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CONTENT
SOCIAL STUDIES MATH
• Sort and classify
• News Mapping
• More News Mapping
• Headline Match
• Local, National, or International
• Understanding the Media
• Creating Historical Newspapers
• Read a Map
• Play Current Events Game
• Voice Your Opinion
• Explore geography
• Culture Shot
• Around the globe with the New York Times
• Connecting the New York Times to Your World
• Censoring the press
• Debatable Issues
• Geography Bingo
• Branching out
• Page 1 meeting
• Page one bingo
• Mix and Match
• World history bingo
• The Decade that was: 50 fill ins
• Figuring an Average
• More Add Math
• Add Math #3
• Guess-timating
• Hunt for classified math
• Furnish a home
• News scavenger hunts
• The Shapes of The Times
• A graphic interpretation
• Picking stocks using the New York Times
• Around the world with different currencies
LANGUAGE ARTS SCIENCE
• A to Z Adjectives
• Listening for details
• Sequencing the Facts
• A Five W Variation
• Abbreviation/Acronyms Search
• Read and write for meaning
• You be the editor
• Arrange in sequence
• Why is it news?
• The five Ws
• Sort and classify
• Expand your vocabulary
• Scanning the page
• Reading and Reacting to Teenagers in the Times
• New York Times Reading Log
• One Question Interview
• Supporting Opinions with Facts
• A graph is worth a thousand words, or at least 50
• Postcards
• Venn Diagram
• Telling a Times Story
• Saying what’s said
• Punctuate This!
• Reading hard news with a soft touch
• Problem-solution
• List, group, label
• New York Times Vocabulary Log
• Play-by-play sports descriptions
• Double entry chart for close reading
• The Five Ws and an H
• Let it Flow
• Literature Bingo Quote
• Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Usage Bingo
• The New York Times Scavenger Hunt
• Primary Document Analysis Questions
• Comparing Two or more Texts
• The One-Pager
• KWL Chart
• Fact/Questions/Response Chart
• Identifying Cause and Effect
• Multiple Points of View
• Science, Health, and Technology Bingo
• Weathering the Storm with The New York Times
• Charting the Weather
• Lab Experiment
• Plan a Healthy Menu
ARTS
• Make Papier-mâché
• Preserving the News
• Arts Section Bingo
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SOCIAL STUDIES
Section One
Sort and classify
Label each of seven shoe boxes with one of the following newspaper
categories: News, Editorials, Features, Humor, Advertising, Sports, and
Entertainment. Ask students to cut out the newspaper stories they read
each day and put each one in the appropriately labeled shoe box. At the
end of the week, have students skim as many of the stories as possible
and write an adjective describing each on index cards attached to each
box. You might suggest adjectives such as factual, sad, inspiring,
opinionated, misleading, silly, serious, and biased. Discuss and compare
the adjectives. What conclusions can students reach about each category
based on those words? (source: Education World)
News mapping
Post a map (a community, state, country, or world, depending on the
focus of your current events curriculum) on a bulletin board. Post
stories around the map and string yarn from each story to the location
on the map where the story takes. (source: Education World)
More news mapping
Take a look at the front page of the local newspaper each day/ Plot on
the map the location of each of the news stories on that page. Invite
students to use the scale of miles on the map to figure out how far each
place in the news is from your community. If longitude and latitude is a
skill your students are expected to master, students might plot each
location’s longitude and latitude to the nearest degree. (source:
Education World)
Headline match
Collect ten news stories and separate the story text from the headline.
Number each headline from 1-10. Assign a letter, from A-J, to each
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story text. Invite students to match each headline to the correct text.
(source: Education World)
Local, national, or international
To develop your students’ understanding of a news story’s “place”,
create a bulletin board divided into three sections. Invite students to
bring in from home news stories that might fit into each of the three
sections. News of the community or state will be posted in the “local”
section. News of interest around the country will fit in the “National”
section. And world news will be posted in the ‘international” section.
(source: Education World)
Understanding the media
Distribute advertisements cut from newspapers, and ask students to list
the products in order, according to the appeal of the ads. Create a chart
showing how students rated each product. Then distribute a list of the
following propaganda techniques:
• Bandwagon - the implication that “everybody else is doing it.
• Plain folks - the implication that “users of this product are just like
you.”
• Card stacking - distorting or omitting facts.
• Name-calling - stereotyping people or ideas.
• Glittering generalities - using “good” labels, such as patriotic,
beautiful, exciting, that are unsupported by facts.
• Testimonial - an endorsement by a famous person.
• Snob appeal - the implication that only the richest, smartest, or most
important people are doing it.
• Transference - the association of a respected person with a product
or idea.
Discuss each ad and determine the propaganda techniques used. Ask:
Which techniques were most effective? Which were the least effective?
What factors, such as gender, geographic location, or age might have
influenced the effectiveness of each technique? As a follow-up to the
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activity, you might ask students to design their own ads using one of the
propaganda techniques studied. (source: Education World)
Creating historical newspapers
Challenge students to create a newspaper about a period of time they are
studying. If students are studying US history, they might include stories
such as “Pilgrims and Indians Gather for Feast” and “Lincoln Wins
Elections.” The stories relate the facts as students have researched them.
Students should include each of the five Ws in their first paragraphs.
(source: Education World)
Read a map
Arrange students into groups and assign each group one international
story in the news. Have students explore Maps of the World and choose
a map related to their assigned story. Ask students to use the map to
answer some or all these questions:
A. In what city did the story take place?
B. What country is that city in?
C. What is the capital of that country?
D. What language is spoken there?
E. What continent is the country part of?
F. What countries or bodies of water border the country on the
north, south, east, and west?
