1. In Other Words ...

A good way to improve both reading and writing skills is to learn how to put things in your own words. This is called paraphrasing (PAR-a-FRAZE-ing). Newspaper reporters often have to decide what to quote directly from sources, and what to paraphrase. Direct quotes usually are chosen because they are colorful, or describe a situation especially well. Skim stories on the front page of the news or sports section of the newspaper. Pick three direct quotes. Write the quotes on a sheet of paper. Then paraphrase what the person is saying in your own words. A good way to start is to write "He/she said" and then paraphrase the direct quote.

Learning Standards: Employing multiple strategies to construct meaning, including word recognition skills, context clues, retelling, predicting and generating questions; acquiring information from multiple sources.

2. One More Burger

There's a new kid on the burger block called Five Guys. Based in Virginia, this business had six restaurants in the early 2000s. Now, there are more than 600 Five Guys restaurants in 48 states. Five Guys received national attention last year when President Obama stopped in for a burger. However, McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's still account for more than two-thirds of the U.S. fast-food burger market. Read the business section in the newspaper to learn more about a new company or a business trying something new. What people are its target market and what companies are its competition?

Learning Standards: Using case studies to exemplify how supply and demand, prices, incentives, and profits determine what is produced and distributed in a competitive world market; posing social science and economic questions.

3. Too Much Information

The profiles of 100 million Facebook users were recently published on the Internet, including birthdays, addresses, phone numbers and other information. A program written by an online security consultant scanned the social networking site for profiles without privacy blocks and then put together a text file with the information. Because the information was on the Internet, no crime was committed. Facebook has more than 400 million users, and to protect your privacy, experts suggest reviewing your privacy settings to make sure only friends can see your information. In addition, prevent unwanted people from searching for your profile by going to "Account" and then "Privacy Settings." Edit the "Public Search" option by taking the check out of the "Enable public search" box. Read today's newspaper or the archives to find articles about social networking or identity theft. With classmates or friends, discuss ways you can protect yourself online and why it is important. Summarize some ways to do this in a paragraph.

Learning Standards: Engaging peers in constructive conversation about matters of public concern by clarifying issues, considering opposing views, applying democratic values, anticipating consequences, and working toward making decisions.

4. Deadly Month

At least 66 U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan in July, making it the deadliest month for American forces in the nearly nine years of the war. The figure comes from military reports compiled by the Associated Press and other news agencies. Tensions in the war against the Taliban have risen this year in Afghanistan, and U.S. and NATO commanders had warned that casualties would rise. Last December, President Obama ordered 30,000 reinforcement troops to Afghanistan. On July 29, the Pentagon's tally of U.S. military deaths during the operation nicknamed "Enduring Freedom" was 1,197. A recent U.S. Defense Department tally found that the number of U.S. service members who have been wounded in hostile action in Afghanistan is now at least 7,149. Read current and archived articles in the newspaper about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Write an editorial assessing what the U.S. should do in these two countries in the next year.

Learning Standard: Selecting contemporary problems in the world and composing historical narratives that explain their antecedents.

5. Nixon Resigns

On August 8, 1974, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced his resignation. He officially stepped down from office a day later on August 9. Nixon's Republican administration had been linked to a major political scandal called Watergate that started in 1972 with a burglary and wiretapping of the campaign headquarters of the rival Democratic Party. Investigations by the U.S. Senate found that Nixon had been personally involved in covering up the break-in. Another investigation found other wrongdoing had been allowed by the White House. In July 1974, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach the president and put him on trial before the Senate. Nixon then resigned, and Vice President Gerald Ford succeeded him as president of the United States. Choose a current event from the newspaper that is similar to a historical event. How are the events similar? What can be learned from today's event so that a similar occurrence doesn't happen again in the future?

Learning Standards: Analyzing key decisions by drawing appropriate historical analogies; acquiring information from multiple sources; comparing and contrasting events from the past and the present.