NIE - Teachers' Guides

A teacher's guide is complimentary with your order of classroom newspapers.

The teachers' guides contain ways to incorporate the use of newspapers in your classroom, along with activities and lesson plans. Each time you reorder newspapers, you may choose a different guide. The guides cover a range of grade levels and topics.

Click on any of the Teachers' Guides covers below for a full sized sample page. Sample opens in a new window.

STUDENT CONTESTS

This year The Times-Dispatch will be holding a Student Editorial Cartoon Contest and a Student Essay Contest. The Student Editorial Cartoon Contest is open to middle and high school students and is a great way to study both editorial cartoons and the upcoming elections in your classroom. Students prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place winners for middle and high school. Cartoons can be sent in at any time but must be received by March 21, 2008.

The Student Essay Contest is open to elementary, middle and high school students and three winners will be chosen for each division. This essay contest is a great way to prepare for the upcoming writing SOL tests. Essays can be sent in at any time but must be received by February 29, 2008.

If you would like your class to participate, please email Patricia Powell at ppowell@timesdispatch.com or (804)649-6901 for a teacher packet. The teacher packet contains information on the rules, prompts, and prizes for the contest.

GUIDES AND SPECIAL PROJECTS

On Tuesday, February 12, the Times-Dispatch will run a special section in honor of Black History Month. The section will include features concerning black history, a story on Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and profiles on a few notable African American Virginians, plus other important facts on the subject. The section will be included as part of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and you will receive it if you order the newspaper for your students.

To honor Women’s History Month in March, The Times-Dispatch and the Library of Virginia will partner on a new women’s history series. The nine installments in the series will run Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays the first three weeks in March. With your order you will receive a class set of our Project Virginia booklets.

Order newspapers on Tuesdays in March and April and receive our SOL review booklet, designed for 3rd or 5th grade. Both books contain newspaper activities to go along with almost every SOL. You will receive a classroom set of the booklets for your students to work in with your order. If you already receive the newspaper for your class, you can order a classroom set of 25 booklets for $8.00.

Virginia History Series This fall we will be partnering with the Historical Society and the Civil War Museum on our new history series Virginia History: The Wars that Shaped Virginia, which will focus on the American Revolution and the Civil War. The series will run in Flair starting on October 2 through March 18.

Each fall we run a children's story that publishes once a week in our Flair Section. This year's series is entitled Freedom's Children and is set during the American Revolution.

Right before the winter holiday, we publish a week-long activity for students to keep them motivated while learning at a time they (and teachers) are anticipating the break.

The Times-Dispatch created a 3-poster set in honor of the 400th Anniversary of Jamestown. The poster set includes a poster of the Susan Constant, Exploration of the Chesapeake Bay, and a time line of the settlement of Jamestown. The set is available for $10*.

Click on any of the covers shown below to see an enlarged sample page. * denotes guide is available on CD.

PRIMARY

ABC’s in Color
Takes students through the alphabet and the newspaper. One booklet for each of your students. A great coloring book, too.

Primary Newsfun
Covers the major content areas and includes activities that are interesting and fun for students in grades K-2.

Reading to Follow Directions
Teaches phonics and sight words while leading students to follow directions.

ELEMENTARY

Using the Newspaper to Teach Virginia’s Standards of Learning
Lists SOL objectives and newspaper activities for the four major subject areas.

Fundamentals for Elementary Students *
Student-directed activity guide teaching basic competancies to address educational objectives

Elementary Math
Makes learning the SOL’s fun. Topics cover graphing, to fractions, to time.
Worksheets are included.

Project Virginia
Takes students into the newspaper to learn more about their state geography, history, and economics.

EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATION

Special Education and Cooperative Learning *
Covers K-12 subjects through activities involving the newspaper.

Using the Newspaper to Teach the Gifted Student
Provides activity extensions and higher level thinking opportunities for students who need more of a challenge.

Survival Skills for the Student
At-Risk
Creates interest for those students who need more than a traditional curriculum.

SECONDARY

Fundamentals for Secondary Students
Contains worksheets for the four major subject areas.

Virginia Social Studies Standards of Learning
Specifically correlated to the SOL’s and is an excellent guide for civics and the Constitution.

Using the Newspaper in Secondary Mathematics
Provides a wide range of activities for students to do using a newspaper. An excellent supplement to their textbook.

Economics: Ideas - Concepts - Applications
Incorporates real-life economics into your classroom. The activities in this guide range from the stock market to consumer goods.

Using the Newspaper to Teach the Virginia Standards of Learning for Middle School English
Specifically correlated to the SOL’s and provides a coordinating activity for each topic.

Read with the Pros
Provides worksheets for building reading skills and vocabulary development. Areas covered are details, main idea, context clues and predicting outcomes.

Measuring Up in Mathematics
Includes problem solving, geometry, graphing, algebra, statistics and probability.

Explore The World of Science: Using the Newspaper for Secondary Science
Gives ideas for using the newspaper to supplement science texts. Keeps science instruction up to date.

The Newspaper: A Skill-Builder in Work Related Education
Helps students plan job interviews, discuss attitude on the job, balance a checkbook, and understand taxes.

Using the Newspaper to Teach Remedial Reading: Secondary *
Helps students find reading elements and apply them in their learning of reading fundamentals.

Using the Newspaper to Teach Secondary English *
Helps students work with grammar, sentences, consonants and other english basics.

Using the Newspaper for Secondary Social Studies *
Lessons that focus on social studies subjects, supplemental lessons for classroom enrichment, and current events and citizenship education.

Teacher Guide: Hispanic Culture and Heritage
This guide contains activities in both Spanish and English. It can be used with either the Times-Dispatch or our Spanish language publication CENTRO.

MULTIPLE LEVELS

The Weather Page
Topics such cloud formations, air pressure, precipitation, and temperature are included. (4-12)

Earth Watch
Covers recycling, pollution and ecosystems. Activities promote environmental awareness. (4-12)

Character Education Through the Newspaper
Teaches students to evaluate good character and make good decisions.

Literacy Adult Basic Education
Utilizing the daily newspaper to teach adults. Four sections: Alphabetical Literacy, Reading Readiness, Numerical Literacy, and Survival Literacy.

Workshop NIE Style: Teacher's Guide
Created to assist the teacher in using the newspaper in the classroom while addressing the major content areas of the curriculum. Each activity focuses on a specific skill to help teachers plan and organize.