1. MLK

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. On April 16, 1963, he wrote his famous "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" after being imprisoned for non-violent demonstrations against racial segregation. In the letter, he wrote "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." As a class, find his amazing letter online and read it together. Then find an article in today's newspaper about an issue that troubles you. Write a letter to your representative in the U.S. Congress expressing your concerns.

Learning Standards: Identifying and explaining how individuals in history demonstrate good character and personal virtue; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

2. Ebony

Eunice Johnson, the widow of Ebony magazine founder John Johnson, died this month at age 93. Johnson was the director of the Ebony Fashion Fair, a traveling charity event that showcases black fashion designers and models. She also developed Fashion Fair Cosmetics, a popular makeup brand for women of color. Look through the newspaper and find another African American who has accomplished something impressive. It can be in business, politics, sports or anything else. Write a biography of the person.

Learning Standards: Identifying and explaining how people demonstrate good character and personal virtue; acquiring information from multiple sources; writing fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as stories, poetry, personal narratives, editorials, research reports, persuasive essays, resumes and memos.

3. Jungle

Several works of art, including paintings by the famous artists Pablo Picasso and Henri Rousseau, were recently stolen from the home of an art collector in the European country of France. The stolen art is worth at least $1 million. Rousseau's style often is characterized as "art of the fantastic." In this case, "fantastic" isn't a synonym for "great"; instead, it means "implausible" or "unbelievable," something possible only in fantasy, not in reality. Many of Rousseau's paintings showed things that don't go together, such as a woman reclining on a sofa in the middle of a dense jungle. Make your own "fantastic" painting or drawing based on something in the news. Give it a "fantastic" title and share it with the class.

Learning Standards: 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.

4. Big Fish

A 513-pound bluefin tuna sold for $177,000 in an auction in a wholesale fish market in Tokyo, Japan, this month. The giant fish was purchased by the owners of three restaurants. Fish is a major part of the Japanese diet. In fact, Japan is the world's largest consumer of seafood. In groups, pick a healthy food like fish and learn more about it in newspaper articles and online. Make a presentation for the class, explaining what makes your food healthy and why people should eat it. Include what nutrients it contains and how the body uses those nutrients.

Learning Standard: Asking questions that help students learn about the world; designing and conducting investigations using appropriate methodology and technology; learning from books and other sources of information; communicating findings using appropriate technology; communicating information accurately and effectively and demonstrating expressive abilities by creating oral, written and visual texts that enlighten and engage an audience.

5. Scanner

In response to a recent terrorist threat aboard a plane flying from Europe to Detroit, airports in some areas are adding "full-body scanners," machines that can see through a person's clothes and determine if the person is hiding anything dangerous. Critics of this measure see it as an invasion of privacy. Read articles about the full-body scanners in the newspaper and online. Hold a class debate about whether or not airports should use them.

Learning Standard: 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.