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IVY + BEAN
NO NEWS IS
GOOD NEWS
TEACHER’S GUIDe
GRADES
by annie barrows
+ sophie blackall
1-3
Dear Teacher:
The newest Ivy and Bean title, No News Is Good News, is a celebration of friendship,
enterprise, and writing. Ivy and Bean are desperate to earn money in order to purchase
the wax-wrapped cheese everyone in class enjoying. Acting on an idea from Bean’s
father, they settle on selling subscriptions to a neighborhood newspaper they
will produce. However, in typical style, the girls cause a significant commotion
as they navigate the perilous waters of journalism by trying to get the scoop on
their neighbors, stepping on the toes of their neighbors. Students will shudder (and
giggle) as they witness the girls’ failure to honor the journalist’s code of ethics,
which requires clarity, accuracy, fairness, truth, independence, and public service.
And they’ll rejoice as the girls land on their feet, with new knowledge, confidence,
and enough money to purchase the coveted Belldeloon cheese!
In addition to reading and writing activities inspired by the journalism theme of
the book, you’ll find many other ways to extend student learning as they enjoy Ivy
and Bean’s journalistic adventures.
1
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT
Five W’s and One H
Introduce the six essential questions each news article must answer in the headline and first sentence (lead):
WHO?
WHAT?
WHEN?
WHERE?
WHY?
HOW?
Carefully select several news articles from a local paper that are both interesting and easily understood by young
children. If your newspaper has a children’s section, select articles from it.
Using a document camera (for paper news articles) or a data projector (for online news articles), read the headline
and lead aloud to students. Challenge them to identify the five W’s and one H in each article. As a class, fill out a
chart like this one:
Article Title
Who
What
Once students are able to identify the five W’s and one
H in news articles, turn their attention to the articles
from Ivy and Bean’s The Flipping Pancake newspaper.
On pages 107-109, author Annie Barrows tells us about
the contents of the newspaper including:
Article: “Mr. Columbi’s Secret” about the (possible)
rats and salami in Mr. Columbi’s House
Picture: Sophie’s mom with her hair in a bag and blue goo on her face
Article: About the fire at Trevor and Ruby’s
Article: About Ball Control
Re-read the chapters that relate each of these stories
and invite students to identify the answers to each of
the six questions. Then, invite students to help you to
write a headline and lead (or caption, for the picture)
that include these answers, also noting the questions
for which they do not have answers. Finally, pose as
an expert who can supply the missing answers. Invite
students to rewrite the headline and lead (or caption)
incorporating answers to all six questions.
If time allows, invite students to work in teams and
write a short article for each of the three topics in The
Flipping Pancake, incorporating the headline and lead
the class has created for each.
When
Where
Why
How
1
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT (continued)
The Journalist’s Creed
News Around the School
Journalist and Professor Walter Williams penned
If your students are developmentally ready, you
“The Journalist’s Creed” in the early 1900’s, and
may propose that the class write its own one-page
its core principals are still in practice today: clarity,
school newspaper similar to The Flipping Pancake.
accuracy, fairness, truth, independence and, public
Assign each student, or team of students, to find one
service. Unfortunately, Ivy and Bean have never had
story idea that they are interested in writing about,
instruction in journalism.
whether it is a new student, a change in the cafeteria
menu, new books in the library, or an upcoming fair
Introduce your students to the six core principles of
or other school-wide event. Discuss how they will
journalism, taking care to clarify each term thor-
obtain the answers to the five W’s and one H. Send
oughly for them. Then, retrace the girls’ steps as they
them off to obtain answers from personal or informa-
search for stories to include in their newspaper. For
tional interviews. Once all information is gathered,
each story, ask if it was clear, accurate, fair, truthful,
help students to compile it into a single paragraph
independent, and served the public. Ask students to
article with a strong headline and lead that answers
support their claims. If the answer is no, challenge
the six questions.
students to explain how could the girls have changed
their behavior or the article so that the answer would
Younger students may not be ready to write an ar-
be yes.
ticle but you can produce a photographic newspaper
with them by accompanying them to take digital
photographs of newsworthy stories around the school
and helping them to conduct brief interviews to obtain answers to the six questions. Then help them to
write an informative caption for each photograph. If
you have older reading or learning buddies for your
young students, they will make perfect partners for
your students in this activity.
2
ALL THE FOOD THAT’S FIT TO EAT
Ivy and Bean love to enjoy snacks together. When
Bean’s mom offers them fruit, they say that cheese
would make a better snack, or even fruit with cheese.
They are correct that fruit with cheese is a nutritious
snack, but we know from the first page of the book
that it’s not the cheese they are interested in eating,
but the wax around the cheese they want for molding.
Ask students to make a list of the lunch and snack
foods that Ivy and Bean eat or discuss over the course
of the book. Using the knowledge they have about nutrition, engage them in a conversation about healthy
to support their claim by referring to the book. If not,
lunches and healthy snacks. Ask them whether they
ask them to make suggestions for improvements in the
think Ivy and Bean are healthy eaters. If so, ask them
ways that Ivy and Bean eat.
