Newspaper Word Search, Vocabulary, Crossword and More

Newspapers have been around since Roman politician, and general Julius Caeser printed the Acta Diurna on papyrus in 59 B.C. to trumpet his military successes.

Papers have been widely read in the U.S. since this country's earliest days when the Founding Fathers and others used them to advance their political agendas and smear their opponents.

Even today, with declining newspaper sales as people look more to digital news sources, over 28.6 million newspapers printed every day on average.

Use these printable newspaper worksheets, to introduce students to terms that describe the publishing process for the fourth estate, a somewhat outdated term used to describe the press.

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Vocabulary - Freedom of Speech

Print the PDF: Newspaper Vocabulary Worksheet

Introduce your students to the terminology associated with newspapers using this vocabulary worksheet. Students should use a dictionary or the Internet to define each word.

Freedom of speech is one of the most important concepts you can teach with this worksheet. For example, The New York Times has a compilation of articles about freedom of speech and expression.

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Word Search - A Bit of History

Print the PDF: Newspaper Word Search

One of the words in this word search puzzle is "funnies," which refers to the comic strips found in newspapers. These comic strips are often known as the funny pages. The Sunday comics are full-color comic strips that first appeared in the Sunday edition of papers in the late-19th century shortly after the invention of the color printing press.

The crossword puzzle is many people's favorite part of modern newspapers. The first crossword puzzle published in a newspaper appeared in a British paper in 1924.

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Crossword Puzzle - The Editorial

Print the PDF: Newspaper Crossword Puzzle

This crossword puzzle can help students learn essential journalism terms such as "editorial," which Google describes as a newspaper article written by or on behalf of an editor or editorial board that gives the newspaper's opinion on a topical issue. Many students may not realize that an editorial is an opinion piece, not a news story. Take time to discuss the difference with students.

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Challenge - The Caption

Newspaper Worksheet — ThoughtCo / Beverly Hernandez

Print the PDF: Newspaper Challenge

This worksheet will help students understand that a caption in newspapers is generally a brief description of an accompanying photo, image or illustration. After they have completed the printable, distribute pictures to students - either those you have cut out of newspapers beforehand, photos, or even postcards - and have them write captions for the images. It's a tricky process: Some larger newspapers even have dedicated caption writers.

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Alphabet Activity

Print the PDF: Newspaper Alphabet Activity

Have students fill out this alphabet activity sheet, where they place the newspaper-themed words in correct alphabetical order. But don't stop there: Go over each of the terms, write them on the board, and have students write the definition of each word without using a dictionary. This activity will show how well they know the concepts.

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The 5 W's and H

Print the PDF: 5 W's Worksheet

Use this printable as a springboard to help you conduct a lesson on one of the essential concepts in journalism, the who, what, when, where and why in of a story. The worksheet also covers one more concept, how, an often overlooked issue in articles.

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Write a Story

Print the PDF: Newspaper Theme Paper

This newspaper theme paper gives students a chance to write what they've learned about newspapers. Extra credit: Print a second blank copy of this page for each student and have them write a brief newspaper article using the 5 W's. If needed, present a few sample topics students can write about.

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The Newspaper Stand

Print the PDF: Newspaper Stand Coloring Page

Involve younger students by having them complete this coloring page. If you and your students live in a smaller community, explain that even today many cities sell newspapers and magazines at stands often located near city sidewalks. Prepare ahead of time by finding and printing pictures of newspaper stands or have students look up "newspaper stand" on the internet.

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Extra! Extra! Coloring Page

Newspaper Coloring Page — ThoughtCo / Beverly Hernandez

Print the PDF: Extra! Extra! Coloring Page

Use this coloring page to explain how newspapers were once sold in this country. For older students, explain how Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst once waged fierce circulation wars at the end of the 19th century, employing thousands of youngsters to hawk newspapers on New York City's streets. The term "extra" refers to a special edition of a newspaper printed to announce some extraordinary news that occurs after the paper's regular press time.