The Family Newspaper
One page, four stories, and everyone in the house is a source.
2 weeks✏️ Writing📚 Reading🌍 Social Studies
What you need
- paper or a document
- a pencil
- people to interview
Nothing to buy and nothing to print — if you do not have one of these, swap it for whatever you do have.
The steps
Day 1
What happened
List six things that have actually happened this month in your house or street.
📋 Make a list
Day 2
Pick four
Choose the four most interesting. Say why the other two lost.
📋 Make a list
Day 3
Interview someone
Interview one person about one story. Write down what they said, in their words.
✍️ Write a few sentences
Say this: “A quote is what they said, not what you wish they had said.”
Day 5
Write the stories
Each story: what happened, who was there, and why it matters. Three sentences minimum.
✍️ Write a few sentences
Day 7
Headlines
Write a headline for each. Short, true, and it must make someone want to read on.
📋 Make a list
Day 9
Lay it out
Arrange masthead, headlines and stories on one page.
📷 Take a photo
Day 10
Publish
Read it out to the household.
📷 Take a photo
How to score it
You score this, not us. Pick the description that actually matches what they did.
Reporting
- 1. Made things up
- 2. Reported one real event
- 3. All four are real
- 4. All four are real and one is sourced to a person
Quoting
- 1. No quote
- 2. Paraphrased
- 3. One accurate quote
- 4. Accurate quote, attributed, used to make a point
Headlines
- 1. No headlines
- 2. Labels rather than headlines
- 3. True and short
- 4. True, short, and they make you want to read
With more than one child
Everyone gets a column. The youngest does the weather and the pictures.
What goes in the portfolio
A one-page newspaper with a masthead, four stories and at least one quote.