ELEMENTARY MIDDLE HIGH SCHOOL Newspaper · PDF fileOKLAHOMA NEWSPAPER FOUNDATION NEWSPAPERS...

OKLAHOMA NEWSPAPER FOUNDATION

N E W S P A P E R S I N E D U C A T I O N

ELEMENTARY MIDDLE HIGH SCHOOL

LANGUAGE ARTS –Elementary Activities

1. Start a notebook in which you paste all yournewspaper assignments, so you can look at itfrom time to time and continue to learn from it.

2. From your newspaper, cut out the letters youwould need to spell your first and last name.Paste them on a piece of paper.

3. Listen to the teacher read the informationdescribing a picture and then tell the who, what,when, where, why and how.

4. Find and cut out all the words in headlines youcan read. Paste them on a piece of paper andpractice reading them to the class.

5. Cut out all the letters in the alphabet and pastethem on a piece of paper. Can you find wordsthat start with each letter and cut them out ofyour newspaper? Paste them after each letter.

6. Clip examples of a short and a long vowel soundfor each of the five vowels. Glue them in yournotebook.

7. Cut apart the words in three headlines and putthem in alphabetical order. Mix and match themto make new headlines.

8. Find as many words as you can in your newspa-per that describe size and cut them out.

9. Look through the newspaper and cut out wordsthat describe you. Paste them on a silhouette ofyourself cut from your favorite part of the news-paper.

10. Select a newspaper article you like, and then cir-cle all the different kinds of punctuation you findin it.

11. In a feature story, underline as many nouns asyou can find, and circle the action verbs.

12. Divide all the headline words on the first page ofyour newspaper into syllables.

13. In your newspaper, find 10 words that have dou-ble vowels, 10 that have double consonants and10 that have blends.

14. Circle all the words on a page of the newspaperthat have something to do with the sense oftouch. (Could also extend this exercise to theother four senses.)

15. Make three columns on a piece of paper or inyour notebook and label them as prefixes, suffix-es and root words. Cut words out of the newspa-per, and then cut them apart and paste them intheir correct columns.

Newspaper ActivitiesPage 1 of 22

Fundamental to the Newspaper in Education concept are the activities which teachers use in the classroom to teach

various skills and ideas. On this and following pages are hundreds of suggested activities that teachers can use, or can

adapt and expand to their own needs. In fact, that is one of the exciting aspects of these NIE activities – these ideas

breed additional activities and they, then, turn on young people to the joys of learning and discovering. Try them, you’ll

see what we mean.




Newspaper ActivitiesPage 2 of 2216. Find 10 plural words in the newspaper and cut

them out. Paste them down and write the root wordnext to each.

17. Divide all the headline words on the front page ofyour newspaper into syllables.

18. Find as many synonyms for the word “said” as youcan on one page of your newspaper, and clip themout. Paste them on one page in your notebook andlabel the top.

19. Choose five newspaper headlines and rewrite eachinto a complete sentence, making sure to use prop-er punctuation.

20. Have a spelling bee using words from the newspa-per.

21. Find a personal ad in the classified section of thenewspaper and make up a story about the personwho put it in the newspaper and why he or shebought the ad.

22. Look for as many compound words as you can anddivide them into their parts.

23. Underline the main ideas in a feature story in thenewspaper and then outline the story.

24. Take a picture from the newspaper and remove theexplanation (catlike) beneath it. Now write a cre-ative story telling what you think could be going onin the photo.

25. Find a job in the classified ads, and conduct a jobinterview for it with one of your classmates.

26. After listening to your teacher read a news storyfrom the newspaper, list as many facts as you canremember.

27. In the classified ads, find an item for sale. Pretendyou are that item and give a speech telling why yousomeone should buy you.

28. Make a collage form newspaper pictures and wordsto show what different things happened in a bookyou read for class.

29. After reading a news article in the newspaper, drawa picture of what happened.

30. Make up a poem using only word you have fundand cut out of headlines in the newspaper. Pastethem on a piece of paper and then illustrate yourpoem.

31. Find three examples of facts and three examples ofopinions in your newspaper. Discuss how they aredifferent and where you would generally find opin-ions.

32. Have a time race through the newspaper to clip andpaste as many pairs of homonyms as you can find.

33. Imagine that you are the main character in a newsstory. After reading the published account, tell yourside of the story.

34.Keep a notebook of new and unfamiliar word thatyou find in your newspaper. Clip them out, pastethem in your notebook and write the definition nextto each word.

35. Discuss the beginnings of news and feature stories.Have students look for each of the five “Ws” andthe “H,” noting that they are usually found at thebeginning of a news story and that the reader needread only a few sentences to know what the story isabout and what its most important details are.

36. Students can assume that they are going to inter-view someone in the news and write the questionsthey think should be asked.



37. Each student should also write stories based onclass and school events. Information for the sto-ries can be obtained from interviews and fromfirst-hand observation.

38. After gaining an understanding of news storywriting style, students should look for otherkinds of writing. Discuss the differences.

39. Make a list of at least 15 descriptive words youfind in the advertisements. After compiling yourlist, write one or two paragraphs describingsomething. Use as many of the words as you can.

40. Locate 10 different abbreviations. What is anabbreviation? Clip these out of the newspaper andwrite out the full word they represent.

41. Read a page of the newspaper and underline allthe words and phrases that refer to time. Make alist of all the words and phrases you have found.

42. Clip 10 adjectives from the classified advertisingsection of the newspaper. Paste them onto yourpaper and beside each write one synonym andone antonym.

43. Find a newspaper picture of an animal you wouldlike to be. Write a story pretending you are thatanimal.

44. Using words clipped from the headlines of thenewspaper, “write” a sentence or short story bygluing the words to a page.

45. Select a weather headline that you like. Write apoem using the headline as the first line of thepoem.

46. Select an ad from the personals column in theclassified ads. Pretend that you know the personwho might have placed the ad and write a char-acter sketch of him or her.

47. List all the different punctuation marks used in anews article. Read the articles aloud and noticethe influence of your voice in determining theplace of the punctuation.

48. Circle all the singular nouns and pronouns in anews article in red and all plural nouns and pro-nouns in blue.

49. Collect pictures from the newspaper that showdifferent facial expressions. Label each picturewith descriptive words.

50. Identify as many sets of antonyms, homonymsand synonyms as you can by scanning newspaperheadlines.

51. Use the front page of your newspaper and draw acircle around every blend. Make a list of all theblends you find.

52. Choose one story from the front page of today’snewspaper. Find the answers to these questions:Who? What? When? Why? Note the organization ofdetails in this story. Which is the most important?Where is it found? Does the headline highlightthe most important fact? If not, where did theinformation for the headline appear in the story?

53. Clip “how-to” articles from the newspaper. Mixup the steps by cutting the article apart. (Be sureto number the correct order on the back.)Challenge a classmate to put them in the correctorder again.

54. Imagine that you are in charge of preparing atime capsule that will be opened in 200 years.Cut items that you think would tell the mostabout our lives today from the newspaper.





55. Divide your paper into two columns. List all thefacts from an editorial in one column and all theopinions in the second column.

56. Cut apart several comic strips until each studenthas one panel. Students match up their panel toother students’ panels until the whole strip is re-created in sequential order.

57. Look through the classified ads to identify thekinds of things that are sold. Read a few ads andlist important facts included in an ad (itemdescription, condition, price). Ask students todraw a picture of some toy they have. Next, pre-tend you are going to sell it and write a classifiedad below the picture.

58. Students can keep a journal of thoughts as theyinteract with the newspaper. The students reactin writing to what they read. Entries can beshared with the class if they wish to do so.

59. Whenever possible, allow students some time toread the newspaper for enjoyment. This will helpdevelop a life long reading habit.





LANGUAGE ARTS – Secondary Activities

1. Find a news article written in past tense. Clip itout of the newspaper and then rewrite it in pres-ent tense.

2. Find five sets of antonyms in the newspaper. Clipthem out and then double-check your answerswith a dictionary or thesaurus.

3. Create, for the index of your newspaper, a sen-tence summary of five news or feature stories youthink would be of special interest to readers.

4. Make a list of unfamiliar words in each week’snewspaper. When you have 20 words, definethem and make a crossword puzzle. Try submit-ting it to your community newspaper for publica-tion.

5. Find newspaper pictures that illustrate moods.Clip them out and write a free verse poem, haikuor cinquain about each. You could also use thepicture as the basis for a short story.

6. Write an obituary for the main character in yourbook, after reading the obituary column in yourlocal newspaper. Try writing an epitaph for thecharacter as well.

7. Find, keep and classify examples of figures ofspeech found in the newspaper. Make a posterillustrating your findings.

8. Do timed readings using newspaper articles.

9. Read the editorial(s) in each week’s newspaperand keep them. Decide if the writer logically con-structed the piece, or if it tends to be emotionallyconstructed. Classify the editorials as beingexplanatory, praiseworthy, critical, entertaining,persuasive or a combination.

10. Select a feature story from the newspaper andthen compare and contrast it with the style of ashort story.

11. For impromptu writing assignments, use the“pick-a-plot” method. Cut out names, places,dates (motives, weapons, situations and otheritems if needed), and put each grouping in apaper bag. Choose one of each and use them asthe basis for creating a short writing assignment.

12. Imagine you are the main character in the novelyou are currently reading. As the character, placea classified ad, write a letter to the editor andsubmit a news story to the teacher.

13. Choose a news or feature photo and pretend thatit’s the year 2200. Try to explain the contents ofthe picture and what ideas it gives you about thesociety in the early 2000s.

14. In small groups, write two different televisioncommercials based on a product advertised inthe newspaper. For one of your commercials besure to use the same persuasion techniques usedin the newspaper.

15. In a news story, draw arrows from all pronounsto their antecedents.





16. Clip an editorial out of the newspaper. Divide apiece of paper into two columns, labeling one“fact” and the other “opinion.” List the informa-tion from the editorial in the appropriatecolumns, and then compare your work againstthat of another student.

17. Find a news story in the newspaper, and thenread it carefully, identifying the sentence types init. Choose your answers from simple, compound,complex and compound/complex.

18. Find all the gerunds and participles in a sportsstory.

19. Using a straight news story from the newspaper,circle all the direct objects in blue, the indirectobjects in red, and the objects of prepositions ingreen or some other color.

20. Write new headlines for three news articles fromyour newspaper. Then write new leads for each,perhaps changing the emphasis from “when” to“who,” and using a new grammatical approach.

21. Select a sports story of interest to you and rewriteactive voice sentences into passive voice, andpassive voice sentences into active voice.

22. On the front page of the newspaper, circle in redall forms of the verb “to be,” and in blue, allforms of the verb “to have.”

23. Newspaper headlines sometimes have dual mean-ings accidentally (or on purpose). Over the peri-od of several weeks, clip any headlines that youfeel could have more than one meaning, and tellwhy.

24. Set up a classroom debate team and discuss thepro and con side of the issue presented in aneditorial.

25. Find a feature article that is particularly well-suit-ed for interpretive reading. After practicing it,prese3nt it to the class.

26. Find examples of different newspaper ads thatdeal with the same product or service, such asgrocery stores, restaurants or automobile repairshops. Compare and contrast the ads in terms oflayout, prices, claims and the like. Choose the adin each category that you prefer and state yourreasons.

27. Read an editorial and then try to write a one-sen-tence summary of the author’s view and feelings.

28. Have students select from the newspaper five arti-cles with headlines that clearly present the mainidea of the articles. Each student should use adifferent part of the newspaper. The student cutsthe headlines from the articles, places all 10pieces in an envelope and trades envelopes withanother student. The reading task is to reuniteeach story or articles with its headline.

29. Students will note that most headlines give themain idea of the article and are in fact usuallybrief sentences with articles and connectivesomitted. What words in the headlines are left outthat you might use if you were telling the story?Why are they left out? Has omitting these wordsmade the headline harder to understand?

30. Students might also be given stories and asked towrite suitable headlines. They should be told tomake their headlines as short as possible. Thesewould then be compared with the originals.

31. News stories or editorials can be rewritten inshorter form.





32. Classified ads can be written for a product orservice the student “wants” to sell, an item orservice he or she wants to buy or for somethingto give away.

33. Students can write news or feature stories of theirown about local or school events. They can thenb instructed to make another copy, leaving out aprescribed part of speech. These can beexchanged, the blanks filled in, and then com-pared with the original.

34. Take four articles of three or four paragraphseach. Subtract verbs from one article. Leavingunderlined blanks. Subtract nouns from another,modifiers from the third and articles from thefourth. Ask students to rewrite the articles by fill-ing in each blank with a logical verb, modifier,noun or article. When student work is complet-ed, distribute copies of the original articles. Fordiscussion:• What part of speech gives the most meaning toa sentence?• What of the four articles was the hardest toreconstruct?

35. Write advertisements for real school events.

36. Write real letters to the editor of the local news-paper on subjects of school or community con-cern.

37. Scan the front page of the local newspaper andsee how many phrases of attribution you canfind.

38. Turn to the sports section of the newspaper. Clipall the synonyms for “win” and “lose” you canfind. Paste these onto a sheet of paper.

39. Find two examples of each of the four kinds ofsentences: interrogative, declarative, exclamatory,imperative. Clip and paste onto your paper.

40. Find examples of editorials that are written to:inform the reader, to interpret the news for thereader, to entertain the reader, and to influencethe reader.

41. Find newspaper examples of paragraphs writtenin present, past and future tenses. Be aware ofparagraphs containing clumsy shifts in tense.

42. Discuss in a theme, with specific illustrations, theemployment situation or the trends in housing asportrayed in the want ads.

43. Choose an editorial from the editorial page in thenewspaper and underline each fact and circleeach opinion. Discuss the logic of the ideas andthe organization and development of the argu-ments.

44. Clip and mount newspaper reviews of books youwould like to read. List them under headlinessuch as fiction, biography, travel, autobiography,etc.

45. Go through the newspaper and make a “survivalvocabulary list” of words that a person shouldneed to know to be a good responsible citizen intoday’s world. Be sure to list the legal terms youfind that we assume all people understand.

46. Look at a feature article closely to see whatwords and sentences help to make you have cer-tain feelings about the article. Make a list ofthese words and sentences.





47. Locate a satirical column in the newspaper. Writean analysis of the column indicating the elementsthat are used to achieve the satire (hyperbole,metaphor, simile, etc.).

48. Compile a list of words that you are not familiarwith in your newspaper reading. Make a cross-word puzzle using these words with your defini-tions.

49. Find a news article written in past tense. Clip itout of the paper and then rewrite it in presenttense.

50. Create, for the index of your newspaper, a sen-tence summary of five news and/or feature sto-ries you think would be of special interest toreaders.

52. Look for slogans used by businesses in yourcommunity in their newspaper advertisements.What is the reason for these slogans? Are theybelievable to you? To whom do they appeal, andwhat propaganda device is used? Make up fivebusinesses and write slogans for them.

53. Choose an editorial and read it carefully. Decidewhich statements or parts of statements are facts,which are opinion, and whether or not the toneof the editorial is conservative or liberal. Watchfor upcoming issues to see if there is any reac-tion to the editorial in the letters to the editorcolumn.

54. Find examples of editorials that are written toinform the reader, interpret the news for thereader, entertain the reader and influence thereader.

55. Make a chart showing examples of the vocabu-lary variations that appear in different sections ofthe newspapers. For instance, the jargon used bythe food editor and sports editor would probablybe quite different.

56. Students can keep a journal of thoughts as theyinteract with the newspaper. The students reactin writing to what they read. Entries can beshared with the class if they wish to do so.

57. Whenever possible, allow students some time toread the newspaper for enjoyment. This will helpdevelop a life long reading habit.





