ELEMENTARY (Grades 2-5)

Hunt for the states
The United States bought Alaska from Russia on October 18, 1867. Look for stories in your newspaper about Alaska or other states. How many of the 50 states are in the news today? Make a list of all you find.

Celebrate fall
This is the time of year for fall festivals. Look through your newspaper to find out what kinds of events are happening in your area to celebrate the season. Create a poster with your own fall drawings to advertise this event.

Face it
Look for newspaper pictures that show people with sad faces, happy faces, worried faces, and scared faces. Paste the sad faces on one piece of paper, the happy faces on another, and so on. For each face, write a sentence telling why each person seemed to be in the mood shown on his or her face.

City scramble
Find the names of five foreign cities in the news. Scramble the letters of each city's name. See if your friend's and classmates can unscramble the letters to identify the correct name of each city.

INTERMEDIATE (Grades 6-8)

Grouchy can be funny
October 15th is National Grouch Day. How many grouches can you find in the comic pages of you newspaper? Cut out one of these strips. Redraw the strip to make the grouchy character a cheerful character. How does the strip change? Is it as funny?

The U.N.
October 24th is United Nations Day. Find stories in your newspaper about the U.N. Write a report about one world problem that the U.N. is working on and what it is doing to try to resolve this problem.

Casting Count Dracula
On October 20, 1888, Bela Lugosi, the actor best known for playing the blood-sucking Count Dracula was born. Choose a person from today's news who you think could be cast in the role of Dracula. Explain why you chose this person.

Economical words
October 16th is Dictionary Day. Look for words in your newspaper that relate to the economy. Be sure to include such terms as production, profit, dividend, and so on. Use your dictionary to define these words and start your own glossary of economic words and terms.

ADVANCED (Grades 9-12)

Politics in the movies
A number of new movies are being released. Some of them have political themes. Look through your newspaper's movie guide to identify such movies. Create a movie guide to these political movies by listing each movie with a sentence or two about the political issues that the movie is addressing. Hold a class discussion about the power of movies to influence public opinion.

Fight poverty
October 17th is the U.N. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. A recent report said that homelessness in the U.S. is on the rise. Look for news reports about homelessness and poverty in your city. Create a proposal that outlines some possible actions and plans that people in your area could take to eliminate poverty.

A good logo
The trademark or "logo" of a company often is a symbol combining initials of its name and/or representations of its products. Clip examples of logos from advertisements in your newspaper. Find a story about a new small business in your area. Create an artistic logo for that business using the logos of established businesses to inspire you.

A prize for peace
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded last week. Look for news stories about the winner. Write an editorial about the winner giving your opinion about whether or not you think the recipient was a good choice and why.