The Mini Page– Published every TUESDAY in the Bangor Daily News - The Mini Page is a tabloid section written for primary grades by Betty Debman. It offers kid-friendly topics, activities and more! This is a great piece for the emerging reader or for the teacher to read aloud to the class. Upcoming topics and learning standards are listed below. Simply scroll down to find the date you need.
TOPIC UPDATE FOR THE MINI PAGE
Issue 1 - A 2008 Calendar for Kids, January 8
This week's standards:
* Students understand people and events honored in commemorative holidays. (History)
Activities:
1. Create a poster that announces your birthday as a holiday. Cut out newspaper words and pictures that show important things about you and paste them on your poster.
2. Pick your three favorite calendar events. Now find words or pictures from newspaper ads for items you would use to celebrate those events. For example, you might buy camping equipment for National Recreation and Parks Month.
3. Select three comic strip characters who would be good representatives for special calendar events. Explain why each one would be a good spokesperson to commemorate that day, week or month.
4. Find at least two special days that each of these people would consider important: (a) historians, (b) teachers, (c) athletes and (d) scientists.
5. Create a newspaper prediction calendar. Write the names of the 12 months down the left side of a piece of paper. Now predict a headline that would be related to one of the calendar events in each month and write it next to the month. For example, you might find a story about roses and chocolates in a February story about Valentine's Day. (standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
Issue 2 -Meet Astronaut Barbara Morgan, January 15
This week's standards:
* Students understand the important accomplishments of individuals and groups. (Social Studies: The Individual)
* Students understand the people, events, problems and ideas that were significant in creating the history of their country. (Social Studies:History)
* Students understand the role of science and technology. (Science)
Activities:
1. Use newspaper words and pictures to create a poster that shows the different subjects Barbara Morgan taught before she became an astronaut.
2. Interview several friends or family members. Ask them to name the problems people might have working inside a space shuttle. Then see if you can answer those questions using information from today's Mini Page.
3. Write the letters M-O-R-G-A-N down the side of a piece of paper. Then cut out a newspaper word that describes astronaut Morgan and begins with the letters of her name. For example, you might find the words "mighty" or "marvelous" that you could paste next to the "M."
4. Who would you select to serve as your crew on the space shuttle? Identify five people from the newspaper you would take with you on a shuttle mission. You may select real people from news stories or characters from a comic strip. Write a sentence explaining each choice.
5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about astronaut training. Use these questions to guide your research: How are people selected to become astronauts? What physical abilities must astronauts have? What knowledge must they have? How often do they train? How do they train for their missions? Write a paragraph discussing your research. (standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
Issue 3 - Meet Henry David Thoreau, January 22
This week's standards:
* Students understand the important accomplishments of individuals and groups. (Social Studies: The Individual)
* Students understand the people, events, problems and ideas that were significant in creating the history of their country. (Social Studies:History)
Activities:
1. Make a series of Thoreau trading cards. Draw a picture on one side of each card. On the other side, write a sentence about Thoreau. Share your cards with a friend.
2. Draw a large circle on a piece of paper. Put "Thoreau" at the top of
the paper. Then divide the circle into three equal parts. In one part, paste newspaper words or pictures about enjoying nature. In another section, paste words or pictures about people helping other people. In the last part, paste words or pictures about teaching.
3. Write the words "Living at Walden Pond" at the top of a piece of
paper. Then cut out newspaper words or pictures of items that would have made Thoreau's life easier on Walden Pond and paste them on the paper.Write a sentence explaining each of your choices.
4. Make a list of items you would like to have. Then use the newspaper to locate an expensive version and an inexpensive version of the item. Write the options next to the item on the list. What choices would Thoreau recommend? Why?
5. Select one of Thoreau's quotations from today's Mini Page. Now find a newspaper story that reminds you of that quotation. Write a paragraph discussing how the story relates to the quotation. (standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
Issue 4 - On the Road for Votes - January 29
It’s the height of primary season, and the candidates seem to never sleep as they move around to different states. We’ll talk about what it’s like on the road for them and for the journalists who cover them.
Issue 5 - Communications - February 5
Good communicating is an essential life skill. The Mini Page identifies some ways to become a good communicator.
Issue 6 - Chinese New Year - February 12
In August, the Summer Olympics will begin in Beijing, China. The Mini Page will take several different looks at China this year, starting with the Chinese New Year. This issue will also include information about one or two of the Olympic events to come.
Issue 7 - Washington’s Chivalry Rules - February 19
In honor of George Washington’s birthday, The Mini Page will highlight some of his “Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.” Our first president had written 110 of them by age 16.
Issue 8 - Sojourner Truth - February 26
To commemorate Black History Month and Women’s History Month, The Mini Page takes a close look at Sojourner Truth, the 19th-century abolitionist and activist for women.
Issue 9 -NIE Week: What’s NEW in NEWspapers?, March 4
Newspapers are having to adapt to many other media competing for their readers’ attention. We’ll take a look at what newspapers are doing to meet these needs.
Issue 10 - History of Instruments - March 11
March is Music in Our Schools Month, and we’ll celebrate by looking at the long history of some favorite instruments.
Issue 11 - Pandas - March 18
The second in our China series, this issue will showcase giant pandas. With only about 1,000 left in the wild, these creatures are popular attractions at zoos.
Issue 12 - UN Year of Planet Earth - March 25
The Mini Page explores some alternative fuel sources in recognition of the United Nations Year of Planet Earth.