1. Fire Prevention Week

This week is Fire Prevention Week. As a class, read an article in the newspaper about a fire that has happened locally in the past week. Brainstorm ways that the fire could have been prevented. Then use the newspaper, your list and other resources to make a list of fire-prevention safety tips. Design a newspaper ad or poster to tell people about these ways to be safe.

Learning Standards: Reading and writing fluently, speaking confidently, listening and interacting appropriately, viewing critically and representing creatively; applying knowledge, ideas and issues drawn from texts to students' lives and the lives of others.

2. Flap, Flap, Flap, Flap

Many scientists now feel that dinosaurs were ancient relatives of modern birds. So they are always looking for evidence of connections between them. A new discovery in the Asian country of China provides that kind of evidence, but it is also -- well -- a little weird. Chinese researchers have found a fossil of a 160-million-year-old dinosaur that had four wings! Researchers say four-winged dinosaurs may have been a species that lived between ancient dinosaurs and later dinosaurs that changed to become modern birds. In teams or as a class, find things in the newspaper that connect with other things. Pick one and write a complete sentence describing the connection.

Learning Standards: Acquiring information from written, visual, oral and electronic texts; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

3. Ancient Treasure

A man who likes to fool around with metal detectors struck it rich this summer in the European country of Britain. Fifty-five-year-old Terry Herbert discovered a treasure of gold, silver and precious objects more than 1,500 years old! Herbert, who is out of work, stumbled on the treasure while exploring a farm in the central part of the country. At least 650 items of gold and 530 silver objects were found, and historians said they represent the largest treasure from the Anglo-Saxon people ever recovered. Most of the pieces were decorations for helmets, swords, daggers or other weapons and were probably seized in a war during the time the Anglo-Saxons ruled Britain. As a class, talk about ways old things can teach people about the past. Then find a photo of an indoor or outdoor scene in the newspaper. Write out what the scene in the photo could teach people if they came across it in the future.

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; comprehending the past; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

4. Manatee Watch

Manatees are popular, warm-water sea creatures that are the state marine mammal of Florida. But with ocean waters getting warmer around the world, this endangered species is roaming farther and farther during the summer months. That can create a problem when the weather turns cold again in the fall, according to a wildlife group called the Save the Manatee Club. Manatees that do not get back to warm water in time can suffer "cold stress syndrome" that can be dangerous or even kill them. To keep track of where the manatees are this fall, the club is asking wildlife watchers as far north as Massachusetts to call a special hotline of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if they spot manatees in cooler northern waters. As a class, talk about the problems faced by endangered animals. Then find a photo of an animal in the newspaper. Write a paragraph describing dangers this animal faces in the world.

Learning Standards: Describing positive and negative effects of humans on nature and wildlife; explaining ecosystem concepts and processes; acquiring information from multiple sources and then organizing, presenting and analyzing it.

5. More School, More Success

President Obama is a strong believer that education is the key to kids having success as adults. And the President and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan feel American kids need more education than they are getting to compete with high achieving students from countries like India and China in the future. Duncan has been visiting schools this month to ask them to add time to classes, teach more weeks in the year, stay open late and let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go. As a class, talk about the President's ideas to improve education for American children. Draw a comic strip for the newspaper showing something that you think would improve schools or education.

Learning Standards: Engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance; explaining ecosystem concepts and processes; using the craft of the illustrator to convey ideas artistically.