1. Reading Character

Recognizing character traits can help you predict and understand things in reading. A person's character traits are the kinds of attitudes they show over long periods of time. Someone may be kind, or funny, or mean, or dishonest. A person may help others, or pick on others. Find a feature story in the newspaper that tells you something about a person. On a sheet of paper list the person's different character traits. Finish by writing a sentence stating what kind of person the subject is.

Learning Standards: Acquiring information from multiple sources; identifying and explaining how individuals in history demonstrate good character and personal virtue.

2. What a Deal

Last spring, stores that sell teen clothes had hoped to see a quicker economic recovery than has happened. High unemployment, especially among teenagers, has slowed consumer spending. Yet that may bring some good back-to-school deals for teens this fall. Stores like Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale have been slashing prices with hopes of bringing in the back-to-school dollars. Department stores are trying new ways to lure the teen market, too. J.C. Penney Co. found six teenagers to create YouTube "haul" videos critiquing fashions purchased on shopping trips paid for by the store. Look through the back-to-school ads in the newspaper. Choose the ad that would most likely get you in a store and the ad that would least likely convince you to shop at a store. Write about why you chose these two ads.

Learning Standards: Understanding and analyzing how purchasers obtain information about goods and services from advertising and other sources; describing and demonstrating how the economic forces of scarcity and choice affect the management of personal financial resources, shape consumer decisions regarding the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services and affect the economic well_being of individuals and society.

3. Holding Steady

Analysts say that gasoline prices should not change much in the rest of August. That's good news for Americans wanting to have an end-of-summer getaway. Earlier this month the national average for a gallon of unleaded gas was $2.774, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service. That's about 13.1 cents more than this time last year. The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration found that California drivers paid the most per gallon at $3.172. A lot of factors determine the price of gasoline, including the price of crude oil, the strength of the dollar, the distance of a state from refining hubs and the amount of state tax added to the federal gas tax, which is 18.4 cents per gallon. Read today's newspaper and its archives to find examples of people around the world using alternative forms of energy because of high oil or gas prices. Based on the information from the articles, how is this helping the environment, or affecting the economy?

Learning Standards: Acquiring information from multiple sources and then organizing and evaluating it; evaluating the impact on households of alternative solutions to societal problems such as health care, housing or energy use.

4. Personality Profile

Has anyone ever told you that you haven't changed a bit? A new study has found that a person's personality traits from the elementary school years are good predictors of future adult behavior. Researchers compared teacher personality ratings from a 1960s study of around 2,400 children in Grades 1-6 with videotaped interviews of 144 of the subjects 40 years later. They looked at four personality traits: talkativeness (verbal fluency), adaptability (how well they cope in new situations), impulsiveness and self-minimizing behavior (being so humble that it lessens self-importance). An upcoming issue of Social Psychological and Personality Science will include the study. Choose an article from the newspaper about a political, business or community leader. List the personality and character traits you believe this person has. How does his or her personality and character help or hinder the person's performance on the job?

Learning Standards: Focusing on meaning and communication while listening, speaking, viewing, reading and writing in personal, social, occupational and civic contexts;

5. Pigskin's Birthday

Football season is coming, and many people are excited. Did you know an early national professional football league in the United States was founded on August 20, 1920? That's when seven men, including football star Jim Thorpe, met to organize the American Professional Football Conference. The group met again on September 17 that year and changed the name to the American Professional Football Association. The professional league is now called the National Football League (NFL). Find an example in the newspaper of a professional or social group, such as the NFL or the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Write a paragraph or blog entry about the benefits of belonging to a positive, organized group.

Learning Standards: Demonstrating, analyzing and reflecting upon the skills and processes used to communicate through listening, speaking, viewing, reading and writing.