Grades 3–4

1. When introducing Scholastic News Online to your classroom, have a class discussion on why we study current events. Ask students how people get the news, why people care, why a citizen needs to be informed to make decisions on politics, the economy, and life.
2. There are several ways to keep you students up to date with the news on Scholastic News Online.
   
   In class as a weekly activity:
   Print out the critical thinking questions from the daily story to hand out to students or have them written on the board. Direct students to the Scholastic News Online home page and have them click on the main photo on the home page. This is a photo of the main story of the day. On this page, students can see the day's top headline along with a news photo. Invite students to study the picture and read the headline. What do they think the main news story will be about? What can they infer from the photo? Have students continue by reading the news story. Students can use facts from the story and the accompanying photo caption to decide whether their predictions were on target.
   
   Direct students to explore the other news of the week by clicking on the headlines on the left side of the screen. Students can either write summaries of the articles or answer each set of critical thinking questions.
   
   As a daily story homework activity:
   Each week, pick a different student whose job is to read the daily story and write a brief summary for homework. The first thing in the morning, perhaps with the school announcements, the student will present the news announcement for the rest of the class. Each week, a new student will make the announcements. If students do not have computer access at home, you can print the daily story to take home.

1. Choose two stories for students to read from the "News," or "Special Reports" sections. (If you are using a special report, be sure to direct students' attention to a specific story within the report.)
2. Have half the class read one story and the other half read the second story. Hand out the Idea Web graphic organizer (PDF) to have students record main ideas and important details from the news stories they are given.
3. Once they have completed the story and filled out the spider map graphic organizer, students should regroup with the other students who have read the same story. They should agree on a final spider map that includes the main idea and all the important details.
4. Once both groups have completed their final spider map, elect one student from each group to draw their spider map on the board.
5. Now it is time for each group to learn the big idea and important details of the story they did not read. They should read the other group's spider map and declare what that story was about.

1. Have students read the top news stories as they appear throughout the week. At the end of the week, announce that students will participate in a current-events game show. Let students come up with a name for the game show.
2. Choose one student to be the show's host. Divide the rest of the class into two teams. Each team should designate a representative to speak for them.
3. Have the host print out the "News IQ" quiz on the "Games and Quizzes" section of the site. Work with the student to fill in the correct answers. The student should then read the questions aloud, directing question 1 to Team 1, question 2 to Team 2, and so on. If the team whose question it is gets the answer right, the team earns a point. If not, the opposing team gets a chance to answer it. Allow the teams to take up to 30 seconds to discuss their answer. But explain that the official spokesperson must be the one to offer the answer.
4. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

• If you subscribe to Scholastic News 3 or Scholastic News 4, you can add questions from the print magazine to your weekly news game. Click on "Be a Quiz Whiz" for a list of questions from the current issue!
• For a challenge, award an extra point if a team can give the answer to a question without hearing the multiple choices read aloud.

1. Have students click on "Vote Now!" and read the week's question, along with the brief summary of the issue that appears on screen. The summary highlights some of the major arguments on both sides of the issue. Subscriber advantage: Scholastic News Edition 4 subscribers can get more background information on the vote feature in their magazine.
2. Invite students to discuss the question before voting. List their arguments in two columns on the board.
3. If there are enough computers in the class, have individual students click on the button that represents their answer and scroll down to give their grade, gender, and home state. Finally, have them click the orange "Vote Now!" button to submit their votes. Or, you can vote with a show of hands and then vote online as a class.
4. When the poll results pop up on screen, explain that the graphic is called a pie chart, or circle graph. Invite students to brainstorm why the graphic organizer might be called a "pie chart." Then have students read how much of the pie is represented by each side of the debate.
5. Use the "View Graph" buttons beneath the pie chart to look at results broken down by grade, gender, and state. For example, students can view the results for only their grade or only their own state. Have students check to see if younger or older students voted differently than students in their own grade. Discuss possible reasons why results might vary by age or location.

1. Before the class begins, go to Scholastic News 3 current edition.
2. Click on "Find It Online" and print out the Scavenger Hunt list to hand out to students.
3. Subscriber advantage: The "Scavenger Hunt" directly relates to content in the current issue of the Scholastic News Edition 3 magazine. Have students read the issue before going on the Scavenger Hunt.
4. During class, direct students to the activity and hand them the printed sheets. Explain to students that they need to find the answers to these questions by clicking on the links. They should fill in the answers on the handout. Have students click on the link after each question. The link will take them to a story or site where they will find the answer.

1. Go to Scholastic News 4 current edition.
2. Have students click on "Sticky Situation" and read the paragraph.
3. Subscriber advantage: The "Sticky Situation" directly relates to content in the current issue of the Scholastic News Edition 4 magazine. Have students read the issue before going on the "Sticky Situation."
4. As a class or in small groups, discuss the situation presented. As the site suggests, have students write a paragraph explaining how they would deal with the situation. This paragraph can be written by individual students or have students discuss all of the options for handling the situation and vote on one or two favorites. Write a paragraph as a class to post online.

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