This article is intended to provide adult basic education teachers with examples of functional learning activities for their students through use of the newspaper. It lists activities which are illustrations of those that can be used to teach functional skills in the key areas of reading and computation. For reading, suggested activities include (1) determine the main idea of the article by identifying who, what, when, where, and why; (2) distinguish whether a story contains fact, fiction, or opinion; (3) build vocabulary; and (4) identify parts of speech. Suggested computation activities are (1) calculate sales tax; (2) determine salaries, wages, and rents for specified periods; and (3) compare prices through ads. Strategies are also given to expand the list of potential activities. (YLB)