1. Land-Ho!

Monday was Columbus Day, which honors Christopher Columbus' journey from Europe to the Americas in 1492. While many people credit Columbus with discovering America, most historians believe he actually landed on an island in the Bahamas, near the coast of Cuba. And, of course, one could argue that a person can't "discover" a place where other people already live. Whether or not he discovered America, Columbus did make a fantastic and brave voyage and went to a place that Europeans had never seen before. Listen as your teacher reads a story from this week's newspapers about the Bahamas or Cuba or another country near the United States. Based on the newspaper story, write down a fact about the area. Then do research online and write a short paper on the country.

Learning Standards: Describing and comparing characteristics of ecosystems, states, regions, countries, major world regions and patterns and explaining the processes that created them; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

2. Oz

In October 1938, filming started on "The Wizard of Oz." Today, 70 years after the movie was released, it's still popular. It's based on an illustrated children's book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum. Follow in Baum's footsteps and write your own children's story, based on the events, location or people in a newspaper article. Make sure it's appropriate for kids. Draw an illustration to go with it.

Learning Standard: Writing fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as stories, poetry, personal narratives, editorials, research reports, persuasive essays, resumes and memos.

3. That White House

On October 13, 1792, the cornerstone for the White House was laid and builders began their work on the President's home in Washington, D.C. The White House, where Barack Obama lives now, is designed to meet the needs of a U.S. President. It has some special rooms that most houses don't have, including an oval-shaped office, rooms for meeting with other world leaders and a huge kitchen to feed everyone who works with the President and honored guests. Find an interesting person in today's newspaper. Based on what the person is like and what job he or she does, draw a picture of a house that the person might like. Be sure to label its special features. Get creative!

Learning Standard: Reading and writing with developing fluency, speaking confidently, listening and interacting appropriately, viewing strategically, and representing creatively.

4. Food Scare

Eating vegetables, especially leafy greens like spinach, is supposed to be a good thing. But a new study released last week -- and reported in many major news outlets -- puts leafy greens first on a list of risky foods. The Center for Science in the Public Interest said that leafy greens can harbor illness-causing germs when not properly washed. Read the newspaper and online news sources and watch the TV news for stories warning people of dangers in life -- alarming foods, dangerous toys, a flu outbreak or anything else. Make a list of all the stories you find. As a class, talk about the stories and why the media loves to alert people of potential risk. How does an informed individual know what's real, and what's hype?

Learning Standards: Engaging peers in constructive conversation about matters of public concern by clarifying issues, considering opposing views, applying democratic values, anticipating consequences and working toward making decisions; acquiring information from multiple sources.

5. Environment

Last week President Obama told the government it has to make some big changes to help the environment. Obama wants all government agencies to use less water and less gasoline, produce less trash and create a smaller amount of greenhouse gases (the gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and raise the temperature through global warming). In groups, use the newspaper and the Internet to research an issue that affects the environment. It can be on Obama's list, or something else. Create a presentation for the class that explains what the problem is and what steps people can take to fix it.

Learning Standards: Developing questions or problems for investigation that can be answered empirically; explaining the causes and importance of global issues involving cultural stability and change, economic development and international trade, resource use, environmental impact, conflict and cooperation and explaining how they may affect the future.