1. Googling China

The Chinese government requires the search engine Google to hide search results it doesn't approve of from Chinese citizens. Google used to comply with the rule, but last week the company moved out of mainland China so it could stop censoring the search results. In the newspaper or online, find an article about a government or company practicing censorship. Write an opinion paper explaining whether or not you agree with the censorship.

Learning Standard: Composing coherent written essays that express a position on a public issue and justify the position with reasoned arguments.

2. Cesar Chavez

On March 31, 1927, Cesar Chavez was born. He was a driving force behind the unionization of farm workers in California and elsewhere, helping them to achieve more fair treatment. Find an article in today's newspaper about a group of workers in the United States or another part of the world who want something. Write a letter to the editor stating your feelings about their situation.

Learning Standard: Explaining the causes and importance of global issues involving cultural stability and change, economic development, international trade, resource use, environmental impact, conflict and cooperation and explaining how they may affect the future.

3. Bad Water

Every year, more people die from polluted water than from all kinds of violence, including war, according to a new report from the United Nations. Polluted water spreads disease and damages ecosystems. Read about pollution in the newspaper and online. In groups, come up with three things teens can do to help stop pollution in their community, region or state. Make a poster about one or more of your ideas to encourage your peers to take action.

Learning Standard: Recognizing and using varied innovative techniques to construct text, convey meaning and express feelings to influence an audience.

4. Fools

April 1 is April Fools' Day, a time to pull pranks and make jokes. Many newspapers and magazines publish April Fools' editions filled with silly, outlandish, untrue stories. Pretend you're a reporter and write an article for a newspaper's April Fools' issue. Base it on something that's making news this week, but change facts, people or events to make it wacky and funny. For inspiration, visit The Onion Web site at www.theonion.com.

Learning Standard: Exploring and using the characteristics of different types of texts, aesthetic elements and mechanics, including text structure, figurative and descriptive language, spelling, punctuation and grammar to construct and convey meaning.

5. At the Movies

The movie "Alice in Wonderland" has proven popular with filmgoers, making more money in the theaters over the last few weekends than any other recently released film. "Alice in Wonderland" is based on Lewis Carroll's classic novel, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Find a story in this week's newspaper that would make a good basis for a movie. Write an outline of your movie's plot. You can be creative by adding characters or settings.

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