G. What physical characteristics of the country might have
contributed to the events in the story?
H. What effect might the event or series of events have on the
physical characteristics of the country? (source: Education
World)
Play current events game
Make a list of five categories that might be created using the newspaper,
such as Countries, Weather Events, Mathematical Symbols, Movies,
and Technology Terms. Ask students to search the newspaper for
information related to each category and to write a question based on
the information they find. (Remind students to make a note of the
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answers to their questions). Arrange students into teams and use the
question-and-answer combinations to play a Jeopardy type of current
events game. (source: Education World)
Voice your opinion
Set up a tape recorder in a convenient location in the classroom. Pose to
students an opinion question and let them think about it for a few days.
When students are ready, they can take turns expressing their opinions
to the recorder. This can be a little less threatening for some students
than talking in front of a class would be. Later in the week, once all
students have had a chance to express their opinions, you might begin a
class discussion of the question by playing back the tape or by sharing
select opinions that you cull from it. (source: Education World)
Explore geography
Ask each student to search the newspaper for stories that illustrate each
of the five themes of geography -- location, place, human interaction
and the environment, movement and communication, and regions.
Display the stories on a classroom bulletin board labeled with the five
geography themes. (source: Education World)
Culture shot
Students clip and write about a Times photo that represents a
“snapshot” of American culture. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Along with your students, define “culture.” Ask them to
brainstorm the images that come to mind when they think of
“American culture” specifically.
• Invite students to each choose one New York Times photograph
from today’s Times that could represent present-day American
culture.
• Once students have selected their photographs, have them explain
their selections on the “Culture Shot” sheet and then clip them
out and display them on the front board in a class collage of
American culture.
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• As a class, identify commonalities and differences between
students’ visual perspectives on American culture.
Around the globe with The New York Times
A world map, labeled by region (not continent), for identifying where
Times coverage is focused. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Explain that an article’s “dateline” is located at the beginning of
the article, telling readers where a story was written.
• Model identifying a dateline from the front page of today’s New
York Times.
• Using just the front page and the “International” pages of the
front section of today’s New York Times, have small groups of
students examine the cities and countries listed in the datelines of
various articles.
• Have groups then turn to the “Around the Globe with The New
York Times” sheet and tally the number of dateline locations that
belong to each of the six regions included on the world map.
Students should write the tally numbers in the blank boxes
provided next to the labeled world regions. (If resources are
available, students could consult an atlas, globe, or the Internet to
help them determine the appropriate world region for each
dateline city and country.)
• If time permits, have groups compare their tally numbers for each
world region and discuss which regions are “hot” news spots and
why.
Connecting The New York Times to your world
Students reflect on how a Times article relates to their lives, experiences
and learning. (see end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New
York Times)
Censoring the press
Chart for identifying articles published in The Times that would be
censored in other countries. (source: The New York Times)
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Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Explain to students that the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law … abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
• Ask students to imagine what it would be like to live in a country
where the government does not guarantee its citizens a “free press.”
To what types of news stories or articles would they be denied
access?
• Have students skim today’s issue of The New York Times and pick
out articles or images that they feel would probably not be published
in a country without a law guaranteeing freedom of the press.
• Invite students to compare their entries on the “Censoring the Press”
sheet and to reflect on how censorship like this might change the
society we live in.
Debatable issues
Chart for listing arguments on two sides of a controversy covered in
The Times. (see end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New
York Times)
Geography bingo
Students play bingo to see how the National Geographic Standards can
be met by reading The Times. (see end of unit for student worksheet)
(source: The New York Times)
Branching out
Organizer for collecting Times articles about each of the three branches
of the United States government. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Review with the class that the United States government is divided
into three distinct branches: the legislative branch, the executive
branch and the judiciary branch.
• Have students turn to the “Branching Out” sheet to read brief
descriptions of the three branches of government.
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• Organize the class into small groups and have each group look
through today’s New York Times to find articles that address each of
these three branches of government. Students should write the
headlines of the relevant articles in the three boxes that represent the
three branches. For example, an article about the vice president
would be listed in the “Executive Branch” box, while an article
about a recent Supreme Court case’s decision would be listed in the
“Judiciary Branch” box.
• If time permits, hold a brief class discussion about particular articles
that highlighted the interaction or the “checks and balances” between
two or three of the branches.
Page 1 meeting
Students use a list of Times articles to determine which are most
important and deserve front-page placement. (source: The New York
Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Before class and before students see the front page of today’s New
York Times, write the front-page headlines on the board in a random
order.
• Explain to the class that several times each day the top editors of The
Times have a “Page 1 meeting” where they decide which articles
planned for the next day’s newspaper are the most important and
should therefore start on the front page.
• Have students individually read the list of front-page headlines on
the board and decide which three headlines represent the three most
important news stories for today. Which one do they think was
considered the most important story today? Students should write
those headlines on the “Page 1 Meeting” sheet.
• Distribute copies of today’s New York Times and let students see
where their “top three stories” are positioned on today’s front page.
Explain to students that the Times editors position the paper’s lead
article in the upper right column of the page, and that the next two
top stories are placed to the left of that one.
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• Explain that there is almost always a special feature on Page 1 in
addition to the main news of the day. It might be a human-interest
story, a report on a new trend, an in-depth look at a topic or just an
article on something amusing or unusual. n If time permits, have a
brief discussion about how their “top stories picks” compared with
the Times’s choices and why they think the Times editors prioritized
their lead articles in the way that they did.
