The Newspaper in Education program is a free service from The Press Enterprise

1. Have students compile a list of words that they are not familiar with in their newspaper reading. They can make a crossword puzzle using these words and the definitions that they have researched.

2. On the front page of the newspaper, have students circle in red all the forms of the verb "to be" and in blue all the forms of the verb "to have."
3. Occasionally, newspaper headlines can have dual meanings (intentionally or accidentally). Over a period of several weeks, have students clip any headlines which meet this criterion. Have them explain. Award a prize to the student who can find a headline with 3 or 4 meanings.

4. As they read an article or letter in The Press-Enterprise, have students list and determine the meanings of key words about the topic. Then ask students to use each key word in an original sentence. Summarize the article using the defined terms.

5. Divide the class into groups and assign each a topical area (e.g., government, foreign policy, economics, the media). Compile a list of words specific to each group’s assigned area appearing in one issue. Write definitions of those words.

6. Write a one-page paragraph summary of one article in the newspaper. Read the summaries out loud. Discuss how you decided what to include.

7. Read an article and divide the class into groups. Half of the groups will identify important events in the article and arrange them in sequence. The other half will identify important facts and arrange them in order of importance. Discuss the similarities and differences.

8. Give students facts from an article and have them write their own news article based on these facts. Compare students’ versions with the original article. Have students locate and describe any discrepancies between their versions and the original newspaper article.

9. Find a news article written in the past tense. Have students clip it out of the paper and then rewrite it in the present tense.

10. Have students select a Sports story of interest of them. Have them rewrite active voice sentences into passive voice and vice versa.

11. Ask student to locate satirical column in the paper (Dan Bernstein, for example). Have them write an analysis of the article indicating the elements that are used to achieve the satire (hyperbole, metaphor, simile, etc.)

12. Rewrite classified ads in full sentences, interpreting abbreviations and using unabbreviated words.

13. Choose a photo from The Press-Enterprise and cut it out. Look at the photo without reading the caption below it or the story that accompanies it. Write 5 to 10 questions about the photo. You may include some questions that can't be answered by looking at something in the photo. Exchange photos and questions with a classmate, and each make up a story about the photo you received. The story must answer the questions that came with it. Share your stories with each other. Then compare your stories with the caption and newspaper story that went with the photo.