1. That’s Up for Debate

In just a few months, President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will go head to head in televised debates to present their views on issues such as the economy, the military, education and health care. Debates go back a long way in American politics. On August 21 154 years ago, for example, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas began a series of debates in the state of Illinois while competing for Douglas’s U.S. Senate seat. The two faced off over the issue of slavery. Lincoln argued against the expansion of slavery, while Douglas said each territory should be able to decide the issue of slavery for itself. Lincoln lost that election, but ended up being the president who abolished slavery. Find newspaper articles about the issues to be debated in this year’s election. Hold a mock debate with your classmates at school.

Common Core/National Standard: Coming to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material.

2. Box Office Bust

This summer, many movies enjoyed big openings in which lots of people went to see them in the first week. But some of the same movies didn't do well in later weeks. Some critics say that this is because people go to see the movies when they first open, but then tell friends that they didn't like them. Read a movie review in the newspaper. What did the reviewer pay attention to and comment upon? Now, write a review for a movie or a book that you saw or read recently. Don't just say that you did or did not enjoy it— explain why!

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; developing and applying personal, shared and academic criteria for the enjoyment, appreciation and evaluation of visual texts.

3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

There’s a saying that declares, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” So when many Detroit, Michigan, houses fell empty after the downturn in the American economy, some people decided to do something about it. A group called Reclaim Detroit, along with a job training organization called WARM, is taking the houses apart and reusing the materials to make new things. Among the new things being made are toys. People are learning how to make toys from the wood of houses at the WARM Training Center. They get to keep one toy they make and donate the second toy to a Christmas present drive in December. The effort not only creates jobs, organizers say, but it helps the environment because it is better to re-purpose materials than dump them in a landfill. Find a newspaper article about reducing, reusing and recycling. Or find one online. Write an opinion essay on how recycling affects communities.

Common Core/National Standard: Writing arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

4. More Than a Helping Hand

How far would you go to help a stranger? Kellie Boff chose to go so far as to give Mike Newman a kidney, according to an Arizona Republic newspaper article. Boff works for the Bullhead City Chamber of Commerce and saw an e-mail that went to people living in the western Arizona town that borders the state of Nevada. The e-mail said that Newman, a 20-year police veteran, needed a live kidney donation in order to live. Boff said she stared at the e-mail for several days before volunteering to get tested to see if she were a match. She was, and now says “I’ve always believed in helping where you can.” Find a newspaper or Internet article about someone doing something extraordinary for a stranger or someone else. Write a paragraph describing what you would be willing to do for someone you didn’t know.

Common Core/National Standard: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.

5. Plagiarism Doesn’t Pay

If you think you only get in trouble for copying someone else’s paper while you’re in middle school, you would be wrong. National columnist and television host Fareed Zakaria had his Time magazine column taken away after using someone else’s writing and not giving them credit. He has apologized, but Time officials are going to review the case further. They say “what he did violates our … standards for columnists,” Time spokesman Ali Zelenko said in an Associated Press article. Find an article in the newspaper that interests you. Write a summary of the article. Practice attributing information from the article, using quotation marks and citations.

Common Core/National Standard: Integrating information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.