Compare and Contrast

When you compare two things, you see how they are alike.

When you contrast two things, you see how they are different.

Read this article on anacondas, then read this article on alligators. Then compare and contrast the two animals USING COMPLETE SENTENCES.

What is the cause?

"SHE LOWERED THE KNIFE AND IT GREW EVEN BRIGHTER"

The above image and caption is from the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. What is the cause for the pumkin to grow brighter?
You have 6 minutes to write your answer - be creative!

Tigers

The wild tiger population is at an all-time low. Governments and conservation groups are working to save them. Is it too late? Read this Time For Kids article and answer the following questions.
1. What are some of the causes for the decline in the tiger population?
2. The largest population of Bengal Tigers is located on the coast of India and Bangladesh. What will the effect be if sea levels rise too high?
3 & 4. Read this paragraph from the article:
"Last month, leaders from 12 Asian nations and Russia met to discuss plans to save the tiger. They are cracking down on hunters and adopting bans on the sale of tiger products. They are also looking for ways to protect the tiger habitat."
For number 3, write the sentence that tells the effect. For number 4, write the sentence that tells the cause.

If you have time read about tigers by clicking this link.
5. What are your final thoughts on the declining tiger population?

*A cause is a person, event, condition, or reason that is responsible for an action or result.
*An effect is a result brought about by a cause.

Chinese New Year

More than one billion people around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year. Read this article and answer the following questions.

1. Give 3 facts from the story.

2. Give 3 opinions you have about the story.

3. What is this story MOSTLY about?

4. Write 3 questions from the story for other students to answer (1 easy, 1 medium, 1 hard).

Your Thoughts...

For the past two weeks we've been watching CNN Student News and having discussions on the stories from around the globe. Because of time, not everyone gets a chance to chime in on topics that interest them. THIS IS YOUR CHANCE! Write about some of the topics that we've been discussing and tell the class how you feel. Yes, you can be opinionated. You can write about any topic that has been on CNN Student News.

*Do not retell the story, GIVE YOUR OPINION.*

(Past topics included: Toyota recall, Haiti, the economy, Winter Olympics, Black History, the education system, Black History Month, war, national security, etc, etc, etc...)

State of the American Kid: 2010

This TIME For Kids article wanted to know: What's it like to be you? To find out, we went straight to the source. We asked 1,000 kids, ages 9 to 13, about life here in the United States.

After you've read the article, click this link to take a survey on what it's like to be a kid living in the U.S. After the survey, blog about your results and anything else that you found interesting.

*When completing the survey, only use your first name.

On the Road to Civil Rights

This Time For Kids link shows historic photos of some important events in both the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and the struggle for civil rights. Look over the 7 slides and read the description of each slide. Pick 2-3 slides and write about how YOU feel about that slide and description. BE OPINIONATED! Don't put something basic like, "I like slide ___ because it shows Martin Luther King Jr. fighting for Civil Rights." That's boring - this is a blog post where you can tell the class how you feel about a topic, not just retell the facts from a story. If there is something you don't understand, then write about that in your blog entry and we can answer it as a class.