Page one bingo
Students play bingo by identifying and analyzing aspects of the front
page of any day’s Times. (see end of unit for student worksheet)
(source: The New York Times)
Mix and match
A news literacy game for students to try to identify which headlines
correspond to which articles. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Before class, clip or print out six articles from today’s New York
Times and make five photocopies of each article.
• With scissors, separate the headlines from their articles and place the
headlines in one batch of envelopes and the articles in another batch
of envelopes.
• Divide the class into five groups and hand each group a “headline”
envelope and an “article” envelope. Hold a contest to see which
group can correctly match headlines to articles in the shortest
amount of time.
• What reading strategies did the winning group use to quickly come
up with the right pairings? What did they learn about how headlines
are written? Have students complete the “Mix and Match: A Contest
to Match Headlines to Their Articles” sheet after the conclusion of
the contest.
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World history bingo
Students play Bingo to see how the Global History standards can be met
by reading The Times. (see end of unit for student worksheet) (source:
The New York Times)
The decade that was: 50 fill ins
A game to help you remember some key people, events, issues, and
inventions from the first decade of the 21st century, through filling in
the blanks in sentences from Times reporting on key stories. (source:
The New York Times)
https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/the-decade-that-was-50-
fill-ins/
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LANGUAGE ARTS
Section Two
A to z adjectives
Each student writes the letters from A-Z on a sheet of paper. Challenge
students to search the day’s front page (or the entire newspaper if your
students are older) for an adjective that begins with each letter of the
alphabet. Students cut the adjectives from the newspaper and paste them
on their list. (source: Education World)
Listening for details
Students can do this activity individually or in a small group. Ask
students to listen carefully as you read aloud a story from the day’s
newspaper. Then hand out to students a sheet with questions about the
details from the story. The higher the grade, the harder (more detailed)
questions you can ask. Invite students or groups to respond to the
questions. Who caught the most detail? (source: Education World)
Sequencing the facts
Select a news story that includes a clear sequence of events. Write each
of the facts of the story on a separate strip of paper. Invite students to
order the sentence strips to tell the story in its correct sequence.
(Option: Once you’ve done this activity, you might invite students to do
the same thing. They can retell the events of a story in five simple
sentences, each written on a separate strip of paper. Then each student
shares the activity he/she created and a copy of the original story with
another student, who gets to try the activity.) (source: Education World)
A five W variation
Provide each student with a news story. The student lists on a separate
sheet of paper the who, where, when, what, and why of the story. Then
the students’ papers are collected and redistributed so no student has his
or her own sheet. Each student looks at their five W list and writes the
opening paragraph of a news story based on that information. At the end
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of the activity, students share their stories and the original stories to see
how they compare. How accurate were the students’ stories? (source:
Education World)
Abbreviations/acronyms search
The names of many common organizations are shortened to their
acronym from when used in news stories. For example, the American
Broadcasting Corporation becomes ABC, the National Organization for
Women becomes NOW, and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration becomes NASA. Also, abbreviations are commonly
used for state names and some titles, such as Tex. (for Texas) or Sen.
(for Senator). Invite students to work in groups to find and create a list
of acronyms and abbreviations they find in the daily newspaper. (Note:
you might include the classified ad section in your students’ search.
Many abbreviations can be found there.) (source: Education World)
Read and write for meaning
Remove the headlines from several news stories. Display the headline-
less stories on a classroom bulletin board. Provide students with the
headlines and ask them to match each one of the stories. As students
replace the missing headlines, ask them to point out the words in the
headlines that helped them find the correct story. Then distribute
headlines from less prominent stories and ask students to choose one
and write a news story to go with it. When the stories have been
completed, provide each student with the story that originally
accompanied the headline. Ask: How close was your story to the
original? How effectively did the headline convey the meaning of the
story? You might follow up this activity by asking students to write
headline for their favorite fairy tale. (source: Education World)
You be the editor
Rewrite a news story to include ten errors of punctuation, capitalization,
or grammar. (Emphasize skills your students are working on in class
wherever possible.) Invite students to “edit” your story free of errors.
(source: Education World)
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Arrange in sequence
Cut up some popular comic strips, provide each student with one
complete strip, and ask students to put the comics back in the correct
order. Or arrange students into groups, provide each group with several
cut-up strips from the same comic, and ask them to separate the panels
into strips and arrange the strips in the correct order. Then introduce
older students to a series of stories about an ongoing news event and ask
them to arrange the stories in the order in which they appeared.
Encourage them to use the stories to create a news timeline. (source:
Education World)
Why is it news?
1. Each day, newspaper editors around the world must make decisions
about which stories they will publish. Stories make it into
newspapers for many different reasons. Invite students to look at the
stories that have made the front page of a local newspaper during the
last few days and to talk about why each of those stories made
headlines. Among the reasons students might come up with are
these:
A. Timeliness - News that is happening right now, news of interest
to readers right now.
B. Relevance - The story happened nearby or is about a concern of
local interest.
C. Magnitude - The story is great i size or number; for example, a
tornado that destroys a couple houses might not make the news
but a story about a tornado that devastates a community would be
very newsworthy.
D. Unexpectedness - Something unusual, or something that occurs
without warning.
E. Impact - News that will affect a large number of readers.
F. Reference to someone famous or important -News about a
prominent person or personality.
G. Oddity - A unique or unusual situation.
H. Conflict - A major struggle in the news.
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I. Reference to something negative - Bad news often “sells” better
than good news.
