Students taking part in the Herald’s StoxSmart competition had a chance to meet with State Treasurer Steven Grossman earlier this week. They chatted over ice cream about the unpredictability of the stock market and trusting your instincts.
The students, who have the chance to change their portfolios this week, gained valuable insight in investments, finances, and making decisions that will surely help them in the competition.
Read the full article here.
Thank you to all of the students who created art for Eyes of a Child and the teachers who took the time to send in submissions. Our special holiday section came to life with your wonderful art, poems, and stories.
Although we received many excellent submissions, we had to limit the number of entries published in the Boston Herald. You can view all of the amazing entries online. Follow this link to enjoy the 2012 Eyes of a Child submissions.
Image: Marina A. Hendricks
Are you a high school journalism teacher looking to incorporate social media into your students’ publications? Try this award winning program of activities and teacher guides, Social Media Toolbox, created by Marina Hendricks.
Students will learn about acceptable usage and policies, the ins and outs of Facebook and Twitter, and the ethical concerns of using social media in publications.
Each lesson plan is available as a PDF download with links to additional resources.
Brianne Costa
Boston Herald NIE Associate
Students can help end bullying in schools and communities across the nation by participating in the Stop Bullying Video Challenge. Youth ages 13-18 are invited to create a 30 to 60 second video that will motivate their peers to prevent bullying and promote an environment where kindness and respect matters. The video’s focus should be on how youth can be more than a bystander.
The contest is hosted by The Federal Partners for Bullying Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration. One grand prize winner will receive a $2,000 cash prize and their video will be featured on the Stop Bullying website. Two honorable mention winners will receive a $500 cash prize and their videos will be featured online as well.
Submissions are being accepted now through October 14, 2012. Visit the Stop Bulling Challenge website for complete information.
What does Hermione from Harry Potter and a fairy have to do with flying an airplane? Well, you probably won’t find them in a cockpit anytime soon. But Massachusetts Institute of Technology students are using characters like these to teach K-12 students science concepts. In a new project called MIT+K12, college students have made more than 30 online videos that teach important STEM topics from the Doppler Effect to chlorophyl.
For more information, read the Boston Herald article MIT videos teach fun-damental lessons. Then watch more than 30 science videos on the MIT+k12 website here.
Students in the Boston Herald StoxSmart competition might be investing virtual dollars, but yesterday they received a very real reward. All eight participants were given brand new iPads courtesy of Suffolk Construction. Now it will be even easier for competitors to research stocks using their new tablets.
Watch the StoxSmart students receive their iPads below, and read the Boston Herald article StoxSmart kids get iPads to track investments.
Photo by Boston Herald
Local students are learning about the stock market firsthand through a new Boston Herald StockSmart stock-picking contest. Boston area high school students were recently paired with stock experts to invest $1 million fictitious dollars in stocks and exchange traded funds from April 1 to June 30. Read the Boston Herald story Herald challenges students to play the market for complete competition information.
How your students can participate:
Congratulations to fourth grade teacher Casey Deaguero from Bernazzani Elementary School! She was chosen as our Flip Camera contest winner.
Casey uses a scavenger hunt to engage students in reading the Boston Herald Smart Edition. Her activity is designed for students in grades 3-5, but it can be modified for different grade levels. Try it out with your students the next time you read the online newspaper.
Newspaper Hunt
Photo courtesy of bostonherald.com
This week there has been a lot of attention on cell phones and bullying in schools. On Monday the Boston Herald published a special report detailing one school’s approach to end bullying. Among other anti-bullying methods, the Hillcrest Educational Centers in Pittsfield banned cell phones.
Have your students read these two Boston Herald articles about bullying: School Talks Tough on Bullying, and Coakley: School cell ban pushes the right buttons. Then discuss the link between bullying and cell phones with your class.
Key Discussion Points:
This activity is designed for students in grades 8-12. It can complement English Language Arts, current events, media criticism, and computer classes.
Please review the articles prior to sharing them with your students, as the Boston Herald is written for all audiences.
If you need help finding the articles for discussion, please contact Julie Burridge.
With mountain-sized snow banks on every street corner, it’s hard to imagine that the Earth is getting warmer. But according to an opinion article by Dale McFeatters in yesterday’s Boston Herald, the U.S. government says that our planet is heating up.
However, scientists don’t agree on why the temperature is rising. Have your students pretend they are climatologists for a day to help them examine the topic of climate change.
Activity
Read the Boston Herald article “Bottom line seems to be warmer Earth.” The article presents two reasons for temperature change:
1) Greenhouse gasses trap heat in the atmosphere.
2) The temperature increase is “part of a long-term cyclical variation.”
Vote with your feet
Have your students stand on different sides of the room to represent which reason they believe is causing warmer temperatures. Designate a different wall for greenhouse gasses, cyclical variation, and another reason not mentioned in the article.
After, have students break into groups to research the reason they chose. They can search the online Boston Herald Smart Edition, and use other internet resources to find information to back up their answer. Then ask students to vote with their feet again. Did anyone change their mind?
This activity is designed for students in grades 8-12. It can complement science, current events, and computer classes.
Please review the article prior to sharing it with your students, as the Boston Herald is written for all audiences.
If you need help finding the article for discussion, please contact Julie Burridge.
