New York News Publishers Association | Newspapers in Education (NIE)

Newspapers in Education (NIE)

It's not to late to start "Anna's Story"

Author Mike Peterson and Illustrator Christopher Baldwin have teamed up again to produce a 9 chapter sequel to the popular story, "Tommy and the Guttersnipe." "Anna's Story" is a nine-chapter story in which McMahon family moves west to Denver, just before the turn of the 20th Century. There they meet Anna, one of an estimated 200,000 homeless and orphaned New York City children sent to farm families on the Orphan Trains between 1854 and 1929.

In a multi-chapter flashback, we see Anna in New York, living the life of a homeless girl in the streets of New York, from an abusive childhood to her "sale" to a cigar maker at six, where she lived as a virtual slave working in a dark tenement, to her running away and attempting to live on the streets until she comes under the protection of the Children's Aid Society and is sent west to a new life. When she tells the boys of a little brother abandoned in the streets at four,
they realize she is Jake's older sister.

Together, the children team up -- using what they have learned about the difference between the success that comes from sustained effort, versus the results of "get rich quick" schemes -- to help Anna repay her new family by hoodwinking a conman who cheated her adult stepbrother out of a large sum of money.

In addition to the teaching guide and online student quiz/essay contest, this year's project has a "meet the author blog" and the option for schools to set interactive videocast or Skype

Newspapers are still encouraged to sign up for "Anna's Story." Click here to download the newspaper agreement form.

Teachers wishing to share "Anna's Story" with their classroom should contact their local daily newspaper's NIE department or email Mary Miller.

Shel Silverstein's Upcoming Poetry Newspaper Series

The NAA Foundation and HarperCollins Children’s Books are teaming up to offer a free serial featuring works by beloved children’s poet Shel Silverstein. This serial will coincide with National Poetry Month in April. Materials will be available for download from the Foundation Web site sometime in March. The 10 poems selected by teacher and student voting are:

From Where the Sidewalk Ends:
                Boa Constrictor
                Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
                Where the Sidewalk Ends
                Sick (write-in winner!)

From A Light in the Attic:
                Homework Machine
                Messy Room

From Falling Up:
                Lyin’ Larry
                Toy Eater

From Runny Babbit:
                Kugs and Hisses

From Don’t Bump the Glump:
                Slithergadee

And an 11th “bonus” poem - “Garbage Soup”

Get young people excited about reading - promote the 2010 Charlotte Awards.

Named for the main character in E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, the purpose of the Charlotte Award is to encourage students to read outstanding literature and ultimately become life-long readers. Additionally, the award recognizes the authors and illustrators of such literature. Students in New York State will read titles on the ballot and vote for their favorites. Ballots must be postmarked by April 15, 2010. Votes will be tallied, and winners will receive their awards at the Annual NYSRA Statewide Conference that immediately follows the voting deadline. More

Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Materials

2009 marked the 400th anniversary of Hudson and Champlain's voyages along the river and lake that bear their names -- and the 200th anniversary of Fulton's successful steamboat voyage and establishment of steam commerce on the Hudson River.

In cooperation with the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Cultural Education Center, the NYNPA Newspaper In Education Program created a 10-part NIE educational series with extensive links to other educational materials and a teachers' guide. These materials will remain on our Web site as a continued resource for those interested in Hudson River and Champlain Valley History. More

The Weekly Storybook

The Weekly Storybook

Teachers Guide

Mike Peterson, whose serials include the popular "Tommy and the Guttersnipe" that was offered by newspapers throughout New York in 2008, has conducted workshops for both teachers and NIE professionals throughout the country and ran NIE programs at the Press-Republican in Plattsburgh and The Post-Star in Glens Falls.

Newspapers are welcome to share Mike's stories by adding a link to The Weekly Storybook on their websites, although full framing is not allowed, newspapers can mask the URL with their own web address as does the link to the left.

"Newspapers increasingly have no space for educational features in print, nor can they afford a full-time person to select materials and coordinate distribution," he said. "This allows them to preserve their relationships with both schools and parents by adding a link to their web sites that will bring young readers back every week for the next chapter in the story, while offering educators and parents quality standards-based curriculum guides that are specific to those stories."

Peterson welcomes feedback. You can comment on any story through the link directly below the story itself. Please note: these comments are fully monitored and safe for students to participate.

Mike can also be contacted at via email at serials@teachup.com.

Parental Involvement in Education using Newspapers

Please click on the EPIC logo to view or download the 35 parent tips (PDF format). These features were created to give Moms, Dads, Grandparents and other adults short and easy ideas to be more involved in a young child's educational development.