Subjects
Arts & Humanities
--Language Arts
Social Studies
--Current Events
--Geography
Grades
Grades 2-up
News Content
Oprah Winfrey has built a new school in South Africa that will give more than 150 students a chance for a better future.
Anticipation Guide
Before reading, write the word Africa on a board or chart. Can students identify the location of Africa on a world map? If not, show them where it is. Tell them that Africa is a continent made up of many countries. You might familiarize students with the names and locations of some of those countries, including the country of South Africa, which is the location of this weeks News for Kids article.
Ask students what they know about Africa. Write down some of their perceptions. If they offer any stereotypes (for example, if statements such as Everyone in Africa is poor or Africans live in huts), you might ask if they think that is true of all of Africa or just parts of the continent.
News Words
Write on a board or chart the following words: attend, academy, applied, and accepted. Have students use those words in sentences to be sure they comprehend their meanings. If you have taught the skill of alphabetical order, have them alphabetize the list of words.
Read the News
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Click for a printable version of this weeks news story Oprah Winfrey Opens New School in Africa.
More Facts to Share
You might share these additional facts with students after they have read this weeks news story.
Comprehension Check
Recalling Detail
Think About the News
Introduce the Think About the News question that appears on the students news page. Have students write letters, as the activity suggests. If you dont have them write letters, let student share some ideas they might include in their letters if they were to write them.
Follow-Up Activities
Language arts letter writing. Do the activity introduced in the Think About the News box on the students printable news page. Before using the activity, you might take time to review with students the parts and form of a friendly or business letter.
Dictionary skills. Use this activity to teach or reinforce the skill of using dictionary guide words. Write the following information on a board or chart.
Page 2: aardvark academyThen write some words from the following list on the board or chart, and ask students to use the guide words to help them identify on which page in the dictionary each word would be found: advice (page 5), attach (page 8), antler (page 7), accident (page 3), alike (page 6), adult (page 5), antique (page 7), above (page 2), angel (page 6), air (page 5, amen (page 6), artist (page 8), add (page 4), ahead (page 5), astronaut (page 8), afraid (page 5), apple (page 7), able (page 2), adjective (page 4), alphabet (page 6), and aquarium (page 8).
Page 3: accepted adopt
Page 5: adore alarm
Page 6: album animal
Page 7: ankle applied
Page 8: appreciate attend
Geography. Have students locate the country of South Africa on a map of Africa. Point out that South Africa is in the southern part of the continent. Then have students locate the following African countries and tell whether each is in northern, southern, eastern, or western part of Africa: Mali (western or northern); Kenya (eastern); Sudan (eastern or northern); Algeria (northern or western); Liberia (western); Zimbabwe (southern); Libya (northern); Botswana (southern); Ethiopia (eastern); Egypt (northern); Madagascar (eastern or southern); and Somalia (eastern).
Assessment
Use the Comprehension Check (above) as an assessment. Or have students work on their own (in their journals) or in their small groups to respond to the Think About the News question on their printable news story page.
Lesson Plan Source
Education WorldNational Standards
LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.9 Multicultural Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.11 Participating in Society
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Geography
GRADES K - 12
NSS-G.K-12.1 The World in Spatial Terms
See recent news stories in Education Worlds News Story of the Week Archive.
Article by Ellen Delisio and Gary Hopkins
Education World®
Copyright © 2007 Education World
01/11/2007