by Aranya Bava (6th)

HOW TO WRITE A SCOOP ARTICLE 101

(PIZZA VERSION)

How To Choose Your Topic (Dough)

If you are reading this, you are either a beginner at this whole ‘Scoop’ thing, or you just love pizza. Either way, this article will guide you through the steps of making a pizza- I mean an article. First you need your topic - that’s the dough. Your topic is the base of everything you need to write. Here are some good tips to choosing your base;

• Pick the topic of your article’s topic

  • Will it be a comedy? About sports? How about a cheesy poem? Was there some shocking news released? 

• Narrow down your topic

  • What sport will you choose? A certain trend that everyone is talking about? Who are your characters?

Write down a few different ideas before you narrow it down to the idea you want. Then, break your final topic down. 

Make a copy of the CMS Scoop Article Planner and use it to guide you for these steps. 

What do you do next? (Sauce)

Once you are done with the Article Planner, make sure to submit it to Mr. Rothstein, and tell him that you did. He will tell you if he approves of your topic, which he most likely will. Then, you can finally start writing! Create a new google doc and share it with Mr. Rothstein. 

Helpful Tips when articling:

• Make each of your headings bigger than your contents, like I did here. 

• Include some funny and maybe even cringy things to make your article more interesting. Unless you are Sir Boring of borington, you’ll want to keep your reader engaged

 Make a structure for your article. Don’t go all the way and add every single detail when you are starting to write. Do that when you have more expertise, or are farther into the process. Like the next step.

How do you make it better? (Cheese and Toppings)

DETAILS!!! Very important if you want to make a compelling read. Which is probably why you signed up for CMS Scoop. When it comes to details, research is key because it backs up your claim. SCOPE is a good place to start because it explains types of evidence and which ones are more useful.  

SCOPE is:

Statistics and Percents

Compare and Contrast

Observations

Predictions

Expert’s Validation

Now, some types of evidence are better than others. In order of which is more reliable and will back up your claim better, Here is the order.

SECOP

Obviously saying SCOPE is much easier than saying SECOP, so that's the way it is. But when looking for research as justification, always look for numbers or a quote from the experts.

Conclusion

So that is some tips and tricks to master the art of writing and articles. And the art of making a pizza. So go out there, use the skills that I gave you, and eat more pizza. Or just do that latter, that’s fine. Anyway, use this information wisely, because as Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility”