Learning Network: The Second Annual Connections Contest

Plus: Seasonal Teaching Ideas View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, December 7, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Learning »]( Dear Reader, Our [final contest of 2018]( just went live, and we hope that you, like the teachers whose classes participated last year, might see it as a meaningful end-of-semester project. Your students have until Jan. 21 to connect anything they’re studying this semester to anything they’ve read, watched or listened to in The Times this year, and tell us why. Last year over 1,200 students made imaginative links between literary, historical and scientific topics and issues in the news. They linked the #MeToo movement to literature like “Jane Eyre” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” but one student also saw an analogy to the rock cycle in geology. They told us that fake news is old news, with clear parallels in the plots of “The Crucible” and “The Great Gatsby.” They compared President Trump to literary characters including Macbeth and Grendel, and his policies were invoked in examining classroom staples as varied as “The Scarlet Letter” and the Indian Removal Act. What will your students think of? As always, write to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com with questions or comments – and stay tuned because we’ll be announcing the winners of our [Fourth Annual Student Review Contest]( by Dec. 21. Katherine Schulten, Editor Resources for Teachers Contests [Our 2nd Annual Connections Contest: Link Something You’re Studying in School With the World Today]( An invitation to match academic content of any kind with a piece published recently in The Times, and to tell us why they go together. Deadline: Jan. 21, 2019. [Making It Relevant: Helping Students Connect Their Studies to the World Today]( Four ideas for showing how the themes, issues, questions and ideas students explore in school play out in the news and in our culture. What’s Going On in This Graph? [Dec. 12, 2018]( The graph we’ll focus on for our live-moderated conversation next Wednesday shows how much faster some runners are in specific running shoes. Ask your students what they notice and wonder, and invite them to join us. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. ADVERTISEMENT Resources for Students Current Events Conversation [What Students Are Saying About: Wartime Journalism, Lessons from Athletes and Accepting Compliments]( The best recent teenage comments in response to our writing prompts — and an invitation to join the ongoing conversation. Teenagers in The Times [November 2018]( Our roundup of the news stories and features about young people that have recently appeared across sections of NYTimes.com. Film Club [‘A Mother’s Promise: You Can Be Yourself’]( A film that touches on themes of individuality, bravery and acceptance. What’s Going On in This Picture? [Dec. 3, 2018]( Look closely at this image, stripped of its caption, and join the moderated conversation about what you and other students see. Weekly News Quiz for Students [George Bush, France Protests, Gun Regulations]( How well did you follow the news this past week? How many of these 10 questions can you get right? Country of the Week [How Much Do You Know About Trinidad and Tobago?]( Can you find Trinidad and Tobago on a map? What else do you know about this Caribbean island nation with about 1.3 million people? Student Opinion [Have You Ever Learned Something From a Professional Athlete?]( Do you pay attention to the lives of athletes, on or off the court? What life lessons can we learn from them? Student Opinion [Should Reporters Ever Help the People They Are Covering?]( A New York Times reporter writes about the moral challenges of being a journalist in a war-torn country. Student Opinion [Is It Ethical to Create Genetically Edited Humans?]( What legal limits, if any, should be placed on the practice of human gene editing? Should it be banned in any form? Should it be allowed for some reasons and not others? Student Opinion [What Have You Learned About Life From Watching Movies?]( And, do you think everything you’ve learned is accurate, realistic and helpful? Student Opinion [Do You Give Yourself Enough Credit for Your Own Successes?]( Are you more likely to dwell on failures than your successes? Article of the Day [Learning With: ‘Watch Beatboxers Break It Down Inside an M.R.I. Scanner’]( Researchers got an inside look at beatboxers’ lips, mouths and throats as they performed Article of the Day [Learning With: ‘Are Civics Lessons a Constitutional Right? These Students Are Suing for Them’]( Have you been taught civics in school? Do you feel like you are prepared to be an informed, active and powerful citizen in our democracy? Article of the Day [Learning With: ‘Bush’s Letter to Clinton Cemented a Presidential Tradition, Historians Say’]( What is noteworthy about the letter George Bush left for Bill Clinton as Mr. Clinton was about to take office? Article of the Day [Learning With: ‘Preserving Black American History Through Song in the Dominican Republic’]( In 1824, more than 300 African-Americans from Philadelphia settled in Samana. How do the descendants identify themselves today? What are they doing to maintain their cultural roots? Article of the Day [Learning With: ‘Lawmakers Clash and Protesters Chant Amid Fight Over Wisconsin Governor’s Power’]( Wisconsin Republicans approved bills stripping power from the incoming Democratic governor. Is this undemocratic? Picture Prompts [Astrology]( How seriously do you take astrology? Do you regularly read your horoscope or discuss your sign? Picture Prompts [Standout Steer]( What is your reaction to this giant steer? What, or who, in your life does he remind you of? Why do you think he has drawn worldwide adoration? Picture Prompts [Holiday Season]( What are your favorite things about the holidays you and your family observe? Are there traditions from other groups that you wish you could participate in? Picture Prompts [In the Stands]( What story could this image tell? Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story, poem or memoir inspired by this illustration. [Words of the Week]( subterfuge; enigma; pique; detritus; egregious: How many of these words do your students know? ADVERTISEMENT Elsewhere in The Times [Louisiana School Made Headlines for Sending Black Kids to Elite Colleges. Here’s the Reality.]( By ERICA L. GREEN, KATIE BENNER AND ANNIE FLANAGAN T.M. Landry, a school in small-town Louisiana, has garnered national attention for vaulting its underprivileged black students to elite colleges. But the school cut corners and doctored college applications. [A Ban on Parents in a School Lunchroom? Everyone Seems to Have an Opinion]( By KRISTIN HUSSEY AND LIZ ROBBINS What began as a small debate in a wealthy Connecticut town erupted into a controversy over when Mom and Dad should let go. [Do Children Get a Subpar Education in Yeshivas? New York Says It Will Finally Find Out]( By ELIZA SHAPIRO Some students graduate from the ultra-Orthodox schools barely knowing how to read and write in English. New rules could force the schools to change how they operate. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [LNfeedback@nytimes.com](mailto:lnfeedback@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). FOLLOW THE LEARNING NETWORK [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@NYTimesLearning]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's The Learning Network newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2018 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018