Newspapers in Education
Teachers and homeschool parents, please share this with your students. Using this guide will make your subjects more relevant and interesting to your pupils and will encourage creative thought. If you or your students have any suggestions or ideas for these teacher guides, please email Sarah Nachin – [email protected]. This guide is based on the newest Florida Standards for grades K-12.
Activities and Questions based on the May 2, 2025 – May 8, 2025 issue
Social Studies Activity for High School: (SS.912.S.7.7) Survey local agencies involved in addressing social problems to determine the extent of the problems in the local community.
Read the article on pg. A-1 and A-6 about the volunteers honored for their service. Then contact one of the agencies mentioned in the article and find out what problems they address, how they address these problems, what group or groups of people they help, and how volunteers help them in their mission (be specific). Use at least one quote from a person you talk to at that agency. Alternatively, you can find your information on the internet. If you do, be sure to give the title of the resource, the author (if named) and where you found the article (the URL). Your essay should be at least 400 words.
Theatre Arts Activity for High School: (TH.912.S.2.3) Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by developing a character analysis for one or more of its major characters and show how the analysis clarifies the character’s physical and emotional dimensions.
Read the article on page B-3 and B-5 about the play “Carrie” performed by Stage West. Then go online to research information about the play focusing on some of the more important characters in the play. These would be Carrie, her mother (Martha), Chris, Sue, Tommy, or Billy. Analyze one of those characters describing that person’s personality, their motivation for doing what they did, and their outcome in the play. Your essay should be at least 350 words. The following URLs are helpful: https://carriemovies.fandom.com/wiki/Carrie:_The_Musical_(1988)
https://stephenking.fandom.com/wiki/Carrie:_The_Musical#Characters You can also read the Cliff Notes of the novel by Stephen King or, better yet, read the novel.
Comprehension Activity for Middle School: (ELA.K12.EE.2.1) – Read and comprehend grade-level complex texts proficiently.
Read the article on page B-1 about water safety. Then answer the following questions in complete sentences:
1. For what age levels is drowning the leading cause of death?
2. At what age do you think children can learn to float and keep themselves from drowning? (The answer isn’t in the article.)
3. Why do you think it’s important for children to learn to swim with their clothes on?
4. Besides parents, what other people need to learn about safety for children near the water?
5. Besides “hands-on” instruction for parents to learn about water safety, what other information is taught to adults?
6. Besides at a pool, where else do children need to learn about water safety?
7. What is one of the most effective means of preventing drownings?
8. How quickly can someone drown?
9. True or False: A child needs to be in at water least over their head in order to drown?
10. In how much water could a child possibly drown?
Vocabulary activity for Middle School: ELA.6.V.1.3) Apply knowledge of context clues, figurative language, word relationships, reference materials, and/or background knowledge to determine the connotative and denotative meaning of words and phrases, appropriate to grade level.
Read the article on page A-1 and A-6 about the “Heroes Among Us.” Then write the definition of each of the following words as it is used in the sentence. Also, write down what part of speech each word is, as it’s used in the sentence, use the word in an original sentence. Also, write down a different form of the word and what part of speech that word is. For example, if the word is “forget” (a verb) you could write “forgotten” and state that “forgotten” is an adjective. Some words don’t appear as a different part of speech. For example “continent” is a noun. There is no other form of the word. There’s no such word as “continented”). At least to my knowledge.
1. alliance
2. vibrancy
3. initiative
4. indigent
5. pillar
6. prestigious
7. pivotal
8. resilient
9. palliative
10. supplement
Comprehension Activity for Elementary School: (ELA.K12.EE.2.1) Read and comprehend grade-level complex texts proficiently.
Read the article on page B-1 and B5 about the orchids. Answer the following questions in complete sentences:
1. Why will visitors to the orchid show see a different type of orchid than they usually see.
2. Why is the Orchid Society holding this show?
3. What misconception (wrong idea) do people have about growing orchids?
4. Name three of the vendors that are going to be at the orchid show.
5. Why do you think that this event is called the “Love of Orchids Show.”
Math Activity for Elementary School: (MA.3.AR.1.2) Solve one and two-step real-world problems involving any of four operations with whole numbers.
Study the Calendar of Events on page B-2. Calculate the answers to the following questions.
1. How many indoor activities and outdoor activities are there all together?
2. What percentage of all the activities are indoor activities?
3. How many more events that offer food are there than Senior Citizens events?
4. What percentage of all the events are historical events?
5. How many church-related activities and theatre events are there all together?
If you wish to submit any of your compositions from this week to the newspaper for us to consider publishing, please email [email protected]. Be sure and include your name, age, grade level and school that you attend.