Do you shy away from teaching with current events in your classroom? Some current events can be scary for kids. Others can bring up strong emotions and divisive opinions. But current events belong in the classroom.
Teaching with current events helps students understand the world they live in. It builds relevance for them. For example, students can learn the basics about how elections work, but they can connect with it in a different way when you read and discuss an upcoming election. And when students make connections, it boosts engagement.
Teaching with current events offers many opportunities to enhance critical thinking skills, analyze and compare sources, and identify facts and opinions.
What current events should you teach?
While current events belong in the classroom, you’ll want to choose which events you discuss and the particular stories you engage with.
Try kid versions of news sources. Some magazines or news sites have kid friendly versions that include news written at more accessible levels.
Look for appropriate news stories that students can read, listen to, or watch, for example, on public television or radio. Preview the sources you will use to ensure there is nothing inappropriate for the classroom and know what kind of support you may need to give students.
Look for local news as well as national or international stories. They can often highlight issues in a way that has a deeper or more immediate impact on students. You may also be able to attend an event or get people related to the issue to talk to students.
How to discuss current events
Because current events affect our lives and because many issues draw upon issues that people feel strongly about, discussions can be charged.
Set some guidelines before discussing current events stories. These may be part of your classroom rules anyway, but you may want to reiterate them.
For example:
- Give everyone a chance to talk and listen respectfully
- No name calling or criticizing individuals or groups
- Be curious and ask questions if you don’t understand something
- Be open to new or different perspectives, consider different sides of an issue
- Use facts to support opinions
- Remember we are here to learn, not to win.
Guide the discussion to keep it relevant to the topic or skill you are exploring.
7 ways to use current events in the classroom
Current events can be used throughout your curriculum. Try teaching with current events not only in social studies, but also in science, language arts, math, and technology and media studies.
Here are 7 ways to use current events in the classroom:
1. Pair a Current Events Story with a Fiction Story. For example, pair a science fiction story about technology with a current events story about AI or robots.
2. Guided Reading. Read the headline. Ask students what they think the story will be about. Scan headings and graphics. Again ask students what they think the story will be about. Read the story together. Ask students to answer questions about who or what the story is about, what key facts are shared, what position the writer is making, and what questions they still have.
3. Math in the News. One way to use current events in math is to find stories that include charts, graphs, or other infographics. Demonstrate how to read the particular graphic. Ask questions to assess students’ understanding of the graphic. If applicable, read the text that refers to the graphic and talk about which is easier to understand, if one contains more information than another.
4. Op-ed. Read several op-ed stories with students and talk about how they are constructed. Notice where they use fact and opinion. Have students summarize the position. Then have students write their own opinion on the issue you discussed. Alternatively, students could write to elected officials sharing their opinions about the issue as a way to understand civics and letter writing.
5. Top News Stories of the Year. Each month of school, have students identify 1–3 news stories that feel particularly relevant to them personally or to your community. Have them write about why the stories matter. At the end of the year, have them create a timeline or retrospective about the top news of the year.
6. Now and Then. Use a current event story to explore history. For example, talk about voting rights today and look at who was able to vote at different points in our country’s history and how the right to vote was limited and expanded. Have students share what they learned in a skit, comic strip, or timeline.
7. Dive into Disasters. News stories can be a jumping off point for additional research. Consider disasters like hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and more. The Natural Disasters Bundle gives you a variety of activities to explore natural disasters, including an escape room, and step by step report writing among others.
Get your Natural Disasters Bundle here to use natural disasters in the news as a learning opportunity.
There are so many ways to use current events in the classroom — and so many benefits to include. How are you weaving in current events this year?
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