1. Moms Rock!

Sunday was Mother's Day. Listen as your teacher reads an article in today's newspaper about a mom who is doing something great. Or listen as she reads an article about a mom from the Internet. This mom might be doing something great for her family, or she could be doing something for others. As a class, write a thank-you note to this mom, thanking her for what she is doing. Then write a thank-you note to a mom you know, saying "thanks" for what SHE is doing for others.

Learning Standard: Identifying and explaining how individuals in history demonstrate good character and personal virtue; responding to a variety of texts by making connections to students' personal lives and the live of others.

2. Tornado Power

Imagine 205-mile-an-hour winds blasting through your town. Every building in their path is flattened and every vehicle is sent flying. That is what the strongest tornadoes look like, and it is what ripped through towns this spring in the state of Mississippi. A total of 137 tornadoes touched down in the southern U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Virginia and Arkansas in the past two weeks. They left more than 340 people dead, hundreds more injured and thousands homeless. Weather experts are predicting more such tornadoes to come this year. As a class, search the newspaper for stories on tornado relief efforts in the southern states. Come up with a class project to help those affected. Make up fliers using pictures and information printed from the newspaper to get support for your project.

Learning Standards: Composing documents with appropriate formatting by using word processing skills and principles of design; representing creatively.

3. What a Kick!

What were you doing when you were 18 months old? With the help of his parents, Baerke Van Der Meij was signing a contract with a Dutch professional soccer team. This happened this spring after the toddler was seen kicking soccer balls into his toy chest again and again without missing. There is no money with the contract, but what a dream come true for a child. Search the newspaper for a story about another talented kid. Talk about what he or she could do with those talents as an adult. Then write about what your dream would be if you could do anything you wanted.

Learning Standards: Responding to a variety of visual, written, oral and electronic texts by making connections to students' personal lives and the lives of others; writing narratives providing a context within which an action takes place.

4. The Price of Coke

Are you a Pepsi or a Coca-Cola person? Most people prefer one or the other. If you were pharmacist John Styth Pemberton, the answer would of course be Coke. On May 8, 1886, he invented what would later become Coca-Cola. He did this by grabbing a jug of syrup he had invented and mixing it with fizzy, carbonated water. He started selling the drink for 5 cents per glass out of a drug store in Atlanta, Georgia. He would sell about nine glasses a day. Today the company sells 1.7 billion drinks per day. In teams or as a class, search the newspaper or Internet this week for Coke's stock prices. Stocks are shares people can buy in a company. See if the prices go up or down and chart that on a graph.

Learning Standards: Acquiring information from multiple sources; organizing, representing and interpreting data using graphs, tables and charts.

5. 'American Idol'

The "American Idol" TV show knocks someone out of the competition each week. Everybody seems to have a favorite this year, and votes keep rolling in every Wednesday night. This year's show has two new judges, and they claim they are seeing some of the best talent they have ever heard. Who is your family's favorite contestant? Why do you think he or she should win? Search the newspaper for stories on "American Idol" and see if you can find background on your favorite performer. Draw a comic strip for the newspaper showing why your favorite should win.

Learning Standards: Using the craft of the illustrator to express ideas artistically; developing critical standards for personal use.