HARMONY — When Ruth Austin’s fifth- and sixth-graders at the Harmony Elementary School take out their social studies textbooks, they don’t reach for an out-of-date volume. Instead, they open current copies of the Bangor Daily News, and they love it.

That was apparent from the rapt attention they paid to the spread-out newspapers on all 30 desks. Hands shot up as they volunteered to talk about the part of the paper they most enjoyed: the comics, the sports, the Mini Page. One pupil summed up the class feeling: “I’d rather read the newspaper than an old textbook any day,” he said.

Austin, a long-time teacher, always has relied on the newspaper for help in motivating children. “I think it’s a great tool to use,” she said. “This group has become more alert since doing the newspaper.”

By way of introduction, she spends the first week of school emphasizing the index. When the students are familiar with the layout and can locate what they want to read, she builds on those abilities with three or four lessons that guide them through the newspaper page by page.

For the twice-weekly social studies lesson, she selects pertinent and interesting articles from a variety of areas, and lists the day’s readings on the board. While one student reads aloud, the others follow along, so they all see as well as hear the words. They have learned how to identify the main idea in a story, and sometimes there are quizzes that help Austin assess her students’ understanding of the content. A helper, Earl Lord, is on hand with a dictionary to answer any questions about vocabulary and usage.

Austin has found many ways to use the newspaper as a catalyst for creative expression. When the students read editorials, they practice writing letters to the editor; when they read front-page stories or, for homework, stories of their own choosing, they follow up by rewriting them in their own words and style. Sometimes they are allotted an amount of money for a newspaper “shopping spree,” where they might get to choose, list and total 18 items for the family that could be purchased for $100. Recently, the NEWS gave readers an opportunity to offer their comments on the comics, and Austin saw it as a way to turn the children’s natural interest in that area into a lesson on surveying.

Austin took the Newspapers in Education course that is offered twice each summer — once at the University of Southern Maine and once at the University of Maine. “It’s probably one of the best courses I’ve ever had,” she said. “It touched on everything.” She also draws on ideas from a Newspapers in Education workshop, supplementary materials from the NEWS, and her own imagination to pique her students’ interest.

It’s not just Austin and the students who endorse their innovative “textbook.” Parents have called to say that their children love “newspaper days,” and school officials support her efforts by underwriting the cost.