Click your grade-level and subject for NIE resources designed to help you meet curriculum objectives.

  Introducing Students to Newspapers- Six introductory activities.
Your students will get much more out of newspaper lessons in the classroom and newspaper reading in general when you take time to teach ABOUT the newspaper BEFORE you begin teaching WITH the newspaper.


Get Ready To Get Involved
Click Here to download the PDF

Operation Target Date
Gather newspapers published on a specific date and use them in a comparison study. Select a random date or choose a date because of its expected news, such as the day after elections or the Super Bowl. Have students write letters to newspapers to request copies or visit newspapers Web sites.

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Web Links:
Lesson Plans for Teaching the First Amemdment:
These lessons address constitutional principles and contemporary issues involving the First Amendment. They will draw young people into an exploration of how their freedoms began and how they operate in today's world.

Links to Online Newspapers around the world

Compare Today’s Front Pages
The Newseum displays daily newspaper front pages from 592 newspapers from the U.S. and 56 other countries.
Cartoons for the Classroom
This site for the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists includes a link to their teaching guide and materials
Bill of Rights in the Daily Headlines
Read breaking news related to the Bill of Rights, gathered daily from major news sources across the country and chosen for ease of use in the classroom.

Print a Cartoon Evaluation Worksheet for students

Explore Constitutional issues through Political Cartoons!

FREE NIE Curriculum Guides:

Citizens Together: You and Your Newspaper:Explore freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights, with emphasis on rights to know, to express one’s opinion, to assemble, to be secure and to the legal system.

Your Newspaper, Your Town Hall:Provides lessons related to the newspaper’s coverage of town/city government and the local community.
 

Freedom: It Looks Good On You: First amendment teaching and curriculum guide

Speaking of a Free Press: 200 years of notable quotations about press freedoms
 

Activities help students develop and extend their ability to comprehend informational text structures and organization. Includes special section of activity pages for elementary grades.

Thoughtful Literacy: Easy-to-use lessons actively engage and empower students with effective classroom practices of managed choice, multi-source curriculum, multi-task learning and meaningful classroom discussion.
  

A great resource for introducing students to newspapers. Topics include news gathering, newspaper sections, types of writing, advertising, production, history, careers and terms.
    
Printable NIE Lessons and Activity Sheets:

Newspaper Circles:
Print one per each group of 5 students. Includes roles for summarizer, vocabulary person, quoter, connector and illustrator.
Learn and Serve:
Supplemental newspaper-based activities to use with Service–Learning Programs.

 

Constitution Scavenger Hunt

 

Toon Talk
Read what Clay Jones, The Free Lance-Star's Political Cartoonist, has to say about his--and other's-editorial cartoons.