Newspapers in Education

Bring your family out to The Lehigh Valley Mall this weekend!

Kerah Kemmerer — 2010-01-12T16:47:12-05:00

Make Your Lessons Festive

Kerah Kemmerer — 2009-12-10T15:20:12-05:00

Deck out your lesson plans with these fun and interactive holiday newspaper activities. You can find the following and more activities through our NIE website under the NIE Institute link. I have condensed some of these activities for easier reading.

CAREER EDUCATION: Retail establishments are very busy throughout December. Use your newspaper to find examples of other businesses that are impacted positively or negatively by the holidays. What jobs can you find that would only exist during the holiday season? Are there any jobs that would NOT be affected in any way by the holiday season? Discuss.

ENGLISH/ LANGUAGE ARTS: Christmas is the most widely known and celebrated holiday in December, but many other holidays also occur in this season. Use your newspaper to find examples of some of these other holidays. Write a persuasive essay encouraging your classmates to celebrate another winter holiday (either in addition to or in place of Christmas).

GEOGRAPHY: Many people in our area wish for snow around the holiday season. Use today's weather map to locate other areas in our country where a white holiday might be likely to occur. If you decided to drive to one of these areas during the holidays, what route would you take? How many miles would you be traveling? What scenic features (mountains, rivers, etc.) would you cross on your journey? What states would you pass on your way there? If you decided you definitely wanted to AVOID snow during the holidays, where would you be most likely to visit? Answer the same questions for your new travel plans.

HISTORY: The New Year is fast approaching. What do you think will be historically the most important things that happened in 2009? Use your newspaper to locate stories you think will still matter in 2010 and even further into the future. Based on what you've found in your newspapers, what are the five items you most think deserve a spot in a 2009 time capsule? Write an essay to explain your decisions.

MUSIC: Well-written articles are often very lyrical. Work with a couple of students to find a story in today's newspaper that you think would make a good song. Make a list of the story's main points and especially note any sentences or phrases that you think might work "as-is" in your song. Use a popular holiday tune to set your song to music. Share your song with the

class.

NEWSPAPER KNOWLEDGE: A good newspaper includes a wide array of topics and materials each day. What topics do you find in today's newspaper that probably wouldn't occur in other months? Create a list and see how many December-specific stories you find.

SCIENCE & HEALTH: As the weather gets colder, we know cold and flu season is upon us. What are some specific steps you can take to avoid being sick during your winter vacation? Compile a class list of ideas and submit them to the newspaper as a letter to the editor. (Letters that are brief, well-written and well-edited are more likely to be published, so don't send a first draft!)

SOCIAL STUDIES: Holidays are celebrated differently throughout the world. Pick a country outside of the United States and research what December celebrations might be like there. Using a current holiday newspaper article as a guide, write a feature story about your chosen country and holiday. Be sure to include an attention-grabbing headline and lead!

COMMUNITY SERVICE: More people are interested in helping out during the holidays than at any other time of the year. Create a newspaper clip file or bulletin board that details organizations in your area that could use community support. As a class, choose a group you'd like to help. Because many organizations need help year-round, determine what your class can do AFTER the holidays to help out as well. Your contribution could be as simple as designing artwork for their buildings or as complicated as a fundraising drive.

JUST FOR FUN: Go on a newspaper scavenger hunt! It shouldn't be hard to

find holiday-related items in this month's news. Time yourself as you look

for the following:

1) A holiday article or photo that is NOT about the holidays.

2) A dateline that indicates a place you'd really like to visit during your vacation.

3) An example of a gift you'd really like to receive.

4) A word or phrase that you think best exemplifies this season.

5) A classified advertisement for something holiday-related.

6) A photo that reminds you of winter.

7) A food you'd like to eat during the holidays.

8) A sporting event that will occur during your winter vacation.

As always, any ideas you have are welcome. Do you have any classroom traditions or activities? How do you celebrate so that no child is left out or offended during a predominately Christmas season?

Teachers, get ready for the holidays!

Kerah Kemmerer — 2009-12-03T14:02:53-05:00

December already! It’s hard to believe the holidays are upon us once again. It’s time to break out the scissors, tape, glue and glitter and turn your classroom into a festive getaway.

This time of year often causes us reflect on the many blessings in our lives, inspiring us to reach out and share our gratitude.

Help your students catch the spirit of giving and gratitude through simple acts of kindness. I have compiled a small list of volunteer activities students of any age can do to help make the season brighter for others.

- Collect food for a pantry.

- Give away clothes that are outgrown or that are not worn often enough to keep.

- Help animals by volunteering time at a local shelter to walk dogs, play with cats, etc.

- Create holiday cards for soldiers overseas.

- Take goodies, make cards, or play music/sing to people in hospice care or at a home for the elderly.

- If there are students in your own classroom who need help, ask for a small donation from parents and compile an anonymous gift pack of necessities and toys to surprise the student and his or her family.

There are many more opportunities to share the holiday spirit. Please share some of your own ideas here.

-Kerah

Halloween + Newspapers = Fun lessons

Kerah Kemmerer — 2009-10-15T13:21:27-04:00

Halloween is just around the corner, and the air is surely buzzing with talk of costumes, candy and trick-or-treating.

Why not take this festive excitement and channel it into some productive learning? Listed below are suggestions for incorporating Halloween-related activities into your lessons with the newspaper. We would love to hear some of your ideas!

Frighteningly Fun Activities

- Look through the news and feature sections of the newspaper and choose five people who would be popular as masks or costumes this year. Write a sentence for each explaining why people would want to dress like a particular famous person.

