NEWSPAPER ACTIVITY CALENDAR

Transcription

1 NEWSPAPER ACTIVITY CALENDAR

2 Labour Day 6/ International Literacy Day Set aside a half hour today to enjoy reading the newspaper. Share an interesting item with a friend. 13/ We are halfway through the month already! Go through today s newspaper and list all the references you can find to half. Remember, half can also be expressed as.5 or 50%. First Day of Ramadan Welcome back! Help your teacher get to know you by creating an All About Me collage with words and pictures from the newspaper. Scan the newspaper. Did any advertisement catch your eye? Why? Would you consider buying this product or using this service after seeing the ad? List characteristics of a great ad. Read the comics for several days. Which is your favourite? In 100 words or less, explain why. Interview a classmate you don t know well. Before you begin, write down 8-10 questions to ask. Like a reporter, use the most interesting information to write a short article about your classmate. Design your own display ad for unusual back-to-school items. Make it eye-catching and appealing so students will want to buy your products. Include prices, how to purchase, etc. Create your own comic strip about an amusing or interesting story in the news. Explore your daily newspaper. List all the sections of the newspaper and give a brief description of what each contains. Which is your favourite? Why? The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history occurred on this date in Can you find an article or opinion piece in today s newspaper that refers to the attack? Discuss it with your class. China was in the news in August because it hosted the Olympics. Can you find follow-up articles about China or any of the athletes who participated in the Games? Share them with your class. On this date in 1997, Mother Teresa died after a life of helping the poor and sick in India. Find a news story about someone who is helping the disadvantaged. Share it with your class. Read the Lost and Found ads in the classified section. Write a paragraph creating the story behind the ad. Sunday is the International Day of Peace. Write an editorial about how you think young people can help promote world peace. Before you begin, examine editorials for style. 20/ Autumn begins In a 10-minute search, circle or list newspaper pictures and stories that relate to autumn. Who found most items? Be prepared to explain your choices. Read an interesting news story. List the 5 Ws and How. (Who is the story about? What is it about? When did it take place? Where? Why did it happen? And How?) Choose 5 interesting photos from today s newspaper. Write a news story to link the photos. Be sure to include the 5 Ws and How. Add a headline. Write an imaginary Career ad for a school principal. Include skills needed, working hours, pay, etc. TGIF! (Thank goodness it s Friday!) Check the entertainment ads and community events listings for things to do this weekend. Plan a perfect weekend with your friends. Share your ideas with the group. 27/ Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset What are your goals for this school year? Write a horoscopestyle predicition. Examine newspaper headlines to see how they are written. Now, make up 3 headlines to describe the first month of school. Remember, a headline answers at least two questions: Who? and What? SEPTEMBER

3 / World Space Week Imagine a Canadian astronaut has been assigned to assist in a space rescue. Design a newspaper s front page the day after the mission. 11/ Remembrance Day Thanksgiving Day Pretend you are a historian in the year 2508, looking back at today s newspaper. What news items would be most interesting to you? Why? Designer Ralph Lauren was born on this date in Select top fashions from photos and ads in today s newspaper. Write a fashion story for your school newspaper. What do you think is the most interesting story in today s newspaper? The saddest? The funniest? The most important? Compare your thoughts with the rest of the class. Yom Kippur begins at sunset Write a news story about the significance of this Jewish celebration. If possible, include a quotation from someone who celebrates Yom Kippur. Find an apartment for rent in the classified ads. How much would it cost to rent the apartment for a year? Make up 5 True or False questions based on today s newspaper. Swap quizzes with a partner. You are the editor today. An important news story has just come in that MUST appear on the front page. Which story on the current front page will you remove and why? The electric light bulb was invented on this date in Look through the newspaper and list all the products and services that did not exist prior to 1879, Prepare a 1-minute news broadcast based on the most important stories from today s newspaper. Remember to include the 5 Ws for each story. This weekend is Thanksgiving. List newspaper items that reflect something you are thankful for and make a collage. Write a sentence under each item to explain your choice. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty Find an article about how poverty affects our society. List 5 things you learned from the article. 18/ Blue Monday? Find a funny or good-news story or cartoon in the newspaper. Share a chuckle or smile with your classmates. Items in the newspaper are written to inform, entertain, persuade or advise. Find two examples of each. Which is your favourite? Why? Read a story in the Sports section. Rewrite it so that it says the exact opposite of the original. 25/ Look through the newspaper and circle or list all the names of countries you can find. Locate each on a map. Which is furthest away from your home? Remove the headlines from several news stories. Exchange stories with a partner. Write new headlines for each other s stories. Compare with the original headlines. Scan the newspaper for Halloween costume ideas. Make a list of famous people, characters or animals you might like to be. Share your ideas with your group. In the financial pages, find 5 stocks that gained and 5 that lost. Plan an imaginary Halloween party and invite people in the news. Make a list of who you would invite and why. United Nations Day Do some research on the United Nations, and write an editorial about whether or not you think this organizations still has a role to play in today s world. Create a Job Wanted ad for an unemployed spook. Use the classified section for style. OCTOBER

