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Mini Page Archive - March 2007: Issue 10 - 13
How Newspapers Work -- Issue 10 -- March 3-9
This week's standards: Students read and understand a variety of texts. (Language Arts: Reading) Students use the
structure of text to construct meaning. (Language Arts: Reading)
Activities:
- On a large piece of paper, design a newspaper front page that shows exciting stories and photos of you and your friends. Share your front page with your friends.
- Conduct a survey among family members and friends. Ask them to name the newspaper department they would most like to work in. Have them tell you why. Which department was most popular? Which department would you like the best?
- Divide a piece of paper into three categories:Words/Language, Arts/Design and Electronics/Equipment. Now look at the different newspaper jobs and departments shown in today*s Mini Page. List the jobs in the correct categories on your paper.
- Find a newspaper story or section that would be of interest to (a) an actor, (b) a historian, (c) a basketball player, (d) a teacher and (e) an economist.
- Write an essay discussing the ways your local newspaper serves your community. Be sure to include newspaper sections such as local news, entertainment, sports, weather, business and modern lifestyles.
(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
The Fourth & Fifth Amendments-- Issue 11 -- March 10-16
This week's standards: Students understand the purpose of government. (Social Studies: Power, Authority and
Governance) Students identify key ideals of the United States' democratic republican form of government. (Social Studies: Civic Ideals and Practice)
Activities:
- Pretend two friends have asked you to help them settle an argument. Draw a picture of yourself being a judge in a courtroom where you will make your decision. Draw your friends telling their stories in the courtroom.
- Write three different and polite things you could say to friends if they asked you something you didn't want to answer. Ask your friends what they would say. Compare your ideas.
- Can you make a list of the qualities or skills you think a member of a jury should have? Would you like to serve on a jury? Why or why not?
- Which amendment in today*s Mini Page (a) guarantees that you will be told if the government wants to arrest you for something, (b) guarantees that you don*t have to say anything in court if you don*t want to, and (c) says that a judge has to give the police permission to search your house?
- How would you design a system that you and your friends could use in your classroom to settle disputes and protect students' rights? Write a paragraph describing the system you would design. Be sure your system addresses these questions: Who can bring a complaint about another student to the class? Who listens to the complaint? Who listens to the two sides of an argument? Who decides how the argument will be settled? How will you guarantee that the procedures will be fair to everyone?
(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
Hello, Speaker Pelosi-- Issue 12 -- March 17-23
This week's standards: Students distinguish among local, state and national governments and identify representative leaders at these levels. (Social Studies: Power, Authority and Governance) Students understand the role of institutions in furthering both continuity and change. (Social Studies: Individuals, Groups and Institutions)
Activities:
- Select a female comic strip character who you think might make a good person to help make the laws in this country. Paste the strip on a piece of paper. Then write a sentence telling why you chose the character.
- Find a newspaper story about the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. Paste the article on a piece of paper. Now circle all the names of representatives or senators with a red marker. Underline words that tell what the representatives or senators are doing with a blue marker (for example, talking about a bill, or voting, or talking to the president).
- Use the Internet or resource books to research the number of elected women officials in your state. How many representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives are women from your state? Is either of your U.S. senators a woman? What state-level elected offices do women hold in your state? Look for newspaper stories about women officials in your state.
- Use the information in today*s Mini Page to write a paragraph about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Use these questions to guide your writing: What type of speaker do you think Nancy Pelosi will be? What about her background has prepared her for her job? What is your impression of her based on her responses to Mini Page questions?
(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
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