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What's New in the News?

© Irene Taylor

Is there a lot going on in the news lately? You bet! So, how do you make the most of what is in the news with your students? This article will take a look at some ideas for using current events in your classroom, and at some current events resources for your students.

A proviso - before you begin, you should take the seriousness of the news and the maturity of your students into account. There are some news stories that are not appropriate for children, and you should use care when discussing these in class. Be aware of the possible negative impact of certain news stories on children and use good judgment. Here are several great articles to help you deal with tragic world events with your students:

Dealing with War and Terrorism in the Classroom: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/pro...

Helping Children Cope in Unsettling Times: http://www.nasponline.org/NEAT/helpingch...

How to Talk to Children about the Threat of Biological Warfare or Terrorist Attack: http://www.fema.gov/kids/terrism.htm

Before simply assigning current events as homework, it is a good idea to spend a little time with your students discussing newspapers and news magazines. Discuss how they are laid out - for example, the most important or international news is found on the front page, or as the feature story of the news magazine. Discuss what makes a story newsworthy. Is it timely? Is it something that has happened unexpectedly? It is of local interest?

Spend some time with the newspaper getting your students comfortable with the news format. Programs such as Newspapers in Education: http://nieonline.com/ are a great way to introduce newspapers into the classroom. Many larger newspapers are affiliated with the NIE program and will deliver the papers for each student to your classroom each day, along with many useful activities. If budgetary issues are a concern, perhaps your school would consider getting one NIE subscription per grade level and the papers could be shared.

Within the NIE framework, you can do a lot of teaching. Here is a sample of the kinds of lessons you can do: http://nieonline.com/nieonline/lessons.c...

Once your students are comfortable with the papers, you can begin to assign current events activities. This article has a great rationale for using current events in classrooms to encourage students to be more informed about their world and the events around them: Why Teach Current Events? http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/cu...

When you first begin to assign current events, it helps to focus the students a bit. Try assigning them to find an article of local interest, or one about a school event, or something from the entertainment section. Ask students to write a brief summary of the article, or to give their opinions on a given article. You can start by having the whole class work on the same article, and then let them branch out on their own.