Oct. 22, 2008: The Spellbinding Spider

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. Make a spider poster. Write the words "Spellbinding Spider" in the center of a large piece of paper. Paste newspaper words and pictures about spiders on your poster.

2. Create a spider storyboard. A storyboard has panels like a comic strip. Draw three large boxes next to each other on a piece of paper. Now make up a story about a spider. Draw a picture in each box to show what is happening in the story. Share your story with a friend.

3. Look through the newspaper with a friend to find supplies for Halloween. Circle costume items in red, food in green and decorations in blue. Put stars by your favorite items.

4. Which spiders in today's Mini Page (a) spin silk to make an egg sac, (b) use silk as a kind of parachute, (c) are poisonous and are found in the United States, and (d) spin a web to catch prey?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about one of the spiders discussed in today's Mini Page. Use these questions to guide your research: In what type of climate does the spider live? Where on Earth does the spider live? What does the spider eat? How does the spider catch its prey? How many of these spiders exist? Write a paragraph discussing your findings.

This week's standards:

• Students understand the characteristics and life cycles of organisms. (Science: Life Science)
• Students describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture. (Social Studies: Culture)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)