J. Continuity - A follow-up or continuation to a story that has been
in the news or is familiar.
K. Emotions - Emotions (such as fear, jealousy, love, or hate)
increase interest in a story.
L. Progress - News of new hope, new achievement, new
improvements.
In the days ahead, study each front-page story and talk about why
editors decided to put the story on page one. Which reasons on the
students’ list would explain the newsworthiness of the story? (source:
Education World)
The five Ws
Introduce students to the 5Ws found in most news stories. Often, the
five Ws are introduced in a story’s opening paragraph. Create an
overhead transparency of a major news story. Invite students to talk
about the who, where, when, what, and why of the story. Circle or
highlight and label the area of the story that tell each of the five Ws.
Then provide each student or group of students with a news story and
ask them to report to the class the who, where, when, what, and why of
the story. Students might underline each of the five Ws with a different
colored crayon. (source: Education World)
Sort and classify
Label each of seven shoe boxes with one of the following newspaper
categories: News, Editorials, Features, Humor, Advertising, Sports, and
Entertainment. Ask students to cut out the newspaper stories they read
each day and put each one in the appropriately labeled shoe box. At the
end of the week, have students skim as many of the stories as possible
and write an adjective describing each on index cards attached to each
box. You might suggest adjectives such as factual, sad, inspiring,
opinionated, misleading, silly, serious, and biased. Discuss and compare
26
the adjectives. What conclusions can students reach about each category
based on those words? (source: Education World)
Expand your vocabulary
Assign each student a letter of the alphabet. Ask students to browse
through the newspaper, find five unfamiliar words beginning with the
assigned letter, and look up the definition of each. Then have each
student create and illustrate a dictionary page containing the five words
and their meanings. Combine the pages into a classroom dictionary. In a
variation of this activity, you might ask students to look in the
newspaper for any of the following:
• words with a particular suffix or prefix
• words containing a particular vowel sound or consonant blend
• compound words
• words in the past, present, and future tenses
• possessives
• plurals
Older students might look for examples of similes, metaphors, irony,
hyperbole, and satire. (source: Education World)
Scanning the page
Provide a copy of a news story for this activity that teaches the skill of
“skimming for information”, or let all students work with their copy of
the front page of the same daily paper. Provide a list of words from the
story/front page and invite students to skim the page to find as many of
those words as they can. Set a time limit. Who finds the most words
before time runs out? (source: Education World)
Reading and reacting to teenagers in the times
Students can react, keep notes, pose questions and record ideas while
scanning our monthly. Teenagers in The Times featured Student. (see
end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New York Times)
27
New York times reading log
Students read a Times article and then record what they learned and
what it means to them. (source: The New York Times)
One question interview
Students interview classmates or others on a topic related to a Times
article, then draw conclusions. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
Materials: Newsprint, markers, tape, one-question interview form
• Tape newsprint to the blackboard or wall.
• Tell students that they are each to think of a question related to
the idea of your theme (e.g., community). Or you can ask them to
think of a question they have about a topic in today’s New York
Times.
• Each student must offer one question. It helps if you offer a
question first as a model (e.g., How many different ethnic groups
live in your community? Or, if you are using The Times: What is
the most important news today about a foreign country?).
• Once you have generated a list of questions, tell students to
choose a question they are most interested in asking.
• If you don’t have the time to do this, you can generate a list in
advance. n Write student’s initials next to the question they
chose.
• Distribute the one-question interview form.
• Tell students to write their question at the top of the page. Then
tell them that they will have to get up and ask everyone in the
room their question. They must take notes on the person’s name
and response to the question.
• When everyone is finished, tell students to sit down.
• Students must then analyze the information they collected by
noting how many people they interviewed, what responses they
recorded and what conclusions they can draw.
• Have a discussion with students about the idea of being a
researcher and the value of interviews to gather information
firsthand.
28
• You may ask students to find a partner and share the results of
their interviews with that partner. Or see if any students would
like to share with the whole class. This activity may take a long
time. Allow for it. It is a wonderful opportunity for students to
practice speaking, listening, note-taking and getting to know each
other. Further, if you are teaching your students about research, it
is a way to hook them in before you start. They have so much fun
doing the activity, they don’t realize that they have just
completed research.
Supporting opinions with facts
Students pull viewpoints and supporting facts from a Times opinion
article, then develop a counterpoint. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Establish that although The New York Times features many
factual or objective news articles, it also contains subjective
pieces or persuasive writing such as editorials, op-eds, reviews
and essays.
• Direct students to read a particular editorial or op-ed from today’s
New York Times and to select one opinion and one related fact
from the article to write on the “Supporting Opinions with Facts”
sheet.
• After students have listed an opinion and a related fact, have
them speculate about what another person could say in opposition
to the opinion and supporting fact presented in the article.
Students should write these counter-arguments on the
“Supporting Opinions with Facts” sheet as well.
• If time permits, have a brief discussion about the subject of the
article, calling on students to detail the relevant opinions,
supporting facts and potential counter-arguments.
A graph is worth a thousand words, or at least 50
Students write a textual explanation of a graph clipped from The Times.
(source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
29
• Assist students in locating any charts or graphs found in today’s
New York Times, and in helping them identify each type of
graph. For example, students may have found line graphs, bar
graphs, or circle graphs (also known as pie charts).
• Have each student clip out one of the graphs found in today’s
paper and paste it onto the “A Graph Is Worth a Thousand
Words, or at Least 50 …” sheet.
• Challenge students to complete the sheet by explaining in writing
what their chosen graphs represent.
