It’s Raining Lollies! Imaginative News Article Writing Assessment: Year 4 is a fun and engaging narrative writing task that encourages students to step into the role of a journalist reporting on an extraordinary event. Using a visual prompt, structured planning sheet and article-style writing template, students will develop their creativity and writing skills while crafting a fictional news report about a candy-filled downpour!

This activity supports the development of imaginative narrative elements within a news article format, focusing on structure, descriptive detail, quotation use, punctuation and spelling. The resource encourages students to explore the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, why) while building voice, perspective and storytelling techniques suited to a report-style text.

With an included rubric aligned to Year 4 Australian Curriculum outcomes and editable templates for differentiation, this task is perfect for writing assessment or as a playful, creative addition to a narrative or media literacy unit.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Plan, draft and edit an imaginative news article using a visual prompt
• ✅ Use narrative elements and a journalistic text structure including headline, lead and quotes
• ✅ Apply descriptive and emotive language to engage the reader
• ✅ Demonstrate accurate use of grammar, punctuation and spelling
• ✅ Develop voice and perspective through imaginative reporting

What’s Included:

• Visual prompt strip (colour and black-and-white)
• Planning template for organising the article
• Imaginative news article writing template
• Assessment rubric aligned with Year 4 Australian Curriculum outcomes
• Editable versions of all documents for classroom flexibility

Materials Needed:

• Printed templates
• Pencils, highlighters or coloured pens for drafting and editing
• Optional: anchor charts on news structure or examples of imaginative news texts

How to Use:

• Start with a class discussion about the visual prompt and the structure of a news article
• Distribute the planning and writing templates and guide students through idea generation
• Students draft their imaginative news articles using a headline, lead paragraph and detailed report
• Encourage inclusion of eyewitness quotes, reactions and vivid descriptions
• Support students as they revise and edit for accuracy and impact
• Use the rubric to assess organisation, creativity, punctuation, grammar and spelling

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Use as a summative task in a narrative or media-themed writing unit
• 💡 Publish student articles in a classroom newspaper or bulletin board display
• 💡 Include in writing portfolios for assessment and reflection

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Model a news article structure using real examples or a class-written sample
• 💛 Provide sentence starters for quotes or lead paragraphs to support developing writers
• 💛 Encourage peer editing to support collaborative writing improvement

It’s Raining Lollies! Imaginative News Article Writing Assessment: Year 4 is the perfect resource to build storytelling skills through a fresh and exciting lens—supporting assessment and sparking creativity in every young writer.