1. Questions & Answers

You can read a lot by closely reading the newspaper. You can learn to recognize key facts and evidence in the stories, and to use that evidence to explain what is important in stories out loud or in writing. In a small group, read an article in today's newspaper. Use what you have read to come up with five "quiz" questions about the article. Write the questions on one sheet of paper, and the answers on another. Now swap your questions with another group. Hand them the newspaper article you used to make up the questions. When both groups have finished answering the questions, swap answer sheets and see how well you did.

Common Core/National Standards: Reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions.

2. Sick Flowers

The flowers known as impatiens (im-PAY-shens) are popular among many families for their great, bright colors. This spring, however, this garden favorite is being attacked by a mysterious downy mildew disease. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find impatiens at plant stores. Some growers have stopped raising them entirely. Home Depot continues to sell the plants, but is training its staff to spot signs of the disease and to educate customers about the risks. Other sellers are advising gardeners to use other types of flowers in their gardens. When spring comes, many people shop for flowers to plant. Search the ads in the newspaper for a flower you think would be pretty to plant in a garden. Write its name down the side of a sheet of paper. Then write a Flower Poem, starting each line with a different letter of the flower’s name. Your poems don’t need to rhyme but should use colorful language. Illustrate your poems and share with 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; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

3. Fishing in Ice-Free Waters

Enough of the polar ice cap is melting every summer that the governments of the five countries with Arctic coastlines are planning talks to reach an agreement regulating commercial fishing near the North Pole. Leaders and fisheries officials from Norway, Denmark, Canada, the United States and Russia will meet in Washington later this month, and may be joined by Pacific nations like China and Japan, now that the newly ice-free waters above the Bering Strait are accessible to their fishing boats, too. Though supported by conservationists, the principal intention of the meeting is not to conserve this fish habitat, but to enable the fishing industries in the coastal nations to manage commercial fishing of species that used to live under the Arctic ice. As a class, talk about the challenges of dealing with an environmental change like that of the melting ice in the Arctic. Discuss what questions Arctic nations should talk about when deciding what to do about areas now open to fishing that used to be iced in. Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper, listing questions you would ask about the situation.

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

4. Found: 2 Earth-Like Planets

Scientists have discovered the existence of two planets that appear capable of supporting life. They are orbiting a star 1,200 light years away, a huge distance considering that one light year is approximately 5,880,000,000,000 miles from Earth. The newly discovered star, slightly smaller and dimmer than our sun, will be known as Kepler 62, named after NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. The Kepler craft discovered both the star and the two planets, each of which is about half as large as Earth. Like Earth, they are believed to be composed of rock, possibly covered with oceans, and have an atmosphere with humid, cloudy skies. Their orbits around their sun place them in a zone of lukewarm temperatures that are suitable for liquid water, which is the crucial ingredient for life as we know it. As a class, find and read stories about this discovery in your newspaper, on the Internet or on the website of America’s NASA space agency www.nasa.gov. Talk about why astronomers are so excited about these new finds. Then draw a series of comic strips for the newspaper showing what life on one of these planets might be like.

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; conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

5. Love That Music

Music is a great way to communicate. Popular music, rock or rap often draw ideas from the news. Look through the newspaper today for a story that might make a good subject for a rap or rock song. Write a few lines that might be the start of your rap or song, or the chorus that would be repeated. As a class, compare song ideas taken from the news. Were there some that were chosen more than others?

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions.