1. 8 Hours to Guangzhou; High Speed in China

It used to take 21 hours to go by train between the Chinese cities of Beijing and Guangzhou, but the Asian nation’s newest bullet train does it in only eight. Traveling at 186 miles per hour, the trains run on the world’s longest high-speed line. The route is equal to the distance in the United States between New York City and Key West at the tip of the state of Florida. Amtrak trains between New York and Miami, a shorter distance, take nearly 30 hours. China’s new train line is part of a planned network of four north-south and four east-west routes spanning the huge country. Construction costs reached almost $640 billion, but the hiring of as many as 100,000 workers helped lower Chinese unemployment. High-speed trains like this are now in use in several countries, including France and Japan. Research them online and with your newspaper and write a short editorial urging America to build high-speed train lines. Be sure to support your opinions with facts gathered in your research.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; citing textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly, as well as inferences drawn from the text.

2. Parse This

Learning correct grammar is an important skill, and the newspaper can help you practice. Copy out a paragraph from an article that interests you in today's paper — but don't include any punctuation or capitalize any letters. Trade paragraphs with a classmate, and see if you can put the punctuation and capital letters back where they belong.

Common Core/National Standards: Identifying and using mechanics that enhance and clarify understanding. Examples include using conventional punctuation, capitalization and spelling (as well as approximations of conventional spelling) and restating key ideas in oral messages.

3. Tessa Come Home

The name “Harry Potter” is known the world over, and probably will be for generations to come. Your name, too, might be destined for immortality. All you have to do is find and return the dog Tessa, which recently vanished from the home of author Dennis Lehane in Brookline, Massachusetts. As a reward, Lehane (whose novels include the bestseller “Mystic River”) will name a character after you in the book he’s currently writing. Lehane is one of America’s most successful novelists, specializing in crime and mystery stories. In the newspaper, find a story about a crime or mystery that needs to be solved. Write a summary of what police or investigators know about the case. Then write a paragraph describing a possible outcome. And if you run into Tessa anywhere, get her back home. It could mean everlasting fame (even if Lehane names a villain for you).

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.

4. How Sweet the Loot

A warehouse in the Canadian province of Quebec was the target recently of a massive heist. Was cash stolen? Precious gems? Rare manuscripts? None of the above. The “loot” was maple syrup. Quebec produces up to 80 percent of the world’s maple syrup, and the scene of the crime was a warehouse, reportedly holding 10 million pounds of the stuff, valued at $30 million. Authorities have not disclosed the exact amount of maple syrup stolen, but they have arrested three people on charges of theft, conspiracy, fraud and trafficking in stolen goods. In the newspaper or online, find a story about something produced in your state. Design an ad for the newspaper promoting this product and why people should buy it.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

5. Hosing Down Can’t Save a Whale Visiting the Big City

Nothing surprises New Yorkers — they say they’ve seen everything — but a whale? A dying 60-foot finback was beached recently on the bay side of Breezy Point on a stretch of Queens shoreline still littered with debris from Hurricane Sandy. Even at about 60 tons, the animal was severely underweight, “so emaciated there’s nothing we can do,” said an expert on rescuing stranded marine mammals. The whale’s body was scratched in places, but there were no signs it had been hit by a boat. Trying to keep the whale alive was a challenge, but disposing of its body is even more a problem. The body will be dissected for post-mortem examination, so towing it out to sea will be impossible. And finding a place to bury a giant carcass can be difficult in an urban area. The finback is the world’s second largest whale species and is on the endangered species list. As a class, find a story in the newspaper or online about animals and humans interacting. Write a summary of challenges and problems one interaction can cause.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.