719 current-events results | sort by:
return to subject listingCivics in Real Life - Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): constitution (87), courts (19), elections (80), electoral college (22), holidays (170), politics (111), presidents (124), supreme court (27)
In the Classroom
Because this site offers weekly downloads, it is a great addition to use in any social studies classroom for civics lessons or providing ongoing civics discussions throughout the school year. Engage students by creating groups to explore concepts even further throughout the year. For example, divide your class into four or five groups, then have each group rotate throughout the month to take the information from a weekly update and conduct further research. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and share each of the activities for students to revisit and review the content. Take advantage of tools such as Google Slides, reviewed here, to focus student groups on learning activities. Create a slide template that includes students' areas to answer questions, reflect upon finding, and share resources used. Extend learning using podcasts as a final project for students to discuss and share their researched topic. Buzzsprout, reviewed here, is an excellent option for podcasting in the classroom because of the free features that include adding links and lists to podcasts and the ability to schedule podcasts release for your chosen date and time.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Fake News: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation - Pace University
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): digital citizenship (86), internet safety (112), journalism (72), media literacy (102), news (227), Research (84)
In the Classroom
Include this article with your other resources for teaching how to navigate online information. Include this website within a learning management system such as ActivelyLearn, reviewed here, to build a complete learning unit that includes articles, videos, and assessments that fully immerse and engage students in the learning activities. Enhance learning throughout the school year using Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and organize online information. For example, create a Padlet that includes a column for each of the four categories of fake news mentioned on this website, then ask students to share examples found during online use. Extend learning by asking students to become the teacher through presentations on how to recognize and avoid fake news. Provide a variety of options for student presentations including a comic creation tool like ToonyTool, reviewed here, Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, to create simple video explainers, or use Wick Editor, reviewed here, and have students create a game to teach the hazards of disinformation.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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LGBTQ History and Why It Matters - FacingHistory.org
Grades
10 to 12tag(s): bias (25), civil rights (197), difficult conversations (60), sexuality (15)
In the Classroom
This lesson plan includes many excellent activities and resources that work well as a stand-alone lesson or to incorporate into your current history units as a supplement to provide a new perspective that highlights bias, gender, and civil rights issues. Discussing LBGTQ issues may lead to difficult conversations in the classroom; use this lesson to provide factual information within current history lessons. This site includes a variety of ideas and descriptions of teaching strategies that work well with any lesson. Be sure to bookmark this page to use as a reference for strategies to incorporate within many of your current units. One strategy mentioned is the use of exit cards as a reflective response or class discussion. Learn more about incorporating exit tickets as an authentic learning activity by viewing the archive of the July 2021 OK2Ask webinar, Measuring Authentic Learning Activities with Exit Slips, reviewed here. Consider sharing this lesson with your school's guidance counselor to use when counseling students who are dealing with identity or gender issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack - Peggy McIntosh
Grades
10 to 12tag(s): bias (25), character education (76), civil rights (197), racism (78)
In the Classroom
Include this article with others as part of your ongoing professional development about racism and bias. It is also practical to use with older students as part of lessons on racism. Make it easier for students to break down the information in the article through the collaborative use of Fiskkit, reviewed here. Upload the article to Fiskkit and share the link with students. Ask them to highlight areas of interest and add comments. Follow the author's advice and encourage students to draw on personal experiences as part of their discussions. One method for sharing experiences is through the use of short audio discussions using PodcastGenerator, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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'Interrupt The Systems': Robin DiAngelo On 'White Fragility' And Anti-Racism - Ari Shapiro/NPR
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): authors (104), bias (25), character education (76), civil rights (197), difficult conversations (60), racism (78)
In the Classroom
