Journalism basics for kids come down to five habits: asking who, what, when, where, why and how, leading with the most important fact, telling fact from opinion, interviewing carefully, and checking sources before writing.
You do not need a class or a kit to start. A notebook, a real event, a few questions and one writing rule (put the most important thing first) are enough for a child to write a short news story.
What are the 5 Ws and H?
The 5 Ws and H are the six questions a reporter answers before writing: who, what, when, where, why and how. A story missing one of these usually leaves the reader with an obvious follow-up question.
Ask them about any event: a school assembly, a soccer game, a science fair. This step covers gathering information, not writing style. Answering all six questions does not by itself make a well-written story.
What is the inverted pyramid?
The inverted pyramid puts the most important fact first, then the next most important, ending with background details a reader could skip. Reporters have used this structure since the telegraph era, when editors might cut a story from the bottom to make it fit (Poynter).
Practice it by writing the answer to “what happened” as the very first sentence, before any setup. This structure fits hard news, where speed matters. It is not the only way to write. A personal essay or a feature story often builds up to its point instead.
How do you tell fact from opinion?
A fact is something you can check and prove. An opinion is what someone thinks or feels about it. “The team scored 14 points” is a fact. “That was the best game of the season” is an opinion.
A good practice: read a sentence and ask “could I prove this with a record, a measurement or a video?” If yes, it is a fact. If it depends on someone’s taste or judgment, it is an opinion. This skill applies to reading news as well as writing it, but it does not tell you whether a fact is true, only what kind of statement it is.
How do you interview someone for a story?
Write your questions before the interview, ask one at a time, and write down the answers in the person’s own words. Save your hardest or most important question for partway through, once the person is talking comfortably.
Always ask permission to quote someone by name, and read the quote back to make sure you wrote it down correctly. This section covers interviewing a willing, available person, like a teacher or classmate. It does not cover contacting a stranger or a public figure, which raises safety and privacy questions an adult should help with.
How do you check a source?
Before you trust a claim, find out where it came from, who is saying it, and whether another source says the same thing. The News Literacy Project calls this “vetting” and breaks it into steps like checking who created the information and whether it can be verified elsewhere (News Literacy Project).
For a school story, this often means asking two people the same question, or checking a fact against a school website or program. It does not mean every source needs a formal citation. A firsthand fact, like something the child saw happen, is its own source.
News story planner template
Copy this table before you start writing, and fill it in before you write your first sentence.
| Section | What to write |
|---|---|
| What happened (one sentence) | |
| Who | |
| What | |
| When | |
| Where | |
| Why | |
| How | |
| One quote (who said it, and what they said) | |
| Fact I checked with a second source |
This planner fits a short news story about a real event the child witnessed or can ask about directly. It does not fit an opinion piece or a review, which are built to state a personal judgment instead of just the facts.
Practice activity: write a 100-word school news story
Pick a real event from this week, such as a class activity, a game or an assembly. Fill in the planner above, then write a story in 100 words or fewer that opens with the most important fact.
- Answer all six planner questions first.
- Write your opening sentence using only the most important fact.
- Add one quote from someone who was there.
- Read your story back and underline anything that is an opinion instead of a fact. Either remove it or label it clearly as an opinion.
For more writing and vocabulary practice, see LearningHaven’s language arts section and the vocabulary section, which covers many of the words used in this article. Pair this activity with the reading worksheets if a child wants more practice pulling facts out of a text.
Sources
- Poynter. Writing From The Top Down: Pros And Cons Of The Inverted Pyramid
- News Literacy Project. News Literacy Unplugged