NIE Week (March 1-5, 2010)
Celebrate Newspaper in Education Week with us!
Newspaper in Education Week, a program of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation, is observed during the first school week of March. The goal of NIE Week is to reinforce a positive and relevant lifetime reading habit in students by engaging them with an authentic text – the newspaper.
Each year there is a new theme and resource guide. The 2010 theme is "Critical Thinking through Core Curriculum: Using Print and Digital Newspapers."
The free downloadable teacher's guide features a five-subject approach that takes advantage of the wide range of topics covered by newspapers. It provides structured lesson plans and activities for core curriculum by grade level — from 3rd up to 12th. It's available to NIE teachers after logging in here. (Click on the "Critical Thinking" category.)
Topics covered include character education, the environment, information technology, nutrition and financial literacy.
The guide provides an opportunity to teach critical thinking through subjects that will be vital to students' success as adults. In the age of Web sites, blogs and social networking, critical thinking is more important than ever!
Congratulations Melissa Rust of Crestwood Middle School! Melissa won a $100 gift card to Office Depot to use in her classroom by telling us how she will be using The Frederick News-Post in the classroom this week! CLICK HERE TO SEE HER WINNING ENTRY, and click here to view the link she used in her classroom project.
Also, be sure to check out this week's Especially 4 Kids page (in Tuesday's edition) for ways to incorporate critical thinking and The Frederick News-Post in your next lesson plan!
Design-An-Ad (May 4, 2010)
Teachers: We've completed all class presentations! Here is the Powerpoint we used to better display what makes a winning ad design: Powerpoint.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
- All permission forms and due with the ads on March 19
- Students cannot use computer art, lettering or photographs except those supplied by the advertiser.
- Make sure the students don't turn the ads on their side!
- And all ads should be designed in the classroom.
All ads that do not meet the specifications outlined will be disqualified. Click here for contest rules.
During the Design an Ad program, middle school students and teachers team up with business owners to create an ad for a local business. Middle School Students (grades 6-8) are asked to use their artistic talents to design an ad that is paid for by the business owner. The winning ads are displayed in a special publication of The Frederick News-Post on May 4, 2010!
- Here is last year’s tab of winning designs!
The contest provides your students the opportunity to apply their studies in Language Arts and Visual Arts, while challenging them to use creativity, logic and critical thinking skills as they create ads for an advertiser in The Frederick News-Post. The Design-an-Ad competition augments Frederick County Language Arts and Visual Arts curriculum.
For more information, click here, or email me your questions.
History Bee (March 19, 2010) .jpg)
Yep, it's that time again! The Frederick News-Post’s 11th History Bee is scheduled and the planning process has begun. This year, we’re challenging students to “Remember When” in 2010! The FNP History Bee is a competition for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students that provides them the opportunity to apply their Social Studies Curriculum and knowledge of local history. For a downloadable pdf of the 2010 History Bee details, click here.
Practice Questions: You and your students can find practice questions in The Frederick News-Post Especially 4 Kids page until the day of the competition! This is a good way for students to prepare for the big day, as well as freshen up on their social studies curriculum! The questions are provided as samples only. They are not guaranteed to be the questions asked during the History Bee nor should they be considered a comprehensive list. We provide the practice questions to give students a feeling for the types of questions that will be asked during the History Bee.?Each school practices differently for the Bee. Some hold mini competitions. You can create your own questions, if you wish, use questions from previous years (see 2009 sample questions below), have students create questions to test each other etc. How you prepare with your students is completely up to you but don't forget to check the Tuesday edition of The FNP each week for new practice questions.
Other ways to practice: To prepare for the final round of local history questions we encourage students to read local history texts and to visit Frederick County Historic Sites - for a list of Frederick County Historic Sites and Museums, including hours of operation CLICK HERE.
2010 Online Interactive Quiz
2009 History Bee Practice Questions
Will you be participating in the big day? Here's some other information you might like to know:
- Registration is from 10:30-11:40 a.m., and the Bee will begin promptly at noon. There will be a time designated for concessions — we ask that all students, parents and teachers remain seated while the Bee is in process. More general information can be found here.
- Show your support with banners and posters!
- The History Bee will be covered by The Frederick News-Post! For complete FNP coverage of last year’s event, click here.
If you have any questions, contact Jessica Frizen, NIE Coordinator, at 240-215-8681.
Pigskin Geography (Sept. 8-Dec. 21, 2009)
Congratulations to The Burgers, of Myersville Elementary School!
