The Civil War spurred inventions and innovations that moved America into the industrial age, transformed naval warfare, and called for new modes of leadership.

Photography can be a cross-disciplinary tool for verbal literacy development, aesthetic and technical visual literacy instruction, and a study of the human condition.

Embrace wellness, from top to toe, inside and out. Health is examined through concussions, hair products, microbes, and the function and fashion of shoes. Students learn to read, apply and communicate for a healthier, informed community.

Letters to the Editor provide a brief and effective forum for citizens to express their views. Students employ their skills of comprehension, analysis, comparison, synthesis, and persuasion through reading and writing letters to the editor. They may also be used to understand attitudes of the past.

Reading the Sunday Washington Post expands horizons, informs and provides educators with material to use in every classroom. Highlights and activities in this guide cover each section of the Sunday Post. They include the ethics of decisions made in selecting photographs for publication, using Dr. Gridlock’s tips, exploring the business side of the Olympics and writing for different audiences.

This online guide is composed of previous and new activities for incorporating the Washington Post e-Replica Edition into the classroom. An exact digital copy of the newspaper accessed online with a password, the e-Replica may be read at school, at home, wherever there is an Internet connection. The activities in this collection apply to many disciplines. In addition to the reading, writing, mathematics and critical thinking skills that are exercised using The Washington Post, the e-Replica Edition utilizes technology and electronic information gathering skills.

Book World is awhirl with possibilities for teachers and students: To meet new authors and their books, to visit with familiar works from a new perspective, to attend mini-lectures on varied topics and to study models of book reviews. Writing a book review enhances reading skills; critical thinking; analytic, evaluative and explanatory abilities; and composition fluency. This guide’s content includes book reviews to use in the classroom, a close reading technique, guidelines to writing a book review, and exercises in reading charts and doing online research of publishing companies.

Whether a classic, a family favorite or a recent release, books can influence the lives of young readers. This guide offers KidsPost and Post articles, activities and resources to encourage your students to be readers, examines propaganda and sweepstakes, and provides an introduction to Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico (1982). Post writer Michael Farquhar explores the use of propaganda in children’s literature in a KidsPost article. Middle school and older students can explore the use of sweepstakes to promote products aimed at children in Caroline Mayer’s “Young Eyes on the Prize.” Background information on a Supreme Court decision prepares students to role play, making decisions about school library content and acquisitions.

Our First Families is the first of nine once-a-month guides that feature an illustrated segment of the history of the Washington area. The era of the Algonquian-speaking people who settled on the Potomac and Anacostia rivers before 1400 is studied through a Q and A, developed with Post editor and writer Fred Barbash, watercolors and engravings of the late 1500s and the work of Post artist Patterson Clark. A timeline, map of the area in 1600, and "Mamonotowick, Weroances and the People" can be used for cross-disciplinary activities. A crossword puzzle featuring Algonquian words and culture and academic content standards are also provided.

After reading primary documents, students are asked to take a position on the Capitalsaurus. This lesson provides two KidsPost articles, a bill that makes the Capitalsaurus D.C.'s official dinosaur, and an excerpt from a type specimen list prepared by the National Museum of Natural History. Worksheet, crossword puzzle and a word study (dinosaur) are ready to reproduce. Resources and vocabulary are also included.

Use the Post to learn the basics of writing a news story in inverted pyramid style from the lede to the cut-off test. Reproducibles for students include "The Annotated News Story," "How to... Write a News Story," "How to... Begin a News Story" and "The Inverted Pyramid." Post reporters answer student questions about their careers. The Washington Post timeline focuses on 1890-1900, a decade that witnessed the explosion of the Maine in Cuba, yellow journalism and the newsboys strike in New York City. "You and Your Rights" lesson takes a closer look at the Pledge of Allegiance in the times of national crises.

The 2002 election provides the faces and facts from which students can examine American citizens' involvement in the democratic process, the law-making process, and the power and influence that comes with control of Congress. "You Read It In the Post," "Strange But True," and activities provide for a study of the 2002 campaign and election results. The KidsPost articles and this guide's activities suggest different approaches to further study of the Congress as a legislative body. Also included are math problems, Web resources, vocabulary and "Word Study, " A Look at Congress."

Students prepare a timeline and conduct an interview to understand the changing view of women in American society. In addition to discussion questions, teachers are provided Web resources and a local-women-in-sports-activity from the pages of The Washingotn Post. "Suffrage" is the focus of the Word Study. Reproducibles include a crossword puzzle and "Preparing for an Interview."

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" provides the timely vehicle to introduce the basics of movie review writing. An interview with Washington Post movie reviewer Desson Howe gives a glimpse into the life of a critic. It is clear that Howe has academic training and a love of movies. Movie trivia questions get students thinking about their own knowledge of movies and the economics of the motion picture industry. Teachers are provided guidelines for movie review writers, film vocabulary and a checklist for students to use when writing their first movie reviews. Word Study focuses on movie lingo. In the Money vocabulary and Post articles are used in the enrichment activity that introduces students to the business side of franchises, product placement and endorsements. Just for fun, a Harry Potter matching challenge is provided.

Ten years after his discovery in Italy, Otzi is back in the news. The KidsPost article, "Frozen in Time: Uncovering the 5,300-Year-Old Mysteries of the European Iceman," covers the mummy's discovery in 1991 and his cause of death revealed in July 2001 through the latest advance in x-ray technology. The lesson begins with a KWL reading activity. This task definition strategy will help students to define for themselves what they know, what they want to know and what they have learned. Discussion questions are included. A reproducible is provided for introducing students to the basics of the scientific method. The hypotheses about and test of the corpse present an example of the scientific process, including discarding conclusions when better evidence is found. Two other reproducibles provide for younger students a word find and a Snapshot Box activity. Enrichment activities include research of careers in science and technology