1. Mystery

"The Mousetrap," a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie, opened in London on November 25, 1952. It has been running continuously ever since, making it the longest continuously running play in history. But even after 23,000-plus performances, many people do not know the play's secret twist ending, which theatergoers are asked at the end of the show not to reveal. Look through the newspaper for an article that interests you. Then write a mystery story or play based on the people, events or locations in the article. Share with classmates.

Learning Standard: Identifying and using aspects of the craft of the speaker, writer and illustrator to formulate and express ideas artistically; acquiring information from multiple sources.

2. Newscast

Newscasters on TV have a talent for taking news and analysis and breaking it down into the basic facts.

This way people in a hurry can get information quickly. In teams, see if you can condense the top news stories from today's newspaper into a 45-second "newscast." As a class, discuss the pros and cons of getting information this way. What were the differences between teams in the selection and treatment of stories?

Learning Standard: Reading and writing fluently, speaking confidently, listening and interacting appropriately, viewing critically and representing creatively.

3. Life

On November 23, 1936, the first issue of Life magazine was published. Life was a photojournalism magazine, showing its readers pictures of what was going on all over the world at a time before television was widespread, and before the invention of the Internet. Pick a photograph in the newspaper that accompanies an article, but don't look at the article. Study the photo carefully. Do you recognize any of the people or landmarks? What do people's expressions and gestures tell you? Write a paragraph explaining what you think is happening in the photo. Then read the article and see how close you came to the real story.

Learning Standards: Focusing on meaning and communication while listening, speaking, viewing, reading and writing in personal, social, occupational and civic contexts; analyzing students' responses to oral, visual, written and electronic texts and providing examples of how texts affect their lives, connect them with the contemporary world and transmit issues across time.

4.Unfriend

Last week the Oxford New American Dictionary announced its 2009 Word of the Year: Unfriend. To unfriend is to remove someone from your list of friends on a social networking site such as Facebook.

If you were tasked with creating a new word, what would it be? Read through the newspaper and look at online news sources and magazines. Pay attention to words that are used frequently, and look up words you don't know the meaning of. Then come up with a new word, and write a dictionary entry for it.

Learning Standard: Selectively employing the most effective strategies to recognize words while constructing meaning, including the use of context clues, etymological study and reference materials.

5. Natural Selection

"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" was a book published on November 24, 1859. The book by scientist Charles Darwin discusses the theory of evolution, which at the time was a new idea. Darwin came up with the idea after studying mockingbirds on a remote group of islands off the coast of South America. Read about Darwin and his studies online or in books. Then write a paragraph in the style of a newspaper news story explaining how the mockingbirds led him to develop the theory of evolution.

Learning Standards: Explaining how scientists construct and scientifically test theories concerning the origin of life and evolution of species; comparing ways that living organisms are adapted (suited) to survive and reproduce in their environments; analyzing how species change through time.