1. Hero Rescuers

A man in Pennsylvania survived a fall 500 feet into an abandoned coal mine, but he wouldn't have made it without a heroic rescue by local firefighters. Nathan Bowman fell into the mine when he and a friend were walking around the mine in the middle of the night, but he couldn't be found until the next morning. After rescuers heard a call for help, he was pulled to safety by two firefighters who went down into the mine on a rescue line. With a partner, find a story in the newspaper about the work done by rescue workers in your area. Write a short letter to the editor thanking the rescuers for what they do.

Learning Standard: Responding to a variety of written, visual and electronic texts by making connections to students' personal lives and the lives of others; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

2. Ice, Polar Bears and Narwhals

Because the Earth is getting warmer, ice at the North and South Poles is melting. Melting ice at the North Pole is causing problems for polar bears, who live and hunt on the ice fields. It also is causing problems for a whale that scientists say inspired stories about unicorns. The narwhal, which has a long tusk growing out of its head, may be even more at risk from melting ice than the polar bear, the scientists say. That's because it escapes predators like killer whales by hiding in cracks in floating ice over the ocean. As a class, talk about ways wildlife use the environment to survive. Then find pictures or stories about wildlife in the newspaper. Talk about what could happen if the environment of the wildlife in the paper were to change.

Learning Standards: Explaining ecosystem concepts and processes; describing the ways in which the environment has been changed by people.

3. T. rex ... Cluck, Cluck, Cluck

Millions of years ago Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the fiercest meat-eating dinosaurs. So what animal is most like T. rex today? Would you believe the chicken? A team of scientists has just announced that tests on tissues from a T. rex fossil show that they were made up of the same protein materials as those in modern chickens. The discovery backs other studies that have concluded dinosaurs were the ancestor relatives of modern birds. As a class, talk about the different ways scientists help people learn about the world. Then find a story about a scientific discovery in the newspaper. Make a class list of ways the discovery will help people, or help people understand the world.

Learning Standard: Explaining how scientists decide what constitutes scientific knowledge, how science is related to other ways of knowing and how science and technology affect society.

4. NBA Adjectives

The NBA playoffs are under way, and fans all over the country are excited. NBA basketball is popular because its players have amazing talents and the competition of games is intense. NBA basketball also is a great way to practice using adjectives to describe people, places and things. In this paragraph alone, the adjectives "amazing," "intense" and "popular" are used to describe the NBA. Find a story or photo about the NBA playoffs in the newspaper. Use what you find to brainstorm a list of adjectives to describe NBA basketball and players. Challenge yourself to come up with unusual adjectives that capture the action and excitement of players and games.

Learning Standard: Exploring and using the characteristics of different types of texts, aesthetic elements and mechanics, including text structure, figurative and descriptive language, spelling, punctuation and grammar, to construct and convey meaning.

5. Alphabet Playoffs

The playoffs for the National Hockey League are also under way. Use the teams involved to practice putting things in alphabetical order. Find a list of the NHL teams playing in the latest round of the playoffs. Put these teams into alphabetical order, based on the city they play in. Then put these teams into alphabetical order, based on the nickname of the teams. Finish by putting both the cities and nicknames into alphabetical order in one big list.

Learning Standards: Performing the daily functions of a literate individual; acquiring, evaluating and organizing information from multiple sources.