Las Vegas Newspapers in Education

Mini Page Archive - January 2009: Issues 1 - 4

A Kid's 2009 Calendar -- Issue 1 -- Jan. 3-9, 2009

This week's standards:

Students understand people and events honored in commemorative holidays. (History)

Activities:

1. Pick one of the special months in today's Mini Page calendar. For that month, draw a picture you could put on a large calendar.

2. Pick an unusual special day from the calendar that you think would be fun to celebrate. Plan a party for that day. Make a list of foods for your party from newspaper ads. Select three comic strip characters you would like to invite.

3. What is your favorite one-day celebration? Week celebration? Month celebration? Have a friend choose his/her favorites. Now talk about your choices.

4. Which holidays would be popular with your (a) social studies teacher, (b) science teacher, (c) music or art teacher, and (d) principal?

5. Select one of the individuals or groups from the Mini Page's 2008 memories. Plan a national holiday for your individual or group. What would you call your day? What kinds of decorations would you use? What special activities or foods would you have? Write a description of your new holiday in a paragraph.

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

An American Tradition -- Issue 2 -- Jan. 10-16

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. Cut out a newspaper photo of President-elect Barack Obama. Paste it at the top of a piece of paper. Now find information about the new president in the newspaper. Write facts about Mr. Obama under his picture on your paper.

2. Look through your newspaper for stories about Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Use a colored marker to circle five facts about Mr. Biden.

3. Divide a piece of paper into three columns. Label the columns: Official Events, Entertainment and Food. Now look through the newspaper to learn about the different things that will happen during the inauguration. Write the information you find under each column.

4. How would you celebrate the inauguration if it were held in your community? Use newspaper stories and ads to find (a) where you could have the swearing-in ceremony, (b) three restaurants where people could eat, (c) a place to have a big dance, and (d) three local people you would invite to the events.

5. The inauguration includes the swearing-in ceremony, a parade and many balls. How would you design an alternate inauguration? You have to have a swearing-in, but what would you do instead of a parade and balls? Write a paragraph describing your inaugural event.

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

The Northern Lights -- Issue 3 -- Jan. 17-23

This week's standards:

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

Activities:

1. Draw a picture of yourself watching the aurora borealis. Then cut out five newspaper words that describe the aurora borealis and paste them along the bottom of your picture.

2. Make a "rainbow line" on a piece of paper. Cut out sections of colors from newspaper photos and ads. Paste them in a straight line following this pattern: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

3. What is winter weather like where you live? Look at the weather page of your newspaper. Write down the high temperature for today. Find two places where the weather will be warmer and write down the cities and temperatures. Now find two places where the weather will be colder and write them down.

4. How are each of these important for the northern lights: (a) sun, (b) oxygen, (c) sun cycle, and (d) the Earth's liquid center?

5. Today's Mini Page gives you the scientific explanation for the northern lights, but people in earlier times may have different explanations. Write a story that uses myth or magic to explain how the northern lights came to be. You may want to Google images for the aurora borealis for inspiration.

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

The Seeing Eye -- Issue 4 -- Jan. 24-30

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 "Puppy Plans" poster. Look in the classified ads for breeds that make good service dogs. Cut out the ads and paste them on a piece of paper. Now look in the regular ads to find words and pictures of items you would need to train a puppy. Paste them on your poster.

2. Discuss with a family member what it would be like to be a foster family that trains a service dog. Make a list showing why you would like to be a foster family. Make a list showing why it might be difficult to be a foster family.

3. Find a large newspaper photo that shows a scene such as a street, a mall or a ballpark. Cut out the picture and paste it on a piece of paper. Start at one side of the picture and draw a path to the other side. Now describe how a Seeing Eye dog would help its owner travel that path. What potential obstacles are there? Where would the owner and dog have to make turns?

4. How are these qualities important for service dogs: (a) temperament, (b) breed, (c) size and (d) intelligence?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn about different service animals. Use these questions to guide your research: What is the animal? What type of service does this animal provide? Why is this animal suitable for this type of service? Where and how are these animals trained? Write a paragraph describing the animal and the service it provides.

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