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The Texas Social Studies Controversy
Examine the Texas social studies curriculum controversy with your class. Using a current events instructional activity, learners read the article "A Christian Land Governed by Christian Principles," respond to the discussion questions,...
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How Current Events Affect Us
Elementary and middle schoolers research a current event using various resources. They participate in a class discussion to evaluate the information they gathered on a particular event. Additionally, they discuss the concepts of common...
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Country Comparisons in Current Events Class
Students collect political, socioeconomic, geographical, and other data about 10 countries and record their data in a spreadsheet. The information is used to fuel current events discussions.
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Current Event Jeopardy
Learners read current event article with the purpose of highlighting possible questions and answers for the Jeopardy game. Each student picks a question and answer to use in the game.
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Let's Discuss Current Events
Investigate articles from the daily news and share opinions with classmates. Using current events, learners view a news program without sound and predict what news is being discussed by analyzing the visuals. Then they read news articles...
Civil War Trust
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Through a careful reading and examination of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, scholars take part in grand conversations about the novel's contents, slavery, and the impact the book had on it. Furthermore, learners analyze an...
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Lesson: Skin Fruit: Propaganda of the Deed
Art can express acts of injustice and move society to action. Upper graders analyze contemporary art relating to specific moments in history. They discuss propaganda, anarchy, sociology, and violence as activism. After researching and...
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The Achievements and Challenges of Zimbabwe
Here is an excellent set of five short lessons and activities intended to help learners not only gain an understand of current issues in Africa, but build critical thinking, synthesis, analysis, expository writing, research, and...
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Debating the Issues: Ralph Bunche and Civil Rights
Synthesizing information from a PBS documentary Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey, its companion website, and several other resources (links to which are provided), high schoolers evaluate whether Bunche did all he could to advance the...
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Geography/Current Events Project
Using the Balkan region as an example, fourth graders review the five themes of geography as a class. They identify the physical and human characteristics of a region before labeling the countries and landforms on a map. They then...
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Bank Loans Money to Start Businesses
After locating Latin American countries on a world map, children read about how microbanks are loaning money to help start small businesses. Involving both current events and economics, the teacher introduces the article with a map...
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The Affect of Music on Visual Images
Eighth graders consider cross-curricular connections between social studies, singing, and current events. They listen to the song, "I Can't Cry Hard Enough." view scenes from September 11, then create presentations using images, a...
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A Better Class of Journal-ists
Young academics create a current events journal by skimming newspapers for articles that fit defined guidelines for informational texts. After cutting out two articles each week to add to their journals, they write a brief description of...
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Speaking Out About Kosovo
Invite your class to reflect on the responsibility of newspapers to act as vehicles for citizens to voice their opinions. Using an article to gain factual info. about gov't strategies in dealing with current events in Kosovo, students...
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Current Events
Here is an ongoing activity intended to build interest in local, national, and world news. The class is divided into four groups of approximately five students each. The groups are responsible for monitoring the daily news. They compose...
Facing History and Ourselves
Fishbowl Discussion
Filter young teenagers' opinions and perspectives with a classic fishbowl discussion. Given any topic relevant to your curriculum, a group of class members engage in discussion for their peers to observe.
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Weekly Current Events
Students examine current events every week. Using the internet, they complete searches about specific events. In groups, they gather information to share with the class and discuss any opposing viewpoints.
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Political Asylum Talk Show
Learners view videos, visit websites, and read about the nature and changes made to the idea of political asylum. Beginning with Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, they will explore policy change throughout the years. The lesson...
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A Leader's Lifetime and Legacy
In this lesson plan, students consider their prior knowledge about Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and consider the immediate events surrounding his death. They then create timelines and write papers examining his political career.
Media Smarts
Bias in News Sources
As young consumers of media, it is important for high schoolers to explore concepts of bias and prejudice, and how they may be present in media. After discussing ideological messages that media can contain, individuals complete a warm-up...
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NYC Muslim Community Center: Why there? Why not?
High schoolers examine religious diversity issues. In this current events lesson, students read the provided articles "Sacred Ground or Bridging a Cultural Divide?" "Multiple Views of the Proposed Muslim Center," and "Protests, a...
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Controversy over the NYC Muslim Community Center & the 9/11 Experience
Students investigate the controversial planned mosque at Ground Zero. In this current events instructional activity, students watch 3 public service announcement clips sponsored by the Council on American Islamic Relations and discuss...
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Newspapers: A Connection to Our Past
Students research the historical context for a currents event. They create an iMovie that explains why it is important to explain the history behind a current event.
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Pictographic Poetry of Current Events
Students discuss recent currents events as a class. Using one of the events, they write a poem about how they feel about the event in question. They choose specific symbols that relate to event and write a poem about it as well. They...