• Emphasize that students need not describe in writing each aspect
of the graph; they may instead make generalizations based on the
figures (e.g., “As time progressed, the price of gasoline in the
United States increased.”).
Postcards
Students write mock postcards to and/or from a subject in a Times
article. (see end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New York
Times)
Venn diagram
Classic Venn Diagram for comparing two topics, issues, etc. covered in
the The Times. (see end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The
New York Times)
Telling a Times story
Students create storyboards with captioned “scenes” corresponding to
events in a Times article. (see end of unit for student worksheet)
(source: The New York Times)
Instructions
• Explain to students that filmmakers create storyboards to help
them visualize particular scenes before they begin to actually start
production on a movie or show.
• Ask students to choose an article from today’s New York Times
that they could retell in pictures using the storyboard format
30
provided on the “Telling a Times Story: Reinterpreting News
Through a Storyboard” sheet.
• First, have students decide how they wish to organize their
chosen article into six graphic frames. Students could use the
storyboard format like a visual outline of the article, where each
image sequentially corresponds to a specific line or paragraph
from the article. Or, students could choose to use the storyboard
frames to tell the chronological events of the event described in
the news article.
• Then, invite students to draw images in each of the six frames to
graphically represent different sections of the article or to retell
the event described in the article.
• Finally, students should provide a caption for each of the frames
that “captures” the essence of each image; these captions could
be original or quotations from the text of the article.
Saying what's unsaid
Students add speech and thought bubbles to New York Times
photographs. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Have each student clip a photograph from today’s New York
Times that is related to a particular article and that features at
least one person. The photograph can be pasted on the “Saying
What’s Unsaid: Adding Speech and Thought Bubbles to New
York Times Photographs” sheet or on a larger sheet of blank
paper.
• Invite students to read the related article and to draw comics-style
speech or thought bubbles on the photograph to communicate
something they learned about the subject of the photograph by
reading the article. For example, if the photo depicts two election
candidates shaking hands but the article discusses their
differences of opinion, a student could create thought or speech
bubbles that express their true feelings or “hidden agendas.
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Punctuate this!
Students “scrub” punctuation marks out of a Times article, then put the
needed marks into a partner’s “scrubbed” article. (source: The New
York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Instruct students to each secretly choose one or two paragraphs
(not exceeding four or five sentences total) from an article in
today’s New York Times. Instruct students to rewrite the
paragraph or paragraphs on the “Punctuate This!” worksheet
without any punctuation.
• Invite each student to swap his or her unpunctuated paragraph or
paragraphs with another student in the class.
• Have students add punctuation to their partners’ paragraphs that
will make the writing clearer and easier to read.
• Have students compare their punctuation additions to the original
punctuation used in The Times. Did the students’ punctuation
choices alter the original meaning of the paragraphs in any way?
Reading hard news with a soft touch
Students generate feature article ideas based on hard news stories in The
Times. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Explain that news articles can be classified as “hard news” or as
feature stories, also known as “soft news.” Hard news refers to
articles that cover breaking news and usually begin with a first
paragraph filled with the most important information about a
current event. Features or soft news refers to articles that are not
necessarily tied to breaking news and are written with more of a
human-interest focus.
• Give a brief example of how hard news stories can often inspire
journalists to write feature articles. For example, a hard news
article might focus on a battle during a particular conflict, while
news of this event could inspire a journalist to write a feature
about how those fleeing the conflict are struggling to live in
refugee camps.
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• Have students read a hard news article from today’s New York
Times and then list particular facts and related feature ideas on
the “Reading Hard News with a Soft Touch” sheet.
• Alternatively, students could select and clip a hard news article
from today’s New York Times and tape it to the center of a larger
blank page of paper. Then, in the blank area around the article
itself, students could write ideas for possible feature stories based
on this article.
Problem solution
Students list both the problems and the solutions suggested in a Times
article about a particular issue; they then brainstorm their own additions
to both lists. (see end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New
York Times)
List, group, label
Students sort a list of words pulled from a Times article by discerning
patterns and word associations, then guessing the topic of the article.
(source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Choose an article from The New York Times that you would like
to evaluate with your class.
• Before class, type a separate list of twenty words or short phrases
from the article that represent an interesting mix of concepts that
don’t completely “give away” the content of the article but hint at
it. (Choose a mix of “easy words” everyone will know, harder
vocabulary appropriate to the subject, and a mix of parts of
speech — including verbs, adjectives, and both proper and
common nouns.)
• Make as many copies of the words as you estimate there will be
small groups of 4–5 students in your classroom. Cut the sets of
words up into individual words and put a set of each into an
envelope for each small group. As students enter the classroom,
arrange them in small groups and hand each group an envelope of
words and a handful of blank sticky notes. Inform students that
33
these envelopes of words will be used in a “List, Group, Label”
game shortly.
• Explain to students that the envelopes contain words and names
from a New York Times article that they will have to sort into
categories. Each group will determine and name these categories
themselves, and each category should have at least one word in it,
though the same word can appear in multiple categories. Instruct
groups to take the words out of the envelopes when you say “go”
and to begin discussing the words’ meanings and relationships
(with the aid of a dictionary if possible). Once groups have
decided how they will categorize their words, they should use the
sticky notes or the “List, Group, Label” sheet to record the names
of the categories they have created. n Invite students to walk
around the classroom to observe how the other groups grouped
and labeled the same set of words and names. What
commonalities or patterns do they see? What differences? Based
on this exercise, what do they expect the article that contains
these words to be about?
