The job of a Cabinet member is to give the president input on a particular area of expertise. After the president has made a decision, Cabinet members help support and promote it. President-elect Barack Obama has made it clear that he wants people on his Cabinet who will speak up and disagree with him. Read [...]

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Write a short story (a few paragraphs) from the perspective of a piece of unusual technology or other object or concept described in today’s USA TODAY.  (Don’t choose something too obvious, like a computer.) Use the first-person voice and tell about a day in your life. Share your story and ask peers to guess what [...]

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The election of Barack Obama is a historic milestone for the United States in many ways. As the country prepares for his inauguration, it will also be preparing for challenges that have few, if any, precedents in American history. Using information from all sections of today’s paper, list at least four ways the Obama administration [...]

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Signs of the current economic crisis have spread beyond the financial sectors of America and are making an impact on all phases of our society. In small groups, look through today’s paper and find as many examples of the crisis’ impact on the everyday lives of Americans (for example, changes in local government services like [...]

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President-elect Barack Obama will spend the next several months determining who will be on his Cabinet. Visit www.whitehouse.gov and click on "Your Government" at the top of the page. Then, click on "President Bush’s Cabinet." Next, research one Cabinet position by clicking on the seal next to the current Cabinet member’s photo. On the website you are brought to, look for and read the department’s mission statement, which is usually under a heading such as [...]

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Divide a sheet of paper into two columns. Write “foreign affairs” at the top of one and “domestic affairs” at the top of the other. Next, flip through today’s News section and list each headline under the appropriate heading. Then, write down 8-10 of the most pressing foreign and domestic issues. Finally, decide in what [...]

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