Download these activities and discussions pdf | doc -- perfect for classrooms AND preparing students for an author/illustrator school visit. (Note: please feel free to cut and paste from the doc version to create your own classroom activities.)

Thanks to Jeannie Connolly and Jean Robins for their help and comments.
Also, see Sandra B. Oldendorf and Annie Calloway, Connecting Children to a Bigger World: Reading Newspapers in the Second Grade, Social Studies and the Young Learner, 21 (2), pp17-19.