4 1/ Clip or print out a photograph of a person from the newspaper. Write a thought or speech bubble that expresses what this person might be thinking or feeling. 8/ Clip or list all the local articles and photos from today s newspaper. Place them in categories e.g. sports, politics, human interest, etc. Which category has most items? U.S. Presidential Elections If you were able to vote for the new president, whom would you choose? Take a poll in your class, and create a graph showing the results. Remembrance Day Look through the newspaper for words and pictures that represent war and peace. Mount and display your work. Find a quotation in a news story. What question to you think the reporter asked to get this response? Play the matching game. How many news articles can you find that relate to the opinion pieces or cartoon on the editorial page? Clip an action photo. Draw what you think occurred before and after the shot was taken. This is your lucky day. You have won $2,000 in a draw. Use the newspaper to decide how to spend your winnings. Pretend you are the newspaper s advice columnist. Ask for questions from your classmates. Write an advice column based on one of the questions. Hold a class press conference. Prepare questions to ask other students posing as celebrities. (Or invite an actual local celebrity.) Write an article based on the press conference. 15/ / /30 Geography Awareness Week Follow the travels of your favourite sports team for 1 week. On a map, mark the cities visited. How many kilometres did the team travel? In your newspaper, look for people being changed by their environment. Which do you think are temporary changes and which are permanent? Search for the following items in today s newspaper: a map, a foreign product, a travel destination, an American state, the weather in another province. Write down the page on which you found each item. Christmas in only one month away. Look for signs in the newspaper (ads, articles, photos, etc.) that indicate this holiday is approaching. Look through the career and classified ads for jobs requiring geographical knowledge. Would any of these jobs interest you? You need a new computer. Use newspaper ads to compare prices and features. What is the best deal? On a map of North America, mark each of the North American cities listed on the weather page. How far is each from your home town? Which is the farthest away? Closest? Today is American Thanksgiving. Write a list of 5 people in the news who have something to be thankful for. World Television Day Pretend you are the TV critic for a newspaper. Write a review of a TV program you have watched for the first time. Examine newspaper reviews for style. Write a humorous obituary for a piece of lost or broken sports equipment. Examine the obituaries in the newspaper for style. NOVEMBER

5 Discuss the differences between radio, television, newspaper and internet news coverage. Tell why each is important. 6/ The Soviet Union dissolved on this date in How has the world changed since then? Find references in the newspaper to some of the countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. 13/ Use the newspaper to make a list of things you and your family and friends could do over the holidays. 20/ First day of Hanukkah In 1927, Henry Ford unveiled his Model A Ford. Cost: $385. In the classifieds, how much does a 1-yearold Ford sell for today? What is the price difference? The first Christmas card was created in England in Using material from your newspaper, create a large holiday card to present to your class. Find 2 gifts in the newspaper to give to 2 famous people. Explain your choices. Have a great holiday! Find newspaper photographs showing different emotions. How do you think each person is feeling and why? The Nobel Award Ceremonies take place today, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel s death. Collect stories about winners. What 3 questions would you ask the winners? Collect recipes published in the newspaper. Which is your favourite? Use the grocery ads to find out how much the recipe will cost to make. Christmas Eve Examine display ads in today s paper. List words you think are used to influence the actions of readers. Use some of these words in designing your own ad for a new product you have developed. In your newspaper, find names of charity groups that help people during the holiday season. Post a list. How can you help? Santa s reindeer have skipped town. Look through the classified ads to help Santa find an alternative method to deliver presents to kids. Christmas Day You have $1,000 to spend on a ski vacation. Use the travel ads to decide where to go. How much will it cost for transportation, lodging, ski fees and food? Make a budget for a 5-day trip. Pretend you are selling Christmas trees. Make a classified ad to sell more trees. Ask a classmate to help you. Find a news story that reflects the holiday spirit of peace and goodwill. Share it with the class. Boxing Day 27/ New Year s Eve DECEMBER