• Have students read the article. As students read, you may notice
that they are much more aware of the words from the exercise,
their meanings and their relationships to the content of the piece.
New York Times vocabulary log
A chart for developing vocabulary using words in The Times. (see end
of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New York Times)
Play by play sports descriptions
A writing activity based on descriptive language in a Times sports
article. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Explain that New York Times sports writers are known for their
colorful coverage of sports events around the world, and they
often use descriptive verbs, adverbs and adjectives to give readers
a feeling for the events’ drama.
34
• Have students select and read an article from today’s New York
Times Sports section that covers a recent sports event.
• Instruct students to rewrite one sentence from their chosen
articles on the “Play-by-Play Sports Descriptions” sheet,
replacing two or three of what they consider key descriptive
words with fill-in-the-word blanks.
• Under each blank, students should label the part of speech of the
word that was omitted from that place. (Students may need to
consult dictionaries in order to determine each word’s part of
speech in the context of its sentence.)
• Invite each student to swap his or her “Play-by-Play Sports
Descriptions” sheet with another student in the class.
• Have students complete their partners’ sentences with descriptive
words that they think fit well in the blanks and that correspond
with the parts of speech labels under the blanks.
• Have students reveal to their partners the original sentences as
they appeared in the sports articles and then compare their
partners’ word choices with the original words in The Times.
What was the original intent of the writer? How did changing just
a few key descriptive words of the sentence change the
sentence’s meaning or tone?
Double entry chart for close reading
Columns for recording specific lines or details from a text and noting
comments, questions and observations about them. (see end of unit for
student worksheet) (source: The New York Times)
The five Ws and an H
Students summarize the answers to the questions Who? What? Where?
When? Why? How? about a Times article. (see end of unit for student
worksheet) (source: The New York Times)
Let it flow
Students try to put paragraphs cut from a Times opinion piece back into
the correct sequence. (source: The New York Times)
35
Instructions: (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Distribute a copy of today’s New York Times to each student in
the class and then arrange the class in student partnerships.
• Have each student quickly select an editorial or op-ed from the
paper, but partners should make sure not to choose the same
articles. At this point students should not read the articles; they
should more or less randomly select them.
• Direct students to cut up their chosen articles into separate
paragraphs (without the headlines) and to place the paragraphs
into envelopes. (Tip: Advise students to trim their paragraphs so
that their partners can not “cheat” by simply reassembling the
paragraphs like puzzle pieces based on their original cut marks.)
• Have students exchange envelopes with their partners and have
students assemble their partners’ paragraphs in the order they
think makes the most sense and maintains the best logical “flow”
for the reader.
• After students have settled on paragraph order, have them
complete the “Let It Flow!” sheet, reflecting on their reasons for
deciding upon a particular sequence of paragraphs.
• After students have settled the “Let It Flow!” sheet, have them
look at the articles as they originally appeared in the newspaper.
Did they recreate the original order of paragraphs? What clues
led them to arrange the paragraphs in a specific order? Note: This
exercise could also be done by cutting up and scrambling
individual sentences instead of paragraphs. If taking this route,
emphasize the relationship between transition words and sentence
flow.
Literature bingo quote
Students apply famous quotes from literature to current or historical
real-life events. (see end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The
New York Times)
36
Grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage bingo
Students play bingo to find examples of language usage in The Times.
(see end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New York Times)
The New York Times scavenger hunt
A news literacy game for students to “hunt” through any edition of The
Times. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions: (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Have students compete against a timer or against their classmates
to see how fast they can answer the scavenger hunt questions
listed on the “The New York Times Scavenger Hunt” sheet. Set a
time limit for the hunt; fifteen minutes is suggested.
Primary document analysis questions
Basis questions that can be applied to thinking about any primary. (see
end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New York Times)
Comparing two or more texts
Use with our new Text to Text series, or for comparing texts of any
kind. (see end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New York
Times)
The one-pager
Students create a one-page reaction to a Times article by pulling out a
quote, posing a question and illustrating an aspect of the story. (see end
of unit for student worksheet) (source: The New York Times)
KWL chart
Students note what they know and want to know on a topic, and then
record what they learned after reading a Times Article. (see end of unit
for student worksheet) (source: The New York Times)
37
Fact /question/response chart
Students note facts from a Times article, then pose questions and
personal responses. (see end of unit for student worksheet) (source: The
New York Times)
Identifying cause and effect
Organizer for noting the causes and effects of an event covered in The
Times. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions: (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Choose any section of today’s New York Times and have
students skim the front page of that section for two minutes.
Elicit from the class any “breaking news” stories that the students
learned of in that initial review of today’s paper. Then, without
reading any of the news stories further, choose one of the news
events and have students theorize about what possible causes led
to that event.
• After students have speculated about the multiple causes behind
the news event, have students join partners to read the news
article in its entirety and complete the “Identifying Cause and
Effect” diagram by identifying any additional causes of the event
and adding any of its effects (described in the article).
• Emphasize to students that some “effects” may also act as
additional “causes.” For example, if students are reading about a
merger between two businesses, they may discover that the
merger caused the reduction of employee benefits, and the
reduction of benefits caused a labor strike among employees.
• Students might also be invited to predict future effects or even
“effects of effects” that might result from this news event. For
example, an immediate effect of Hurricane Katrina was that
many people migrated to other cities like Houston; an effect of
that effect was that schools, housing and other services in those
areas were strained by the sudden influx of refugees.
