The Ghost in the Courthouse Statue

by Bill Bailey

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(Password included in DNIE Weekly News e-Newsletter sent on Mondays to participating teachers)

Lyrics for The Detroit Song

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A set of weekly educational activities geared toward younger readers
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Kids Scoop
Learn! Laugh! Play!

Kids Scoop Game Zone
Interactive games.
Funny Fillers. Word Searches

Kid Scoop Parents Information
Each month we feature an article
on an aspect of children's
education, health or wellbeing.

Kid Scoop Pop Quiz

Kids Scoop Word Search

Sample this read-along animated book here online

Artie Knapp's children's book Stuttering Stan Takes a Stand is now available as a free flash-animated storybook from MightyBook Inc.

Stuttering Stan Takes a Stand - teased and bullied about his stuttering, Stanley the squirrel refuses to let on that his feelings are being hurt, until one day he learns an important lesson from a new friend.

►Click here to read Stuttering Stan Takes a Stand

At mightybook.com there are more than 60 free animated stories, songs, games and puzzles.

NIE Institute Educational Resources

As an NIE subscriber, you can access a wealth of free educational resources available through our membership in the national NIE Institute. All are appropriate for classroom instruction when used with the electronic or print edition of The Detroit News or Detroit Free Press.

►Visit our NIE Institute page for these topics:

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CENTSABLES

Online financial literacy features for ages 6-12 teach kids about money, savings, sound financial responsibility and positive behavior through six super-hero friends. You and your students can view the activities online here.

Parent Resources (Updated every Monday)

Online Extras geared toward younger children

►Don't forget to check the Student Resources page for activities for older students

Get the Yak here every week

Yak's Corner, is an eight-page mini-newspaper for kids that's filled with local stories, events and people plus current events, Yak is more interactive with activities each week, including science experiments. You'll also find the "Kids in the News" feature that lets your students see how kids across the county are making news.

►Click here to order print copies and extra features.

►Yak readers write

Yak's Corner for 02/02/2012

►Download the Yaktivities Worksheet here

►Download this week's complete issue

Or download individual pages below . . .

Yak's Corner Archive

Download Yak's Corner and the Yaktivities worksheet here each week

Yak's Corner will be published on 32 Thursdays during the 2011-2012 school year, beginning Sept. 15, 2011 and continuing through June 7, 2012. During this period Yak's Corner will not be published on November 24, December 22 & 29, January 5, February 23 and April 5 & 12.

2011-2012 "Yak's Corner Favorite Book Character Contest" for Grades K-6

Yak's Corner, the weekly news magazine for grades K-6 produced and distributed by Michigan K.I.D.S., the educational nonprofit for the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, invited Michigan students in Kindergarten through sixth grade to submit drawings of their favorite book character and tell us why this is their favorite character. Characters could be from any book of fiction, provided that the character is not originally from a TV series or movie. For example, SpongeBob SquarePants is not an acceptable character.

We received 2524 entries from schools throughout Michigan: 126 from Kindergarten students, 105 from first graders , 305 from second graders, 328 from third graders, 462 from fourth graders, 423 from fifth graders and 775 from sixth graders.

Judging and Prizes

First- through fifth-place winners were selected for each grade by Yak's Corner personnel. Entries were first judged on the quality of the drawing and then on the description of why this was a student's favorite character. First- through fifth-place winners will receive Barnes & Noble gift cards in the amounts of $40, $30, $25, $15 and $10 respectively. We also selected honorable mentions for each grade.

All winners, including honorable mentions, will receive personalized Certificates of Excellence. Certificates for all winners, gift cards for the first- through fifth-place winners, and the original winning artwork will be sent by certified mail to the teachers of winning students by the end of February. We will also mail certificates of participation, which can be personalized by teachers, to all teachers who requested them.

Winning artwork will be displayed online. The artwork of first-place winners will be featured in the March 8 issue of Yak's Corner. If possible, other winning artwork may also be printed.

Questions? Call Sharon Martin, Detroit Newspapers in Education Manager and Michigan K.I.D.S. officer, at 313-223-4460 or e-mail smartin@dnps.com

►Click here for a complete list of 2011-2012 winners

2012 Yak Winners

►Kindergarten winners
►First Grade winners
►Second Grade winners
►Third Grade winners
►Fourth Grade winners
►Fifth Grade winners
►Sixth Grade winners