Las Vegas Newspapers in Education

Weekly Mini Pages
Mini Page activities meet many state and national educational standards. Each week we identify standards that relate to The Mini Page's content and offer activities that will help your students reach them.

2008 Summer Olympic Games -- Issue 31 -- Aug. 2-8

This week's standards:

Students understand the physical and human characteristics of places. (Geography: Places and Regions)

Students understand that physical activity provides opportunities for enjoyment, challenge, selfexpression and social interaction. (Physical Education)

Activities:

1. Design a mascot for your city or hometown. Draw your mascot. Write a sentence telling how your mascot reflects your city.

2.With a friend, go through the newspaper and circle stories about sporting events. Put a check next to the sports that will be in the Olympics. Put a star by those sports that you can play in your community.

3. Look through the local news and sports sections for names of teams or school mascots. List the names on a piece of paper. Next to each name, explain why you think that team or school has that mascot name. How does the name reflect the community?

4. Which activities in the Beijing Olympics (a) reflect the original games in Greece, (b) will take place in cities other than Beijing, and (c) will take place indoors?

5. Use the Internet to find a listing of all the sports that will be part of the Beijing Olympics (www.olympic.org). Now find a news story about a sport that is not part of the Summer Olympics. Write a letter that you could send to the International Olympic Committee recommending that the sport be part of future Olympics.

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

Get Organized for School -- Issue 32 -- Aug. 9-15

This week's standards:

Students understand that safety and security are basic needs of humans.

Students understanding includes following safety rules for home and school, avoiding injury, and knowing where to go for help. (Science: Personal Health)

Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and reduce health risks. (Health)

Activities:

1. Make a poster. Write the words "Back to School" at the top of a large piece of paper. Now cut out newspaper words and pictures that show how you feel about school. Show your poster to your family.

2. Draw a large backpack on a piece of paper. Cut out newspaper words and pictures of school items you should put in your backpack and paste them on your drawing.

3. Draw a picture of a large plate on a piece of paper. Cut out newspaper pictures of fruit, whole grains and protein that you would like for breakfast. Paste them on your plate.

4. What can you do to be sure that (a) you have time to get dressed for school in the morning, (b) your backpack is not too heavy, (c) you can do your homework efficiently, and (d) you stay healthy for school?

5. Write a story about your "Best First Day" of school. Begin with your alarm clock going off. Write about getting ready for school, meeting your friends, and going to your class. Share your story with your family or friends.

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

Democratic National Convention -- Issue 33 -- Aug. 16-22

This week's standards:

Students identify key ideals of the United States' democratic republican form of government. (Social Studies: Civic Ideals & Practices)

Students understand the ideas, principles and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic. (Social Studies: Civics)

Activities:

1. Use newspaper words and pictures to make a poster welcoming the Democrats to Denver.

2. Pretend you are campaigning to be the leader of your family. What would you do to make life for the family better? Write five planks for your platform.

3. Create a "Democrats Who's Who" scrapbook. Cut out newspaper stories about well-known Democrats and paste them in a notebook. Write a sentence telling why each person is important.

4. Why would Denver be a popular place to visit for (a) historians, (b) sports fans, (c) cowboys and (d) athletes?

5. Select three newspaper stories about issues that are important to our country. Paste each story on a piece of paper. Then write a brief paragraph that explains why the story should be discussed at the Democratic convention. What should the Democrats do about each issue?

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

2008 Republican Convention -- Issue 34 -- Aug. 23-29

This week's standards:

Students identify key ideals of the United States* democratic republican form of government. (Social Studies: Civic Ideals and Practices)

Students understand the physical and human characteristics of places. (Geography: Places and Regions)

Activities:

1. Create a Twin Cities travel poster. Use these headings on your poster: "For nature lovers," "For sports fans" and "For fun lovers." Cut out newspaper words and pictures that describe the Twin Cities. Put words and pictures under each of your headings.

2. Create a John McCain collage. Put a picture of John McCain in the center of a piece of paper. Cut out words that other Republicans and supporters use to describe McCain and paste them on your collage.

3. Check out the list of Republican convention delegates in today's Mini Page. How many delegates are from your state? How many delegates are from the states that border your state? Find a state that has more delegates than your state and one that has fewer delegates. Circle your answers.

4. Make a scrapbook of interesting stories about the Republican convention. Look for stories about special events, celebrations and key speakers at the convention. Cut out stories and paste them in a notebook. Write several sentences explaining why you selected each story.

5. Create a notebook about Republican Party positions on important issues. Look for news stories, quotes from Republican leaders and opinion columns. Divide your notebook into different sections: Economy, National Defense, International Relations, and any other topic you choose. Paste newspaper items in the appropriate sections of your notebook. Write several sentences discussing your opinion on each issue.

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

The Elephant Sanctuary -- Issue 35 -- Aug. 30-Sept. 5

This week's standards:

Students understand the characteristics and life cycles of organisms. (Science: Life Science)

Students understand the interactions of animals and their environments. (Science: Life Science)

Activities:

1. Make a "Bigger Than an Elephant" poster. Cut out newspaper pictures of items that are as big as an elephant, or bigger. Paste them on your poster.

2. Write the letters E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T down the left side of a piece of paper. Now cut out newspaper words that start with each letter and that describe elephants. Paste them next to the right letter. (For example, you might paste the word "enormous" next to the first "E.")

3. How many places in your community are concerned with animals? Look through the newspaper and circle any services or stores that focus on making life better for animals.

4. Which elephant, Asian or African: (a) has larger ears, (b) has one "finger" at the end of its trunk, (c) is more wrinkled, and (d) is endangered?

5. Put yourself in the place of a circus elephant who goes to live in an elephant sanctuary. Tell your story. Use details to describe the changes in your life.

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)