6 1 2 New Year s Day 3/ Welcome to 2009! Clip or list 10 words from today s newspaper that you think will describe the coming year. 10/ Look through the first section of the newspaper. Write down all the countries that are mentioned. Write a sentence about why each country is in the news. With your class, list the top news stories of Discuss the impact of each. Individually, choose the story you think was most important. Write a paragraph explaining your choice. Research a period in history e.g. ancient Greece or World War II. Create a newspaper front page as it might have appeared at the time. Choose 3 people in today s news. Write a 2009 horoscope for each of them. Use the newspaper horoscopes for style. Read tomorrow s weather forecast. How might the weather affect one of the following: a farmer, a taxi driver, a store owner, a fireman or you? Write a short story. Did you receive a gift you can t use? Write a classified ad to sell the item. With a group of classmates, choose an action news story. Perform a play based on the story. The audience writes a news article based on the play. Compare the two articles. Are daylight hours getting shorter or longer? Graph your findings for the rest of the month, using data from the newspaper s weather page. Listen to a news story read by the teacher. With a partner, write the answers to the 5 Ws. Compare your answers to those of another pair. 17/ How is winter affecting life in your community? In the newspaper, find evidence of problems caused by weather systems. Display your findings. To combat the winter blues, invent a zany winter competition for young and old. Prepare a newspaper ad to promote your wild, new idea. Will you include an admission fee? Make a winter scene using a black background and shapes torn form the newspaper. A picture is worth 1,000 words. Based on photographs from your newspaper, do you agree with this statement? Write a paragraph outlining your argument. Find the average daytime temperature for all the Canadian cities listed on the weather page in today s newspaper. 24/ Compare and contrast the internet version and the hard copy version of your local newspaper. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Which do you prefer? Why? Family Literacy Day Spend some time with your family reading the newspaper. Share the most interesting news stories, the funniest comic strip, your favourite sports event, your horoscope, etc. Read some Real Estate ads. Do they highlight things people need or things people want in a house? What things do you need in a house? What might you want? Choose a news story or Read today s movie photo about a famous reviews and study the person. Pretend this way they are written. person is missing. Write a review of a Prepare a Missing movie you have seen. poster to help find Why do newspapers him or her. have movie reviews? JANUARY

7 Groundhog Day Create a comic strip about something funny that happens when the groundhog sees (or doesn t see) his shadow. 7/ If every point in a hockey game played over the weekend was worth $1.65, how much money would you make? Heart Month For 1 week, watch the newspaper for news and advice on developing a hearthealthy lifestyle. Prepare a Heart Month poster. Find a classified ad for something you would like to buy. Pretend to phone about buying the item. Your partner is the person who wants to sell it. Later, switch roles. Black History Month Watch the newspaper this month for outstanding accomplishments by black Canadians and Americans. Make a presentation to your class. Choose a special day in history. Write headlines for the biggest stories of the day. Winter is more than half over. Look for display ads that show that spring is on its way, and make a collage. On Valentine s Day, we pay tribute to our loved ones. From the newspaper, locate 5 ways of doing this. Share your ideas with a group. Tear strips of newspaper and glue both ends to a cardboard base to form a sculpture. Weave strips in and around one another. Glue on torn paper shapes. Create a Valentine s card for a friend using words and pictures from the newspaper. 14/ Valentine s Day 15 - National Flag of Canada Day 21/ What is news? Write your own definition. Compare your definition with that of a classmate. List all the different forms of transportation you can find in today s newspaper. Who can find most? Read an editorial. Do you agree or disagree? Write your own editorial on the same issue. The federal government introduced legislation to abolish capital punishment in Write a letter to the editor outlining why you agree or disagree with capital punishment. You are a pet-store owner. Instead of the gerbils you ordered, you have received 50 non-returnable tarantulas. Design an ad promoting tarantulas as great pets. Use a marker to take out all verbs from a sports article. Ask a partner to fill in the blanks with his or her own words. Compare with the original. The Academy Awards will be held on Sunday. Use the newspaper to list the nominated movies, actors and actresses. Have your class vote for their favourites, and graph the results. In the first section of the newspaper, measure the amount of space devoted to advertising and compare it with the space given to news. What is the percentage of each? UN World Day of Social Justice Select a court case in the news and explain why you think the sentence is just or unjust. Find 3 animals in the comics and explain how the artist has given them human characteristics. FEBRUARY