Include this article with your other resources to discuss racism, bias, or when addressing difficult conversations in the classroom. Use a curation tool like Padlet, reviewed here, to share and discuss articles, videos, and online information. As students research and learn more from other authors, help them organize information using Webnote, reviewed here. Webnote is a virtual sticky note (think notecard) taking tool similar to the the physical sticky notes and can be used in place of 3X5 cards used for notetaking by hand. Use Webnote to keep a list of authors and articles, jot down big ideas, and compare suggestions for making positive changes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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'Me And White Supremacy' Helps You Do The Work Of Dismantling Racism - Eric Deggans/NPR
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): bias (25), black history (128), cross cultural understanding (160), identity (29), racism (78)
In the Classroom
Include this article with your other materials when teaching about racism, bias, identiy, or cross-cultural understanding. The interviewee shares responses in the article by raising questions for individuals to consider and use for reflection. Ask groups of students to take different questions to discuss and respond to as part of your article's discussion. Extend learning by asking them to share their findings by creating concept maps using a tool such as mindmaps, reviewed here, or with a presentation using tool like Prezi, reviewed here. Consider using Wakelet, reviewed here, as a curation tool for collecting and sharing resources with students, and also as a presentation tool for students to share their learning with peers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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'Not Racist' Is Not Enough: Putting In The Work To Be Anti-Racist - Eric Deggans/NPR
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): bias (25), black history (128), cross cultural understanding (160), racism (78)
In the Classroom
Include this article with your other materials when discussing racism and bias. Engage students in a collaborative discussion of this article and others using Fiskkit, reviewed here. Add a link to the article in Fiskitt, then share with students to add questions and comments as they discuss the article together online. To help students focus on the topic, consider providing a list of possible questions before reading the article. Extend learning by asking students to use graphic organizers such as a 4-Circle Venn Diagram Creator, reviewed here, to compare and contrast information. For example, ask students to explore different media forms such as television, social media, podcasts, and literature and compare different presentations of racism and bias.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Social Justice Standards: Unpacking Identity - Learning for Justice
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): character education (76), cross cultural understanding (160), difficult conversations (60), empathy (28), identity (29), professional development (402), racism (78)
In the Classroom
Use this course as an introduction to understanding bias and identity from both a personal and professional level. Adapt information from this course to include in your lessons on racism, empathy, and difficult conversations. For example, use the images and charts in the application section to identify and understand that first impression and physical characteristics don't always provide a complete picture of another person's identity. Include these activities as part of a larger teaching unit using a learning management system such as ClassFlow, reviewed here. ClassFlow includes many options for building interactive lessons that promote critical thinking skills through various response formats, media options, and teacher feedback.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Whiteness Project: Millenials in Dallas, Texas - Whitney Dow
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): character education (76), civil rights (197), cross cultural understanding (160), cultures (131), difficult conversations (60), empathy (28), racism (78)
In the Classroom
The Whiteness Project provides a unique and interesting resource for introducing and discussing difficult topics in the classroom, including racism, prejudice, bias, and empathy. Share this site with students and provide them time to listen to some of the conversations and the provided statistics. Encourage students to choose one statistic as a starting point for additional research. For example, one piece of data shared is the number of adults who have two or more races in their background. This provides a starting point for researching race in your community, state, or in the country. As students complete research, ask them to share their findings in a multimedia presentation using a tool like Sway, reviewed here, to add graphs, charts, images, and video that support their findings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Code Switch - National Public Radio (NPR)
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): black history (128), character education (76), difficult conversations (60), native americans (92), racism (78)
In the Classroom
Include this podcast as a resource for lessons on racism, bias, or when facing difficult conversations in the classroom. Be sure to sign up to listen to the newest podcasts on your favorite resource and scroll through the archives to find relevant recordings beginning in 2016. As students listen to podcasts, use Google Slides, reviewed here, to create a reflective document for students to share important information from the podcast along with any questions or information for further research. Use the podcasts as a model for students to create their own podcasts on any topic. Search ReadWriteThink, reviewed here, to find many tools to help students develop interesting podcasts including rubrics, podcast tutorials, and a lesson plan for teaching with podcasts. When students are ready to record and share their podcasts, Buzzsprout, reviewed here, is a free podcasting tool that provides options for scheduling broadcasts, adding chapters, and much more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SpeakUp! - Martie Gillin
