As a class, make a list of the criteria that you would use to determine the quality of a writer’s research. (In other words, what elements distinguish high-quality research from low-quality research?) Then, read Today’s Debate or one of the editorials on the Forum page. Using your criteria, rate the quality of the author’s research. [...]

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Writing funny or provocative captions for cartoons or photos requires a person to draw on a wide variety of skills, including the ability to interpret facial expressions, infer a situation’s context, and express it in a convincing, conversational way that makes people laugh. Choose any photo from today’s paper and attempt to create a witty [...]

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Look through the newspaper and identify five changes that President Obama and Congress are trying to make. Discuss how successful you think they will be at making the changes. Next, develop a list of five changes that family members and teachers can expect from you during the 2009/2010 school year — for example, better grades, [...]

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