SOCIAL STUDIES –Elementary Activities

1. Find examples in your newspaper of how peoplecan get along with each other. Tell why it isimportant for people to get along.

2. Who works where? Find a picture of a building inthe newspaper and tell what kind of jobs peoplewho work in that building could have.

3. Use your whole newspaper to find pictures of, orstories about, five people who have different jobs.Paste each one on a piece of paper and thendescribe their jobs as best you can. Include anytraining you think they had and how much moneythey make.

4. Be artistic and make a collage of pictures formthe newspaper of different kinds of jobs. Includewords and advertisements.

5. In your newspaper cut out ads showing all thethings you would like to buy, and then add up thecost of all those things. Now decide how many ofthose things you could really afford.

6. Go through your newspaper and cut out wordsand pictures that describe life in your town asyou see it. Make a collage and display it in yourclassroom.

7. Look for a map in the newspaper and discusswhy it was included. Read the key to the map,and then compare it with other maps in yourclass atlas.

8. Clip the main headline on page one out of yournewspaper every week, and pin it on the bulletinboard. At the end of the school year, read theheadlines and discuss how your community haschanged and what important things happened.Did you find any stories that were the main newsevent for more than one week?

9. Establish a calendar of future local events, andthen collect the stories about those happeningsafter they occur. Did anything unusual or funnyhappen?

10. Look through your newspaper for different kindsof transportation and discuss how transportationhas been changing throughout history. Whatkinds of transportation have you used and wheredid you go?

11. What product or service is your community bestknown for? Find examples of it in your newspa-per and mount them on the bulletin board.

12. Select a community problem to study for a periodof time, making use of all parts of your newspa-per, from news stories to editorials. Watch howthe issue develops each week, the location itreceives in the newspaper and why it got to thatpart of the newspaper. Was the issue resolved?

13. Have a race through the newspaper to find asmany geographical words as you can, like “hill,”“river,” “lake,” “plateau” and the like. Findexamples of as many of them as you can on astate map.

14. Pretend you are a famous person in history, suchas George Washington or Betsy Ross. Be pre-pared to answer questions from the rest of theclass, who will act as reporters.





15. How many different careers can you find men-tioned in the news? What preparation do youthink was needed for each of them?

16. Choose one page from the newspaper, and thenthink about how many different jobs are involvedin creating that one page. List them.

17. Write letters to the editors of other communitynewspapers in your state and ask for a copy of aparticular week’s newspaper. Study the differ-ences and similarities between the newspapers,and then compare the communities. Which news-paper do you like best and why?

18. Does your newspaper tell enough about policeactivities? Look through the newspaper and listall items related to the police. What, in youropinion, are the most important police duties?Do you have a more favorable or less favorableopinion of police than you did when you beganthis study?

19. Take a sheet of paper. Look through the newspa-per and find things that happen in the city andthings that happen in the country.

20. Place news items or pictures about each state ona large outline map of the United States. See howmany states you can find in the news in twoweeks.

21. Chart community crimes for one-week usingreports and articles in the newspaper. Chart thetype of crime, age of the criminal, location, etc.

22. Travel by means of the newspaper. Clip picturesof a country. Find articles about the country.Then write a story about the things you might doand see if you visited that country.





SOCIAL STUDIES –Secondary Activities

1. Over a period of weeks, clip articles from news-papers that deal with problems and issues facingyour local or county government. Discuss thereasons for these problems and how the govern-ment hopes to solve them.

2. Create a classroom bulletin board concernedwith the men and women in your local govern-ment. Clip newspaper pictures of school boardmembers, city or town leaders and any othersyou feel should be included.

3. Is freedom of the press important? After readingyour newspaper for six weeks, write a report onwhether you feel freedom of the press is a vitalneed in our society.

4. Study the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights andbecome familiar with what we, as Americans,have guaranteed under these documents. Gothrough your newspaper and find as many exam-ples of each of these rights as you can, eitherbeing upheld or not.

5. Discuss newspaper advertising and its effect onconsumers. Find what you consider to be a“good” newspaper ad and explain your reasons.

6. Define and list the persuasion techniques used inadvertising, and then find an example of each inyour newspaper. Discuss the ads and see whichad the class likes most and which is liked leastand tell why.

7. Carefully read through the classified ad helpwanted section of your newspaper. What jobsseem to have more openings? Why? Do theyrequire comparable skills and education andoffer similar opportunities?

8. Gather newspapers from all over the UnitedStates (or all over your state) and compare theclassified ads of jobs available and wages given,what the housing market situation is, and tell whyyou might or might not like to live in that city (orstate).

9. Every week check through the job listings andput a red X through those jobs that could not befilled by a high school dropout. Put a black Xthrough those that could be filled by a personwith technical school or college training. Discussyour findings.

10. Check the salary levels for unskilled workers inyour newspaper’s want ads and compare thesalaries to those for skilled laborers or profes-sional positions. What are the differences andwhy?

11. Read an editorial carefully. Decide which state-ments or parts of statements are fact and whichare opinion and whether the tone of the editorialis conservative or liberal. Watch for upcomingissues to see if there is any reaction to the edito-rial in the letters to the editor column.

