1. Wonderful Words

Choosing just the right words when writing separates great writers from average writers. Sometimes writers will use simple words like “disappointing” to describe an event, while others will choose a word like “catastrophic” to deliver greater impact. One of a writer’s best tools is the thesaurus. It lists alternatives to words people use and allows writers to expand their vocabularies and add flourish to their writing. Word choice also can determine whether the author is simply reporting the facts or expressing opinions. Search the newspaper and read a story that interests you. Write a paragraph analyzing how the author used language to his or her advantage. Sports, entertainment and opinion sections are good places to look.

Common Core/National Standard: Analyzing the impact of specific word choice on meaning and tone

2. Giving Gifts

The eight-day festival of Hanukkah begins at sunset on Saturday, December 8. Hanukkah gifts for children are often not big. Look through the ads in the newspaper and pick out eight items you might give as gifts to a younger brother or sister. How much would these gifts cost? Repeat the shopping for an older brother or sister. How much would eight gifts cost for this person?

Common Core/National Standards: Using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve problems; acquiring information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets and other sources, organizing and presenting the information and interpreting the meaning and significance of the information.

3. Talking to Their Hearts

If you had the chance to stand in front of your favorite NFL team and give the players a pep talk, what would you say? Fifteen-year-old Adam Merchant just wanted to see a New York Giants game for his Make-a-Wish Foundation wish, but Giants head coach Tom Coughlin decided the young man fighting cancer should get the royal treatment. He was invited to join the team for a weekend and got to watch a practice, visit the locker room, see the game with a sideline pass and give a speech to inspire the players to do their best. He apparently did a great job inspiring the team with his speech that ended with, “Play like the world champions you are.” The Giants went out and beat the Green Bay Packers 38-10. Search the newspaper and the Internet for stories about your favorite football or basketball team. Think about areas in which the team is struggling and write an inspirational speech to inspire the players on the team.

Common Core/National Standard: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.

4. Spy vs. Spy

Using spies has long been a military and political way of getting information about enemies or rival nations. One of the first female spies in the United States was a housewife and nurse by the name of Lydia Darragh of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On December 2, 1777, Darragh overheard the British planning a surprise attack on General George Washington’s army the following day and gave the information to American troops. Today’s spies are somewhat more sophisticated, and use tons of technology to help them. In fact, the United States has an entire agency devoted to collecting information to keep our country safe. The Central Intelligence Agency has been under fire lately for how it did or did not use information about an attack on the American consulate in the African nation of Libya that resulted in the death of the U.S. ambassador and three others. Search your newspaper for stories about the CIA. As a class, discuss its role in U.S. policy and relations with other nations.

Common Core/National Standard: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions.

5. Movie Madness

Buying holiday gifts wasn’t the only way money was spent over the Thanksgiving weekend. Millions of Americans shelled out $290.8 million to watch Hollywood’s latest movies. It was a record high for the Thanksgiving period, topping the previous high of $273 million in 2009, according to an Associated Press story. The big winner during Thanksgiving weekend was “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.” It raked in $43.6 million in ticket sales from Friday to Sunday. “Skyfall” was second with $35.5 million and “Lincoln” was third with $25.7 million. Other movies that did well were “Life of Pi,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Red Dawn.” Search your newspaper and the Internet for movie reviews. Read several reviews and write a review of a movie you recently have seen, using the professional reviews as examples.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; writing arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.