1. Sesame Street in Europe

In the European country of the Netherlands, one of the most popular attractions is a miniature city called Madurodam. This mini-city within the city of The Hague includes such Dutch landmarks as the Royal Palace, Rotterdam harbor, windmills and more. This year, it will also feature a new street — Sesame Street — to honor the children’s TV show and promote early education. As a class, talk about ways the “Sesame Street” TV show makes learning fun for young children. Then draw a comic strip for the newspaper showing “Sesame Street” characters teaching something about your neighborhood or city.

Learning Standard: Engaging peers in constructive conversation about issues or topics of interest; using the craft of the illustrator to formulate and express ideas artistically.

2. Tornado Season

Tornadoes can occur at any time of the year, but in the southern United States peak season is March through May. Last week three twisters smashed through the state of Virginia, injuring 200 people and damaging or destroying more than 150 homes. Northern states are getting ready for tornado season there, which peaks during the summer. In teams or pairs, use the newspaper to keep a scrapbook of severe weather like tornadoes or thunderstorms over the next month. Use what you find to create a poster on severe weather and how people can stay safe when it occurs.

Learning Standard: Showing how science concepts can be interpreted through creative expression such as language arts and fine arts.

3. Older Americans

May is Older Americans Month, a time when we celebrate the lives of people who are more than 65 years old. As a class, read a story about someone interesting who is older than 65. Then write a short poem about someone you admire who is over 65.

Learning Standard: Writing fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as stories, reports, letters, plays and explanations of processes.

4. Cats in Iraq

The continuing war in Iraq has shown that the Middle East nation still has many problems to solve. But saving cats would probably not be a top concern for most people. A British woman working as a security consultant in Iraq has made that her goal, however. Calling herself “the Cat Lady of Baghdad,” she is working to rescue stray cats in the war-torn country and sending them back to her home country of Britain. As a class, talk about how people do amazing things to help animals. Then find a story or photo involving an animal in the newspaper. Write a sentence stating how people could help the animal.

Learning Standard: Responding to a variety of written, visual and electronic texts by making connections to students' personal lives and the lives of others; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

5. Something for Everyone

Every day, newspapers bring you all kinds of information. Some is information you need and some is information you want. And some is information that simply entertains you. Search today’s newspaper and find information about the people or things below.

Learning Standard: Acquiring information from multiple sources and then evaluating, organizing and communicating it in various contexts.

A. A leader in the news. ______________________________________________

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B. A sports team I like. ______________________________________________

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C. Something I’d like to buy. ______________________________________________

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D. An entertainer I like. ______________________________________________

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E. A movie I’d like to see. ______________________________________________

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F. Something that made me smile. ______________________________________________

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