38
Multiple points of view
Organizer for identifying up to four points of view on a single topic
covered in The Times. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Choose an article from today’s New York Times that describes
an event or topic and multiple perspectives or points of view
about the particular news story.
• Direct students to read the article and to identify four different
points of view from the article on the “Multiple Points of View”
sheet.
• Emphasize that the points of view could be explicitly stated in the
article or inferred by the reader. For example, if the article reports
recent election results but only quotes the winning candidate,
students could infer that the losing candidate and his or her
constituents would represent additional points of view about the
election.
• At the bottom of the “Multiple Points of View” sheet, have
students choose two of the four points of view and summarize
their feelings or reactions to the subject of the article in more
detail.
66
MATH
Section Three
Figuring an average
Students might collect classified “Homes for sale” ads for ten homes in
a given area or for homes of a given size (e.g., two-bedroom homes).
Invite students to figure from ads the average cost for a home. (or
students might figure the average rent for homes of a similar
characteristics from the “apartments for rent” section of the newspaper.)
(source: Education World)
More add math
Invite each student to choose a job ad from the newspaper classifieds;
the ad must include a yearly salary figure. (teach students that the term
“40K” often seen in job ads is short for $40,000.) Invite students to
figure from that salary figure the average monthly, weekly, daily (based
on a 5-day week), and hourly (based on an 8-hour day) salary for that
job. (source: Education World)
Add math
Provide a group of five ads from a local newspaper and the section of
the paper that describes how much it costs to place an ad. Invite
students to use the per-word or per-line cost information to figure out
how much it cost to run each of the five ads. (source: Education World)
Guess-timating
Provide each student with a copy of a news story. (story length will vary
depending on grade level.) Invite students to count the number of words
in each of the first five lines of the story and to guess-timate, based on
that figure, how many words long the whole story is. Older students
might average the number of words in the first five lines and consider
half-lines and other elements of a story to come up with a more accurate
figure. Let students share their estimates and how they arrived at them.
Then inform students of the exact number of words in the story (which
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you have pre-counted). A prize goes to the winner. (source: Education
World)
Hunt for classified math
Ask students to use classified pages of the newspaper to do the
following:
• Calculate the average price of a 1985 Cadillac
• find what fraction of the newspaper is composed of classified ads
• figure out the cost of running a 30-word ad for one week
• estimate the total number of classified ads (based on ads per
column and columns per page).
• compare bank interest rates and determine the most and least
interest $100 would earn in one year in your area.
• find what percentage of job openings start with T. As a follow-up
to this activity, ask each student to create a classified ad and
exchange it with a classmate. Ask: Was all the necessary
information included? If not, what was missing? (source:
Education World)
Furnish a home
Invite students to use store ads to figure the cost of furnishing a home.
You might provide a list of items for each of four rooms, including a
living room, a kitchen, a dining room, and a bedroom. For example,
living room furniture might include a couch and a side chair, a coffee
table, a television, and an air conditioner. Older students might also
need to figure the cost of carpeting the living room. (options: Provide
students with a budget for furnishing a four-room home and let them set
priorities for the furnishings they’ll select. For older students, state and
local sales taxes might be figured as part of the total cost.) (source:
Education World)
News scavenger hunts
Provide students with a list of things to find on the front page of today’s
newspaper. Students might hunt in the paper for math-related words and
terms (a percent, a measurement of distance, a cost, an address, and a
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fraction) or grammar-related terms (a present-tense verb, a past-tense
verb, a proper noun, an abbreviation, a colon, and a list separated by
commas). Or students might scavenge the main sports page for a list of
sports-related terms. Or you might let students work in small groups to
hunt for as many nouns (or proper nouns, or verbs) they can find in a
story or on the front page. The group that finds the most is the winner.
(source: Education World)
The shapes of the times
Simple geometry activity in which students find circles, squares,
rectangles and triangles in the pages of The Times. (source: The New
York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• In order to show that geometric shapes surround us at all times, take
a moment and have students find as many shapes as they can in the
classroom — square windows, rectangular doors, circular clocks,
spherical globes, etc. As you identify each shape, briefly establish
what properties define each shape (e.g., number of sides, types of
corners).
• Once you have explored your classroom for common geometric
shapes, organize the class into small groups and distribute copies of
The New York Times to each group.
• Have groups turn to the “The Shapes of the Times” sheet and try to
find an example of each geometric shape listed in the table in the
pages of The Times.
• Inform students that shapes might be found in advertisements,
graphs, photographs or drawings.
• If time permits, students could clip the different geometric shapes
they identified in The Times and create a geometric shapes collage
with construction paper and glue.
A graphic interpretation
Students use data provided in a Times article to create a graph or chart.
(source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
69
• Explain to students that sometimes it is easier to interpret
statistics or data presented in a graph rather than written about in
an article.
• With this consideration in mind, direct small groups of students
to each find an article in The New York Times that they believe
could benefit from the addition of a graph to illustrate statistical
data found in the article.
• Have group members collectively plan and draw the type of
graph (line, bar or circle) that they think could best illustrate the
data from their chosen article. Graphs can be drawn on the “A
Graphic Interpretation” sheet.
• Groups can then display their articles and original graphs in
poster form.
Picking stocks using The New York Times
Students create mock stock portfolios for, and practice investing in,
leading companies covered in The Times. (source: The New York
Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• On the board, write the names of 10 companies with which
students are familiar and that are represented in the current “S&P
100,” or the 100 leading U.S. stocks (e.g., Coca Cola, Dell,
Disney, Ford, Google, McDonalds). (You can survey the “S&P
100 Stocks” list yourself by looking on the “Market Gauges”
page of the Business Day section.)
