Thinking/Inquiring How effectively does the student generate creative and logical details to support the headline?	Generates highly effective, logical, and creative details that fit the prompt perfectly	Generates considerable and logical details to support the prompt	Generates some relevant details to support the prompt	Generates limited or disconnected details
Application How effectively does the student use Canva to organize their work and AI to refine their objective tone?	Applies digital tools and AI with a high degree of effectiveness to produce a polished report	Applies digital tools and AI with considerable effectiveness	Applies digital tools and AI with some effectiveness	Applies digital tools and AI with limited effectiveness
Communication How clearly is the report written, maintaining an objective tone and following Canadian spelling conventions?	Communicates with a high degree of clarity; tone is perfectly objective and professional	Communicates with considerable clarity; tone is mostly objective	Communicates with some clarity; some subjective language or errors present	Communicates with limited clarity; tone is inappropriate for a news report

Knowledge/Understanding

Criteria: How well does the student demonstrate an understanding of the news report form (inverted pyramid, 5 Ws)?

Level 4

Demonstrates a thorough and insightful understanding of the news report form

Level 3

Demonstrates a considerable understanding of the news report form

Level 2

Demonstrates some understanding of the news report form

Level 1

Demonstrates limited understanding of the news report form

Thinking/Inquiring

Criteria: How effectively does the student generate creative and logical details to support the headline?

Level 4

Generates highly effective, logical, and creative details that fit the prompt perfectly

Level 3

Generates considerable and logical details to support the prompt

Level 2

Generates some relevant details to support the prompt

Level 1

Generates limited or disconnected details

Application

Criteria: How effectively does the student use Canva to organize their work and AI to refine their objective tone?

Level 4

Applies digital tools and AI with a high degree of effectiveness to produce a polished report

Level 3

Applies digital tools and AI with considerable effectiveness

Level 2

Applies digital tools and AI with some effectiveness

Level 1

Applies digital tools and AI with limited effectiveness

Communication

Criteria: How clearly is the report written, maintaining an objective tone and following Canadian spelling conventions?

Level 4

Communicates with a high degree of clarity; tone is perfectly objective and professional

Level 3

Communicates with considerable clarity; tone is mostly objective

Level 2

Communicates with some clarity; some subjective language or errors present

Level 1

Communicates with limited clarity; tone is inappropriate for a news report