Pictured is 5th-grade MYES teacher Bob Ziegler and his winning Pigskin team, The Burgers, at their party. The group received FNP flip-out flyers as part of their prize.
They earned 237 points and are the 2009 Pigskin Geography winners! They won a Pigskin party in January. Thanks to everyone who played!
Especially 4 Kids Page
Julie & the Lost Fairy Tale
For the next 15 weeks, we'll be joining 11-year-old Julie as she finds a lost fairy tale, from the Brothers Grimm, in the attic of her grandmother's southern plantation. The manuscript was brought over on the ship, the Kaiser Wilhelm, by 11-year-old Cordelia Grimm, and left in the care of Julie's grandmother almost 50 years ago. When Julie meets the editor of her local newspaper, plans are made to surprise both Julie's grandmother and the people in her town.
Here are some topics we'll discuss along the way: American history, geography, vocabulary, writing short stories, the environment, relationships, family history, foreign languages, group work, favorite books, your imagination, and more!
Ultimate Football Fan Photo Contest (Aug. 30-Nov. 5)
This year's NIE fundraiser! Voting for the second and final round has ended and we have our Ultimate Football Fan! Thanks to everyone who participated!! We raised $3,474.50 for NIE and $300 for Special Olympics and Frederick County!
Congrats to our winners!
First place - Tom Moser, Raven Maniac 2,450 VOTES!
Second Place - Brian Lauer, Happy Redskins Family 2,362 VOTES!
Third Place - Kimberly Goad, Purple Power 2,170 VOTES
Thanks to all our sponsors!!
MVP Sponsor: McDonald's (Rt. 40 & Old Camp Road)
Pictured, from left, are representatives from McDonald's — the Ultimate Football Fan photo contest MVP sponsor — Mustafa Anderabi and Sadia Anderabi; Myron Randall, The Frederick News-Post; winner Tom Moser; and Syed Anderabi, of McDonald's.
Franchise Sponsors: The Greene Turtle, Glory Days Grill, Major League Fans and WoW Café and Wingery
Free Agent Sponsors: Beans & Bagels, The Frederick News-Post, Flying Dog Brewery, GameStop, Graphcom Inc., Green Castle Greens, Hillcrest Wine and Spirits, McCutcheon's Apple Products, If the Shoe Fits, Sams Club, Starbucks, and Uno Chicago Grill.
We're now on Twitter!
Follow FNP's NIE program with updates and breaking news regarding FCPS. To start "following" me, go to www.twitter.com/fnpnie.
The Great Frederick Fair Media Core (Sept. 21-24, 2009)
FNP teams up with The Great Frederick Fair each year to provide students with a chance to be a part of the fair's daily newsletter. Students from different schools are matched up with editors and reporters from The Frederick News-Post to learn the "ins and outs" of producing articles and page designs under a tight deadline. At the end of the week, six students with the top print and broadcast products were presented with awards.
Shown are students and staff at the awards ceremony, which concluded Media Core 2009. From left, bottom row, are Kate Walters (instructor, Gov. Thomas Johnson High School) and Garrett Frank. Top: Susan Summers (The Great Frederick Fair), Katelyn Keller (Tuscarora High School), Adam Frank (instructor, Frederick Community College), Noelle Workman (TJHS), Allison Butler (TJHS), Casey Film (Middletown High School), Mryon Randall (FNP), Becky Brashear (GFF), and Brenda Main (GFF).
Thanks to everyone who participated! We hope you enjoyed the experience.
Frederick News-Post/Mike Powell Journalism Awards 2009
Student journalists from five Frederick County high schools — Catoctin, Frederick, Gov. Thomas Johnson, Middletown and Urbana — were honored Tuesday by The Frederick News-Post. The awards ceremony was held at the newspaper, just outside the pressroom door.
The Frederick News-Post/Mike Powell Excellence in Journalism Awards are named in honor of former managing editor Mike Powell, who died in 2004. Powell, who began his newspaper career as a student at the University of Maryland at The Diamondback, was the driving force behind the awards to honor student achievement.
Congratulations to our winners!
FCPL Summer Reading Program
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Where in the World is Flat Sneaks contest! We hope you enjoyed traveling around Frederick and reading with Flat Sneaks this summer!
Keep your eyes open next summer for more fun reading activities and contests during the FCPL's annual Summer Reading Program! And keep up the good work!
