A new NIE feature about Rosa Parks; Plus free online educational resources!

Volume 17, Number 12 | November 26, 2025

News Media Literacy NIE News

A Monthly Newsletter to Help You Keep Pace with Tomorrow's Education and Information Needs

In this issue:

Newspaper In Education stand-alone features highlighting special dates and anniversaries throughout the month of Decemberr - NEW for 2025 - a feature about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott; A reminder of Citizens Together NIE resources that can be used to teach about the U.S. Bill of Rights plus, free online teaching resources to share with teachers, parents, and families; vocabulary resources and more!

Civic Engagement Corner - The Bill of Rights Institute's My Impact Challenge - a civic engagement contest for students ages 13 to 19.

Family Engagement in Education - Edutopia's 7 Ways to Promote Positive Communication With Families.

Free Features for December, including this about Rosa Parks

Every month, the NYNPA produces a stand-alone 4 columns by 10-inches educational feature. These monthly features are available to NYNPA member publications FREE and can be used in print or online.

Previous year's features that have been updated for the month include:

Creation of the Civil Air Patrol
Handwashing Awareness Week
End of Slavery in the US
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
International Human Rights Day
Anniversary of the Battle of Fredericksburg
Birthday of the US Coast Guard
Bill of Rights Day
Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party
Anniversary of the film, "It's a Wonderful Life"

Click here for a complete list of features available by month.

All of these can be requested free of charge by member publications via email. Contact Mary Miller at mmiller@nynpa.com or call 518-449-1667 x 701. Non-member publications will be charged $20 per feature or a negotiated group discount.

To view images of available features go to https://nynpa.com/nie/MonthlyNIEFeatures.html.

Free 5-part Newspaper Series and Teaching Guide to Commemorate the United States Bill of Rights

Citizens Together: You and Your Newspaper is both a five-part series of camera-ready features based on a complete teaching guide by the same name.

“Citizens Together” integrates newspapers into the study of the Bill of Rights. Research supports

continued use of this guide and other curricula that engage students with media and the First

Amendment, including the ongoing “Future of the First Amendment” study funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. This study was first conducted in 2004, and here's a link to the most recent update: https://knightfoundation.org/reports/future-of-the-first-amendment-2022-high-schooler-views-on-speech-over-time/

NYNPA member newspapers are welcome to share these (3-column x 9.5") features in-print or online

To access this content, go to our website at https://www.nynpa.com/nie/niematerials.html

Additional news and journalism educational resources can be found on the New York News Publishers Association’s website at https://www.nynpa.com/nie.html

Free Teaching Resources Online

Here is a list of free online resources for December/Winter:

National History Day - Pearl Harbor: A Defining Moment in U.S. History

National History Day® (NHD) works with organizations to develop lessons and resources for teaching a variety of content areas. All NHD materials are developed by teachers for teachers. With a variety of topics and approaches, each includes primary sources and engages students in historical thinking skills using active learning strategies. Teachers can use these materials to inform their thinking or model best practices in the classroom.

Using a history lab format, students will analyze primary and secondary sources to help them answer the guiding question. Students will be broken into groups and each group given a different document to explore. Groups will analyze the effect of the attack on Pearl Harbor and then produce an original political cartoon to illustrate their answer to the guiding question.

https://nhd.org/wp-content/files/Pearl Harbor - Lesson Plan.pdf

HMH's 7 Kwanzaa Activities for Elementary Students

Joyous Kwanzaa! On December 26, families across the U.S. will lay out their Kwanzaa mats, collect their unity cups, and light the first candle on their kinaras. The first Kwanzaa was held in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, who hoped to create an alternative holiday to Christmas and Hanukkah for African Americans to celebrate their history, families, and communities. The holiday spans seven days until January 1, when a feast is held and gifts are exchanged.

Each day of Kwanzaa has a symbol and a principle to go with it. You can introduce each concept to your class with these Kwanzaa activities for elementary students—one for each of the seven principles and days of celebration.

The seven principles of Kwanzaa are re Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith)

https://www.hmhco.com/blog/7-kwanzaa-activities-lesson-plans-for-elementary-students

a80faa86c9_04a9054896_using-the-change-of-seasons-to-spark-curiosity-and-encourage-exploration_ChangingSeasons_crop image

PBS Kids, Changing Seasons: Winter

Join PBS KIDS and explore Winter! Learn about ice, why animals hibernate, and about animals who camouflage through media clips, extension activities, articles, and crafts. Share activities, articles, games, and printables with families to strengthen a school-to-home connection. Children will learn about the world around them through science, math, and art activities. As you engage in these lessons, you can feel confident that you are helping children grow up great!

https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/changing-seasons/t/winter-season/

Holiday Newspaper Scavenger Hunt

Look through your newspaper and find the following (add to the list if you wish). Write down what you find and where you find it. When you have finished, stand up and shout Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, or other seasonal greetings!

