1. Weight in the Air

Before flying Samoa Air, you might consider going on a diet. The airline has adopted a policy of charging passengers according to what they weigh. Here’s how it works: Travelers enter their approximate weight when they book a flight. Then at the airport, they are weighed with their luggage, and are charged accordingly. Total cost to the flier varies, based on route, distance, type of aircraft and how much weight a plane can carry. The airline can adjust seats and make seating assignments according to each passenger’s size. The policy is family-friendly, the airline says, since you don’t pay as much for a toddler as you do for Mom or Dad. As a class, talk about Samoa Air’s weight policy. Is it a fair way to charge for flying, or does it penalize heavier travelers? Is it an invasion of privacy? Use points raised in discussion with additional research to write a newspaper editorial in favor or opposing Samoa Air’s policy.

Common Core/National Standards: Writing opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information; engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions.

2. Earth Day

Earth Day is April 22. Read about environmental issues in this week’s newspapers and find a topic that interests you. Create an eye-catching poster that educates others about the topic. Display your poster and explain it orally for the class.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

3. ‘Insult’ Leaders? Go to Jail

Americans are used to their leaders being harshly criticized, so it may seem bizarre that in some countries “insulting” public officials is punishable by imprisonment and even death. In the Middle East nation of Kuwait, for example, a court has sentenced an opposition politician to five years in prison for warning the ruling emir, at a political rally, about “practicing plutocracy” — government by the wealthy. It is taboo in Kuwait to chastise the emir publicly. In two other Middle East nations, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, protesting dissidents have been imprisoned on charges they insulted their country’s leaders. In Bahrain, the ruling cabinet has endorsed a penalty of five years in prison for offending the king. In the United States, critics of authorities are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Look up the exact wording online and use your newspaper to find examples of Americans exercising the freedoms of the First Amendment. Write a paragraph summarizing the example you think is most important from those you found. Use evidence from the text in your paragraph.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

4. A ‘Great Girl, Anne’

Sensitivity may not be one of Justin Bieber’s strong points. Visiting the Anne Frank house in in the European city of Amsterdam, the teen pop idol wrote in the museum’s guest book: “Anne was a great girl. Hopefully, she would have been a Belieber.” Anne Frank was killed in the Holocaust after hiding in the attic of the Amsterdam house to escape capture by Nazi Germany during World War II. A diary she wrote while hiding became a famous book about persecution of Jews by the Nazis. She and most of those she was hiding with died in concentration camps after their eventual capture. As a class, talk about what advice you might give Justin Bieber for writing in the Anne Frank guest book in a way that critics have said was self-centered and insensitive. Then write an open letter to the editor of the newspaper, offering suggestions on how the 19-year-old singer could avoid such controversies in the future.

Common Core/National Standards: Writing opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information; engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions.

5. Remembering Number 42

On April 15, every Major League Baseball player and umpire wore Number 42 on their uniforms to honor Dodgers superstar Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color line on that date in 1947. Number 42 was Robinson’s uniform number. Not coincidentally, the movie “42” had just opened in theaters across the nation and was the top box office attraction, earning $27.3 million for its first weekend. The movie, based on Robinson’s brave and stellar career, is expected to be the most successful baseball movie ever. It stars newcomer Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and Harrison Ford as Dodgers executive Branch Rickey, who signed him to a contract to play in the Major Leagues despite widespread opposition. Since then, many of baseball’s top players have been African American. Find a story or photo about an African American baseball player in today’s newspaper. Read the story and then write a dialogue between the player and Jackie Robinson, as if they could sit down and talk about Robinson’s contribution to the sport.

Common Core/National Standards: Integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.