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Social Studies 5: Reporting 101 19 Views


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Description:

Today we'll learn about the five W's and how and how they're important to reporters. Yes, you read that sentence correctly.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

[Coop and Dino singing]

00:13

Anyone who’s ever been in trouble with their parents before should be familiar with the 5Ws and 1H. [Parents lecturing young boy]

00:19

Y'know…

00:19

"Who ate the entire box of chocolate chip cookies?

00:23

What were you thinking when you jumped into the pool from the roof? [Mom shouting at boy in hospital bed]

00:26

Where did you put the remote??

00:30

When did I tell you to be home from school? [Boy walks in through front door and Mom shouts]

00:32

Why would you eat three tubs of ice cream in one sitting?

00:36

And how in the world did you get your head stuck in the railing?"

00:39

But the 5Ws and 1H aren't just good for parenting – they're Reporting 101.

00:44

Newspaper articles can be written to inform, persuade, or entertain – but our focus today

00:49

is on informational writing. [Coop discussing informational writing]

00:51

When a journalist is writing an article in order to educate and inform the reader, they're

00:55

writing “informational writing.”

00:57

Which means that they’ll always start with the same six questions.

01:00

First comes who, as in “Who is the story about?” [Man giving speech outside of Congress]

01:03

Is it a politician? A citizen? Your kooky aunt Mabel?

01:08

Informational articles are often about people and their actions, so knowing who we're talking

01:11

about is pretty important. Next comes what. “What happened in this

01:16

story?”

01:17

Did the politician pass a bill? Did a citizen find something weird in their hamburger? Did [Politician holding a bill and people raise their arms]

01:23

Aunt Mabel add a tenth cat to her collection?

01:26

If a story was a sandwich, “what” would be the meat. You gotta know what happened.

01:31

Next comes where. This one asks where the story takes place.

01:35

Where did the politican's bill get passed? Where did they buy the hamburger with a fake

01:40

eyeball in it? Where the heck is Mabel going to find space for that darn cat? [Cat sat on a bed and Mabel wonders where to find space]

01:45

Where is super important. The reader needs to know if the sinkhole is on the other side

01:49

of the world… or in their backyard. After that comes when. [Man falls into sink hole]

01:53

Whether you're trying to figure out when the bill comes into effect, when the fake eyeball

01:57

could have found its way into the hamburger, or when Mabel found time to buy a new cat [Mabel driving a car]

02:01

between taking care of the nine other cats, people need to know if the story is recent

02:05

or not.

02:05

Who cares if the lottery happened a year ago? We want to know about the one that’s about

02:10

to happen and is about to make us billionaires! Next up is “why?” This one is super important,

02:16

because it's when the writer explains why something is important to the reader.

02:20

Why did the bill get passed and why does it affect everyone? Why did the fake eyeball [A hamburger and a plate of fake eyeballs]

02:25

end up there? And why does Mabel need all of those cats, anyway?

02:29

So those are our five Ws, which leaves us with our 1H, “How.”

02:33

“How” is kind of a catch-all question that allows the writer to cover any other [Coop discussing how]

02:37

important details they might have missed.

02:39

How did any of this happen? How might it happen to you? How in the world isn't there a law

02:44

preventing women named Mabel from owning more than a set number of cats? [Mabel holding a cat and politician holds up a bill]

02:49

How allows the reader to go into detail and explain things further, and we all love details…

02:54

…almost as much as Mabel loves cats.

02:56

So there you have it – the 5Ws and 1H to reporting!

02:59

Now if you'll excuse us, we have some kitty litter to change. What a clawful situation. [Kitty litter in a bathroom and Mabel walks in]

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