1. Equality in Education

March is Women's History Month. Pretend you are a parent of a daughter who will be graduating from high school in the next five years. Look through the stories, photos and ads in the newspaper for information about fields of education that will be important in the work world over the next 20 years. Write a letter to your daughter recommending which of these fields of education she should pursue, and why. Finish by discussing as a class which of these fields might have been blocked to girls 25 or 50 years ago.

Learning Standards: Evaluating employment and career opportunities in light of economic trends; using research to organize and create texts to persuade others to take a particular position; engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance.

2. Telephone

Inventor Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847. Bell's experiments showed him that speech could be transmitted over a wire, which led him to invent the telephone. The telephone, of course, greatly changed the way people communicate. Use the newspaper, books and online sources to create a timeline of advances in communication since the telephone was invented.

Learning Standards: Acquiring information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets and other sources; organizing and presenting the information; interpreting the meaning and significance of the information.

3. Ceiling

Artist Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475. Michelangelo is best known for painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Italy. The ceiling painting, which is more than 130 feet long, is broken up into sections that depict various scenes from the Bible. Challenge your own artistic creativity by re-creating "scenes" from the newspaper in art form. Pick several articles and make a drawing or collage that represents them. You can have a separate section for each article, or one larger piece of art that incorporates them all.

Learning Standard: Identifying and using aspects of the craft of the speaker, writer, and illustrator to formulate and express their ideas artistically.

4. Oscars

On Sunday, March 7 actors, directors, producers, costume designers and others will attend the 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California. In honor of the Academy Awards, read movie reviews in the newspaper. Then write your own review of a movie you have seen. As a class, share your reviews. Talk about which reviews did the best job helping you understand what a movie was about and decide whether or not you'd want to see it. Which gave away too much information, and which were too vague? Revise your own review based on the feedback you receive.

Learning Standard: Planning and drafting texts, revising and editing their own writing and helping others revise and edit their texts in such areas as content, perspective and effect.

5. High Five

An article in the New York Times newspaper last week discussed the many ways people communicate non-verbally, including facial expressions, gestures and physical contact. One study mentioned in the article looked at the physical interactions in basketball games. The researchers analyzed how often players on each team in the NBA hugged or high-fived, and they found that good teams tend to be "touchier." In groups, pick a photo of a person in the newspaper. Separately, write down an analysis of the photo. What do you think the person is thinking? What emotions is he or she feeling? Then rejoin your group and compare what each person wrote. Discuss the similarities and differences.

Learning Standard: Practicing verbal and nonverbal strategies that enhance understanding of spoken messages and promote effective listening behaviors; Focusing on meaning and communication as they listen, speak, view, read, and write in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts.