© 2016 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 32, No. 13
Write a Press
Release
Think about something that
has happened at your school
or in your community or
neighborhood this past week.
Did you go on a field trip?
Did anyone win an award or
do something special? Write a
press release about it!
Zoey is a Wisconsin 3rd grader. She
reads Kid Scoop in her local
________________, the
Watertown Daily Times.
Her mother, who publishes
a newspaper for the 5th
grade at her __________,
inspired Zoey to ________
her own newspaper.
Zoey also wants other _______ to
contribute to her paper. “Kid Scoop
helped me by getting my classmates
excited about writing,”
said Zoey. “I also like it
when they __________
when they get published.”
Zoey’s newspaper is
called Webster3. She
gets her story ________
from the world around her. The
next issue is all about birthdays, and
_________ that she will do an issue
about how animals survive.
Her paper will be available to
kids and ___________ online.
“When I grow up,” Zoey said,
“I want to be a magazine
editor and president, a fashion
designer and a pro-cupcake
baker.”
Zoey’s biggest challenge is getting
people to take her seriously. “They
don’t think I’m really going to do it.
But they are wrong!”
Read the first three paragraphs of an article
in the newspaper. Underline who the article
is about in red. Underline what the article is
about in blue. Circle in green when and
where the event in the article takes place.
Then fill in the chart below:
On Wednesday, March 9th,
classrooms in Watertown, Wisconsin,
will put books aside and spend the
day learning with the newspaper.
This is an annual event for the
Watertown Daily Times and is called
No Books Day. Last year 49
classrooms participated.
“Teachers tell us students love a
break from the usual text books and
that they love seeing how their
school subjects connect to the real
world,” reports Dawn McBride,
Newspaper In Education Coordinator
for the Watertown Daily Times.
Write a paragraph using the
facts you used to complete the
form above.
“Newspapers can be used in the
classroom for activities using every
school subject – math, science,
social studies, history, art and
even P.E.,” says McBride.
On a sheet of newspaper, find and circle the
letters that spell each of the following words
that are a challenge to spell. Connect the
circled letters for each word with lines. Can
you make a design from your lines and dots?
A great rainy day activity:
Twist several sheets of the
newspaper together to form a
hockey stick. Use tape to hold it
together. Make a puck by
crumpling one sheet into
a ball and taping it.
Find the
differences.
Look through the
newspaper to find:
• Five numbers that
add up to 100.
• Three numbers
that add up to 65.
• Six numbers that
add up to 44.
Standards Link: Number
Sense: Calculate sums to 100.
he newspaper isn’t all serious stuff. Comics, puzzles,
movie listings and more make the newspaper
entertaining. Set a timer for five minutes. Look through
the newspaper and see how many fun things you can find.
Circle each item with a blue crayon. Have a friend try next,
using a red crayon. Who found the most?
Give these comic characters something
funny to say.
Standards Link: Research: Use the newspaper to locate information.
Use the form below to organize
your information.
NEWSPAPER
CRUMPLING
DESIGNER
ARTICLE
SERIOUS
COMICS
EDITOR
ANNUAL
CHART
ISSUE
BAKER
WEIRD
USUAL
TEXT
ACHE
Send your press release to the
editor of the paper! Be sure to
include your name and how
to contact you in case the editor
needs to ask you questions.
Take three sheets of paper.
Label one ANIMAL. Label
the others VEGETABLE
and MINERAL. Cut
pictures or advertisements
from the newspaper. Paste
them on the correct papers.
Try to find several for
each page.
T R A H C N U S N I
A C H E R S C E E W
N R E E U I W R K E
N O I A M S E I D L
This week’s word:
U T L O P S I O E C
CONTRIBUTE
A I C A L U R U A I
The verb contribute means
to give something that helps
to achieve a goal.
L D P S I E D S S T
T E X T N B A K E R
R R E N G I S E D A
The students contributed
an article about pandas for
Zoey’s newspaper.
Try to use the word
contribute in a sentence
today when talking with your
friends and family members.
Cutting Cut Lines
The short information info under a picture
is called a cut line. Cut out pictures from
today’s newspaper. Separate the pictures
and cut lines. Give them to someone to see
if they can put them back together correctly.
ANSWER: The Daily Moos.
Standards Link: Research: Use the newspaper to locate information.
Why do you like to read the
newspaper? Which parts of
the newspaper do you like
the best?