12. Define productivity and find examples of it inyour newspaper as related to agriculture, indus-try and retail sales.

13. From your newspaper, clip several ads for basicgoods. Go to the library or newspaper office andlook up old issues for five, ten and 25 years ago.How have the prices changed?





14. Construct timelines of the school year using themain headlines on page one, the sports page andany other favorite section you have. Group themaround the room and at the end of the schoolyear discuss the history of your community andthe changes experienced.

15. From your history book, choose a historic eventand report it, using the inverted pyramid style ofwriting.

16. Study the role of the newspaper during colonialAmerica, Civil War times, during the two worldwars and the Korea and Vietnam wars.

17. Follow “crime” in your local area in the newspa-per and try to determine the cycles of criminalactivity. What is the cost to the community? Whencriminals are apprehended, how are they dealtwith? What is the “crime rate?” Are all crimesreported in your newspaper?

18. Find stories in your newspaper that describecommunity problems and discuss how theseproblems affect your own life. Is there anythingwe can do to help with these problems?

19. Geographical references in any news or featurestory will add reality to the study of geography.Travels of local persons and visitors from othercountries are frequently noted in newspapers.Newspaper reading should also increase knowl-edge of local geography. A good classroom mapof the area, as well as other maps, should beregarded as essential.

20. Environmental concerns make news. Sewage dis-posal, air and water pollution problems, andcontroversies surrounding them are likely to beimportant items. Among other activities: hold adebate based on facts discovered in news stories.

21. Pretend you are living in a society in which thereare no newspapers. Make a list of all the func-tions provided by the newspaper.

22. Find a newspaper article that is about each of thefollowing: a city government meeting, a pressconference, a disaster or unexpected happeningand a story about the schools.

23. Look for a news story that mentions state legisla-tors and U.S. Congressmen representing theschool area, and discuss how they help build anunderstanding of your state and the United States’government.

24. List the ways that persons named in the news areidentified. How many ways do you find people ofyour county earn their living? Add to this list yourown knowledge of the work that residents of thecounty do.

25. Clip pictures or news items from the newspaperto illustrate the various ways our tax money isspent.

26. Read about local aspects of the “energy crisis.”Look for news stories and ads that seem relatedto energy problems. Some discussion topics:• What would our lives be like now if we did nothave gasoline, fuel oil, natural gas and coal?• If we did not have these fuels, what would beour energy sources?• In what ways are our lives now being changedby real or threatened energy shortages?

27. During election years, read about the local elec-tion process in detail, such as:• When are elections held?• How are candidates chosen?• Who can vote in an election?• How do voters decide who to vote for?





28. Read the classified section help wanted ads inyour newspaper and decide what kinds of workmay be available to them when they are a fewyears older. Some questions:• In what other ways do people find work?• What kind of work do you want to do after youget out of school?• How do you prepare for the kind of work youwant?

29. Although many budget decisions are made duringsummer months, look for budget stories duringthe school year. Study budgets and stories aboutthem and discuss how they might affect you andyour family.

30. Study the role of the police in your county andcity. Decide objectively if police are needed andwhat they do in addition to arresting traffic lawviolators and suspected criminals. Interview oneor more members of the local police force.

31. Look through your local newspaper for articles,feature stories, photos and columns that refer tothe history of your community. Discuss how yourarea’s past has influenced its present and future.

32. Editors should be encouraged to select items withstudents interests and needs in mind. Write aneditorial on a topic of controversy for the periodof history you are studying. Study some of theeditorials in the newspaper before doing thisactivity.

33. Clip and trace a political cartoon from the news-paper. Write a new caption for the cartoon.

34. Research good and bad relationships betweenthe United States and other countries. Try to cate-gorize the reason these relationships may exist.

35. Using the newspaper, give some names and titlesof international and political leaders. Describetheir roles, as you understand them, from arti-cles you have read.

36. Find and read newspaper articles concerningpollution, overpopulation or major social prob-lems. Make a list of the various items or thesocial problem you have selected. List some rea-sons that these articles are carried in the news-paper. Prepare a poster or write an essay tellinghow you would deal with solving this social prob-lem.

37. From the library files compare newspapers fromthe Civil War period, World War I and World WarII. How do these differ from newspapers today?Evaluate the content with regard to the FirstAmendment to the Constitution.

38. Project yourself into a society in which there areno newspapers. Make a list of all the functionsprovided by the newspaper, including such thingsas providing news, serving as an advertisingmedium, social announcements, upcomingevents, critical reviews, etc. How would each ofthese functions be met in the newspaperless soci-ety?

39. Scan your newspaper and name some of thebeats covered by reporters. If you were areporter, what beat would you like to cover andwhy?

40. Look in the classified ads to find job listings forthe medical/health professions. What is the medi-an pay range? Job requirements? Educationalrequirements? Benefits? Opportunities foradvancement?





41. Using the classified ads, find a job in one of thefollowing areas: clerking, bookkeeping, generaloffice, secretarial, accounting, computer, scienceor stenography. Write a letter of application forit, being sure to include a resume.

42. Every week check through the job listings andput a red X through those jobs that could not befilled by a high school dropout. Put a black Xthrough those that could be filled by a personwith technical school or college training. Discussyour findings.

43. Check the salary levels for unskilled workers inyour newspaper’s want ads and compare thesalaries to those for skilled laborers or profes-sional positions. What are the differences andwhy?

