1. Waussie Alert!

Australia may be located on the other side of the Earth from the United States, but American audiences like "Aussie" entertainment acts like The Wiggles. And now an Australian children's author is hoping American audiences will like her "Waussie" characters just as much. "Waussies," says author Jacqui Taub, are "wacky Aussies," and she's introducing them in a series of six books and CDs. Through their adventures the colorful characters teach young kids lessons about being kind, polite, thoughtful and accepting of others. There's even a "Waussie Song" with a message about never giving up and tips for doing little things that can make a difference. "A 'thank you' or 'please' can mean more to others than we think," Taub says. As a class, talk about ways that being kind, polite or accepting can help people get along and feel better about each other. Then create a public service ad for the newspaper encouraging people to do something kind or thoughtful for others. Write a sentence explaining why your message is important.

Learning Standard: Reading and writing fluently, speaking confidently, listening and interacting appropriately, viewing critically and representing creatively; identifying and explaining how individuals in history demonstrate good character and personal virtue; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

2. Time for Baseball

The 2010 Major League Baseball season has started up. To get in the swing of things, look at the sports section in today's newspaper and make a simple graph that compares your favorite team's wins and losses.

Learning Standard: Organizing data using concrete objects, pictures, tallies, tables, charts, diagrams and graphs.

3. Volunteer Month

April is National Volunteer Month, a time when families and individuals volunteer to make their communities better. Some volunteer in schools, some volunteer to clean up parks and some volunteer for groups like First Book. People who help First Book work to provide books for reading programs that help kids in cities across America. As a class, talk about ways families and kids can volunteer together to help others. Then find a story in the newspaper about a person or program that could be helped by volunteers. Write a note to a parent suggesting ways you could work as a family to volunteer and help.

Learning Standards: Acquiring information from multiple sources; identifying and explaining how individuals in history demonstrate good character and personal virtue; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

4. Ant-Eating Dino

Most people know dinosaurs were meat-eaters and plant-eaters, but did you know they also were ant-eaters? That's what a newly discovered dinosaur fossil was in the Asian nation of China, according to scientists who have seen it. The fossil, which was discovered by a farmer in a southern region of the country, was just a foot and one-half long, but it was built for speed, scientists said. That's because it probably had to run quickly to escape sail-backed predators known as spinosaurs in the time it lived about 85 million years ago. The dinosaur was a theropod, a type that includes more famous carnivores like Tyrannosaurus rex and velociraptors. As a class, discuss how fossils can teach scientists new things about ancient creatures. Imagine you could go on a fossil-hunting trip to China. Draw a comic strip showing you learning about fossils and China on your trip.

Learning Standards: Explaining how fossils provide evidence about the nature of ancient life; showing how science concepts can be interpreted through creative expression such as language arts and fine arts; using the craft of the illustrator to express ideas artistically.

5. Women in Space

March was Women's History Month, but April is the month women are making history in space. After last week's launch of the space shuttle Discovery, four women were serving on space missions high above the Earth. That is the most women ever to be serving in space at one time. Three of the women are taking part in Discovery's 13-day mission to the International Space Station. One is serving on the space station. One of Discovery's women is a former school teacher, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, who taught high school science before joining America's NASA space agency. Fifty-four women have now flown space missions since Russia's Valentina Tereshkova flew the first in 1963. The first U.S. woman in space was Sally Ride, who blasted into orbit 27 years ago. As a class, talk about ways women are succeeding in new and different careers. Then find a successful woman in the newspaper. Write a sentence or two describing what qualities you think she needed to succeed.

Learning Standards: Understanding how people of diverse cultures have contributed to and influenced developments in science; identifying and explaining how individuals in history demonstrate good character and personal virtue; writing fluently for multiple purposes.