1. World News

News happens all over the world. This week, work in a group and spend 15 minutes a day looking through the newspaper for the names of countries. Each time you find a new country, write it down. Then use a map or previous knowledge to put the country in one of the following groups: Africa, The Americas, Asia, Europe or Australia and Pacific Islands.

Common Core/National Standard: Locating and describing diverse kinds of communities and explaining the reasons for their characteristics and locations.

2. ‘The Mousetrap’

On November 25, 1952, a play called “The Mousetrap” began playing in the European city of London, England. It's so popular, that it's still running today, 60 years later. When asked why she thought it was so popular, the play's writer, Agatha Christie, said that the play combines humor and scary stuff, but isn't a comedy or a horror story. Instead, it's a combination of things. Listen as your teacher reads an editorial or an article in today's newspaper that is a combination of things — funny, serious, scary, hopeful, etc. Write a poem, rap or rhyme about the story that your teacher has read to the class.

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 fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as stories, poetry, letters, plays and explanations of processes.

3. Girl Wonder

Boys play football. Girls play with Barbies. Don’t tell that to 9-year-old Samantha Gordon of Salt Lake City, Utah. She has become a nationwide sensation after her father posted video highlights of her playing tackle football with the boys. She scored 35 touchdowns and ran for almost 2,000 yards in just one season. The videos of Samantha have gone viral, and even players in the NFL are becoming fans of Gordon, whose nickname is “Sweet Feet.” She has appeared on daytime talk shows and “Good Morning America” on TV, and last week she got to meet NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young and watch the Monday Night Football game between the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears. Search your newspaper and the Internet for stories about Gordon or other girls doing things normally associated with boys. Write a paragraph about the ways girls have made great gains in achieving equality with boys.

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. It’s a Record!

The world’s longest fingernails. The world’s most tattooed person. The heaviest object to be lifted with a tongue. These are just some of the entries in the Guinness Book of World Records. Last week, thousands of people around the world tried to break records as part of Guinness World Records Day. In London, England, 28 women limbered up and crammed themselves into a mini-car to set a new record. In Australia, a record was set for musical didgeridoo playing, and in India, more than 2,500 women set a record for dancing a traditional Kaikottikali dance. Search your newspaper and the Internet for interesting things people do around the world for fun or to set records. As a class, discuss something you could do together to set a new world record. Draw a comic strip for the newspaper showing your class trying to set the record.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging in a wide range of discussion topics; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points;

5. Answering the Important Questions

There are six important questions that all journalists must answer to have a complete story. They are commonly called the five W’s and one H. Readers or viewers want to know who, what, where, when, why and how something happens. Often these questions are answered within the first three to five paragraphs of a story. Search your newspaper for five stories that you think are interesting. Cut or print them out, and for each highlight the answers to the five W’s and one H. Use a different colored highlighter or colored pencil for each of the six different answers.

Common Core/National Standard: Asking and answering such questions as who, what, where, when, why and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.