For Grades K-4 , week of Mar. 06, 2017

1. Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month, a time when we think about all the good and important things women have done. As a class, use the newspaper or Internet to closely read a story about a woman who is doing something exciting. Discuss her actions and why they are making news. Then draw a series of comic strips showing her doing this activity.

Common Core State Standards: Using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points; conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

2. Celebrate Dr. Seuss!

Dr. Seuss was born on the day of March 2. Readers all stick to his stories like glue. You remember the book “The Cat in the Hat”? And “Green Eggs and Ham”? He also wrote that. So put on your thinking caps, go on and try. To write a short poem like this talented guy. Take a story you find from the news of the day. And retell it for others in a Seuss kind of way. No pressure, be creative, be sure to have fun, And give yourself A for effort when done!

Common Core State Standards: Demonstrating understanding of figurative language; applying knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts; conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

3. NBA Highlights

Competition is heating up in the NBA season as teams seek to qualify for the 2017 playoffs. The top eight teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences get into the playoffs, and the winner of the NBA Finals will be the 2017 champion of pro basketball. In the newspaper or online, find and closely read stories about teams competing for the seventh or eighth playoff positions in each conference. Use what you read to write a sports story or sports column rating the chances of each team. Finish by making a prediction on which teams you think will make the playoffs. Be sure to give evidence from your reading to support your prediction.

Common Core State Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions.

4. Animal Power

Animal news is important to newspapers because many people are fascinated by animals’ power, beauty and independence. Explore the attraction of animals by finding a photo, story or ad in the newspaper that involves an animal. Closely read or study the story, ad or photo. Then write a paragraph describing why the animal is in the paper, and what makes it interesting to people. Finish by designing a poster featuring this animal. Use your own art, if you like. Or use images from the newspaper or Internet.

Common Core State Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

5. Picture This

Writers use words to paint pictures that tell readers what things look like or places feel like. In the newspaper or online, find and closely read a news or feature story that contains details describing a setting, institution or activity of your community, or another community. Circle or highlight every word or phrase that gives you a picture of what the place is like. On a sheet of paper, put these words into categories: Adjective, Adverb, Verb, Noun. Which kind of word appeared most? Discuss why that is the case as a class.

Common Core State Standards: Identifying multiple language conventions and using them; recognizing nouns, verbs and modifiers; applying knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts.