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Student Opinion: Do You Spend Too Much Time on Smart Phones Playing 'Stupid Games'?
This versatile resource from The New York Times website provides a short opinion piece on smart phones and the amount of time we spend playing games on them as well as several possible writing prompts pupils could consider in response to...
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Increase Kindness, Defeat Bullying: Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation
High-interest content captures your most reluctant readers and class participants. Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation, in collaboration with Harvard University, seeks to nurture a culture of kindness and reduce bullying. Excerpts from...
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Student Opinion: What Small Things Have You Seen and Taken Note of Today?
An interesting and unusual topic for a news article, this resource from the New York Times website asks learners to take a moment and consider all the things they notice during a typical day. Based of the editorial piece "Things I...
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Student Opinion: What Are You Afraid Of?
A great resource for informational texts as well as writing topics, the New York Times website provides writing prompts about various news articles through The Learning Network. This particular worksheet provides a very short...
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Student Opinion: How Impulsive Are You?
Sure to spark lively discussion in any Language Arts classroom, this article from The York Times asks the question, 'How much self-control do you have?'. Pupils begin by reading a short passage about a study on delayed gratification and...
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Student Opinion: Should Couples Live Together Before Marriage?
Bring nonfiction into the classroom with this high-interest op-ed piece from the New York Times about love, marriage, and relationships in the 21st century. Pupils read a short article on the topic of cohabitation and offer their own...
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The Learning Network: Reactions to Rating Teachers
Meant to be used in connection with the article "In Teacher Ratings, Good Test Scores Are Sometimes Not Good Enough" also available on The New York Times website, this resource provides 12 short-answer writing prompts that ask both basic...
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The Learning Network: The First Middle School Chess Champs
Introduce some nonfiction reading into your classroom! This resource contains seven comprehension questions pertaining to an article from The New York Times website about the first middle schoolers to ever win the United States Chess...
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Lin at Home and Abroad
What is so amazing about Jeremy Lin? Read the following New York Times article and find out. The article and 13 comprehension questions regarding this basketball super star are awaiting your eager readers.
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Hip-Hop History and the Beastie Boys
So what about those Beastie Boys? Kids read a New York Times article relating the history of hip-hop and rap icons the Beastie Boys. They then answer eleven who, what, when, where, and why questions about the text they read.
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The Learning Network: More Like Disney
A great source of high-interest reading for the language arts classroom! Meant to be used with an article also available on the New York Times website, this worksheet provides 10 comprehension questions about the reading as well as one...
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Student Opinion: Who Inspires You?
Inspire your class to write about role models and personal heroes with this resource from The Learning Network. Class members read a New York Times article excerpt about basketball star Jeremy Lin and how he inspired the author. After...
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What Time Should Black Friday Sales Start?
Young bloggers respond to an article which describes the controversy of Black Friday starting on Thanksgiving night instead of the day after. Target employees were outraged that the store decided to open on Thanksgiving night, which...
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A Victory for Tiger Woods
What's up with Tiger Woods? Find out by reading a sports article describing an upswing in Tiger's career. Interested readers will scan the article to answer nine comprehension questions. Note: A secondary related article and blog post...
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Nov. 8, 1960 | Kennedy Is Elected President
Using the presidential election of 1960 as background information, learners consider the push of electoral reform. They read about the events and issues surrounding President Kennedy's win in 1960 and compare them to the same issues...
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Is TV Stronger Than Ever, or Becoming Obsolete?
The New York Times offers of two articles and two summaries for learners to consider. They read each article and then post a blog response to each of the seven related questions. The topic of the articles asks the question; Is TV...
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Student Opinion: Are You Popular, Quirky or Conformist?
Approach the topic of popularity with this resource from the New York Times and their Learning Network series. The article is about Alexandra Robbins' "Quirk Theory." Learners respond to the article excerpt either on paper or...
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Do Presidential Candidates Need to Be Good Debaters?
Blogs can be a good way for learners to engage in writing, critical thinking, and social media in a formal way. The New York Times has provided learners age 13-18 with an article, background information, and several prompts to get them...
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March 2, 1877: Hayes Declared Winner in Disputed Presidential Election
After reading an interesting article comparing the disputed presidential election of 1877 to a similar event in the year 2000, kids blog a response. They read the article, check out the embedded links, then respond to four related...
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What Do You Think of Obama's Oval Office Speech on the Oil Spill?
Kids age 13 and older are asked to read the provided Times article and background information in order to construct a thoughtful blog response to Obama's first Oval Office speech. They work to address each of the related critical...