1. Those Bangladesh Factories

Several of the world’s largest clothing companies have agreed to help pay for fire safety and building improvements in Bangladesh’s garment factories. And the government of this Asian nation has pledged to raise wages for garment workers and change labor laws to make it easier to form trade unions with the authority to speak for workers’ rights. These steps have been prompted by the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex outside the capital city of Dhaka, which killed more than 1,100 workers. The nation’s garment factories, which make many global clothing brands sold in the United States, have been criticized for years for paying the world’s lowest wages and for unsafe working conditions. As a class, discuss whether clothing companies have a responsibility to ensure safe working conditions in other countries. Use points from the discussion to write a letter to the editor of the newspaper expressing your view.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; responding thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarizing points of agreement and disagreement; writing opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.?

2. Good Choice?

Reading the newspaper can teach you a lot about decision-making. People who make either good or bad decisions often are in the news. As a class, read a story in today’s newspaper about a decision or choice that was made by someone. Discuss the article as a class. In teams, watch the news for the next week to see how the decision affects other things. Discuss whether or not you think the decision was a good one. Be sure to explain your reasons.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; responding thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarizing points of agreement and disagreement; evaluating decisions made by others as reported in stories about the past.

3. Food Ads Fooling Kids

The food industries insist they are making their products healthier for children, just as critics have demanded. But a new study has concluded that self-policing has failed because the industry’s self-defined healthier foods “are not necessarily good for you.” The study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation concentrated on food advertising for children, most of which promotes fast foods, snacks, sodas and other products that experts consider high-calorie and low-nutrition. Children younger than 9 “don’t even understand the persuasive nature of advertising,” the researchers state in the Journal of Health Communications. “They [just] see it as information [and that] leads them to think it’s normal to eat foods like that …” This is a key factor, the researchers note, in the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States today. In teams or alone, use the newspaper and Internet to find stories about childhood obesity and efforts like First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign to reduce obesity. Write a summary of one effort, and design a health poster to promote it.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

4. The Pirates’ Accountant

Someone probably had to keep the books for Captain Kidd. So it should come as no surprise that modern pirates may need bookkeepers, too. Authorities in the European nation of Germany have arrested a man who acted as the accountant for a band of Somali pirates who hijacked a German oil tanker three years ago. According to the charges, he was responsible for provisioning the pirate ship with food and supplies, and for dividing millions of dollars in ransom money. Piracy off the Horn of East Africa has been a problem for the shipping industry for years, but the number of attacks has been reduced sharply by international forces patrolling the area. Around the world, efforts to fight crime include everything from piracy to robberies to physical assaults. In the newspaper or online, find a story about crime or crime-fighting. Write a paragraph describing ways this type of crime could be reduced.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic.

5. Tanning Beds Taboo

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to require tanning booths and tanning beds to carry a warning aimed at young people. Because of mounting evidence that indoor tanning raises risks of cancer among younger users, the warnings would urge those under 18 not to use the devices. Compared with people who start later or don’t use the salons at all, people who begin tanning when they are younger than 35 have a 75 percent greater probability of developing melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) and cancers of the eye. The warnings are supported by the American Academy of Dermatology and the National Cancer Institute, which estimates that about 9,480 Americans die each year from melanoma. As a class, discuss the FDA proposal to require warnings for tanning. Then draw an editorial cartoon for the newspaper, offering your opinion about either the warnings, or the risks of tanning for young people.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; responding thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarizing points of agreement and disagreement; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.