During the month of March, newspapers across America will celebrate Newspapers In Education Week or Month. 

Each year, the first week of March is designated as Newspapers In Education Week.  Many newspapers across America choose to extend the celebration throughout the month. NIE teachers are encouraged to spend at least one complete school day teaching subjects only using their local newspaper as the textbook.  The goal of the week or month long celebration is to reinforce a positive and relevant lifetime reading habit in students by engaging them with an authentic text - their local newspaper.

The Newspaper Association of America Foundation has created an NIE curriculum teacher's guide entitled "Critical Thinking Through Core Curriculum Using Print and Digital Newspapers". 

The teacher's guide, which is aligned with national learning standards, features a five-subject approach that takes advantage of the wide range of topics covered by newspapers.  Topics include financial literacy, nutrition, the environment, character education and information technology. Lessons within the guide can be taught individually or as a unit.

The guide provides an opportunity to teach critical thinking through subjects that will be vital to students' success as adults.  In the age of Web sites, blogs and social networking, critical thinking is more important than ever.  Everything on the Internet looks authoritative thanks to do-it-yourself templates and software, while blogs, citizen news sites and social networks add to the confusion.

All of these information sources make it even more important for students to be able to weigh the merits of information, draw comparisons, sift competing interests and make judgments on the reliability and track records of sources.

Because newspapers cover a wide range of topics, they provide myriad opportunities to develop students' critical thinking skills in areas that interest them and will affect them for life.

Newspapers In Education gets students into the reading habit and thus creates conversant and capable readers in our country.  Educators acknowledge that newspapers help bridge the gap between school and the community.

The newspaper is a "living textbook" for everyday use in the classroom or at home.  It is crucial that students are aware of what is going on around them, and the newspaper can facilitate this ultimately contributing to a student's well-rounded education.

Newspapers In Education is an investment in the future for our youth's lives everyday.

The Newport Plain Talk Newspapers In Education program is a non-profit literacy program for the community.  The Newport Plain Talk is delivered weekly, free of charge, to area schools or other area educational programs due to the generosity of community sponsors.

For more information about Newspapers In Education contact Lu Shep Baldwin at 423-506-5980 or lushep.baldwin@jonesmedia.biz.

Jones Media is the parent company for The Newport Plain Talk