1. Points for Painting

French painter Georges Pierre Seurat was born on December 2, 1859. Seurat invented a style of painting called pointillism. A painting created in this style is made up of tiny dots, or points, of color - similar to the way dots, or pixels, make up a digital image. Find an article in the newspaper that interests you. Then create a pointillism-style collage using small images (or pieces of images or words) cut from newspapers and magazines to create a larger picture based on the article. Display and discuss your artworks as a class.

Learning Standard: Analyzing the style and characteristics of authors, actors and artists of classics and masterpieces to determine why these voices endure; identifying and using aspects of the craft of the speaker, writer and illustrator to formulate and express ideas artistically.

2. Swift Satire

Jonathan Swift, the author of "Gulliver's Travels," was born on November 30, 1667. His work is well-known for its funny and thought-provoking satire of politics. To honor his birthday, try your hand at satire today. Find an article in today's newspaper about a situation that you find ludicrous, silly or odd. Rewrite the story with humor and commentary to highlight what you think is wrong with the situation. Share your stories as a class.

Learning Standard: Describing and using characteristics of various narrative genres and complex elements of narrative technique to convey ideas and perspectives. Examples include use of symbols and motifs, and the function of minor characters in epics, satire and drama.

3. 'New Moon'

In a recent interview with MTV News, screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg talked about how she turned the novel "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" into a movie. For example, she added action scenes, killed off a character differently and dropped some background information from the original story written by author Stephanie Meyer. Pick a news story from today's newspaper that you think might make a good movie. Write a one-page outline of how you envision the movie, including a summary of the plot and the cast of characters. You can take creative license and make some changes to the factual story.

Learning Standard: Reading and writing fluently, speaking confidently, listening and interacting appropriately, viewing critically and representing creatively.

4. Civil Rights

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. In groups, use the newspaper, Internet and other sources to make a presentation to the class explaining what impact her action had in the civil rights movement and in American history. After all the groups have presented, discuss what similarities and differences there were among the presentations. Summarize the things groups stressed most in the style of a newspaper story.

Learning Standard: Selecting events and individuals from the past that have had global impact on the modern world and describe their impact; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

5. Doctrine

In a speech on December 2, 1823, U.S. President James Monroe introduced a new foreign policy that became known as the Monroe Doctrine. In groups, research in books or online then write a paragraph explaining what the Monroe Doctrine is and how it addresses how different nations interact to each other. Then find a news story in the newspaper that deals with relations between two countries. Is there a connection to the Monroe Doctrine in the issues of the story? Present what you found to the class and discuss.

Learning Standards: Understanding narratives about major eras of American and world history by identifying the people involved, describing the setting and sequencing the events; comprehending the past.