TEACHING CLUES AND CUES
The newspaper
accounts on Master 5.1a
are examples of how
news articles are written.
This activity is purely
diagnostic. Explain to
students that you do not
expect professional
B. Lesson Development
Now tell students that each of them is going to write about his or her
hypothetical earthquake from three different points of view: that of a
news reporter, a scientist, and an individual directly affected by the
quake. Each of the three accounts will describe the same earthquake,
but the styles of the three will vary.
News Reporter—
a short, concise article describing the who, what,
where, and when of the earthquake and providing information the
public needs.
Scientist—
a scientific account stating what is objectively known about
the earthquake: its causes, its effects, its magnitude and/or intensity,
and the likelihood of its recurrence, if known.
Eyewitness—
a personal letter to a friend telling about being in an
earthquake. This will describe what happened to the student, to the
building in which the student was, to family members and pets, and to
the family home during the earthquake. Have students describe what
they had done before the earthquake to be prepared, how effective
their preparations were, what life was like in the two weeks following
the earthquake, and what they would do differently in preparation for
the next earthquake.
Tell students to feel free to make up information, quotations, etc., but
to keep the basic facts consistent from one essay to another. Since, in
real life, compositions of the second and third type are likely to be
written later than news accounts, however, some discrepancies in
details are to be expected.
scientific writing—only their best try
on the basis of what they already
know.
C. Conclusion
Ask students to talk about the experience of writing the accounts. Ask:
Did you feel you had enough information to do the job in each
case?
Did some of you wish you knew more? Is there anything specific
you’d like to find out?
Was one point of view more comfortable than the others? Were
some accounts easier to write?
Discuss the validity of the different points of view. Emphasize that
each kind of account is valuable in its own right.
AD A P T A T I ON S A ND E X T E N S I ON S
1. If time is short, form groups of three students each. Have each
student develop one point of view and share it with the group.
2. If this assessment reveals that students have very little basic
information about earthquakes, you may want to spend class time with
some of the books or videos in the Unit 2 resource list before
proceeding.
3. Invite students to write about an earthquake from a premodern point
of view, such as that of a Native American in North America before
Columbus. Alternatively, students may write from the viewpoint of a
traditional culture with which they are familiar.
A G U
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F E M A
4
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E I S M I C
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L E U T H S
