Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • January 22, 2014 Using newspapers to teach kids in the classroom Few resources are as inexpensive yet inherently valuable as the local newspaper. For educators, newspapers can be a valu- able teaching tool. Younger kids typically are not avid readers, but newspapers are often reader-friendly, with concise articles that are not as long-winded as chapters in a book. Teachers hoping to instill a love of reading in their pupils can put the local newspaper to work in a variety of ways. Teach kids the “Five Ws (and the H).” Most adults recall the lesson of the “Five Ws (and the H): who, what, when, where, why, and how. Newspaper articles are typi- cally built around the rule that encourages reporters to answer these six questions in the first several paragraphs of an article. Teachers can give their students the news- paper and have them identify the Five Ws and the H. Students are likely to embrace the reader-friendly nature of news articles, and might just pick up their mom or dad’s newspaper around the house as a result. Teach the difference between editori- als and hard news stories. When using the newspaper as a teaching tool, teachers can give students two different articles: one news piece and one editorial. Before explaining the difference, ask kids to iden- tify the differences. Chances are kids will pick up on the main difference. An edito- rial is an opinion piece that uses facts to support an idea, while a news story simply reports the facts without giving an opinion. National Catholic Schools Week to begin January 26 Catholic Schools Week will be held from Jan. 26 through Feb. 1 this year. Launched in 1974, Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic Edu- cation in the United States. This year’s theme is “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge, and Service.” This annual event begins the last Sunday in January and runs all week. Schools typically observe National Cath- olic Schools Week with Masses, Open Houses, and other activities for students, families, parishioners, and community members. Through these events, schools focus on the value Catholic education pro- vides to young people and its contributions to churches, communities, and the nation. This can prove a valuable lesson for kids to learn, promoting reading comprehension and teaching kids to question the source of their reading materials in an analytical way. Encourage kids to read their favorite sections of the newspaper. Kids are kids, and they’re may not be interested in the front page stories. However, there are sec- tions in every newspaper that can appeal to kids, and teachers and parents alike should encourage their kids to read those sections that interest them. The entertainment sec- tion might have stories about kids’ favor- ite movies, while young sports fans are likely to enjoy articles about their favorite teams and players. The goal is to get kids excited about reading, and many parts of the newspaper are filled with articles kids can enjoy. Use the local stories as a teaching tool. The local news is something kids can often relate to, with stories about people they know and places in or near their home- town. Human interest stories about local residents doing good deeds or about local businessmen and women setting trends might give kids a greater sense of pride in their community. The local newspaper is a wonderful tool for educators to use with their students. If there is not one already, teachers should contact their local school board or even their local paper to see if an agreement can be worked out where teachers can provide their students with the local newspaper every day.