For Grades K-4 , week of Oct. 22, 2018

1.Space Scare

Since becoming a U.S. astronaut, Nick Hague has waited five years to take a space flight. When he finally got his chance this month, it ended as fast as it started. Hague was part of a mission to the International Space Station that had to be ended just two minutes off the ground when their booster rocket failed. Hague and a Russian astronaut had to fire escape rockets to get their space capsule free and then experienced a scary, 31-mile plunge back to Earth. Hague said he and Russian commander Alexey Ovchinin were thrown around violently in the capsule and endured intense forces six times stronger than gravity. They landed in a field in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, 250 miles from their launch site. They were shaken up but uninjured. Flying on a space mission is an adventure many people would like to have. In the newspaper or online, find and closely read a story about another adventure someone is having. Pretend you are going to interview this person about his/her adventure. Write out five questions you would like to ask, and why.

Common Core State Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions.

2.Super Sports

If you are a sports fan, this is the very best time of the year. All four major American sports are in action, along with NCAA college football. It’s time for the World Series in Major League Baseball, NFL football is in high gear, and seasons have just started for the National Basketball League and National Hockey League. In the newspaper or online, find and closely read stories about games coming up this week in the four pro sports leagues. Pretend you are a sports writer and write a sports column telling which game (or games) you think would be the most exciting to watch this week. Support your points with evidence from your reading and discuss as a class.

Common Core State 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.

3.Paddle Those Pumpkins!

Halloween is coming and people in the European nation of Germany are already in the spirit. They’ve taken to the water in giant, floating pumpkins in one of the oddest competitions people can watch. It’s the yearly pumpkin race on Lake Krewelshofer near the town of Lohmar. Not surprisingly, the pumpkins have to be huge to qualify for the race — at least 550 pounds and big enough to hold an adult when hollowed out. The race isn’t long — just 115 feet — but it’s tricky. “It was hard fighting against the wind to get anywhere,” one competitor told Reuters news. “I thought after a few meters you would fall in,” said another. Halloween is one of the most popular holidays of the year. In the newspaper or online, find stories, ads and photos showing people getting ready for Halloween. Use what you find and read to write a short poem, rap or rhyme titled “Ready for Halloween.” Read it aloud to the class — with feeling!

Common Core State Standards: Demonstrating understanding of figurative language; applying knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts.

4.Dream Come True

Every music fan probably has dreamed of getting invited onstage to perform with a band they like. For a 10-year-old boy from the state of Missouri, that dream came true when he attended a Foo Fighters concert this month. After the band played its last song, fifth grader Collier Cash Rule was invited onstage by band leader Dave Grohl. Then Grohl asked Collier if he played guitar, and when Collier said yes he was invited to play something. He ripped into a Metallica song called “Enter Sandman,” and Grohl sang along. To top things off, the band let Collier keep the blue electric guitar he was given to play. Everyone has dreams of things they’d like to do. As a class, discuss dreams you and your classmates have. Then write a personal column for the newspaper, describing your dream, why you’d like it to come true and how you think you’d feel if it came true.

Common Core State Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions.

5.A Fish Tale

Everyone who goes fishing has a story about “the one that got away.” A family in the Southern Pacific nation of Australia has just the opposite. On their fishing trip, the Chapman family had a huge fish jump right into their boat! And not just any fish. It was a seven-foot bull shark, UPI news reported. “That was the most frightening experience of my life,” said teenager Connor Chapman, who was fishing with his father and two brothers. A nearby fisherman took two of the boys into his boat while Connor and his father paddled to shore to release the shark. Odd or unusual events often inspire movies, TV shows, books or other stories. In the newspaper or online, find and closely read a story about an odd or unusual event. Pretend it will be turned into a movie and design a movie poster to call attention to it. Give your movie a title that would make students your age want to see it.

Common Core State Standards: Using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points; reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it.