The Art of the Editorial: Weaving Insights with Facts
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” In an era wherein anyone can give opinions about anything, understanding the fine line between freedom of expression and spreading misinformation is crucial. Fortunately, our MYP Year 1 students learned how to give opinions based on facts through an editorial writing talk.
The resource speaker, HCHS Alumna Ms. Bianca Tolentino, introduced editorial writing as an art that combines function and form. The talk began with differentiating news and articles, reviewing the students about news. This clarified that while news reports facts, editorials interpret those facts and express the opinions of an individual or a news organization. The students also learned that one of the functions of editorials is to shape public opinion on an important issue.
Open discussion on news and editorials
As their discussion continued, Ms. Bianca guided the students to form groups and to create graphic organizers about editorial writing. They filled it out with information they learned throughout the session. One of the highlights of the talk was the form of editorials— the editorial writing process. Ms. Bianca emphasized that the students should present the facts first before they give their opinion. She also noted that as they state their stance on the issue, the students need to explain their reasons by providing good evidence.
Graphic organizer making
Like art, editorial writing requires tools and techniques to present information and to communicate opinion effectively. Ms. Bianca shared several digital tools the students can use in brainstorming, researching, citing sources, and proofreading their editorials. She also shared a technique to find the best evidence: a set of guide questions that assess the currency, relevance, accuracy, and ethics of the sources.
Equipped with knowledge about editorial writing, the students left the talk a step ready to writing their own editorials, not just for their MYP Language & Literature lesson but more importantly for sparking meaningful and fruitful discussions on issues that matter.