100 WAYS TO USE THE NEWSPAPER

High School

Continuing with themes started with junior high, students learn about employment, everyday measurements, and the major issues of the day.

Research the monetary unit of a foreign country, and then change the prices in 10 display ads in your newspaper into foreign currency.
Challenge your class to defy the truth that a piece of newspaper cannot be folded more than eight times. Let them go on to try any other type of paper, from tissue to crepe!
Look for a grocery ad with a soft drink advertisement. Figure how many fluid ounces are in the eight bottle carton or six pack, and break it down into pints, quarts, gallons and liters.
Every week, check through the job listings and put a red X through those jobs that could not be filled by a high school dropout. Put a black X through those that could be filled by a person with technical school or college training. Discuss your findings.
Choose an editorial and read it carefully. Decide which statements or parts of statements are fact, which are opinion, and whether or not the tone of the editorial is conservative or liberal. Watch for upcoming issues to see if there is any reaction to the editorial in the letters to the editor column.
Check the salary levels for unskilled workers in your newspaper's want ads, and compare the salaries to those for skilled laborers or professional positions. Explain the differences.
Select a sports story that is of interest to you, and rewrite active voice sentences into passive voice.
On the front page of the newspaper, circle in red all forms of the verb "to be" and in blue all forms of the verb "to have".
Occasionally newspaper headlines can accidentally (or on purpose) have dual meanings. Over the period of several weeks, clip any headlines, which you feel could have more than one meaning and discuss your reasoning why.
Using editorials set up classroom debate team and discuss the pro and con side of the issue presented.
Using your newspaper, collect product and service advertisements of things that were not available 30 years ago. Discuss the scientific advancements that have made these new products and services available to the public.
Clip pictures of animals and plants from the newspaper and, on large sheet so of paper, glue them into their species categories.
Study the periodic chart of the elements, and then take a red magic marker and mark the appropriate chemical symbols on articles, ads and anything else that mentions an element.
Clip ads that are representative of the businesses and/or industries in your community. Make a collage of them and include any articles and pictures that may appear as well. Write a brief essay telling of the importance and influence of the companies in your area.
Have a discussion of employment trends and demands in your community, based on the help wanted section of the classified ads and any related articles.