Newspaper Activities for Students in Grades 3-5

Letters & Words

Have Students:

1. Cut out headlines and separate the words. Put them in alphabetical order.

2. Cut out words in headlines and make sentences out of them.

3. Find a picture of something and cut out letters to spell the word.

4. Make funny headlines or sentences with words cut from the paper.

5. Search for an advertisement about something they would like to buy. Have the circle the adjectives in the ad.

6. Cut out words that describe how they see themselves.

7. Rewrite a nursery rhyme as if it were a news story. Share it with the class and see if anyone knows which nursery rhyme was used.

8. Clip an interesting photo from a newspaper and write a news story to go with it.

9. Write a classified ad of no more than 20 words about toys they would like to sell.

10. Find five pronouns in a news article. Next to the pronoun have them write the noun it refers to in the story.

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Numbers

1. Play "numbers race." Find and circle the numbers 1-25 in two minutes.

2. Measure the length, width, and area of one page of The Mercury News.

3. Count every nose that is pictured in Section A.

4. Count the number of pages in the Classified Section that advertise cars.

5. Find the weather forecast inside The Mercury News. Figure the difference between the high and low temperatures for different cities.

6. Circle all the numbers on the front page.

7. Count the number of pages in today's paper.

8. Count all the different colors in today's paper. Print the name of each color.

9. Go on a scavenger hunt with a partner. Find ten items selling for $20 or less anywhere in today's Mercury News.

10. Give them an imaginary $15 to spend and have them find a present they'd like to buy for one of their family members that doesn't exceed that amount (assume tax is included in the amount of the item). Then have them figure out how much money they'll have left after paying for the present.