Hi Sarah-- hope you're feeling better!
Obviously, I've had some time off for illness this term, too-- so I'm not sure exactly what you've completed or known about, work-wise! Here's a list of things for you to consider:
1. Read some newspapers. If you don't have access to actual newspapers, going online will help.
Broadsheets
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ (Daily Telegraph)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/ (The Times)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/ (The Guardian)
http://www.independent.co.uk/ (The Independent)
Tabloids
http://www.mirror.co.uk/ (The Mirror)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/dailymail/home.html?in_page_id=1766 (Daily Mail)
http://www.express.co.uk/home (The Daily Express)
Once you're familiar enough with a sense of the differing tabloid/broadsheet style, you can get on with the following:
1. Create a tabloid-style "front page" story for a school newspaper. For hints on tabloid style, go to http://www.teachit.co.uk/attachments/tabloid.pdf. You can 'make up' a story (as long as it's not nasty!), or use an (appropriate!) true incident that you think would appeal to an audience of your peers.
2. You can now create a Broadsheet-style front page article. If you've got a broadsheet newspaper at home, look at how the layout is different from a tabloid. For guidelines on how to structure a news story, go to http://www.explorewriting.co.uk/HowToWriteNewsArticles.html. Remember, your language for broadsheets is going be a little more formal and detailed than the tabloid. Create a news story of national importance-- perhaps a General Election being called, or UFO crashing into Buckingham Palace...
3. If you're getting bored, you can always look at the post that follows this one ('Year 8 Newspaper Work') for another little task that the class did-- but this is optional.
Hope this helps!
Mr H