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): bullying (50), cyberbullying (40), diseases (67), drugs and alcohol (27), eating disorders (7), sexuality (15), social and emotional learning (94), social media (54)
In the Classroom
Share the resource guides with parents and students on your class website to use when facing any of the covered topics. Use Padlet, reviewed here, or Wakelet, reviewed here, to curate and share helpful guides for parents and students within one collection. As you and your class discuss problems that face teens, ask students to use Canva Edu, reviewed here, to share what they learn. For example, have students create posters to display in the classroom that include the dangers of drug abuse and include tips for helping someone that displays signs of drug abuse. Ask other students to design and share infographics that include facts and figures discussing cyberbullying, along with suggestions on how to respond to bullies.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Preparing Students for Difficult Conversations - FacingHistory.org
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (197), journalism (72), media literacy (102), racism (78), social media (54)
In the Classroom
As an introduction to the lesson, one of the activities is to ask students to brainstorm a list of teens' news resources and a list of news resources used by parents or older people. Use Microsoft Whiteboard, reviewed here, or Google Jamboard, reviewed here, to create and analyze your lists. Use the whiteboard tools to create lists, Venn Diagrams, and add notes to extend student reflections on different news sources. Turn the Know-Heard-Learned Chart included in the lesson into an editable worksheet to use as a collaborative document to record student understanding of any events' timeline.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Say Their Names - Chicago Public Schools
Grades
K to 12tag(s): civil rights (197), courts (19), politics (111), racism (78)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this document as a guide to discussing racism in the classroom and as a link to many additional materials. Organize your resources using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. Use the shelf option in Padlet to create columns to organize information. For example, create columns to sort materials by grade levels or by type of content. As you teach lessons, use a mind mapping tool like Coggle, reviewed here, to organize and share complex information. Extend learning using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, to create student-produced explainer videos sharing their ideas on addressing racism, media literacy strategies, or steps to help others through difficult times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Lowdown: The Obama Years, A Retrospective Lesson Plan - PBS Learning Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 20th century (61), black history (128), presidents (124)
In the Classroom
As you explore the interactive timeline together as a class or with small groups, use a simple polling tool like SurveyPlanet, reviewed here, to assess student understanding of the different events on the timeline. Use SurveyPlanet to add each event to a poll and ask students to weigh in on their opinion on if the event was an accomplishment or a setback to the Obama administration. Use an online curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and share additional resources with students to enhance learning. For example, create a Padlet with columns for each year of the Obama presidency and add online articles from different resources that discuss each event. Extend learning by asking students to apply their knowledge of the Obama presidency and compare it to another president's term in office using one of the storytelling tools found at Knight Lab, reviewed here. Scroll down Knight Lab's main page to find options that include a Storyline to tell the stories behind numbers, StoryMap - maps that tell numbers, and a timeline creation tool.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Todays News, Tomorrows Lesson - Share My Lesson
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): journalism (72), news (227), politics (111)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site for use with any current events lessons and as a resource for finding fact-based information to use to help understand modern history. Most of the discussion questions ask students to defend a point of view based on the shared topic. Use technology tools to help students organize their thinking and share their questions and responses. Engage students in the learning process using Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative discussion tool for sharing online articles related to the topic discussed. Fiskkit offers tools for annotating and collaboratively discussing online information. Share student opinions and discussions using Gravity, reviewed here. Ask students to respond to the discussion question within Gravity using their fact-based research. Use the comment feature to encourage collaboration and student discussion. As a final project, extend learning by asking students (or student groups) to share their responses as part of a multimedia presentation that includes student writing, videos, maps, and infographics. Have students use a presentation tool such as Sway, reviewed here, or Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, to share their final projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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News and Media Literacy Resource Center - Common