8 March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb. Chart local weather this month to prove or disprove this old saying. 7/ International Women s Day 8 - Daylight Savings Time Starts Imagine you are locked in a castle, guarded by 2 monsters. The castle is surrounded by a moat filled with angry crocodiles. Find 3 items or services from the classified section that might help you escape. Travel around the world by finding 10 stories about different countries. Mark the countries on a map of the world. Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first telephone call on this date in Write an article about how this invention changed world communication. Include the 5 Ws and How. Choose a comic strip to mime for your class. Ask them to guess which one you chose. Find today s crossword puzzle. What is the ratio of black squares to white squares? What s the percentage of each? Measure the perimeter and calculate the area. If you could solve one problem from today s newspaper, which would you choose? Why? Make a list of possible solutions. Find a story about an athlete you think is a bad sport. Explain your choice. Sunday is International Women s Day. Use newspaper stories to discuss some of the issues facing women around the world today. Write a newspaper article about the superstitious nature of Friday the 13th. Remember the 5 Ws and How. 14/ Clip or print interesting photos from today s newspaper. Have a caption contest with 3 friends to see who can create the most interesting captions to accompany the photos. 21/ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 22 - World Water Day World Meteorological Day Study the newspaper weather map. What information does it provide? What do all the numbers and symbols mean? Explain it to your classmates. St. Patrick s Day Write a Lost and Found ad for a leprechaun s pot of gold. What cities around the world have the same basic temperatures (maximum and minimum)? Why might this be so? Look for a news story that shows racial discrimination. Write an editorial explaining your thoughts on the issue. Don t forget to back up your opinions with facts. You and a partner each select 15 items from the ads. Remove the prices. Take turns guessing the cost of each other s items. In today s paper, find: the longest movie title, a TV sitcom at 9:00, the number of movies with a G rating, the name of a music group, an advertiser in the entertainment section. Find the percentages of news and statistics dedicated to different sports in today s sports section. Graph your results. First Day of Spring Use words, pictures and symbols from the newspaper to create an All About Spring collage. Find articles about conflicts or wars in various parts of the world. Research the causes of one of the conflicts. What are the effects? Write a brief essay summarizing your findings. 28/ Find a story about a person who has accomplished his or her goals. What challenges did he or she have to overcome? List goals you would like to accomplish by age 25. What trick would your favourite cartoon character play tomorrow? Draw your own April Fool s strip. Compare your ideas with tomorrow s strip. MARCH

9 / Write a rap song based on an article from the entertainment or sports section. 11/ Easter Sunday Easter Monday World Health Day What do you think about the state of the world s health? Use news articles to help you make your diagnosis. Present your conclusions to the class. Design an ad to help the Easter Bunny sell all the leftover Easter eggs. April Fool s Day Write an April Fool s news story. Do you think readers would be able to tell that it was a joke? List the 10 largest numbers you can find in the newspaper in 10 minutes. Total all 10 numbers. The Titanic sank on this date in If you were a reporter assigned to interview a survivor, what questions would you ask? Write a feature story based on the answers. Children s Book Day With a partner or group, write a children s story using characters from several nations to help solve a world problem. First day of Passover Research this Jewish holiday, and write 5 different headlines that might appear above a newspaper feature story about the celebration. Start a People in the News bulletin board display. Clip or print pictures from the newspaper, and under each, write a paragraph about why this individual is in the news. April showers bring May flowers. Keep a record of the amount of rain that falls this month. On what percentage of the days did we have some rainfall? Good Friday Imagine your newspaper in the year Make up 5 headlines to illustrate the environmental topics you think will be in the paper. 18/ Volunteer Appreciation Week Design an ad that pays tribute to the millions of volunteers who make essential contributions to their communities. You have $30 million to help solve world pollution problems. Use information from your newspaper to make a list showing how you would spend the money. Earth Day A? C+? F? What mark would you give your community, province or country on the state of the environment? Use newspaper items to explain. 25/ Find 10 compound words in the first section of your newspaper. Find or create pictures to illustrate both parts of the word. Ask a partner to guess your word. Use the sports scoreboard to total all runs made in all of yesterday s baseball games. Add the total of all hockey goals scored yesterday. What is the grand total? Work in pairs to play this game: Have one partner secretly select a newspaper photograph. The other player asks questions that can only be answered with Yes or No to try to identify the photo. Write a Home Wanted ad for an endangered animal seeking a new place to live. Divide into teams. Each team receives duct tape and a stack of old newspapers. Build a newspaper tower. The first group to reach the ceiling wins. The most unique tower also wins. Select a photo of a famous person from the newspaper. Write this person s birth announcement. What 5 important things must you include? APRIL

