Teachers and homeschool parents, please share this with your students. Using this guide will make your subjects more relevant and interesting to your pupils and will encourage creative thought. If you or your students have any suggestions or ideas for these teacher guides, please email Sarah Nachin at [email protected]. This guide is based on the newest Florida Standards for grades K-12.
Activities and Questions based on the Apr. 11, 2025 – Apr. 17, 2025 issue
Theatre Arts Activity for High School: (TH.912.S.2.3) Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by developing a character analysis for one or more of its major characters and show how the analysis clarifies the character’s physical and emotional dimensions.
Read the article on pg. B-3 and B-14 about the Central High School production of “Jekyll and Hyde.” Then go online to research information about the play focusing on some of the more important characters in the play. These would be Dr. Jekyll (and his alter ego, Mr. Hyde); Emma his fiancée; Emma’s father, Lord Danvers; John Utterson, his best friend; or Lucy, the girl in the tavern. Analyze two of those characters, describing that person’s personality, their relationship to Dr. Jekyll; their goal; and whether or not they achieved their goal. Your essay should be at least 400 words.
Extra Credit: Read the novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson. Then compare the novel to the play. How was it similar? What were major differences. You can listen to the audiobook here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM9y0bgditc . Your essay should be at least 400 words.
Composition Activity for High School: (ELA.10.C.3.1) Follow the rules of standard English grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling appropriate to grade level.
Read the article on pages A-1 and A-6 about the people nominated for “Outstanding Leader.” Then summarize the article. Use a minimum of direct quotes from the article (no more than three). Be sure and include a topic sentence or two, at least four sentences expanding on the topic and a concluding sentence or two wrapping up the article. Your summary should be at least 375 words.
Extra Credit: Just using the information found in the article, write an essay explaining who you would vote for and why. Your essay should be at least 300 words.
Math Activity for Middle School: (MA.K12.MTR.7.1) Apply mathematics to real-world contexts. Study the following advertisements: First Financial Guarantee (pg. A-1), Wilson Technology (pg. A-5), Van’s Cars & Trucks (pg. A-6), and Sapphire Pool Company (pg. B-1). Measure the width and height of each ad and then convert that to column inches. A column is approximately 2.5” wide, so if an ad measures 5” wide x 4” high, it would be 2 col x 4” (or 8 column inches – multiply 2 x 4). The advertising rate is $7.50 per column inch, so if your ad is 8 column inches it would cost $60 for one week. Calculate the cost of the ad, given the information in the question:
1. First Financial Guarantee runs their ad for six weeks. For the first three weeks, they pay full price, but for every week after that, they get a 15% discount on each ad. How much will they pay all together for their ads?
2. Sapphire Pool Company runs their ad for three weeks. Who will pay the most in total for their advertising – First Financial or Sapphire Pool Company?
3. Wilson Technology runs their ad for eight weeks with a 15% discount on the last five ads. Van’s Cars & Trucks is running their ad for two weeks. Mr. Wilson owns Wilson Technology and Van’s Cars & Trucks. How much will Mr. Wilson be paying in total for all his ads?
4. First Financial changes his ad campaign to just two weeks; Sapphire Pool Company decides to run their ads for five weeks; Wilson Technology changes their ad run to just three weeks; and Vans, Cars & Trucks decides to run their ads for four weeks. How much ad revenue will the newspaper make from these four advertisers?
5. In the summer, Sapphire Pools decides to run their ad every week for eight weeks. How much more will they be paying for their advertising than when they ran their ad for just three weeks?
Composition activity for Middle School: (ELA.6.C.3.1) Follow the rules of standard English grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling appropriate to grade level.
Read the article on page B-4 about the artist Yolanda Barreto. Write a short summary of the article. Then expand on Ms. Barreto’s statement; “Art can convey a whole spectrum of emotions, from joy to sadness” telling how an artist does this by the colors they use, the style of art they create and the subjects they paint. The article on this link will help you: https://podelit.com/art-and-emotion-how-artists-express-feelings-through-their-work/
Vocabulary activity for Elementary School: (ELA.K.V.1.2) Ask and answer questions about unfamiliar words in grade-level content.
Read the article on pages A-4 and A-5 about the Sun ‘N Festival. Write the definition of each of the following words as it is used in the sentence. Also, Write down what part of speech each word is, as it’s used in the sentence, and use the word in an original sentence.
1. capacity
2. maneuver
3. hover (the word in the sentence is “hovered”)
4. beneficiary
5. defy
6. cutting-edge
7. defy
8. forum
9. boon
10. simulator
Composition Activity for Upper Elementary School: (ELA.3.C.1.4) Write expository texts about a topic, using one or more sources, providing an introduction, facts and details, some elaboration, transitions, and a conclusion.
Read the article on page B-4 about the artist Leslie Neumann. Then write an essay about intaglio, the art method she uses. Consult at least one source, either the internet or a book. Write it in your own words. If you do quote anything word-for-word, make sure that your put quotation marks around the part that you are quoting. No more than two sentences can be direct quotes. List the title of the article, the author, if it’s given, and where you found the article (the internet link – URL. Your essay should be at least 275 words.
If you wish to submit any of your compositions from this week to the newspaper for us to consider publishing, please email to [email protected]. Be sure and include your name, age, grade level and school that you attend.