Las Vegas Newspapers in Education

Mini Page Archive - October 2008: Issue 40-43

Animal Stars Shine -- Issue 40 -- Oct. 4-10

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. Create a movie poster about a family pet in an exciting film. Paste words from the newspaper on your poster.

2. Look in newspaper ads for items that would make a pet happy or items you could use to train a pet. Paste the items on a piece of paper. Add any classified ads for animal training services. Next to each item, write a sentence telling why it would be good for the pet.

3. Look at theater ads and TV listings in the newspaper for movies and shows about animals. Count the number of different animals represented in your list: how many dogs, cats, farm animals, etc., did you find?

4. Explain why each of these qualities is important in using animals in movies or TV shows:
(a) time and patience, (b) animal treats, (c) special props and sets, and (d) special camera tricks.

5. Look in the classified section of your newspaper to find three unusual animals for sale. Use the animals in a story that could be made into a movie. Be sure to give the animals unusual and exciting things to do. Give your movie a title.

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

Happy Birthday, Noah Webster! -- Issue 41 -- Oct. 11-17

This week's standards:

Students understand that history relates to events and people of other times and places by identifying examples of interesting Americans. (Social Studies: History)

Students explore factors that contribute to one*s personal identity, such as interests, capabilities and perceptions. (Social Studies: Individual Development)

Activities:

1. Use words to show family members and friends that you like them. Fold a piece of paper in half to make a card for each person. Inside, paste newspaper words that describe the person. Give your cards to the people they describe.

2. The sports section is a great place to look for exciting words; writers have to say "won" or "lost" in almost every story. Look at the headlines in the sports section of your newspaper. Circle every word that means "won" in red and every word that means "lost" in blue. See if you can add other words that mean "won."

3. Find at least three long words in the newspaper that look interesting. Look up the meanings in the dictionary.

4. Find five words in the newspaper that did not exist in Noah Webster's time. List the words on a piece of paper. Write a sentence telling why Webster did not have the words in his dictionary.

5. The editorial and opinion pages of the newspaper are places to find clever uses of language. In opinion columns, people use words to emphasize their position on an issue. Read an opinion column or letter to the editor. List the words that reflect the writer's opinion. Now rewrite the letter or parts of the column to reflect the opposite point of view.

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

The Spellbinding Spider -- Issue 42 -- Oct. 18-24

This week's standards:

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

Students describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture. (Social Studies: Culture)

Activities:

1. Make a spider poster. Write the words "Spellbinding Spider" in the center of a large piece of paper. Paste newspaper words and pictures about spiders on your poster.

2. Create a spider storyboard. A storyboard has panels like a comic strip. Draw three large boxes next to each other on a piece of paper. Now make up a story about a spider. Draw a picture in each box to show what is happening in the story. Share your story with a friend.

3. Look through the newspaper with a friend to find supplies for Halloween. Circle costume items in red, food in green and decorations in blue. Put stars by your favorite items.

4. Which spiders in today's Mini Page (a) spin silk to make an egg sac, (b) use silk as a kind of parachute, (c) are poisonous and are found in the United States, and (d) spin a web to catch prey?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about one of the spiders discussed in today*s Mini Page. Use these questions to guide your research: In what type of climate does the spider live? Where on Earth does the spider live? What does the spider eat? How does the spider catch its prey? How many of these spiders exist? Write a paragraph discussing your findings.

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

Election Day 2008 -- Issue 43 -- Oct. 25-31

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

Activities:

1. Make election trading cards for your state. Cut out newspaper pictures of candidates for local and state offices. Paste each candidate*s picture on the front of a 3-by-5-inch card. On the back, put an interesting fact about the candidate.

2. Collect news stories about the presidential and vice presidential candidates. Put your stories in a notebook. Underline sentences in the stories that show how the candidate feels about different issues. If there is a Senate race in your state, collect news stories about the people running for the Senate and put them in your notebook, too.

3. Read letters to the editor that show how people in your community feel about a presidential candidate. Then divide a piece of paper into two columns. In the first column, write the reasons people say they support the candidate. In the second column, write the reasons people say they won't vote for the candidate.

4. Which of the major candidates (a) was born in a U.S. territory, (b) grew up in Hawaii, (c) is the governor of Alaska, and (d) represents Delaware in the Senate?

5. Use the Internet to learn more about the presidential candidates. Select an issue to analyze, such as health care or education. Go to each candidate*s Web site. Examine the candidate*s position on your issue. Write a paragraph comparing the candidates' positions on your issue.

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