Tamara, What a great strategy to use. You not only have your students focused on Thursdays and the articles but you have them engaged every day of the week leading up to Thursdays. They are taking the content of the class outside and into their lives as the search for the articles and learn about what topic they are going to discuss. The example you gave is a good one because it involved two of your own students who had a story to tell that was well beyond the topic of the housing market. Their stories made the discussion real and this is what learning should be about. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.