Engage students with news, events, and anniversaries for the week of
February 9-13, 2015
Language Arts
1. For Black History Month, this week we highlight the work of writer Eloise
Greenfield. And, as a bonus, this week’s selection is about another heroine of
Black History, Harriet Tubman. Invite your students to read this poem aloud,
perhaps alternating lines among students. Allow time for a discussion of what the
poem is about. Ms. Greenfield said that as a poet, she took license with the style
of writing and the ability to “break the rules” of formal writing. She feels that the
poem has a stronger impact with the opening lines,
‘“Harriet Tubman didn’t take no stuff
Wasn’t scared of nothing neither,”’
rather than if she had written “Harriet Tubman didn’t accept any abuse. She
wasn’t afraid of anything either.”
Talk about that with students. Then invite them to choose and rewrite several
newspaper headlines in a less formal way to give the words a stronger impact.
“Harriet Tubman” a poem by Eloise Greenfield
Harriet Tubman didn’t take no stuff
Wasn’t scared of nothing neither
Didn’t come in this world to be no slave
And wasn’t going to stay one either
“Farewell!” she sang to her friends one night
She was mighty sad to leave ‘em
But she ran away that dark, hot night
Ran looking for her freedom
She ran to the woods and she ran through the woods
With that slave catchers right behind her
And she kept on going till she got to the North
Where those mean men couldn’t find her
Nineteen times she went back South
To get three hundred others
She ran for her freedom nineteen times
To save Black sisters and brothers
Harriet Tubman didn’t take no stuff
Wasn’t scared of nothing neither
Didn’t come into this world to be no slave
And didn’t stay one either
And didn’t stay one either
Indiana Academic Standard: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
they are used in works of literature, including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone
2. This lesson teaches students argument mapping. This activity is terrific for
helping students build an “argument” with supporting details. Assign them to
choose an issue from today’s news to debate. They should draw facts and details
from the news to support their side.
Indiana Academic Standard: Determine how a theme or central idea of a work
of literature is conveyed through particular details; provide a detailed, objective
summary of the text.
3. Invite students to “put your pet on a jet.” Have them choose any pet, it could
be their real pet or one they’d like to have. They can look though the newspaper
for a place the pet could visit. It can be a local place or one far away. They
should take facts about the place from the newspaper story and write a journal
entry that the pet might write after visiting that place. You can have them create
the journal, complete with pictures of the pet. Check out
http://www.pics4learning.com for copyright-free (for education) pictures of
animals that your students can use.
Indiana Academic Standard: apply reading standards to support reflection
and response to literature and nonfiction texts
Math
1. Working with Roman Numerals? Here’s a good practice activity, based on data
your students can find in the newspaper. Begin by explaining or reminding
students that the numbers we use are called Arabic numerals. They were likely
created by Indian mathematicians and later used by Arab mathematicians and
then by those in Europe. Romans used what we call Roman numerals. Have
students use the weather information to find a list of temperatures across the
country. They can pick ten cities and put them in order from coldest to warmest.
Then, have them rewrite each temperature in Roman Numerals. There’s a cool
online tool they can use to check their work, too. Click here for a site that
converts Arabic to Roman numerals.
Indiana Academic Standard: Read and write whole numbers up to 1,000,000.
Use words, models, standard form and expanded form to represent and show
equivalent forms of whole numbers up to 1,000,000
2. Here’s a great way to have students practice estimation. The mission is to
estimate how many words are in the lead story on the front page. Before they
begin, have them brainstorm methods they could use to get the most accurate
estimation. Utilizing one of the methods discussed, have them estimate. You may
want to create a graph showing the guesses of everyone in the class. Then
assign several students to do an exact count of the words to see which
estimation method worked best.
Indiana Academic Standard: Solve real-world problems involving addition and
subtraction of multi-digit whole numbers (e.g., by using drawings and equations
with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem).
Science Literacy
1. It may be interesting to have students look through the Business section of
related stories to find an example of a business development that could have an
impact on the environment. Have them write an essay for or against the
development based on its environmental impact.
Indiana Academic Standard: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis
of science and technical texts
These days your students might hear the word “organic” quite a bit. They might
not be as familiar with its antonym, “synthetic.” Although the differences are
complex, put simply, organic means something that is derived from nature while
synthetic means something that is human-made. Assign students to find five
examples of each in the newspaper. Which is easier to find? Why?
Indiana Academic Standard: Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment
based on research findings, and speculation in a text
Social Studies
1.Valentine’s Day has a rich and interesting history. Invite students to click here
to learn more about it. Then, send them into the newspaper to identify a story
about love. They should summarize the story and write a definition of love based
on the main ideas of the article they chose.
Indiana Academic Standard: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what a
text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
2. Explain to students that on February 9, 1861, Jefferson Davis was chosen to
be president of the Confederate States of America. That was a group of seven
states-- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and
Texas-- that had seceded or separated from the United States of America. As
your students know, that Confederacy ceased to exist with the end of the Civil
War in 1865. Ask students to think about how today’s newspaper might be
different if the Confederacy still existed. Which stories do they think they wouldn’t
see? They should choose two and write about why they wouldn’t exist if America
had split in two permanently.
Indiana Academic Standard: Integrate information presented in different media
or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, verbally) to demonstrate a coherent
understanding of a topic or issue
3. On February 10, 1897, The New York Times newspaper began using a
slogan, “All the News That’s Fit to Print.” What do your students think that
means? Is there any news in the newspaper that they don’t think is “fit to print?”
Have them find out if your local newspaper has a slogan and compare and
contrast the two.
Indiana Academic Standard: Critically analyze information found in electronic,
print, and mass media used to inform, persuade, entertain, and transmit culture
Write the News Lesson
Topic: Stop!!!!
Exclamation marks or points (!) are used when a writer wants to show strong
feelings. Similar to using ALL CAPS when texting or messaging, exclamation
points are like shouting when you speak. They are rarely used in newspapers
because they are more appropriate for informal writing. It’s fine to use them when
writing friendly e-mails, letters, texts, or tweets. When trying to use fewer words,
it’s okay to rely on punctuation to express feeling.
But, in more formal writing, exclamation points may be a lazy way to describe
emotion.
Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “Cut out all these exclamation points. An
exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.”
Author Elmore Leonard wrote, “You are allowed no more than two or three per
100,000 words of prose.” That means about one per novel.
Why were these talented writers so down on this punctuation mark? Perhaps it is
because they knew that good writers “show” rather than “tell.” They use words to
convey meaning rather than count on the punctuation to do the job. And overuse
of the exclamation mark cuts down on its meaning and its impact.
Look carefully to see if you can find any exclamation marks in today’s
newspaper. If you find one, see if you can figure out why it was used.
Rewrite each of these sentences, replacing the exclamation marks with words
that convey the meaning intended. Use “muscular” language with strong verbs
and nouns.
I was rejected from the college I wanted to attend!
Don’t use too many exclamation points!!
There was an accident!