HOT SPOT Week 8

Summer Readers: Keep Sizzlin'

Everything that makes up our surroundings and contributes to our ability to live on Earth is part of the natural environment. Protecting our environment is a concern that everyone, no matter what his or her age, can share. We hope this week’s HOT SPOT inspires you to learn about the environment. This week's HOT SPOT sponsor is the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI).

This week’s HOT SPOT activity

MOSI’s new adventure has quite a bite. Dinosaurs! is a 5,000-square-foot exhibition that brings guests up close to creatures that once roamed the Earth more than 150-million years ago. Did you know that dinosaurs may have sipped the same water molecules you used when you brushed your teeth this morning? There's as much water in the world today as there was thousands of years ago. Actually, it's the same water. During this week, look in the St. Petersburg Times for pictures of things that contain water. Cut or print out all of the pictures you find to create a collage. At the end of the week, write a poem about the images you found and the importance of water in our lives. Post your poem on the cabinet above the sink, on the bathroom mirror or on the refrigerator to remind your family to conserve water. Share your poem with others in this blog. Just click on the comment button below to share your thoughts.

If you want to participate in the Summer Reader program, go to tampabay.com/nie/summer for details on how to get started.

Surrealistic style still sells!

Have you read this week's Hot Spot ad about surrealistic ads and how we still use them today? Here are some surreal ads and a comic from the 7/24/08 Times. Can you identify what type of surreal treatment is being used? Try looking at ads from other days of the week, like Sunday, for even more surreal appeal! Use the comments bar below to tell us the day, page number and what the ad looks like and we will post it here! (Tip: You can click on pictures and they will appear in larger format.)

Phantom of the Opera

Ritz Carlton Resort

Blue Martini

Zits (cartoon panel)

HOT SPOT Week 7

Summer Readers: Keep Sizzlin'

Artist Salvador Dali was a Surrealist, which means he depicted scenes and objects in dreamlike or bizarre fashion. You are probably familiar with his famous “melting clock” image. This week’s HOT
SPOT is all about the world of newspapers and one of newsprint’s greatest fans, Salvador Dalí.

This Week's HOT SPOT activity
As a Surrealist, Salvador Dalí used techniques to challenge people’s ideas of reality. Sometimes the artist would use transformation, turning something familiar into something unusual or disturbing; dislocation, putting something where you wouldn’t expect to see it; and juxtaposition, placing two things near each other that don’t usually go together. One only needs to look through the advertisements in the St. Petersburg Times to see the influence of Surrealism in our culture. Whether it’s a lizard selling car insurance or people playing Frisbee across a mountain range, the techniques of juxtaposition, dislocation and transformation are so familiar to us that we barely even notice them until we step back and consider what’s really going on. During this week, look for photos, cartoons and advertisements that depict a form of Surrealism. Paste the examples you find on a poster board. Create your own style of collage with the art you have found. What is your favorite image? Share your thoughts with others. Share your thoughts with others in this blog. Just click on the comment button below to share your thoughts.

If you want to participate in the Summer Reader program, go to tampabay.com/nie/summer for details on how to get started.

Teachers talk about new media experiences with the Times

Students and teachers learned how to use the Times in print and online this summer at the "Let's Book It" reading camp at Meadowlawn Middle School. The main text used for the three week camp was Zoo Story, written by Times staff writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas French. For many teachers, this was the first time they had used the e-Edition of the Times and the NIE blog. Here are a few teachers' comments about their experiences.

HOT SPOT Week 6

Summer Readers: Keep Sizzlin'

Now that summer is in full swing, you have some free time to enjoy some of the wonderful museums of Tampa Bay. This week’s HOT SPOT, Great Explorations The Children Museum, is one of those museums. At Great Explorations, you will learn about science through creativity, play and exploration.

This week’s HOT SPOT activity

Think about what the bay means to you. Do you like to swim, go fishing or boating, and watch wildlife? Can you think what school subjects and outside activities might prepare you to work in the environment and help to protect it? Look through this week’s St. Petersburg Times, find and clip out as many articles, photographs and graphics as you can that focus on this week’s theme: environment and the Tampa Bay Estuary. What you are creating is called a clip file, which is a collection of articles cut from newspapers and magazines on a particular topic. You can keep these clippings in a file folder or notebook. If you are using the e-Edition of the Times, you can print out the items you find, or make pdfs and create an electronic clip file. You might want to supplement your St. Petersburg Times clip file with articles and pictures you find in other publications or on the Internet. Be sure to include the source and date of your clipping, for history’s sake! What can you do to improve the health of the Tampa Bay Estuary? Share your thoughts with others in this blog. Just click on the comment button below to share your thoughts.

If you want to participate in the Summer Reader program, go to tampabay.com/nie/summer for details on how to get started.

HOT SPOT Week 5

Summer Readers: Keep Sizzlin'

Now that school is out , you have some free time to concentrate on YOU! Summer is a great time to focus on exercise. Do you know what it takes to stay fit and healthy? Reading is a great way to exercise your mind. Moving is a great way to exercise your body. This week’s HOT SPOT focuses on your mind and your body. You can exercise and have fun at this week's HOT SPOT sponsors, YMCA of the
Suncoast, YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg and Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA.

This week ’s HOT SPOT activity

Did you know that more than 60 percent of American adults do not get enough physical activity? Even if you can’t get to the gym five times a week, you could start making small changes in your daily routine, by parking further away at the mall if you drive, or taking the stairs. The St. Petersburg Times is a great place to look for ideas or special events where you can get a fun workout and a nutritious treat. Throughout the week, look in the Times for places to get physical and eat healthfully. Don’t forget to check out the advertisements as well as the articles. Create a list to share with your family and see if you can get everyone off the couch! With all the new knowledge you have, create a health and fitness poster with photos, ads, cartoons or slogans you have found in the Times this week. What’s your favorite form of exercise? Maybe you’ll inspire others to get fit by blogging about it. Just click on the comment button below to share your thoughts.

If you want to participate in the Summer Reader program, go to tampabay.com/nie/summer for details on how to get started.

Cool off at the zoo this summer!

You don't have to leave your airconditioning to read about life at Lowry Park Zoo. Go to tampabay.com/nie/zoo and read about the elephants and tigers and frogs, oh my! Then tell us your comments on this blog.

Xpress yourself about Xpress Plugged In

Are you a fan of artwork, photography and creative words? Check out Xpress Plugged In, the Times' online place to view the artistic work of students through the 12th grade. Go to Xpress Plugged In at tampabay.com/nie and click the link next to the Xpress Plugged In logo. What piece of art inspires you? Are you moved by a special poem or photograph? Blog here about the work you see and read at XPI. Then follow the instructions to submit your own work for consideration.