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

1. Define and have students label the following on the front page of their papers: Skybox, Teaser, Nameplate, Flag, Date, Price, Lead, Headline, Refer, Wire Service Story, Column, Dateline, Index, Jumpline, Cutline, Gutter, Byline, Deck, Cut.

2. Have students tell report the page the following can be found on: classified ads, stock market listings, advice column, editorial page, weather.

3. Have students locate where the following information would be found: The cost of a subscription, the editor of the paper, the address to write the editor.

4. Have students find an article about the following: a meeting of a government agency a press conference, a disaster or unexpected event, something about schools, something relevant to a person their age.

5. Have students find five stories from different cities in California. Next have them find five stories from different states and five stories from different countries.

6. Have students scan the newspaper and identify some of the beats covered by reporters. Ask them what beat they would like to cover and why.

7. Use the 5 Ws and H (who, what, where, when, why and how) to analyze a newspaper article. How many of the questions are answered in the lead paragraph (usually the first or second paragraph)?

8. Have students find examples of stories or articles that are written to: inform the reader, interpret the news for the reader, entertain the reader, influence the reader.

9. Discuss article headlines. What makes a good headline? Write new headlines for articles. Share them in class.

10. Analyze an editorial. Focus especially on separating fact from opinion and assessing how the writer makes a case. Write an original editorial on an assigned topic.

11. Have individual students find several news stories, clip off the headlines, and then trade their work, matching each other’s headlines and articles.

12. Have students examine an issue of The Press-Enterprise to determine which articles and letters might be of special interest to particular groups of people (e.g., businesspeople, economists, politicians, consumers, taxpayers).

13. Have students use two highlighting pens to mark a news article—one color to identify facts, the other for opinions. Have students work in pairs to compare their classifications and reach agreement on any differences.

14. When an article addresses a controversial issue, ask students to divide a piece of paper into two columns labeled PRO and CON and summarize information in the appropriate columns.

15. After students have read an issue of The Press-Enterprise, have them propose alternative photographs and cover story headlines for that issue of the paper.

16. Have students use facts in various articles in The Press-Enterprise and other publications to support or refute the point of view expressed in the editorial page.

17. Have students write letters to the editor or essays in which they agree or disagree with the point of view expressed in the editorial page.

18. After students have read an article about a particular issue, ask them to state their opinions and then write editorials that express the point of view that is the opposite of their own.

19. Is freedom of the press important? After reading the newspaper for several weeks, have students write a report on whether or not they feel freedom of the press is important.

20. Divide the class into groups and assign each a news beat, such as the White House, Congress, consumer affairs, metro, sports, or entertainment. Use the newspaper to prepare a brief news report to be delivered by one group member in the role of a TV reporter. Afterwards, discuss how groups chose what to include.

21. As a long-range assignment, have groups give a weekly report to update the class on new or developing news in a special area. (To familiarize students with several areas, you might rotate each group’s area of specialization with new groups picking up where old groups left of and continuing the assignment).

22. As part of the groups’ responsibility as "experts," have each group write several weekly quiz items drawn from its area of specialization.

23. Have students—with either a serious or a humorous approach—combine parts of advertisements in The Press-Enterprise to form a new advertisement.

24. Have students produce their own newspaper. You might ask students to produce letters, articles, editorials and the like for specific sections of The Press-Enterprise; ask students to identify and describe the purpose and key characteristics of such sections of the newspaper.

25. Challenge your class to defy the truth that a piece of newspaper cannot be folded more than eight times. Let them go on to try any other type of paper: from tissue to crepe.

26. Stories are often attributed to news services. See how many different services you can find mentioned in the newspaper. Discuss how news services work.

27. Some people feel there is not enough good news in the newspaper. Put it to the test. Categorize each article in the newspaper as good news or bad. Which has more? Explain why you think newspapers often print "bad news." Is any news good for some people, bad for others?