1. Keep Your Shoes On, Kid

If you’re younger than 12, you no longer have to take off your shoes to pass through airport security. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has put new screening rules in place to make travel easier for children, old people and frequent fliers. Travelers younger than 12 and older than 75 can keep their shoes on and can go through metal detectors and body scanners without necessarily being “patted down” by guards. The TSA says younger and older travelers and frequent fliers are unlikely to pose a security risk, and these measures will allow agency guards to pay more attention to other passengers. As a class, talk about reasons people must go through security checks before getting on airplanes. Then draw a comic strip for the newspaper showing an airport security guard helping a family get through a security check.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

2. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights and black history leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. He used his intelligence, strength and character to lead African Americans in a fight for their civil rights. As a class, read about another great person in today's newspaper. Then create a list on the chalkboard of talents, skills and personal qualities that have made this person great.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; identifying and explaining how individuals in history demonstrated good character and personal virtue.

3. Sharks in Danger

On the continent of Asia, shark fin soup is considered a special food. So special, in fact, that as many as one-third of all species of sharks face extinction due to over-fishing, the International Union for Conservation of Nature warns. That’s why some island nations in the Pacific Ocean have banned shark fishing off their shores and others have created huge shark sanctuaries. It’s also why both the European Union and the South American nation of Venezuela have banned the practice of cutting off the fins and tossing the rest of a shark’s body back into the sea. The shark is “very vital to the health of our oceans and to our culture,” a Cook Islands official said. “We are hopeful that sharks now have the protections they need to recover in the same way that wolves and bears have returned to national parks on land.” In the newspaper or online, find a story or photo involving an endangered animal or sea creature. Write a paragraph describing what dangers the animal faces and what people could do to help protect it.

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

4. Tusks vs. Tourism

So many African elephants are being killed illegally for the ivory in their tusks that the animal may be in danger of extinction. But not if some Kenyan villagers can help it. In some Kenyan communities, the villagers have come together to protect elephants, because the animals are a tourist attraction and tourism is more vital to local economies than the ivory from elephant tusks. The safari business is essential to the Kenyan economy, for example, generating more than a billion dollars a year and creating nearly 500,000 jobs — some paying more than poaching elephants for ivory. As a class, discuss the kinds of wild animals tourists like to go see. Then in teams or as a class, use the newspaper or Internet to find photos or stories about these animals and the places they live. Use what you find to design a travel ad for the newspaper promoting one of these places and its wildlife.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

5. Is Nap Nanny Risky?

About 169,000 Nap Nannys have been sold since 2009, and the babies of some of America’s top celebrities use the infant seat recliners. But the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is demanding that they be recalled. The consumer agency says the foam-based recliner is too risky, because five babies died after being left asleep in it. TV sports anchor Leslie Gudel, who heads the company that makes the seat, says the recliner isn’t the problem, it’s people using it improperly. Gudel says that in four of the five deaths, caregivers ignored safety instructions by not connecting the Nap Nanny’s harness. The consumer agency now has asked a judge to order a recall. As a class, find a story about child or adult safety in the newspaper or online. Write a short summary of the story.

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..