1. Helping Others

Electronic editions of the newspaper can teach you a lot about people. They can teach you what people have done to succeed, how they have overcome problems, or how they help others. As a class, read an article in this week’s newspaper about a person or an organization helping others. Discuss what difference this person or group of people makes in the lives of other people. Then, on your own, write a short paragraph about the value of helping others.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.

2. Animal News

Animals are often in the news, and many people want to learn more about them. As a class, discuss what a vertebrate is. Then, on your own, find three different examples of vertebrates in today’s newspaper and cut or print them out. Make sure the examples are of different species. Write a brief description of each vertebrate, based on what you see, and what you know about how the vertebrate lives. You can use an encyclopedia, the Internet or another resource to help you.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

3. An Unplanned Spacewalk

A spacewalk usually takes a lot of planning, but two American astronauts aboard the International Space Station spent more than five hours in a quickly arranged effort to locate the source of a leak. The leak had forced the shutdown of one of the eight power systems that provide electricity to the laboratory orbiting more than 200 miles above the Earth. Thomas H. Marshburn and Christopher Cassidy never did locate the source of the leak, but they did install a new pump, which seemed to solve the problem. The entire operation, including the planning, took less than 48 hours, and “it looks … surprisingly [clean],” Marshburn said. It was the 168th spacewalk related to construction or maintenance since the first piece of the space station complex was launched in 1998. Space missions often make news. Find a story about one in your newspaper or online at www.nasa.gov. Write a paragraph describing the mission and its main goals.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

4. Woof! Dogs Help Your Heart!

Many families have dogs for pets and love them a lot. But did you know that owning a dog may help protect you from heart disease? That’s what the American Heart Association has concluded from years of study by a panel of experts it asked to gather information on the matter. Why is this so? The experts suggest that dog owners have more reason to go outside and take walks, and that most owners form such close bonds with their pets that the animals’ presence reduces the owners’ reaction to stress, lowering their heart rate. Another possibility, the panelists say, is that people who are healthier in the first place may be more likely to bring a pet into their home. Americans keep about 70 million dogs and 74 million cats as pets. Find a dog, cat or other pet in a photo, story or ad in the newspaper. Draw a comic strip showing an owner having fun with this pet. Give your strip a fun, “pet-friendly” name.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

5. An Endangered Food

Cassava is a potato-like root that helps feed 500 million Africans, but a disease is destroying entire crops of it. The loss of the crops is adding to food shortages already being felt in African nations. Cassava brown-streak disease has spread out of East Africa into the heart of the continent. It has attacked plants as far south as Angola and is threatening to move west into Nigeria, which produces more cassava than any other nation on Earth. Scientists estimate that Africa is losing 50 million tons of cassava a year to the disease, and if nothing is done to halt its spread, Africa could face a huge food crisis. Many plants are grown to produce fruits and vegetables for food. Find one you like in the ads in the newspaper. Write its name down the side of a piece of paper. Then write a poem about why you like this food, starting each line with a letter of its name.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic.