1. Mystery

Edgar Allan Poe died 160 years ago, in October 1849 at age 40. Cities where the writer made a mark have been hosting events in his honor. Baltimore, Maryland, the city where he died, even held a funeral. Many people consider Poe the inventor of the detective story. In honor of Poe, write an outline for your own detective story based on an article in the newspaper. Include a list of the characters and a summary of the plot.

Learning Standard: Describing and using characteristics of various narrative genres and elements of narrative technique to convey ideas and perspectives.

2. Scenes From Life

On October 12, 1912, Alice Childress was born in Charlestown, South Carolina. A talented and respected writer in various genres, Childress often addressed the issues and problems that faced urban African Americans. Look in today's newspaper to find issues that affect people in your community. Then, write a scene or a short story that is based in your neighborhood.

Learning Standard: Writing fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as stories, poetry, personal narratives, editorials, research reports, persuasive essays, resumes and memos.

3. Nobel Prize

Last week two scientists who helped invent the digital camera were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. William Boyle and George Smith came up with a technology that can process pixels, the tiny dots that make up digital images. Look through the articles and ads in the newspaper and find an example of something people use in their homes that relies on technology. Using the Internet and books, draw a diagram of it and write a paragraph explaining how it works.

Learning Standards: Asking questions that help students learn about the world; designing and conducting investigations using appropriate methodology and technology; learning from books and other sources of information; communicating findings using appropriate technology; reconstructing previously learned knowledge; constructing new scientific knowledge.

4. Number One

In this year's United Nations report on the best countries to live in, the European country of Norway was rated number one. Australia and Iceland were two and three. How does the United States compare? In groups, use the newspaper, books and online sources to make a chart comparing the U.S. and two other countries. Include how much money the average person makes, how many people are poor, how many people can read, what the country produces and what the country imports (or buys) from other countries. A World Almanac or the CIA World Factbook online are good resources. For each country, also write down three things making news this week.

Learning Standards: Describing, comparing and explaining the locations and characteristics of races, cultures and settlements; acquiring information from written, visual and electronic sources; organizing and analyzing the information.

5. The President's House

Construction on the White House in Washington, D.C., began on October 13, 1792. John Adams, the first president to live there, moved in eight years later, in 1800. Look through the newspaper and online and find three other famous buildings. At least one of them should be in another country. For each, write a paragraph explaining the history of the building and why it's famous.

Learning Standard: Writing fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as personal narratives, persuasive essays, lab reports and poetry.