Kidzbuzz September 2015

Sunday, September 20, 2015

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For Kids & Parents

Be a reporter

By Erika Enigk More Content Now

Have you ever read the newspaper (maybe a KidzBuzz article) and thought, “I’d like to write something like that”? Have you watched interviews with President Obama or Little Leaguer Mo’ne Davis and wanted to meet them? If you were a member of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps, you could.

What’s the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps?

The corps is made up of kids ages 10-14 from across the United States. They write news stories for Scholastic magazines and a website, gaining tips from professional journalists along the way to help them become better reporters.

What do kid reporters cover?

Scholastic says their reporters write news “for kids by kids.” Kid reporters write about serious issues like safety during hurricane season, and fun things like how maple syrup is made. Kid reporters get to talk to some pretty important people, too. In the past, they’ve interviewed the president and First Lady Michelle Obama, entertainer Nick Cannon and filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

Kid reporters get help from some of the best reporters in the business, too. Famous journalists such as television anchor Soledad O’Brien have offered their tips to members of the press corps.

What are the rules?

To apply to be a kid reporter, you must be between the ages of 10 and 14 as of Nov. 1, 2015. Once you’re chosen, there are a few rules of conduct. Kid reporters are expected to behave in a professional way, prepare for their interviews and do their own work without plagiarizing. Your parents will also have to sign a release form that’s attached to the application, so make sure you get them on board with the idea before you apply.

How can I apply?

Download the application at http://magazines. scholastic.com/kids-press/application, fill it out, and send it to the address below. You also need to submit a news story you wrote along with an essay about why you want to be a part of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps. Applications must be submitted by Sept. 25, 2015. Send all of your materials to: Scholastic news Kids Press Corps/apply 557 Broadway new york, ny 10012-3999

Scholastic news Kid Reporters Topanga Sena, left, and Jacob Schroeder interviewed President Barack Obama at the White House in July 2011.

OFFICIAl WhIte hOUSe PhOtO BY Pete SOUzA

Activity Find inspiration with books and movies on these fictional reporters: Kit Kittredge: this fictional star of books and a movie dreams of becoming a reporter, writing stories on a typewriter in her attic.

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tee veC

The March girls: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March in the louisa May Alcott novel little Women form a secret group called the Pickwick Club and write articles about their family in a newsletter called the Pickwick Portfolio.

Lois Lane: She’s Superman’s love interest in comic books and movies, but she also works as an award-winning journalist for the daily Planet.

Bryan Denton: In the disney musical Newsies, this reporter breaks the story of the newsboys going on strike.

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Getting to school safely

By Erika Enigk More Content Now

Riding the bus Use your feet. When you’re waiting for the bus, stand far from the curb — at least three giant steps back. And if you have to cross the street in front of a bus, be at least five giant steps ahead of it and wait for the driver to signal it’s OK to go.

Use your hands. Use the handrails while you’re getting on and off the bus.

Don’t go until it stops. You might be excited to get on or off the bus, but don’t try to do anything until the bus has stopped.

Watch your stuff. Be careful of any backpack straps or drawstrings that could get caught on a seat or in the door. And if you drop something, be sure the bus is stopped and the driver sees you before trying to pick it up.

Walking

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Maze activity Help the students get to school

listening until you reach the other side. If there’s a crossing guard, obey his or her signals.

Find responsible adults. Never accept a ride from anyone unless your parents have told you it’s OK. And never, ever accept a ride from someone you don’t know. If you get lost or hurt and need help, find a crossing guard or police officer, or go into a store you visit often and ask an adult in charge to call your parents.

Bicycling Get in gear. Always wear a helmet (be sure it fits well), and use a bell to let pedestrians know you’re there.

Ride on the right. You should be traveling in the same direction as cars. If you ride with a buddy, travel in a single-file line.

Follow the same traffic laws as cars, signaling before you turn and stopping before you cross an intersection.

Make a friend! Walking with a pal can be more fun, and it’s safer. But do it respectfully — no pushing or chasing, even if it’s just messing around. If someone else displays poor behavior on the trip to school, tell your parents or a teacher.

Stick to the path. Your parents can help you find a safe route to school. Be sure to go the same way every day.

Look before crossing. If you have to cross the street, stop at the curb, then look in all directions to make sure no cars are coming. Keep looking and

Free Images/Vecteezy

Word find Find these school words: Classes Detention Friends Fun Grades

Graduate Homework Learn Play School

angels from the attic

By Mark Marderosian

watch our cartoons on www.kidoodle.tv

Sunday, September 20, 2015

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drawing with mark!

Let’s practice drawing a flamingo!

Let’s practice drawing a cute dog!

