Las Vegas Newspapers in Education

Mini Page Archive - April 2009: Issues 13 - 17

Living With Deafness -- Issue 13 -- March 28-April 3

This week's standards:

Students understand the similarities/differences in the cognitive, communicative, physical, social and emotional needs and abilities of typical and atypical children and adults. (Council on the Education of the Deaf: Characteristics of Learners) Students understand the impact of comprehensible communication, onset of hearing loss, and incidental learning upon the development of deaf and hard of hearing children. (see above)

Activities:

1. Cut out newspaper photos of people showing different emotions. Paste the pictures on a piece of paper. Now show the pictures to different family members and friends. Have them tell you what emotion they think each person is showing.

2. Find at least three events or activities in the newspaper that you could enjoy even if you could not hear. Explain why hearing is not important in these situations.

3. Find newspaper ads for at least four electronic devices that could help people who are deaf or hard of hearing communicate with others.

4. In what ways could a deaf student be helped to understand (a) officials' calls in a sporting event, (b) a homework assignment, and (c) a story about a friend's adventures during a vacation?

5. What would be the similarities and differences between your school and a school designed for deaf and hard of hearing students? List the similarities and the differences. Then write a paragraph comparing the two schools. (standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

Hopping Into Spring -- Issue 14 -- April 4-10, 2009

This week's standards:

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

Students comprehend and respond to a variety of images and text. Students identify forms and elements of literature. (Language Arts: Reading)

Students describe the way artistic creations serve as expressions of culture. (Social Studies: Culture)

Activities:

1. Design a toy rabbit to give to a friend. Draw your rabbit. Write several sentences that tell about your toy rabbit. Share your picture with family members and friends.

2.With a friend, go through the newspaper and circle all the pictures of rabbits in news stories and ads. How many rabbits are in the newspaper? How many look like cartoon rabbits and how many look like real rabbits?

3. Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. Write the word "Smaller" in the first column and "Larger" in the second column. Now find newspaper words or pictures of different animals. Paste the words/pictures of animals that are smaller than rabbits in the first column and words/pictures of animals that are larger than rabbits in the second column.

4. Look in the "pets" or "animals for sale" section of the classified ads in the newspaper. Find examples of animals other than rabbits that are small and furry. How many different animals did you find? Which animal would you like to have for a pet?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to find rabbits that appear in cartoons/movies and in books. Make a list of the haracters and books you find. Now survey at least five friends or family members. Ask them to name the cartoon or movie rabbits they remember. Ask them to name any rabbits they remember from books. Put checks by the names on your list. How many names on your list were mentioned by the people you interviewed? Which names were remembered by the most people?

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

Meet Illustrator Beth Krommes -- Issue 15 -- April 11-17, 2009

This week's standards:

Students comprehend and respond to a variety of images and text. (Language Arts: Reading)

Students identify forms and elements of literature. (Language Arts: Reading)

Activities:

1. Select a news photo you like. Pretend it is the cover art for a book. Paste the photo on a piece of paper.

Make up a title for the book. List yourself as the author. On the back of the paper, write several sentences telling what your story will be about. 2. Divide a piece of paper into three columns. Using the book titles from today*s Mini Page, put stories in a "Fiction" column. Put books about real people and things in a "Nonfiction" column. Put books of poetry, fairy tales and folklore in a "Poetry and Folklore" column. Now put a star next to a book you would like to read from each column.

3. List the experiences in the childhoods of Beth Krommes and Kathi Appelt that encouraged their creativity. Put a check next to the experiences that are similar to yours. Add your personal experiences to the list.

4. Draw a large circle on a piece of paper. Divide the circle into three equal parts. Now skim the newspaper for stories about people who would make good subjects for books. Write the names of community or political leaders in one section of the circle, the names of entertainers in the second section and sports figures in the third section. Write one fact about each person under his or her name.

5. Use one of the names you selected in No. 4 to develop a story and art for a book. Create a detailed outline for your story: write (a) setting, (b) a series of adventures the person will have, and (c) an ending. Share your outline with several friends. Then ask everyone to design cover art for your story. Share your designs and vote on the best one.

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

The Green Generation -- Issue 16 -- April 18-24

This week's standards:

Students understand properties of Earth materials. (Science: Earth and Space Science)

Students understand changes in the Earth and sky. (Science: Earth and Space Science)

Activities:

1. Draw a large circle on a piece of paper. Divide the circle into three equal sections. In one section, paste newspaper words and pictures that show how we use water for fun. In the second section, paste words/pictures that show how we use water in our everyday life. In the third section, paste words/pictures that show how water is used to help things grow.

2.With a friend, go through the newspaper and use a green marker to circle any ads for products that say they are "green." They may say that they save energy, reduce pollution or are recyclable. Which of the ads show things you and your family use?

3. Make a paper quilt by drawing large boxes on a piece of paper. Inside each box, paste a newspaper picture of something that helps us save water.

4. Start an "Earth Day Scrapbook" by cutting out stories about the environment and environmentally friendly products or activities. You might want to divide your scrapbook into sections such as "Water Issues," "Pollution" and "Green Building Ideas." Paste newspaper stories in your scrapbook. Collect stories even after Earth Day is over.

5. Do a water-use audit for your family. Make a list of all the different ways you and your family use water at home. Now check with individual family members to see how they use water. Put a star next to the item if your family is using water carefully. Put a circle next to the item if your family is not being careful with water. Talk to your family about the circled items. Discuss ways to conserve water in your home.

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

A New Deal for Artists -- Issue 17 -- April 25-May 1

This week's standards:

Students identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times and places. (Fine Arts: Understanding the Visual Arts in Relation to History and Cultures)

Students understand how people's experiences influence the development of specific artworks. (Fine Arts: Assessing the Characteristics of the Works of Others)

Activities:

1. Paste a headline about an event in your community on a large piece of paper. Now use watercolors or poster paints to create a painting about that event.

2. Create a "Symbols of the American Scene" poster. Cut out pictures of people and things that show something about America. Paste your pictures on your poster.

3. Make a list of the different places in your daily life where you could see examples of public art. You may find student art posted in your school hallways, statues or other sculptures in front of buildings, paintings or mosaics on the sides of buildings, or even paintings on the sides of buses. How many different places did you find? How many different kinds of art did you see?

4. Look through the community events section of your newspaper. Use a colored marker to circle any notices of public art shows or exhibits. Now use a different colored marker to circle any notices or ads for places where you could develop your own art skills.

5. Select a place in your school or community that you think might be a good place for an art project -- a painting, sculpture or mosaic. Draw a design for the type and topic of art that you would recommend. Now write a letter you could use to convince a public official or group that they should support your project.

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