3
THE MATH BEHIND THE MONEY
How to Earn a Dollar
The High Cost of Cheese
Introduce a conversation about the many ways that
In the first chapter, Bean says, “Another day, another
children can make money. Begin by making a list
dollar,” and Ivy points out that they don’t have a dol-
of the way your students have earned money in the
lar. Besides, she points out, they’d need more than
past. When the list is complete, ask each child to esti-
a dollar to buy the cheese. Point students to page 13
mate how much money he or she made and how many
where Bean’s mother explains that her reason for not
hours it took to make that sum (including preparation
buying the cheese is cost. “Lowfat Belldeloon cheese
and planning). Then, explore the idea of dollars (or
in a special just-for-you serving size costs five dollars
cents) per hour, making sure to take into account the
for six little bitty pieces of cheese, so if you want it,
cost of any materials they purchased, such as lemons
you can pay for it yourself.”
and sugar for lemonade sold at a lemonade stand). Finally, discuss which methods of earning money were
After discussing the girls’ problem, complete the fol-
most profitable and which were the most fun.
lowing math activities:
How many subscriptions would they need to sell:
• Invite students to determine the cost of each
piece of cheese, if a bag of six costs five dollars.
• If your state has sales tax on groceries, discuss
the sales tax percentage and help them to determine the total cost, with tax, of one five dollar bag
of Belldeloon cheese.
• Invite students to accompany their parents to the
grocery store to find the price of Mini Babybel®,
the actual wax-wrapped cheese sold in the
Newspaper Price Point
Ivy and Bean need $10.00 to buy two bags of Belldeloon cheese. This helps them to decide how much
to charge their customers for a newspaper subscription. They settle on a dollar per subscription, which
means they only need ten subscriptions in order to
buy the two bags of cheese. Challenge students with
United States. Record the price on the chart
below. After you have prices from more than one
store, determine the cost of each individual piece
of cheese in each store. Then compare that cost to
the cost of Belldeloon in the book and to each
of the other stores.
Note: You can show students an image of Mini Babybel® at
http://www.mini-babybel.com/products/mini-babybel/
these other options:
How many subscriptions would they need to sell:
Belldeloon
• If they charged twenty-five cents per subscription
like Bean’s father did for his newspaper?
• If they charged fifty cents per subscription?
How many one-dollar subscriptions would they
need to sell:
Local
Store 3
Price of
Waxed Cheese
per Piece
• If the cheese cost $5.50 per bag?
• If each of the girls had a fifty-cents off coupon?
• If one of the girls had a half-price coupon?
Local
Store 2
Local
Store 1
4
WAX ENVY
The In Crowd
Wax Without the Cheese
After reading the first chapter of No News is Good
Ivy and Bean didn’t know that they could have
News, entitled “Squish, Squish, Squish,” open a dis-
scooped everyone in their class without ever buying
cussion with your students about why Ivy and Bean
a bag of Belldeloon cheese! Modeling wax is avail-
want Belldeloon cheese in a special just-for-you serv-
able for crafting all sorts of disguises as well as other
ing size. Do they want the cheese? Do they want the
fabulous creations. Sheets of it are is available online
wax? If so, why? Reread the first paragraph. What
for purchase from Stockmar in an array of beautiful
is at the heart of their desire for that wax? Now ask
colors. The warmth of the modeler’s hands warms
students whether they have ever been in a similar
the wax enough to manipulate it. Cooled wax retains
situation and how they felt.
the shape students have molded.
Belldeloon Wax Productions
Supply your students with modeling wax and invite
Ask your students to pretend that they work for the
ask them to mold a mythical or real animal from the
Belldeloon cheese company in the marketing depart-
wax, and stage a Zoological Wax Museum. If you are
ment. They have been assigned to design a sheet of
producing a school newspaper, be sure to take photo-
suggestions for young customers who not only eat
graphs and interview students for an article.
them to create a variety of disguise elements. Then,
their cheese but also play with their wax. Besides
the soccer ball, unicorn horn, dripping blood, and
mustache that Ivy and Bean’s classmates make, what
else might they suggest that students could fashion
out of the red wax? Make a list of as many ideas as
possible. If you have purchased modeling wax, allow
students to make a prototype for each idea. Then vote
on the best of the ideas. Finally, design a Belldeloon
marketing guide to wax productions.
Ivy and Bean
Ivy and Bean and the
Ghost That Had to Go
Ivy and Bean Break
the Fossil Record
Ivy and Bean Take
Care of the Babysitter
Ivy and Bean Bound
to Be Bad
Ivy and Bean Doomed
to Dance
Ivy and Bean What’s
the Big Idea
Ivy and Bean No News
is Good News
About the Author
About the Author of this Guide
Annie Barrows is the author of the best-selling
Toni Buzzeo, MA, MLIS is a certified school librarian, is the author
Ivy and Bean series. She lives in Northern
of fourteen picture books for children and eleven professional
California with her husband and two daughters.
books for librarians and educators.
About the Illustrator
www.tonibuzzeo.com
Sophie Blackall is an Australian illustrator
whose work has appeared in many newspapers
and maga­zines, including the New York Times.
She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
For additional classroom activities, printables, worksheets and more,
please visit chroniclebooks.com/ivyandbean
To request an author event please contact [email protected]