Year 4 'Little Red Riding Hood': journalistic report worksheet

“Is it newsworthy?” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 4 English unit “'Little Red Riding Hood': journalistic report”, for children aged 8 to 9, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 15 to 16 of the year, 10 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Is it newsworthy?

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 4 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can decide whether a story event is newsworthy and use crime words correctly.

A Look back3 min

1.
Circle the one that every sentence starts with.
a capital lettera full stopan apostrophe
2.
Number these story parts 1, 2 and 3 in the right order.
1. The end: the woodsman saves Red and her grandmother
2. The start: Red sets off through the woods
3. The middle: the wolf tricks Red at the cottage
3.
Circle the one that is a complete sentence.
The wolf ran.The big grey wolf.In the woods.

B Watch me, then you5 min

A wolf breaks into a cottage and hurts two people. Is this news? Read the lines, then try the next two.

A small stone cottage at the edge of a dark wood with a basket on the doorstep

Watch me

Who? A wolf, and two people who were hurt.

What happened? The wolf broke in and attacked them.

Why is it news? It is dangerous, so the public needs to know.

Now you

1.
Sort these cards into the right column.
A cat sits on a wallA wolf breaks into a cottageA girl eats toast for breakfastA bridge closes after a flood
Newsworthy Not newsworthy
2.
Priya’s dog barks at the postman every morning. Is this newsworthy? Circle one.
YesNo

C Your turn6 min

Read each sentence. Circle the word that fits best.

A winding forest path leading to a cottage with a basket by the door

1.
The wolf breaks into the cottage. Circle the word for the wolf.
perpetratorvictimwoodsman
2.
The wolf attacks Red. Circle the word for Red.
perpetratorvictimjournalist
3.
The wolf forces his way into the cottage. Circle the crime.
breaking and enteringstealing sweetsclimbing a tree
4.
Write one sentence for a news report about the wolf. Use the word perpetrator.

Say it out loud: Which words told you who did the harm, and who was harmed?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Ali says: “A news report about the wolf should start with ‘Once upon a time’, just like the story.”

1.
What is wrong with Ali’s idea? Write one or two sentences.

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Pick one event from the story. Write one sentence saying why the public should hear about it.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Is it newsworthy? · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. a capital letter your child may pick a full stop because it comes at the end. The full stop ends a sentence, so the fix is to say that sentences start with a capital letter.

2. 1 The start: Red sets off through the woods · 2 The middle: the wolf tricks Red at the cottage · 3 The end: the woodsman saves Red and her grandmother your child may put the end first because it is the most exciting part. Ask what happens first, then what happens next.

3. The wolf ran.

B

1. Newsworthy: A wolf breaks into a cottage, A bridge closes after a flood · Not newsworthy: A cat sits on a wall, A girl eats toast for breakfast

2. No your child may say yes because a barking dog is loud. Ask: would the whole town need to hear about it? If not, it is not newsworthy.

C

1. perpetrator your child may pick victim because the wolf is the main character. The wolf did the harm, so the fix is perpetrator.

2. victim your child may pick perpetrator because Red is in the story a lot. Red was harmed, so the fix is victim.

3. breaking and entering

4. Look for: one sentence using the word perpetrator, about the wolf and the harm he did, with a capital letter and a full stop.

D

1. Look for: says once upon a time is a story opening, and a news report opens with facts such as who, what, where and when. your child may only say it is a story. Ask how a real news report begins, then ask which words belong to a fairy tale.

E

1. Look for: names one event from the story and gives a reason the public should know about it.

Words to use

Say“Would the whole town need to hear about this? Why?”

Instead of“Tell them the answer straight away, before they have had a chance to think.”

After the sheet

Read a short news story together on paper. Underline who did the harm and who was harmed, then talk about why it was news.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

9 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Spotting a report's parts(with a plan)
Choosing Formal Words(with a plan)
Opening a news report(with a plan)
Notes in time order(with a plan)
Writing a clear recount(with a plan)
Planning a witness quote(with a plan)
Quotes that tell the story(with a plan)
Closing the report(with a plan)
Voice and body on show(with a plan)

Every Year 4 English worksheet

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