1. A Grown-Up Kennedy

Caroline Kennedy once was one of the most famous children in the world, living in the White House from ages 3 to 5 when her father John F. Kennedy was president. As an adult, she has never expressed an interest in holding public office. Until now. The 51-year-old Kennedy has informed New York Governor David Paterson that she would like to be appointed to replace Hillary Clinton as U.S. senator from New York. Clinton is leaving her Senate job to become the nation's secretary of state for President Barack Obama. As a class, follow news about who will be named to the Senate seat from New York. Talk about what qualities a U.S. senator should have and whether you think Caroline Kennedy would be a good senator.

Learning Standards: Engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance; identifying and explaining how individuals in history demonstrate good character and personal virtue.

2. More Global Warming

One way scientists can tell if the Earth is getting warmer is to study the ice in areas near the North and South Poles. A new study has found that global warming has caused more than 2 trillion tons of land ice to melt in the last five years in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska. That's 2,000,000,000,000 tons with all the zeroes written out! The ice has melted due to warmer temperatures caused by buildup of "greenhouse gases" like carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, scientists reported this month. Carbon dioxide is released when humans burn fossil fuels like oil, gasoline and coal in homes, cars and factories. As a class, talk about ways melting ice could affect the wildlife and plants of areas near the North and South Poles. Then find stories in the newspaper about the environment in your area. Write a complete sentence describing one environmental issue in your area. Learning Standards: Generating questions about issues that affect students or topics about which they are curious; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

3. Handwriting Contest

Students, sharpen your pencils! It's time for a national handwriting contest in which you could win computers, savings bonds and other prizes in your age group. Each year for the last 18 years the Zaner-Bloser education company has sponsored a handwriting contest for students in Grades 1 to 8. Students in first and second grade can enter to be judged for their printing ability, while students in Grades 1-8 can enter for cursive writing. Last year more than 177,000 students took part in the contest, and the deadline this year is March 1. Use the newspaper to practice your printing or cursive writing. Find five headlines and one paragraph that interest you. Then print or write out your choices neatly on a clean sheet of lined paper.

Learning Standards: Identifying and using mechanics that enhance and clarify communication and understanding; acquiring information from multiple sources and then evaluating, organizing and communicating it in various contexts.

4. What a Web!

Spider webs are an amazing example of the ability some creatures have to build things. And now scientists in the European country of Britain say they have found what they believe to be the oldest spider web ever. A web preserved in a fossilized piece of amber may be 140 million years old, scientists announced, which means spiders have been spinning webs to catch prey since the time of the dinosaurs. Amber is a material made from fossilized tree sap known as resin. The newly discovered web was found on a beach on Britain's southern coast and shows that even ancient spiders wove in a circle pattern. As a class, talk about what fossils can teach scientists who find them. Then discuss a fossil discovery you would like to make. Draw a comic strip for the newspaper showing you making this discovery.

Learning Standards: Responding to a variety of oral, visual, written and electronic texts by making connections to students' personal lives and the lives of others; reading and writing fluently, speaking confidently, listening and interacting appropriately; using the craft of the illustrator to convey ideas.

5. Shipwreck!

Shipwrecks are a great way to study the past, because water preserves the ships and their content. On Lake Ontario, a Great Lake north of New York State, two underwater explorers have found a mystery schooner sitting upright 500 feet below the surface. Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville located the 55-foot-long boat with high-tech equipment that uses sound waves to find things under water. It is a rare type of schooner called a "dagger board," but no one knows its name or who owned it. It is one of an estimated 4,700 shipwrecks that have taken place in the Great Lakes, including about 550 in Lake Ontario. As a class, talk about how modern equipment can help explorers and scientists in new ways. Then find a story about an explorer or scientist in the newspaper. Write a paragraph describing a high-tech device that could help this person.

Learning Standard: Showing how common themes of science, mathematics and technology apply in real world contexts; writing fluently for multiple purposes.