44. Clip ads that are representative of the businessesand/or industries in your community. Make acollage of them and include any articles and pic-tures that may appear as well. Write a brief essaytelling of the importance and influence of thecompanies in your area.

45. Have a discussion of employment trends anddemands in your community based on the helpwanted section of the classified ads and any relat-ed articles.





MATHEMATICS – Elementary Activities

1. How many pictures of happy people can you findin the newspaper? How many sad people? Cutthem out and paste them on a sheet of paper orin your notebook and tell why you think the peo-ple are happy or sad.

2. Count the number of pictures in this week’s issueof the newspaper.

3. Look for numbers that are the same size and clipthem out of the newspaper. Cut a piece of paperinto a circle and glue numbers to it to make aclock face. Make hands out of black paper andpractice telling time.

4. Look through your newspaper to find the follow-ing shapes: squares, circles, rectangles, triangles,ovals and cylinders. Take a magic marker orcrayon and trace over them.

5. Lucky you! You have just been given $200 tospend on 10 things you would like to have. Takeyour newspaper and circle the 10 things youwould like to buy, but remember, you can’t spendmore than $200.

6. Look through the food ads in your newspaperand find something that is selling by the pound.How much would it cost if you bought threepounds? Seven pounds? One-half of a pound?

7. Circle all the numbers on the first page of thesports section and add them.

8. In your newspaper, find 10 different ways num-bers have been used. Cut them out and pastethem on a sheet of paper. Label each of themaccording to how they were used.

9. Find the land-for-sale column in the classified adsection of your newspaper. What is the cost for asingle acre of land, such as rural lots or farmacreage?

10. Use newspaper ads to create your own wordproblems. Each week give a quiz of these prob-lems.

11. How would it cost you if you bought everythingshown in the display ads? Each person take onepage of the newspaper and add up the amount ofmoney necessary to purchase everything on thatpage.

12. Go through your newspaper each week to findexamples of different kinds of charts and graphs.Label what kind they are and what purpose theyhad in your newspaper.

13. You have been given $50 to feed yourself for aweek. Look at the food ads in your newspaperand “shop” for your food. Make meal plans ofbalanced meals for that week.

14. Find a recipe in the newspaper that sounds espe-cially good to you. Now cut the ingredients inhalf. How many people could you serve? If youneeded to double the ingredients in the originalrecipe, how much of each item would you need?

15. In the classified ads column, find a job that listsan annual salary. Compute the dollar amount thatjob would pay per month, per week, per day andper hour.





16. Each week for four weeks do the following activi-ty to understand your newspaper’s content better:measure in inches all the local news, featurematerial, editorials, photographs, display ads,classified ads, sports, artwork, obituaries andmiscellaneous. What category had the most inch-es each week? For the month? Why?

17. For six weeks measure – in column inches – theamounts of space given to the reporting ofboys/men’s sports and girls/women’s sports.Make a graph of the results each week and ana-lyze your findings.

18. Look for a display ad about a sale. What is thedifference between the regular and sale price of aparticular item? What is the percentage differ-ence?

19. Choose 10 newspaper display ads and photo-graphs. Figure out the perimeter and area ofeach of them.

20. Cut out newspaper ads or pictures that show theuse of math. For example, a pair of shoes, sizesrequire the use of math.

21. Race through the newspaper! You have five min-utes. See how many numbers from 1 through 25you can find. Circle each number as you find it.

22. Circle the largest and smallest numbers on anewspaper page. Subtract the two numbers youhave found. Add the two numbers.

23. Spend five imaginary $20 bills on five itemsadvertised in the paper. Keep the amount of“change” you receive from each purchase to lessthan $1. Record the amount of change left.

24. Cut words from the newspaper that relate toquantity. For example, all, none, many, few,fewer, more, less, most.

25. Use recipes from the newspaper. Double therecipe, halve the recipe and triple the recipe.

26. Write a word problem that uses a newspaperadvertisement as its basis. Let a friend write theequation for the problem, give it back to you,and then solve it.

27. Refer to the entertainment section of the newspa-per and find something you would like to do,and a restaurant where you would like to eat.Determine the total cost of your outing for oneperson, for two and for your family.

28. Choose any three digits and any two-digit num-bers from the newspaper. Do the following: Findthe product of the two numbers. Find the sum ofthe two numbers. Find the difference between thetwo numbers. Find the quotient of the two num-bers to the nearest hundredth. Now, find the sumof all the answers above.

29. Read a page of the newspaper and underlinewords and phrases that refer to time such asannual, bicentennial, 90-day warranty, next week,etc.





MATHEMATICS – Secondary Activities

1. Check your local newspaper to learn the cost of aclassified ad, and then determine the cost of dif-ferent sized ads in that section. Write an ad thatyou would like to place in the newspaper and fig-ure out how much it would cost to do so.

2. Using a ruler, figure out the percentage of spaceon a given page for ads, pictures, stories andheadlines.

3. On the front page of your newspaper circle allthe numbers you can find and give the range.Determine also the mean, median and mode.

4. Find a recipe you like in the newspaper and thengo to the food ads and figure the approximatecost of the recipe’s ingredients.

5. Look for examples in the newspaper of items thatcould illustrate the concept of congruence andexplain your reasoning.

6. Determine the ratio of sales jobs to factory jobsin the classified ads.

7. Using the marriage announcements, calculate theaverage age of marriage for both men andwomen. Do this over a period of at least sixweeks.