1. an ad for something you would like to receive as a gift

2. a story about someone helping others

3. a place where there is little joy or sadness this holiday season

4. something or someplace to eat for Christmas/Holiday dinner

5. a Christmas tree, Menorah, Santa, Creche, or other symbols of holiday traditions

6. someone who has been naughty

7. someone who has been nice

8. a story from another country where Christmas, Ramadan, Hanukkah, or other winter holidays are celebrated

9. an entertaining place or event you would like to visit or attend during the winter break

10. someone less fortunate than you are

11. something Santa might say

12. a location that will most likely have a white Christmas based on the weather forecasts

PBS Learning Media - Bill of Rights Interactive Lesson

Explore why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution and its enduring impact on defining our rights. In this interactive lesson from WGBH, students develop a written argument in response to the question “How does the Bill of Rights establish and continue to define the rights we have as Americans?” They gather evidence from videos featuring historian Ben Weber and from primary source documents. This resource was originally developed for the Writing in U.S. History collection, the Calderwood Writing Course: U.S. History.

https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/clw-soc-ush-bor/the-bill-of-rights-interactive-lesson/

Current Word Lists and Puzzles from MyVocabulary.com

Media Literacy – https://myvocabulary.com/word_list/media-literacy/

Pearl Harbor - https://myvocabulary.com/word_list/pearl-harbor/

Bill of Rights: U.S. Constitution - https://myvocabulary.com/word_list/bill-of-rights-u-s-constitution/

Interactive Puzzle US Bill of Rights Day-Dec 15th - https://myvocabulary.com/puzzle/bill-of-rights-u-s-constitution-puzzle-words-myvocabulary-com/

Family - https://myvocabulary.com/word_list/family/

Hanukkah - https://myvocabulary.com/word_list/hanukkah/

Kwanzaa - https://myvocabulary.com/word_list/kwanzaa/

Christmas Holiday Traditions - https://myvocabulary.com/list_theme/christmas-holiday-traditions/

Winter - https://myvocabulary.com/word_list/winter/

Prefix Study - AD #1 - https://myvocabulary.com/lesson/ad-1/

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All MyVocabulary.com content is printable for NIE programs without charge. Please honor trademarks and copyrights, giving MyVocabulary.com attribution.

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Maybe you'd like to play Rootonym online?!

Find it at https://puzzles.usatoday.com/rootonym/, and if you'd like to study up on your knowledge of Root words before playing online, go to https://myvocabulary.com for a full list of Latin or Greek Root words and associated words from each root to familiarize yourself with root words.

Civic Education Corner

My Impact Challenge from the Bill of Rights Institute

The MyImpact Challenge is an annual civic engagement contest hosted by the Bill of Rights Institute (BRI) for students aged 13-19 in the U.S. who actively engage in service, volunteerism, or entrepreneurship within their communities. The contest is designed to showcase student-led projects that demonstrate a positive impact and connect to American founding principles.

Key Details for the 2025-2026 Contest

Eligibility: Open to students ages 13-19 (middle or high school) who are U.S. citizens or based in the U.S..

Project Dates: Qualifying projects must have taken place between May 18, 2025, and May 3, 2026.

Submission Deadline: Submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday,

For more details, go to https://billofrightsinstitute.org/my-impact-challenge

Family Engagement in Education Corner

Edutopia's 7 Ways to Promote Positive Communication With Families

Teachers and administrators can use positive messages to strengthen the link between families and the school.

One of the most meaningful and effective ways to improve rapport with families is by contacting them with positive news about their child. As I write in my new book, On the Same Team: Bringing Educators and Underrepresented Families Together, positive communication systems are one of a handful of high-leverage practices that can help us build more cohesive and trusting school communities.

Making positive phone calls is both a proven pathway to strengthen relationships with families and one of the best strategies to increase student learning. For instance, frequent communication increased the likelihood that students would complete their homework by 40 percent and decreased teachers’ needing to redirect students’ attention to tasks by 25 percent. Yet 59 percent of public school parents reported never having received a phone call home from their children’s school during the previous year.

For the rest of the article, go to https://www.edutopia.org/article/positive-family-communication-schools

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