Color it in too if you wish!

Send us your drawings— we love to see them!

Drawing with Mark Big City Publishing 230 Central St. Newton, MA 02466 Award-winning “Drawing with Mark” DVD episodes available at Amazon.com. Drawing lessons, fun facts and animation!

Word find Find these reporter words:

Breaking Editor Entertainment Journalism News

Newspaper Press Reporter Website Writer

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Sunday, September 20, 2015

The teddy bear story them: National Teddy Bear Day on Sept. 9. If you miss that, there’s another National Teddy Bear Day in November. And if you’re in the mood for a celebration next summer, you can commemorate Teddy Bears Picnic Day in July.

By Erika Enigk More Content Now

D

o you have a teddy bear? Do you snuggle with it at night?

You might be surprised to know that the teddy bear has a pretty serious history.

Teddy’s animals

Theodore

President Roosevelt had a pet bear.

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President Theodore Its name was Jonathan Edwards, and Roosevelt. president of the U.S. He took office it was sent to him by supporters from Wikimedia Commons after William McKinley was assasWest Virginia. But the bear wasn’t sinated in 1901. President Roosevelt the only Roosevelt pet in the White loved the outdoors. He had once been a cattle House: The family also had a lizard, guinea rancher and was passionate about preserving the pigs, a pig, a badger, a macaw, a hen, a rooster, a environment. But he also loved to hunt. It was on hyena, an owl, a pony, and some dogs and cats. one of his hunting trips that the teddy bear was So next time you hug your teddy bear, think of born. where its name came from — a president who truly loved animals.

Activity Unscramble the names of some famous fictional bears. Answers appear below the article.

DIPAGTNODN NEINIW ETH OHOP ZOIEZF OGYI AOLOB RYUODORC

The bear In 1902, President Roosevelt was invited by Gov. Andrew H. Longino to go bear hunting.

Their party hunted for three days, but the president wasn’t able to shoot a bear. Wanting to help, the guides tracked down a bear and tied it to a tree for the president to shoot, but he refused. He believed it would be unsportsmanlike; he only wanted to shoot a bear if he hunted it himself.

The story spread through the work of newspaper cartoonist Clifford Berryman, who drew a picture of President Roosevelt standing near a bear but refusing to shoot.

People have different ideas about who first decided to make a stuffed bear and name it after the president. The Theodore Roosevelt Association says a German woman first started making them, while Smithsonian magazine says it was an immigrant shop owner in Brooklyn, New York.

Wherever the idea came from, it spread quickly, and the teddy bear remains a favorite toy of children around the world.

In the U.S., there’s even a day to celebrate ANSWERS TO WORD SCRAMBLE: PADDINGTON WINNIE THE POOH

FOZZIE YOGI

freeimages

Teddy bears

BALOO CORDUROY

drawing with mark!

Let’s practice drawing a teddy bear!

Watch Drawing with Mark!

Check your local listings at DrawingwithMark.com Award-winning “Drawing with Mark” DVD episodes available at Amazon.com. Drawing lessons, fun facts and animation!

Word find Find these teddy bear words:

Bear Cartoon Michtom

President Roosevelt Steiff

Teddy Toy angels from the attic

By Mark Marderosian

Sunday, September 20, 2015

drawing with mark!

Let’s practice drawing the planet saturn!

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PLUTO: Planet or not?

By Erika Enigk More Content Now

Y

ears ago, kids just like you were taught there were nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Nine years ago, that changed.

In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto should no longer be a planet, but this summer, some scientists began a campaign to bring Pluto’s planet status back.

Pluto was discovered in 1930 after a long search by a man named Percival Lowell, who founded the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. Lowell was sure there was a ninth planet, and built an observatory to find it. It took more than 20 years, but a young scientist named Clyde Tombaugh discovered it.

One of the coolest facts about Pluto is that it was named by an 11-year-old girl.

The Lowell Observatory received name suggestions from all over the world but chose one from Venetia Burney, who took the name from Roman mythology.

Words to know Match the word with its definition.

A) Observatory B) Scientist C) Criteria D) Mythology E) Astronomer

1. A set of stories people believed that aren’t really true.

2. A special building where people can look at and study stars and planets.

3. A scientist who studies outer space.

4. Rules.

5. A person who works in science.

Answers: A-2, B-5, C-4, D-1, E-3

Pluto’s history

A dwarf planet What Pluto is like Color it in, too, if you wish! Send us your drawings — we love to see them!

Drawing with Mark Big City Publishing 230 Central St. Newton, MA 02466 Award-winning “Drawing with Mark” DVD episodes available at Amazon.com. Drawing lessons, fun facts and animation!