8. Newspaper photos are not always the same sizeas the size that shows up in your newspaper.Reduce and enlarge the photos according to thespecification you desire.

9. Read your newspaper’s birth announcements andobituaries. Figure out the ratio of births to deathson a given day, and the ratio of births of boys togirls.

10. Using the classified ads in your newspaper, findthe average price of similar recreational vehiclessuch as boats, motorcycles, campers, etc.

11. Locate sentences or paragraphs in news storiesthat could be rewritten in the “if … then” formu-la.

12. After the teacher has blacked out the actual costsof items in several display ads, students can esti-mate the cost of the products and servicesshown.

13. Identify in your newspaper examples of perpen-dicular, parallel and intersecting lines.

14. In the classified ads find the mileage of 10 usedcars. Change the mileage to kilometers. Using thesame 10 used car ads, figure out the averageprice and average model year.

15. In your newspaper find and circle words thatillustrate the concepts of time, quantity, value andmoney.

16. Figure out the square footage in your classroomfor the floor, walls, ceiling and windows. Usingthe newspaper, find ads for paint, carpet or tileand draperies and determine the amount of eachyou would need and how much it would cost.

17. Write an editorial stating why you would believethe United States should or should not change tothe metric system.

18. Choose a recipe in your newspaper and convertall the measurements to metric.





19. Research the monetary unit of a foreign countryand then change the prices in 10 display ads inyour newspaper into the foreign currency.

20. Look for a grocery ad with soft drinks for sale.Figure out how many fluid ounces are in the car-ton or six-pack and break it down into pins,quarts, gallons and liters.

21. Select three apartments listed in the classified adsfor rent. Do the following for each apartment:• Compute the total rent for a year.• Determine the average monthly rent on thethree apartments you have chosen.• Tell which one appears the best choice andwhy.

22. Look at the sports pages of your school or localnewspaper and check the percentages of gameswon and lost to make sure they are correct.

23. Your newspaper will probably publish a summaryof the previous week’s weather. What was theaverage high temperature? If the temperatureswere given only in Fahrenheit, convert to Celsius.What was the high Celsius reading? The lowestCelsius reading? What was the precipitation incentimeters?

24. Compute from the stock market reports in thenewspaper the percentage of profit and/or lossfor a specific stock.

25. Check your local newspaper to learn the cost ofclassified advertisements, and then determine thecost of different sized ads in that section. Writean ad that you would like to place in the paperand figure out how much it would cost you to doso.

26. Using a ruler, figure out the percentage of spaceon a given page for ads, pictures, stories andheadlines.

27. On the front page of your newspaper, circle allthe numbers you can find and give the range.Determine also the mean, median and mode.

28. Challenge your class to defy the truth that a pieceof newspaper cannot be folded more than eighttimes. Let them go on to try any other type ofpaper, from tissue to crepe.





SCIENCE, HEALTH & SAFETYElementary Activities

1. Many things around the home need electricity towork. Go through your newspaper and find asmany things as you can that need electricity.

2. Have a safety lesson and go through the newspa-per and clip 10 things that can be dangerous ifused incorrectly such as knives, spray cans, toolsand the like.

3. Make collages of wild animals and tame animalsor pets, using newspaper pictures and headlinewords.

4. Cut out newspaper pictures of different thingsyou might be studying, such as rivers, clouds,lakes and tornadoes. Mount them on paper andlabel them.

5. For your classroom bulletin board make a dis-play of things you find in the newspaper that cancause water, air and noise pollution.

6. Why are weather reports important? Read articlesabout weather in your newspaper and tell howthe weather is important to children, farmers,firefighters and others.

7. Find an article in your newspaper about fire. Listthree ways fire can be useful and three ways itcan be harmful.

8. Read articles about home fires as they appear inyour local newspaper. Discuss the causes of thefires and whether or not anyone was killed orinjured. What preventive measures could havebeen taken to avoid the fires?

9. Look for tips on how to take good care of pets inyour newspaper. Make a scrapbook of yourinformation.

10. Make a poster about good dental care usingwords and pictures from the newspaper. Talkabout why good dental care is important.

11. Find stories in your newspaper about accidentsand write safety tips on how they could have beenprevented. Write a skit to demonstrate your safetytips to the rest of the class.

12. Pretend you are living 200 years from now. Whathas happened to the world because of pollution?Write a news story telling about this future world.

13. Keep a notebook of any words about science youfind in the newspaper that you’re not familiarwith. Write a definition next to each one after youhave looked it up in the dictionary.

14. Be on the watch for newspaper articles that dis-cuss the impact of hunting and fishing seasons onwildlife near your community.

15. Design on paper a machine that you think wouldbe helpful in saving energy. Write a news storytelling about your invention and why it is impor-tant that could appear in your local newspaper.

16. Make a scrapbook of pictures and news storiesabout conservation. You might look for articlesabout hunting and fishing seasons, tree planting,energy crisis, etc.

17. Make a poster from pictures, advertisements andarticles showing how machines help people dodifferent things.

18. Make a “first” notebook. Use newspaper articlesabout science “firsts” or discoveries.





19. Begin a vocabulary list of science words found inthe newspaper. Record the spelling, meaning anduse of each word. Some examples might beexploration, narcotics, energy, pollution, preven-tative, analysis, comet, weather, antibiotic, inven-tion, alcoholism, theory, artificial, transplant,medicine, etc.