Sense Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): bias (25), journalism (72), media literacy (102), news (227), social media (54)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to take advantage of the many curated resources for teaching media and news literacy. Use a curation tool like Padlet, reviewed here, to save and share favorite resources found on this site with students. Use the shelf option in Padlet to create columns and organize information by topic, type of content, or for use by different groups of students. Enhance instruction by asking students to become creators of information as they share their learning. Have students use Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to create infographics to demonstrate different forms of media bias or to share facts learned from news articles. Extend learning even further by asking students to create blogs using edublogs, reviewed here, to demonstrate how to write and share the news using credible information and factual resources.Comments
This is such a valuable resource and it's so helpful to have one collection that I know has been vetted with accurate, useful information that teachers can use for themselves as well as with their students. I also love the "In the Classroom" section with suggestions for ways to use the information and resources.Peggy, AZ, Grades: 0 - 8
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Developing Empathy - Equality and Human Rights Commission
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): character education (76), emotions (47), social and emotional learning (94)
In the Classroom
Include this lesson with others as part of character education and empathy activities. The starter activity includes students sharing a time they experienced different feelings. Use AnswerGarden, reviewed here, to post each question and ask students to share their response. This allows students to answer anonymously while still creating a visual word cloud with responses. Copy the embed code to include each of the word clouds on your class website or share using your AnswerGarden poll's link. Include all of the polls within one collaborative Wakelet collection, reviewed here, that includes students' responses to the other lesson activities including written reflections, analysis of your school's bullying policy, and discussions of how to recognize and encourage empathy in others.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Talking About Race and Privilege: Lesson Plan for Middle and High School Students - National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (197), psychology (67), racism (78)
In the Classroom
Include this lesson plan with your other resources when teaching lessons on racism and social injustice, either in-person or through remote or blended learning situations. Instead of using paper charts as mentioned in the lesson, use a digital chart creation resource such as Lucidchart, reviewed here, to create collaborative digital workspaces. Lucidchart includes several features that expand learning through the use of commenting, real-time collaboration, and colorful visual displays. Guide students in how to think through reflection questions using topics available in Thinkalong, reviewed here. Thinkalong offers an interactive multimedia format that guides students through investigations that lead them to contemplate possible solutions to serious problems.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching The New Jim Crow - Tolerance.org
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): civil rights (197), courts (19), politics (111), racism (78)
In the Classroom
Incorporate this free unit as a guide to teaching the sensitive topics of race and justice with or without using the novel. As you begin your unit, use AnswerGarden, reviewed here, as an anonymous brainstorming and response tool. Use AnswerGarden by forming open-ended questions such as "The hard part of talking about racism is..." or "The beneficial part of talking about racism is..." as a way to elicit student ideas without students being concerned about sharing ideas orally with their peers. Use AnswerGarden in various ways throughout the unit to gauge student ideas and responses to lesson topics. All of the lessons include essential questions and big ideas, use Gravity, reviewed here as a collaborative tool to encourage student conversations through Gravity's video response options. Extend learning using podcasts as a format for students to share their learning about race and our justice system. For example, PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, for students to create podcasts to discuss different components of race relations and the justice system.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Coronavirus Resource Page for Students - New York Times Learning Network
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): diseases (67), journalism (72), news (227), newspapers (91)
In the Classroom
Engage students in learning about the coronavirus by sharing this link with students on your class website. Ask them to browse through information on the site, including opinion pieces as a starting point for writing an opinion piece. Guide students toward learning techniques for presenting a persuasive argument by viewing the site ProCon, reviewed here, to demonstrate methods for sharing both sides of an argument. Take advantage of the many picture prompts shared by the New York Times to encourage student creativity. Use Gravity, reviewed here to promote student voice by sharing a picture prompt from this site and asking students to share their ideas. Be sure to turn on and allow commenting to promote student collaboration and discussion.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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