1. Teach for America

The Teach for America program takes graduates of top colleges around the country and trains them to be teachers for the nation's neediest schools. These teachers most often join the teaching staffs in public schools in cities or rural areas far from cities. This year more than 35,000 top college students applied to the program, and a record 4,100 were chosen for teaching positions. As a class, talk about the skills and personality a person needs to be a good teacher. With a partner, pick a person from the newspaper whom you think would make a good teacher. Write out reasons for your choice and share with the class.

Learning Standards: Engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance; responding to a variety of oral, visual, written and electronic texts by making connections to students' personal lives and the lives of others.

2. A Very Old Sloth

Sloths are slow-moving plant-eaters that live in the rain forests of Central and South America. And the odd-looking, long-clawed beasts have been around a lot longer than scientists believed. A complete fossil of a sloth that lived five million years ago has been discovered in the South American country of Peru. The 10-foot-long fossil was found under the floor of a house that was being worked on to install a new water system. Fossil parts of a giant armadillo were found nearby. As a class, talk about different things fossils can teach people about life long ago. Then pick an animal from the photos, stories or ads in the newspaper. What might it teach future scientists if its fossil were found thousands of years from now?

Learning Standards: Explaining how fossils provide evidence about the nature of ancient life; understanding the nature of scientific inquiry; generating scientific questions about the world based on observation.

3. Pythons on the Loose!

Invasive species are a big problem in many parts of the United States. These animals and plants are introduced by people to areas where they didn't live before and grow out of control because they have no natural predators or foes. In the Everglades wetlands in the state of Florida, Burmese pythons have become a problem -- a very big problem, since these giant snakes can grow to be more than 20 feet long! As many as 150,000 Burmese pythons now live in the Everglades after being dumped there by pet owners who didn't want them when they got too big. As a class, talk about ways people could control invasive species. With a partner find a photo of an outdoor scene in the newspaper. Brainstorm kinds of invasive species that could harm animals or plants in the area and what they might do.

Learning Standards: Engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance; explaining ecosystem concepts and processes; describing positive and negative effects of humans on nature and wildlife.

4. Spelling Champion

A 13-year-old girl from Olathe, Kansas, is this year's top speller in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Kavya Shivashankar topped 10 other student finalists from around the country to take home more than $40,000 in cash and prizes in the Washington, D.C., competition. She wants to be a neurosurgeon when she grows up. As a class, talk about ways to sound out words when you are trying to spell them. Then divide into teams and pick words from the newspaper that you know to challenge other students in a class spelling bee. You must know the meaning of the word to challenge others with it. Exchange words until only one player remains.

Learning Standard: Employing multiple strategies to recognize words while constructing meaning, including the use of phonics, syllabication, spelling patterns and context clues.

5. Greenland Ice

Greenland is a country up near the Earth's North Pole, and much of it is covered with ice. But global warming of temperatures in the Earth's atmosphere is causing Greenland's ice to melt. If the melting continues at the speed it is happening now, the Atlantic Ocean could rise more in the northeast part of North America than in any place on Earth, researchers said last week. The rise in areas from New York City to the Atlantic provinces in Canada could be 12 to 20 inches more than in other areas, scientists said. As a class, talk about ways global warming could affect the Earth in the future. Then keep a scrapbook of stories about global warming from the newspaper for month or two. Use what you collect to make a report on global warming for the class. Design a poster to go with your report.

Learning Standards: Reading and writing fluently, speaking confidently, listening and interacting appropriately, viewing critically and representing creatively; engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance.