Use your brain
- CONCEPT MAPPING: Find an article in the Deseret News and determine the 5 Ws and H (who, what, when, where, why and how) in the story. Join a small group to fill in a web diagram. Then select another article that interests you, and complete a web diagram for it on your own.
- REHEARSAL STRATEGY: Choose a photo from the Deseret News and cut it out. Look at the photo without reading the caption below it or the story that accompanies it. Write 5 to 10 questions about the photo. You may include some questions that can't be answered by looking at something in the photo. Exchange photos and questions with a classmate, and each make up a story about the photo you received. The story must answer the questions that came with it. Share your stories with each other. Then compare your stories with the caption and newspaper story that went with the photo.
- RHYMING MNEMONICS TO HELP YOU REMEMBER: Rhyming mnemonics can help you remember rules, patterns or other information. For example, "Thirty days has September, April, June and November..." or "I before e, except after c..." Make up your own rhyme to help you and your class remember some specific information you are studying or some information from the Deseret News that you want to remember.
- REDUCTION MNEMONICS TO HEOP YOU REMEMBER: Reduction mnemonics shortens a lot of information by using a letter to represent each piece of information, then combining the letters to form a word or sentence that is easier to remember. For example, "Frederick Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle" stands for F, C, G, D, A, E, B, which is the order that sharps are entered in key signatures in music. Make up your own reduction mnemonic for a piece of information you want to remember. Use the Deseret News to help you select words for your mnemonics.
- CHUNKING TO HELP YOU REMEMBER: Stare at the following letters for 10 seconds. Cover them up and write them down in the correct order and grouping:
IOCN BCT VF BIU SA
How many could you get right? Now rewrite the letters in new groupings, with a space after the third letter, the sixth letter, the eighth letter and the eleventh letter. Stare at the letters in this grouping for 10 seconds, then cover and see how many you can write correctly this time. Most people will do much better with the second example even though it contains the same letters and sequence, because the letters have been chunked in five items that have sense and meaning, rather than 14 (or 18 with the spaces) different pieces of information. Try this with other related items you need to remember and with information in the Deseret News.
Diversity
- LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Locate an article in the Deseret News that you believe addresses discrimination. Write a letter to the editor explaining why you feel discrimination is wrong in this case. Is there a time when discrimination appears to make sense?
- RACIAL CONFLICTS: Throughout history, race has spawned a number of conflicts. Locate a news story that reflects dissension among people of different races. Use the library to do research on a racial incident that occurred at least 20 years ago. Compare the incidents by listing similarities and differences.
- RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS: Keep track of articles in the Deseret News that discuss tensions between religious groups or bias against one religion. (1) Compare one of these conflicts to religious conflicts in history, such as the Crusades or the Holocaust. (2) Develop a plan to end the conflict/bias. Describe how your plan would work and give examples of why one or the other group might not accept your plan. Discuss your plan with two other students and evaluate any changes you might want to make based on their comments.
- RELIGIOUS GROUPS: Examine the religion pages of the Deseret News. Count the Christian and non-Christian religions listed on the pages. Then count the number of subgroups for Christian and non-Christian religions.
- ANALYZING GENDER PREFERENCES: With a small group, conduct an audit of gender representation in your Deseret News. Look at pictures, read news stories and ads and determine the following: How many people are pictured in photos? What are they doing? Why are they pictured? Compile your information in a graph of activities showing females, both females and males, and males. Discuss your findings. How were the two genders represented? How would you explain your findings?
- HELP WANTED: Search the Help Wanted section in the classified ads. Classify the jobs listed by occupation. Tabulate which kinds of jobs are most requested. Gather data on the most requested occupations: pay scale, experience necessary, education required. List areas of difficulty of each job for a male or for a female.
- IN THE NEWS: Read the Deseret News for several days. Collect clippings about people who are working in nontraditional roles and put them in an "In the News" folder. Discuss any limitations that might be placed on people working in the jobs discussed. Invite someone you read about (or a similar person) to visit the class and discuss their occupation.
- ETHNIC DIVERSITY: Explore the ethnic diversity of people around you and discuss the following: Are there people from many different ethnic groups in the classroom or school? Why are so many from the same group (or different groups)? What would be a good way to get to know people from other ethnic groups? Where could we go, or what could we do? Invite people from different ethnic groups to meet with the class and share their traditions and feelings about their ethnic heritage. Write an editorial for the Deseret News calling for understanding between ethnic groups in school.
Geography
Students' lack of geography knowledge is one of the greatest concerns among educators. Many of today's students, in fact, are geographic illiterates at a time when global events impact their lives. The following newspaper/geography strategies suggest ways to make geography relevant and exciting to students as they connect it to current events. In addition, students will improve their critical thinking skills and gain proficiency as newspaper readers.
- FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Check the food advertisements in today's Deseret News. Mark those foods which had to be shipped to your area and which are important to a well-rounded diet. Would they have been available in your area 100 years ago? 50 years ago? How would the introduction of such foods have affected the population?
- IDENTIFY THE LANDFORM: Find the national and international datelines in today's Deseret News. After locating the datelines on a map, decide on which of the main landforms (plains, plateaus, mountains, hills) each city is built.
- REGIONS IN THE NEWS: With a group of three or four classmates, use the Deseret News to find a news article about each of the 10 major regions of the world: (1) Anglo-America; (2) Latin America; (3) Europe; (4) North Africa-Southwest Asia; (5) Sub-Sahara Africa; (6) South Asia; (7) East Asia; (8) Southeast Asia; (9) Australia and New Zealand; (10) the Pacific Islands. (This activity may take several days of newspaper use or work at home with a daily newspaper.) Note which areas are easily found in the newspaper and which are more difficult to find. Discuss the reasons with your group.
- CLIMATE CONTROL: Find news stories in today's Deseret News that are related to the climate in the various regions of the Earth (for example, crop failure due to drought, skiers trapped because of blizzards, etc.)
- WHAT TO WEAR?: Look through the retail clothing ads in today's Deseret News. Find examples of clothes that are advertised at this time of year because of the climate in your area.
- POPULATION AREAS: Name the three largest population areas in your state. Scan the news stories in the Deseret News to find articles about those areas that offer clues as to why so many people have settled there.
- WEATHER OR NOT: Locate the detailed weather report in today's newspaper. Circle the city with the highest temperature in the nation. Find these cities on a map or globe. Give their locations by telling their approximate latitude and longitude. Tell the relative locations of the two cities.
- NATIONS IN THE NEWS: Scan the international news stories in the Deseret News. Consult a map to determine what nations in the news have geographical features (rivers, oceans, mountains, etc.) that form their political boundaries. Are these geographical features related to why that particular nation is in the news?
- DESTINATION DATELINE: Choose national or international datelines to which you'd like to win a trip. On a map trace the route to each destination. In which region of the country does each trip end? How many time zones would you go through during the trip? Compare each destination city to the one in which you live in climate, elevation, longitude and latitude.
- FOCUS ON A COUNTRY: In today's Deseret News find the names of at least 10 countries excluding the United States. Tell why each one was in the news. On a globe or map, locate each country and give the following information: (1) continent on which each country is located; (2) whether the country is located north or south of the equator; (3) name of one bordering country; (4) name of two major cities; (5) whether it is larger or smaller in area than the U.S.
History
- HISTORY SCRAPBOOK: Collect articles from the newspaper about Utah's history to put in a portfolio. You might organize articles into sections such as Local History, State History, Events, People, Government, etc.
- REPORTING ON HISTORY: Choose a historical event in Utah's history and write a news article for the newspaper as if it were happening now. Be sure to include the 5 Ws and H (who, what, when, where, why and how). Write a headline for your article. Use articles in the Deseret News as examples.
- CENTENNIAL OBITUARY: Use the obituaries in the Deseret News for examples, and write an obituary for one of the people from Utah's history as it might have appeared in the newspaper 100 years ago. Include some of their accomplishments and impact on the state.
- MAJOR EVENTS: What events from Utah's history were "newsworthy" as major or significant events of the time? Scan today's Deseret News to identify any events you think would be newsworthy enough to be included in a history 100 years from now. Explain your choices.
- HELP WANTED: Make a list of 10 jobs listed in the Help Wanted section of the classified ads. Would any of these jobs have existed 100 years ago? 50 years ago? Write a Help Wanted ad for the newspaper for a job from 100 years ago.
- A CENTURY OF SPORTS: Make a list of any sports named in the Deseret News sports section. Would any of these have been played 100 years ago? Invent a game or sport that you think could have been played then.
- CARTOONS AND COMICS: Find someone listed in the 1896 edition of the Deseret News, or use someone from history you already knew about. Draw an editorial cartoon or a comic strip using that person as the main character.
- CONVERSATION: Work with a partner to make up a conversation between two people, one from history and one from the Deseret News today. Tape a sign on your shirt to show who you are and which year you are from. Role play the conversation for your family or your class.
Literacy
- Get to know your Deseret News. Go on a scavenger hunt to find out how many sections are in the newspaper and the names of the sections. Where is the local news? Are there editorials or opinions written in the paper? Are there movie listings or other forms of entertainment available?
- In the Deseret News, find a story or picture of people who are having fun. Read the story aloud.
- Look through the comics and choose a favorite character. How are you like this character? How are you different? Is the character like anyone in your family?
- Read an article from your favorite section of the Deseret News. Set aside a special time, such as at dinner or before going to bed, to talk about it with your family. Share your favorite section. Why do you like this section? What is the story about? Why did you choose this story?
- Volunteer to be the weather forecaster for your family. Read the weather page each morning to find out the temperature and chance of rain. Make a chart and record the weather by drawing a picture of the sun or clouds or snow. Use your imagination! At the end of the month you can see how many days of sunshine you had.
- Cut out pictures of faces, clothing, hands and feet and arrange them on construction paper to create funny people. Make a family of funny people and pets to hang on the refrigerator.
- Find a picture of a famous athlete, movie star, politician or other famous person. Pretend you could interview that person for an article in the Deseret News. What would you ask? What do you think the person would say to you? Write down your questions and answers.
- Read an editorial in the Deseret News. Do you agree with it? Why or why not? Can you tell which sentences are fact and which are opinion? What is the difference?
- Read an advice column such as Dear Abby. Do you agree with the advice given? If not, rewrite the advice.
- Look through the TV listings in the Deseret News and choose a news television program to watch as a family, then answer the following questions: Were any characters in the show like any members of your family? Did the show represents a variety of cultures or just one? Did you learn anything from watching the show?
- Find an interesting picture in the Deseret News. Talk about what's happening in the photo. You may want to write a poem or story about it.
— taken from "Building Family Literacy: Read Together, Stay Together," a special supplement of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation, 1996.
Responses will vary for all activities depending on which date and edition of the Deseret News is used. Some activities will work best when several different dates and editions are used. Some activities will be effective for partners or small groups. When exact answers are required, students can help to make up an answer sheet as a key.
