ELEMENTARY (Grades 2-5)

National Cookie Month
October is National Cookie Month. Look for cookie recipes in your newspaper's home and lifestyle section. Cut them out and create a cookie cookbook. Decorate your book with your own drawings of cookies and other things that go well with cookies. Give your book as a present to someone who likes to bake.

Locate the state
Find pictures in your newspaper that show different parts of the United States. How many different states are shown in these pictures? Find the states on a map of the United States.

Picturing the headlines
Cut out three headlines and paste each to the top of a separate piece of unlined paper. Draw a picture for each word in the headlines in the same way cave dwellers told stories with drawings on cave walls.

Honoring older people
October 1 is the UN International Day of Older Persons. Look for a story about a person 65 years or older who is making news. Pretend you are reporter who is going to interview that person. Write down five questions you would want to ask that person.

INTERMEDIATE (Grades 6-8)

Healthy teeth
October is National Dental Hygiene Month. Look through your newspaper for ads for products that have to do with taking good care of your teeth. Create a poster that gives people advice on how to keep their teeth and gums healthy. Use the pictures in the ads to help decorate your poster.

Vegetarian Awareness Month
October is Vegetarian Awareness Month. Each year in the U.S. about one million more people become vegetarians. Collect a week's worth of recipes from your newspaper including vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Convert all the recipes that have meat in them to being meatless by replacing the meat with vegetable ingredients. Create a vegetarian cookbook with your recipes.

Women's News Day
Look in the business section of your newspaper for stories about women in business. Write a brief profile of one of these women. What more would you like to know about this woman that wasn't in the article? Write down the questions you would ask if you were doing a follow-up article on this businesswoman.

Housing slump
There have been many news reports that home prices are going down as a result of lagging sales. Look through your newspaper's classified ads for home sales. What is the lowest-priced home for sale? What is the highest-priced home for sale? What is the median price for homes for sale? What is the average price? After looking at the listings, do you think home prices are down in your area?

ADVANCED (Grades 9-12)

First Monday in October
The first Monday in October is when the Supreme Court begins its fall session each year. Look through your newspaper for stories that involve interesting legal and constitutional issues. Choose one that you think would be a good case for the Supreme Court to hear. What arguments would you use to convince the Supreme Court to put this case on its docket?

Ups and downs
The Federal Reserve recently cut interest rates, which resulted in a huge rally on the stock market. Look in your newspaper for the Dow Jones Average and record that number over the course of two weeks. Whenever there is a big movement, either up or down, check the news section to see what factors in the news affected the stock trades for that day. Does this help you make more sense of the roller coaster that is the stock market?

The incredible sinking dollar
The U.S. dollar reached new lows against the euro. Look for newspaper stories and analyses about the sinking dollar. Write your own analysis about what impact the dollar's fall will have on the U.S. economy, business, and the average consumer. How will it help and how will it hurt?

A controversial visit
The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caused a great deal of controversy by visiting New York last week. Clip news articles and editorials about his visit. Hold a class discussion about media coverage of his visit. Was the media objective? Why or why not? Cite specific examples to support your point of view.