1. Know, Wonder, Learn -- About the NFL!

The new season for the National Football League is about to begin, and millions of fans are excited. Following football in the newspaper is a great way to build reading skills if you use the approach called Know, Wonder and Learn. With this approach, called KWL for short, you ask yourself questions every time you read something. First, you ask what you already KNOW about the subject. Then you ask what you WONDER or WANT TO KNOW about the subject. Then you read and ask what you have LEARNED about the subject by reading. Practice KWL by finding a short story in the newspaper about your favorite football team in the NFL. Write out what you already KNOW about the team. Then write what you WONDER or WANT TO KNOW about the team. Then read the story and write what you LEARNED about the team by reading.

Learning Standards: Making connections between key ideas in texts and students' own lives; acquiring information from multiple sources and then evaluating, organizing and communicating it.

2. Kermit Goes to the Museum

The very first Kermit the Frog puppet has moved to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., a place that holds important objects from U.S. history. Jim Henson created the original Kermit out of a green coat that belonged to Henson's mother, and it had ping-pong balls for eyes. The first Kermit is joining a later version of the puppet that already lives at the museum. Funny, wise and kind, Kermit is famous for his appearances on "The Muppet Show," in movies and on "Sesame Street." He is also known for his songs "Bein' Green" and "Rainbow Connection." As a class, read in the newspaper about a person (or a Muppet) who is being honored for an achievement in sports, freedom, justice, business, culture, art, science or technology. Imagine this person were being included in a museum exhibit. What object would best represent his or her achievement? Write a sentence explaining your choice.

Learning Standard: Using reading for multiple purposes, such as enjoyment, gathering information, learning new procedures and increasing conceptual understanding.

3. Just the Facts

Read a short article in today's newspaper about something that happened yesterday. Write down two sentences in your own words that explain: What happened, where it happened, when it happened and who was there.

Learning Standard: Acquiring information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets and other sources, organizing and presenting the information; interpreting the meaning and significance of the information.

4. Scientists

On September 12, 1992, Mae Carol Jemison became the first African American woman in space when she traveled and worked aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. But Jemison isn't just an amazing astronaut -- she has had other interesting careers in the sciences. Starting college at 16, Jemison studied chemical engineering and went on to medical school. She worked as a doctor in the Peace Corps and then trained with NASA -- the U.S. space organization. After returning to Earth, she became a professor of environmental studies and started her own companies. Read about another scientist in today's newspaper. Write two sentences in your own words describing how he or she is using his or her talents and skills.

Learning Standard: Employing multiple strategies to construct meaning, including word recognition skills, context clues, retelling, predicting and generating questions.

5. Being There

Journalists -- people who write about the news -- have a very important job. They tell you about what's happening around your city, in your state, in the United States and around the world. As a class, read about something that happened on another continent in today's newspaper. Then discuss what it might have been like to actually be there when the events in the article were happening.

Learning Standard: Making connections between key ideas in literature and other texts and their own lives; engaging peers in constructive conversation about matters of interest or importance.