Remember the story we shared last week from Best of the Web, wherein the NY Times Learning Network had written a lesson plan that would have students write letters of protest about Abu Ghraib? James Taranto notes today:

The plan has been sanitized and jargoned up; whereas before it promised to teach kids about "writing letters to protest American abuse of Iraqi prisoners," here's the new description:

In this lesson, students process the news of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in American custody and explore international laws that dictate the treatment of prisoners of war and detainees. To synthesize their understanding of these laws and their own views of the situation, students compose Letters to the Editor.

Forget dull old reading and writing; thanks to the New York Times, kids are learning to "process" and "synthesize." The new lesson plan also no longer urges kids to read the Al-Jazeera Web site, but it does ask them to consider if the Arab network would have been a "better choice" for President Bush's interview than the U.S.-backed Al Hurra.

Hmm, where have I heard this "process and synthesize" language before?