1. Shopping Season

With Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah, December is a big month for holidays. It also is a big month for shopping, as families seek presents for relatives. Stores that sell gifts count on December shopping to boost their sales and income for the year. As a class, look for stories about holiday shopping in the newspaper. Talk about all the ways shopping at stores and malls benefits the community and people who live there. Then look through the holiday ads in the newspaper for items you might like to buy for relatives. Pick items for three relatives (don't worry about the cost). Write a sentence for each explaining why you would give each relative each gift. Then pick something you would like to buy for yourself and write a sentence explaining why. Learning Standards: Responding to a variety of oral, visual, written and electronic texts by making connections to students' personal lives and the lives of others; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

2. Turtle Shells & Fossils

Turtles are some of the most amazing creatures on Earth. They have been around since the time of the dinosaurs, and for millions of years they have looked pretty much the way they do today. Scientists have always wondered, however, how turtles got their shells. Now a 220-million-year-old turtle fossil is offering evidence that the shells of early turtles grew out of the bones of their ribs and backbones, rather than from skin that became hard. Scientists said the fossil from the Asian nation of China also shows that turtles were living on Earth 10 million years earlier than believed before, and probably lived in water before living on land. As a class, talk about fossils and what they can teach people. Then look at an animal from the ads or photos in the newspaper. Discuss this animal's features, and discuss why you think it developed them in ancient times.

Learning Standard: Analyzing how species change through time; explaining how scientists construct and scientifically test theories concerning the origin of life and evolution of species; engaging peers in constructive conversation about issues of importance or topics of interest.

3. Water on Saturn?

With its big and beautiful rings, the planet Saturn has always fascinated scientists. America's Cassini space probe is adding to the interest with new information about one of Saturn's 60 moons. Astronomers looking at images from the moon Enceladus say there is strong evidence that gas and dust shooting up from the surface contain water vapor. And that could mean that Enceladus may have liquid water somewhere under its frozen surface. If that is true, Enceladus (en-SELL-ah-dus) might be able to support living things, since water is necessary for any form of life. As a class, talk about what it would mean for scientists to find evidence of life on other planets. Then find a story about other efforts to explore space by the United States and other countries. Draw a comic strip to tell about what one space mission has achieved.

Learning Standard: Understanding the nature of scientific inquiry; explaining how we learn about the universe; using the craft of the illustrator to convey ideas artistically.

4. People Need Food

On farms, there are always vegetables that get missed when people pick their crops in the fields. So a farm family in the western state of Colorado decided to give the leftovers to people from the community if they wanted to come pick them. The offer for free food was too good to turn down for people out of work or facing hard times, and 40,000 turned out on a Saturday in November. Farmers Joe and Chris Miller said they opened the farm for the free harvest after hearing reports people needed food so badly it was being stolen from churches. With a partner, go through the newspaper and find a story about a person or group doing something to help others. Use what you find to design a poster urging people in your community to help others who are in need. Learning Standards: Generating questions about issues that affect students or topics about which they are curious; representing creatively.

5. A Disney Birthday

In the history of entertainment, December 5 is one of the most important birthdays ever. On that day Walt Disney was born in 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. Disney, who sold drawings to neighbors to make money as a child, went on to become a pioneer in the use of animated cartoons to tell movie stories. Starting with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in December 1937, he created dozens of full-length animated movies and built one of the most successful entertainment companies ever. With a partner, look in the newspaper for an animated movie you'd like to see and write a sentence explaining why. Then use the news to brainstorm an idea for a new animated movie as if you were Walt Disney. Share ideas with the class, and design a poster advertising your movie. Learning Standard: Reading and writing fluently, speaking confidently, listening and interacting appropriately, viewing critically and representing creatively.