• Explain to students that today they will be putting together a
stock portfolio of their top five stock picks of the day.
• Without revealing the stock values for any of the companies,
instruct students that they may “buy” 100 shares of stock divided
among any five stocks listed on the board. For example, a student
may decide to purchase 20 shares of each of the five stocks of her
choice or she may decide to purchase 80 shares of one stock and
just five shares of each of the other four stocks in her portfolio.
• Once students decide in which stocks they are investing and how
they are allocating their 100 shares of stock among the five
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stocks, have them fill in the first two columns of their stock
portfolio charts, located on the “Picking Stocks Using The New
York Times” sheet.
Around the world with different currencies
Chart for figuring out the values of various nations’ currencies. (source:
The New York Times)
Instructions: (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Ask students to imagine that they were just given the opportunity
to travel around the world — for a limited time and within a
certain budget, of course.
• Have students turn to the “Foreign Exchange” tables located in
the Business section of today’s New York Times and choose
three countries they would like to visit on their world tour, each
from a different region of the world (there are six world regions
listed).
• Tell students that they will be given $500 to spend in each of the
three destination countries.
• Have students calculate how many foreign currency units they
will receive in exchange for their American dollars in each
country and enter those figures on the “Around the World with
Different Currencies” sheet. (Students should convert the
currency values by multiplying 500 by the most recent closing
market price listed in the “Dollars in Foreign Currency” column
of the table.)
• If time permits, students could also examine the difference in
currency values for each country between the two days listed in
the table. Which country or world region’s currency values
experienced the most change in that time period? What forces
may contribute to volatility in various currency markets?
75
SCIENCE
Section Four
Science, health, and technology bingo
Students play bingo to identify information in science, technology and
health articles in any day’s Times. (source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Explain to students that they are about to compete in a Bingo
game which will require them to find various science, health and
technology references in The New York Times. Take advantage
of Tuesday’s Science Times section for this activity.
• Have students use The Times to find science, health and
technology references that fit the criteria in each box on the
“Science, Health and Technology Bingo” sheet.
• Once a student or partnership has completed a row vertically,
horizontally or diagonally, they should call out “Bingo!”
• When someone calls out “Bingo,” have the student read aloud the
items in his or her winning row and then verify his or her status
as a winner.
Weathering the storm with The New York Times
Students use the forecast in the paper to create weather-related PSA’s.
(source: The New York Times)
Instructions (see end of unit for student worksheet)
• Instruct students to examine the weather patterns in the large
“Weather Report” map in today’s New York Times, using the
color-coding and symbol key charts located under the map.
• Have students use the “Weather Report” map and temperature
range tables to write a weather-related public service
announcement for their home city or state, or for a destination to
which they wish to travel.
• Explain that the service announcement should contain advice for
people about how they can best prepare for the weather in their
vicinity. For example, the announcement may advise people to
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wear sunscreen with SPF 40, to carry an umbrella or to guard
against weather-related health hazards such as frostbite or
dehydration.
• If time permits, have students share their public service
announcements with partners or small groups.
Lab experiment
A template for stating the purpose and hypothesis of an experiment;
explaining the procedure; recording, analyzing and discussing results;
and drawing conclusions. (see end of unit for student worksheet)
(source: The New York Times)
Charting the weather
The weather page in the newspaper can be the starting point for many
great classroom activities. The class might follow the local weather for
a week or a month and create charts and graphs to show the ups and
downs of temperatures. Or each student might follow the weather of a
different city in the United States (or the world) for a set period.
Students can use the collected information to compare weather (high
and low temperatures, total precipitation, sky conditions, etc.) in
different places. (source: Education World)
Plan a healthy menu
After a study of nutrition, invite students to plan a healthy menu for a
day. Provide three paper plates for each student; each plate represents a
different meal - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Invite students to find and
cut out from newspapers, magazines, store ads, etc., pictures of foods
and to arrange them into healthful meals on the three plates. Invite
students to share the results, which will make a colorful and attractive
bulletin board. (source: Education World)
80
ARTS
Section Five
Make papier- mâché
When you’ve done everything else you can think of with your
newspaper, don’t throw it away. Make paper- mâché! Here’s how:
• Make a paste by mixing together ½ cup of flour and 2 cups of
cold water. Add the paste to 2 cups of boiling water and return to
a boil. Remove from heat and stir in 3 tablespoons of sugar. Let
the mixture cool and thicken. You can also make a quick no-cook
paste by simply adding water to flour until it forms a soupy mix.
(since flour-based pastes get moldy over time, you might want to
use powdered wallpaper paste mixed with water for a longer-
lasting creation.)
• Tear newspaper into narrow strips, and dip the strips into the
paste, coating them completely. Squeeze out excess paste and
drape the strips over a mold, such as a balloon or shaped chicken
wire, overlapping the edges.
• Apply as many layers as necessary, allowing each layer to dry
before putting on another layer.
• Decorate as desired. (source: Education World)
Preserving the news
Dissolve a milk of magnesia tablet in a quart of water, and let it stand
overnight. Pour the mixture into a flat baking pan large enough to hold
the news clippings that you want to preserve. Place the clippings in the
solution so they’re completely covered by the liquid. Let them soak for
an hour. Then take them out and pat them dry. They’ll be crisp and new
for a long time to come. (source: Education World)
Arts Section Bingo
Created for kids’ Night on Broadway, this special Bingo game can be
used with any day’s Arts Section. (see end of unit for student
worksheet) (source: The New York Times)