- Candy names are fun to read because they use language in sweet ways. Pick a few of your favorites from Halloween ads in the newspaper. As a class discuss why you like the names. Then write an outline for using the names in a Halloween story. Explain how you might use the names to describe people, events or action in your tale.

- Look through the ads in today’s newspaper and make a list with classmates of ads offering Halloween sales, deals or specials. Pick out and discuss the ones you think are the most creative. Then design your own creative Halloween ad.

- Dr. Frankenstein used a jolt of electricity to bring his creation to life. Look through today’s newspaper and see how many pictured items you can find that use electricity. Choose one item and figure out how you could make a costume of the item. Then draw a picture of yourself in that costume and label all the parts.

- Create an "Alphabet Monster.” Take a page of the newspaper and, with a crayon, circle an example of each letter of the alphabet. Do not go across a line, keeping the letters in sequence, but to move all over the page (an "a" at the top, a "b" on the side, etc.). Then connect the letters in order. Turn the page in any direction until you see a "monster" on the page.

- With the “monster” created above, write a description about the monster, how he/she/it came to be, if it is a good/bad monster, etc. Older kids can do this and turn it into a short story they read to younger students.

- The Witches' Apprentice Scavenger Hunt. Find the following items in the newspaper:

1. The scariest news item you can find.

2. A classified ad for something a witch might use.

3. A picture of a broom.

4. The longest word you can find that includes the letters b-o-o in order.

5. Five items that should be included is a secret witch's brew.

6. A good safety rule for trick-or-treaters to remember.

7. A pumpkin.

8. A display ad illustration for something that would make an unusual treat.

9. Something the witch could ride if her trusty broom were broken.

10. Something shaped like a witch's hat.

11. Thirteen things which are just alike.

12. Newsmaker or comic character who could get along well with a witch.

13. The greeting "Happy Halloween".

For other fun activities, check out HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY at http://www.vocabulary.com/halloween2002.html.

*Sources: nieteacher.org.

Resource Central

Kerah Kemmerer — 2009-09-29T16:28:24-04:00

Upon digging through our NIE files recently, I have discovered some excellent resources for integrating the newspaper more effectively into the classroom.

Make It Relevant is one such resource. This handbook incorporates a “smorgasbord of activities and ideas designed to help teachers develop ‘confident use’ of the newspaper as an instructional tool in their classrooms.”

It covers a wide range of topics in every subject area for nearly every age level. A few example ideas include the following:

§ Read an article about a scientific discovery or technological improvement and describe possible good and bad effects that may be felt in society because of it.

§ Determine the age and sex of a person who is writing to “Dear Abby”. Be sure to cite specific clues you used to make your decisions.

§ Study a comic strip and determine the age of the children and adults in the strip based on their actions, speech and physical characteristics.

§ Take a set of statistics from the sports pages (example: a team’s win/lose record) and express in word form the method of finding these figures.

§ After finding a current event that deals with a contemporary problem, relate the present problem to a similar one faced by Americans in the past.

§ Write a short story by using a person from the front page as the main character, a real estate ad as the setting and a situation in a comic strip as the plot. You may also use the classified ads for descriptions of household goods, furniture, etc. Construct a newspaper in which all the stories, ads and editorials are based on a major historical event like the Boston Tea Party or a well-known story like the “Three Little Pigs”.

For the entire guide, please email me at kerah.kemmerer@mcall.com.

Another beneficial resource I have attached to this post is the teacher’s guide to the e-Edition. This manual addresses the most basic questions you may have concerning the online edition.

Download E-Edition teacher's guide

As always, if you have any comments or questions feel free to contact me at 610.820.6723, or simply leave a comment below.

-Kerah

Here we go…ready or not.

Kerah Kemmerer — 2009-09-03T14:09:33-04:00

So it begins. Another school year. May the scent of freshly printed books, the hum of eager chatter and the sight of bright colors splashed around the classroom mingle together in a blur of inspiration.

Hopefully all your summer preparations have led to a smooth transition into this semester.

I know we are finally buckling down here on fundraising ideas in order to raise money to keep the e-Edition in your classrooms. The e-Edition will be made available to all our schools beginning September 8th this year.

We would love to hear what’s on your agenda for the next few weeks. You are welcome to share stories about your first week back to school, your first lesson with the paper, and what you are looking forward to this upcoming year.

Don’t forget to become a fan of our facebook page to keep up-to-date on events and to view pictures of past events.

The Morning Call in Education Facebook Page

-Kerah-

A note to our Teachers and Educators

The Morning Call — 2009-08-10T12:48:07-04:00

The first paper published in The United States was in 1690 and titled Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick. Ever since, the newspaper has played a foundational role throughout the history of the United States.

The Morning Call has also played an important role in the Lehigh Valley since its formal introduction in 1895.

The Morning Call’s Newspaper in Education program is an extension of this function with the core objective of promoting literacy and encouraging community involvement.

A NEW BEGINNING

Starting with our new blog site, we are beginning to build an interactive community for teachers as well as students.

Our goal for this site is to organize an environment which is responsive to the needs of educators. In addition to providing key curriculum, we are striving to create an interactive atmosphere where teachers can share their thoughts, ideas, suggestions and questions. We strongly encourage teachers to support and interact with each other through this blog.

We are also open to contributors who wish to create a post. If you feel that you have something you wish to share, please email kerah.kemmerer@mcall.com to pursue this opportunity.

If you would like to order the e-Edition, please click on the sign-up link on our webpage. If you would like to order the paper edition priced at $.41 a copy, please contact kerah.kemmerer@mcall.com.

Thank you!