1. Do Math Like a Pro

Football season has started, and the newspaper is filled with facts and statistics for fans. Get into groups of two or three students. Look at today's sports section and use numbers you find there to create a simple math problem. Challenge your classmates to solve the problem--but make sure you have the right answer first!

Learning Standards: Collecting and exploring data, organizing data into a useful form and developing skill in representing and reading data displayed in different formats; using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve problems.

2. Shapes

You can learn a lot of things reading the newspaper. You can learn about government. You can learn about sports. You can learn about movies or music. You also can learn ways to build skills that can help you in math or language classes in school. Try the following activity to see how. Get into small groups. Look at the pictures in today's newspaper. Find and cut out examples of:

A square

A circle

A rectangle

A triangle

A cone

A cube

A ball

A shape with more than four sides

Now glue or paste your examples on a sheet of paper, and label each one. Share your shapes with the class.

Learning Standard: Comparing, sorting and classifying familiar shapes.

3. Giant Rats, Frogs With Fangs

Scientists who study wildlife are always looking for new or rare species. Now a scientific team in the Southeast Asian country of Papua New Guinea has discovered a gold mine of rare wildlife in an extinct volcano. Among the species recorded by a British scientific crew are a giant rat three feet long, a frog with fangs, a butterfly the size of a book and 40 other creatures previously unknown to science. As a class, talk about reasons scientists study wildlife in the world. Then find stories or photos about wildlife in the newspaper. Pick one and brainstorm a list of reasons scientists might be interested in this species.

Learning Standards: Engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance; explaining ecosystem concepts and processes; acquiring information from multiple sources and then organizing and analyzing it.

4. The President Talks

Last week, President Obama gave a speech to students across the nation, urging them to work hard and stay in school. But he warned that being successful isn't always easy. "Being successful is hard," he said. "You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. ... And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try." Yet the President said the reward of staying in school and doing the best you can is greater than the frustrations. With classmates, talk about the things that are most important for students to be successful. Then write a short letter to the editor of the newspaper, sharing your class's advice with parents and other students.

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.

5. Getting Ready for the Day

Fall officially begins next week, and you may already be noticing a change in the weather. Experts on weather also are noticing changes as they make their daily forecasts. Weather forecasts can help you make sure you will be dressed properly. Look at the weather page in today's newspaper. Draw a picture of yourself dressed properly for tomorrow's weather. Then find a city or country listed on that page that begins with the same letter as your first or last name. Find out what the weather will be like there tomorrow. Draw a picture of a student your age who is dressed for the weather in that place.

Learning Standards: Describing weather conditions and climates; using the craft of the illustrator.