10 2/ Yesterday was World Press Freedom Day. Watch for news stories about journalists who are risking their lives to bring us the news. Identify their locations and the dangers they are facing. 9/ Mother s Day The sports section usually contains many vivid action words. How many can you find? Make a list, and compare with a partner. Imagine we lived in a society where newspapers were not allowed to print anything that criticized the government. What items in today s front section would have to be deleted or rewritten? Newspapers use art for many different reasons. List various types of newspaper art. Comment on why you think each was used. For one month, save photos and articles of unusual or recordbreaking occurrences in major league baseball. With a partner, prepare a radio broadcast summing up this month s highlights. Remove the last frame from 2 comic strips. Trade with a classmate. Make new punch lines for the strips you received. Compare with the originals. To prepare for Mother s Day, look through the newspaper for ideas for a homemade card, poem or small gift you can make. What suggestions would you make to the newspaper industry to retain or increase sales to younger readers? With a group, brainstorm ideas. Submit the best in a letter to the editor. 1 May Day, or International Workers Day, is celebrated in many countries. Make a list of all the different occupations mentioned in today s newspaper. Which do you find most interesting? Design an ad thanking your mother, step-mother or grandmother for all the things she s done for you. International Day of Families Create a family newspaper, by yourself or with family members. The stories can be serious or funny. Don t forget to add pictures. 16/ Victoria Day Find a comic strip character with a problem. Write a letter to an advice columnist on behalf of the character. Have a classmate answer the letter. Choose an issue discussed in today s newspaper. What is the issue? Whom does it affect? Are there several points of view? Present a report to your group. Design and implement a plan to estimate how many words there are in today s newspaper. Report the results to your teacher. Read today s newspaper and write one question per student on today s news. Have a Stump the Teacher contest to test your teacher s knowledge of the news. 23/24 30/ In a group, use the newspaper to identify 10 problems facing the local community. Rank them in order of importance. What efforts are being made to solve each? Pretend you are from another planet. Write a report about life on Earth, based only on the information in today s newspaper. Who Am I? Clip or print faces of famous people from the newspaper. Ask your classmates to identify each one. Find out what a Work with the class to limerick is and who develop a complete list developed this poetic of reasons people form. Select an might have for reading interesting newspaper a newspaper. story and write a limerick version of the story. MAY

11 International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression Find a news story about children suffering as the result of war or domestic violence. Brainstorm ways your class could help. 6/ You are a TV weather reporter. Prepare a broadcast based on the weather page of today s newspaper. 13/ This week, clip or list all ads that mention Father s Day. What percentage is for clothing? Sports equipment? Electronics? Other items? Share the results with the class. Work as a group to prepare a souvenir newspaper describing the highlights of this school year. Include news and feature stories, sports, entertainment, comics, ads, etc. Examine the editorial cartoon from today s newspaper. Write an explanation of the message you think the cartoon is expressing. Compare your thoughts with those of your classmates. Find an ad for a summer vacation spot. Pretend you re there, and write a postcard to a friend. Write a newspaperstyle review of a book you think would make good summer reading. Use recipes found in the newspaper to plan an end-of-the-year feast for your class. Rewrite each recipe to serve three times as many people as in the original recipe. Write an editorial explaining why you think school should or should not be held during the summer. Read today s editorials for style. Remember to back up your opinions with facts. You are looking for a summer job. Find a classified ad for a job that interests you. What makes you qualified for the job? With your partner, role play an interview. Design an ad for a summer business you d like to run (lawn-mowing service, community newsletter, lemonade stand, etc.). Look back at the past 6 months. List what you think are the top 5 news events and the top 5 newsmakers. Compare your lists with those of your classmates. World Environment Day Brainstorm ideas about uses for recycled newspapers. Share your ideas with the class. Who had the most unique idea? The most practical? It s Giant Newspaper Airplane Day! In groups of 4, fold a newspaper page to make a giant newspaper airplane. Which plane flies farthest and stays up longest? Sunday is Father s Day. Create a special comic strip in which your dad or another important man in your life is the main character. You may want to turn the strip into a greeting card. 20/ Father s Day 21- Summer begins Use words and pictures from the newspaper to design a Thank You card for your teacher. 27/ ` Plan summer activities using newspaper ads, articles and entertainment listings. Share your plans with the class. Hold a newspaperreading tournament over the summer. Keep track of your stats how many times you read the paper, number of articles read, total time spent reading, etc. Have a great summer! JUNE