Word find Find these main planets: Earth Jupiter Mars Mercury Neptune Saturn Uranus Venus

Let’s practice drawing fun at the library!

Get a pencil and use the grid below to draw the picture as shown below. The grids will help you to line everything up. Remember to take your time. You can always erase or put a new piece of blank paper over the grid and start again. Don’t forget to keep practicing and keep smiling!

Because it is so far from Earth, Pluto is still a bit of a mystery. We know that it has a solid, rocky surface (like Earth), and it’s very cold — 400 degrees below zero! Its gravity is not as strong as Earth’s. If you weighed 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh only 7 pounds on Pluto.

In 2003, a new object was found in space. It was larger than Pluto and thought to be a newly discovered planet.

That made scientists think about what a planet is. They came up with three rules: To be a planet, an object must orbit the sun. Second, it must be round.

And third, it must be the biggest object in its area other than those that orbit it.

It’s the last item on that list that took Pluto out of planet status.

There are four other dwarf planets.

One is that object found in 2003; its name is Eris. The others are called Makemake, Ceres and Haumea.

Pluto today This August, the space probe New Horizons took some pictures of Pluto that made some people believe Pluto should be reclassified as a planet. But others — including the IAU—say the pictures don’t prove anything. Pluto will remain a dwarf planet for now.

NASA/APL/SwRI photo

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Sunday, September 20, 2015

This Little Piggy start early and teach your kids the aBcs of money so they’ll make smart financial decisions down the road.

by Lindsey Romain CtW Features

A piggy bank isn’t just a cute way for kids to collect coins. It symbolizes financial ownership and independence, the first lesson in what it means to both have and use money.

But a piggy bank shouldn’t be the only concept of money for children. It’s important to educate them about personal finances from an early age – though not necessarily too early.

“Children become aware of money at different ages,” says Nevin Adams, director of the American Savings Education Program. “The best time to talk to them about saving is the point at which they have money of their own, and enough to warrant setting some aside.”

But this doesn’t mean that parents should hold off on

all money lessons. Here’s a guide to how to talk to your kids about money at every life stage: Babies “Start setting money aside in a savings account for your child the day they are born,” says Lori Mackey, author of the popular Money Mama series, like Money Mama & The Three Little Pigs (P4K Publishing, 2003), which helped her win the iParenting Media Award for outstanding educational products.

“From birth to age five, any amount of money they get from family and friends on the holidays and birthdays should be set aside in this account,” Mackey says. toddlers: Once children are aware that they own money,

Mackey says to never let them spend the whole dollar. Instead, she practices the rule of 10-10-10-70.

That means there are 10 cents for giving, 10 for investing, 10 for saving and 70 for spending. “This way they pay themselves first and learn to live within their means,” she says.

“It comes naturally if they are taught the power of saving from a young age,” Mackey says.

Mackey says it’s important to teach children not just how to save, but how to invest. That way, their money isn’t lying dormant in an account, but instead is gaining interest and growing along with them.

“A child spends 18 years living at home – why should they wait until they’re older to start saving money?”

Mackey asks. “If we taught this to kids from an early age, by the time they graduated high school they would know how to invest and would continue to do so for the rest of their lives.

That way, their future days are paid for and they can do what they love to do instead of what they have to do.”

teenagers: As children grow into young adults, they’re no longer just compiling holiday card money – they’re suddenly earning money themselves. Once the summer jobs start, income becomes a regular presence in their lives.

It’s easy at that age to spend whole paychecks on filling up the gas tank and going shopping, but parents should still encourage setting some of that money aside for later. © CtW Features

96

%

Respondents who believe students would make different student loan decisions if they better understood loan terms.

Source: National Financial educators Council

talking about: saving for college Once your children are old enough to handle their own money, you should tell them about their first big savings goal: college.

College money talk gets kids thinking about what they want out of life, and whether college is even the most pragmatic approach to their goals.

“It’s hard to get kids to focus on college savings before they are through high school,” says Nevin Adams, director of the American Savings education Program, “but I think it’s worthwhile to have those discussions early on.”

If you and your child determine that a typical fouryear degree isn’t in the cards, you might look into trade schools or apprenticeships. either way, when it’s the children’s own savings that are affected by this choice, they’re sure to take it more seriously.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

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exercise in disguise

Parents looking to get their kids up-and-moving need look no further than fun. Just don’t utter the dreaded “e” word.

By Chad Rubel CtW Features

Kids are no different from adults when it comes to exercise. If it’s not fun, they don’t want to do it.

However, according to the American Obesity Association, Washington, D.C., about 15.5 percent of adolescents (ages 12 to 19) and 15.3 percent of children (ages 6 to 11) are obese. Given those figures, parents are searching for ways to get their kids going.