20. Make a chart that is divided into four parts:spring, summer, fall, winter. Cut out pictures ofclothing you would wear during each season.Paste the pictures under the right word.

21. Prepare a mobile using pictures and words takenfrom the newspaper depicting various groups offoods. Examples might be favorite foods, partyfoods, picnic foods, snacks, etc.

22. Collect newspaper ads from home cleaning prod-ucts. Prepare commercials to sell their products.Tape the commercials to share with the class.

23. Prepare menus using food advertisements in thenewspaper. Example: Christmas dinner, Italiandinner, etc.

24. September is National Breakfast Month. Lookthrough grocery advertisements and cut outfoods you would like to have for breakfast. Pastethem on a chart of the basic food groups.





SCIENCE, HEALTH & SAFETYSecondary Activities

1. Using the newspaper, collect ads for productsand services that were not available 30 years ago.Discuss the scientific advancements that havemade these new products and services availableto the public.

2. Clip pictures of animals and plants from thenewspaper and glue them onto large sheets ofpaper according to their species categories.

3. Study the periodic chart of elements and thentake a red marker and mark the appropriatechemical symbols on articles, ads and anythingelse in the newspaper that mentions an element.

4. Find articles in your newspaper that discusswater and/or air pollution. Discuss the causesand possible remedies. Write a science fictionstory telling how life could be in another 100years if the pollution problem isn’t solved soon.

5. Using the same articles as for the above activity,have a panel discussion on the effects of pollu-tion.

6. Keep a collection of newspaper articles and pic-tures over a semester that discuss a local healthproblem, litter control, water fluoridation, flood-ing, pollution or something similar.

7. Find articles in you rnewspaper about potentiallydangerous household substances, such as bath-room cleaners, drain openers, over-the-countermedicines, etc. Make a chart of them. Classifyeach substance as being acid or base and list theantidote needed if an accidental ingestion oroverdose occurs.

8. Make a bulletin board display of articles aboutcommunity health services offered in your town,such as rehabilitation centers, poison controlcenters or Alcohol Anonymous.

9. Draw a map of your county. During a semesterlook for articles in your newspaper about anytype of conservation matters occurring in yourcounty and clip them out. Pin your map on thebulletin board and have the articles surroundingit. With colored yarn, link the articles to theirlocations around the country.

10. Design a newspaper ad for a health care agencyto run in your local newspaper, such as the HeartAssociation, March of Dimes, American CancerSociety or the American Red Cross.

11. Research the area of drugs, tobacco or alcoholand write a newspaper article that informs thelocal readers of the dangers of one of the sub-stances.

12. Look in the classified ads of your newspaper andfind job listings for the medical/health profes-sions. What is the median pay range? Job require-ments? Educational requirements? Benefits?Opportunities for advancement?

13. Every week, look for any ads that may claim“cures” or “amazing breakthroughs” for diseasesor other medical or cosmetic problems. Discussthese ads in class and the persuasion techniquesused to hook people into purchasing the productor service offered.

14. Clip stories telling of the work and problems oflocal health agencies and services, or of agencieshaving health responsibilities along with otherduties.





15. Look for other health related stories. Possibletopics: hospitals, immunizations and contamina-tion, water purification, diet and nutrition, alco-hol and other drugs, cigarettes.

16. Study each story reporting an accident. Can youdetermine the probable cause of the accident?Could the accident have been avoided? If some-one was injured, and this is usually the case ifthe accident is the subject of a news story, couldthe injury have been avoided?

17. Notice the health ads listed in advertisements.Discuss their use and probable worth.

18. Using the newspaper, collect advertisements forproducts that were not available 20 years ago.Can you identify the scientific advances that havemade this product possible?

19. Find newspaper articles and pictures of accidentsinvolving young people and wagons, bicycles,skates, skateboards, automobiles, motorcycles,boats, animals, etc. How could these accidentshave been prevented?

20. Check today’s weather map in the newspaper.Find areas that had severe weather. Discuss howstories such as these can help us prepare forweather emergencies.

21. Explore the accuracy of predicted temperatures.Each day for two weeks, record the predictedtemperature from the listings in the paper.Record the actual temperature from the nextday’s paper. Figure the percentage of accuracy.

22. Find newspaper articles, advertisements, etc. thatattempt to see equipment that will help conserveenergy such as storm windows or home insula-tion. What claims are made about savings?

23. Draw a rough floor plan of a home. Collect news-paper pictures of furniture and appliances to fillthe home and make it comfortable. Determinethe approximate cost of furnishing a home byusing newspaper ads.

24. Clip pictures of toys from the newspaper. Analyzethe toy for its safety, durability, cost, interestspan, and as an aid in physical and mentalgrowth in relationship to the child.

25. Collect pictures, articles and advertisements fromthe newspaper that demonstrate improved meth-ods, instruments and chemicals for heatinghomes, cooling homes, painting homes, caringfor lawns, remodeling homes. Compile this infor-mation in a housing notebook.

26. Role-play a situation taken from the newspaper(Dear Abby, Ann Landers) that influences theemotional and/or social growth of children.Determine whether this will have a positive ornegative effect on the child.

27. Research the area of drugs, tobacco or alcohol,and write an article that informs the local read-ers of the dangers of one of the substances.



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