Just don’t call it “exercise.”

Ann Douglas, author of The Mother of All Parenting Books (Wiley, 2004), recommends parents do “different activities than you did when you were young.” Today, kids are into such activities as rock climbing and adventure sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding and cycling. Douglas says to find places where kids can enjoy these activities, and try to

encourage the activity that excites their minds.

“It doesn’t hurt to do your homework,” Douglas says to parents.

“Ask other parents.

Check out facilities in your town. Play tourist in your own city.”

Team sports have long been a popular option for kids and exercise, but not every child will flourish or enjoy the pressure and play in a team environment.

“A lot of kids aren’t necessarily interested in competition,” says Jan Faull, a Seattle-

based parent educator, writer and speaker in child development and behavior specialist.

In those cases, Faull suggests getting your kids to pursue individual

sports, such as biking, golf, skiing, rollerblading and swimming.

Hurdle number one for the modern parent is the computer, which is often a tempting siren for children. With that in mind, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services added a special section

for kids on its popular SmallStep.

Gov Web site, with tips on getting kids at the computer away from the computer.

Enabling children to ascertain information online, it pushes them to step away from the computer and put active ideas into action.

The site notes, “It’s just as important to do something active away from the computer every day.”

Exercise for kids is a relatively new concept. When today’s parents

were children, they didn’t “exercise,” they played. They ran around until they were called to dinner, and it was all done under the guise of fun. “It’s hard these days because kids don’t have the luxury to just get out and climb trees, play a pickup game of baseball or build forts in

the woods,” says Faull.

That puts the onus on parents to organize covert exercise outings, be it hiking, Frisbee or a walk around the neighborhood.

Bringing the fun back to family exercise might be as simple as reviving the buddy system. “When they get older, they should bring a friend,” says Douglas. She says once kids reach a certain age, they are more likely to participate in a family exercise outing if they can make it a social event.

“If they bring peers

along, that always helps,” Faull adds. Otherwise, she notes that, “At 11, it’s much harder to push the kids out the door than when they are 7, 8, or 9.”

By starting at a young age, you can help your child develop good habits, and once the patterns are established, they have a better chance of surviving into adulthood. “It’s good to start them when they’re young,” says Faull. “By 11, their attitude will be ‘this is what our family does.’” © CtW Features

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Sunday, September 20, 2015

MCN illustration

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Test your social networking savvy with this true or false quiz.

By Erika Enigk More Content Now

Playing games and connecting with people online can be a lot of fun. But it can also be very dangerous if you’re not careful. Here are some things you want to think about when you go online.

Social networking sites Have you heard of Facebook or Instagram? These are sites people use to communicate online. They’re called “social networking sites.” People use them to share photos, catch up with friends and meet new people who enjoy the same hobbies or activities.

Most of these sites have a rule that users have to be at least 13, but not all. If you’re 10 years old, you’ve probably already used a social media site.

Why they’re good You probably have to use a computer and the Internet for school.

Using social networking sites can help you learn skills you’ll need later.

They can also be useful for sharing things with your friends and family.

Why they can be bad People do a lot of things

anonymously online, which means that no one knows who they are.

Some people think that if no one knows who they are, they can be mean.

Others use the Internet to look for people to hurt. If you post, “We’re going on vacation! See you in a week, 123 Pine St.” and a picture of your house, you’re telling the world your house will be empty for a week, and anyone can go in and take anything they like.

How to be careful

Never post your address or telephone number. Never post anything you wouldn’t want the whole world to see. Be respectful of people you connect with, and never connect with anyone you don’t know. Always talk to your parents if someone is bothering you online.

If you play games online, don’t try to buy anything without your parents’ permission. Games can be sneaky about selling things to people, and you could end up with angry parents.

1. The Internet is too dangerous. Kids shouldn’t use it. q True q False 2. My friends all belong to a site, so even though I’m not 13, it’s OK for me to say I am so I can join my friends. q True q False 3. Connecting with people online can be fun, and I could learn about things I wouldn’t see in real life. q True q False 4. It’s fine to say something mean online since no one will know it was me. q True q False 5. My mom puts pictures of me online, so I can share anything I want, too. q True q False 6. Just like I shouldn’t talk to a stranger in a store, I shouldn’t talk to them online. q True q False 7. I shouldn’t make my profile private, because then it will be hard for people to find me. q True q False

Answers: 1. False, 2. False, 3. True, 4. False, 5. False, 6. True, 7. False Word find Find these social media words: Facebook Gaming Instagram Medium Reddit Snapchat Tumblr Twitter Yik Yak YouTube

angels from the attic

By Mark Marderosian