Current Events in the High School Classroom
Teaching Students the Value and Relevance of Everyday News
Aug 1, 2009
Current events as part of an overall curricular goal can be an important complement to what is being taught in the classroom. Current events serve a purpose in history, foreign language, and science classrooms, as long as the lesson plan is structured and relevant. The successful use of current events depends on student and teacher preparation and requires specific parameters that avoid the introduction of such genres as “News of the Weird” or “News You Won’t Read in Your Local Newspaper.”
Setting the Guidelines
Time devoted to a discussion of current events should never be construed as a “free day” in which “nothing” is being accomplished in the classroom. Unfortunately, too many teachers treat current events as cathartic and as an easy escape from the daily lesson plan. Students pick up on this quickly and respond in kind.
If a chief goal of education is to nurture an educated citizenry with the view toward civic mindedness, a good current events program becomes indispensable. In history classrooms, current events can often be used to parallel real life events such as comparing the wars in the Middle East to Vietnam or 9/11 to Pearl Harbor.
Classes in politics and economics can benefit strongly from discussions or current affairs with past precedent. Is the current recession different from the Great Depression? Science classes might find current “hot button” issues like stem cell research a complement to studies in biology or genetics.
Setting the guidelines means teaching students what current events are relevant to the subject area but more importantly, why they are important. How does the current H1NI Swine Flu compare to the 1918 influenza pandemic? What has changed since 1918?
On-Line Sources, Radio, and Print Media
Most on-line news sources like MSNBC or Google News breaks down headline stories by categories. This should help students narrow relevant sources. Radio news shows like National Public Radio (NPR) also provide relevant and often interesting in-depth story analysis. NPR stories can even be played off the public radio website. The NPR site is probably one of the best sources to bring into a classroom via technology.
It is also important to acquaint students with the print media. Teachers that facilitate weekly, structured current events sessions often ask their students to subscribe to a weekly news magazine (most publishers offer substantial educational group discounts for classroom use). Some excellent examples include Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, and the Economist. The latter is a British publication but extremely well written and objective.
Setting a Topics Agenda
Post a topics agenda one week before the designated current events day. This will enable students to gather information and become familiar with the issue. There should be several topics from a variety of categories. Let students know that individual grading will reflect the level of preparedness. Teachers may ask students for a brief article summary as a homework grade.
International News Sources
Current events can be used to promote global awareness in the classroom. It will also be fun and enlightening for students to read what other countries deem to be important news. The German news magazine Spiegel provides an international version. Asia Times carries many articles that include excellent analysis of Asian affairs. Neither of these sources charges a usage fee.
It’s Not Just a Free Day
A good current events program requires planning, in some cases more planning than a regular, daily lesson plan. It should involve every student and seek to introduce the class to stories well beyond the Sports section of the local newspaper. Current events can go a long way toward developing life-long interest in important daily events that can affect the lives of future adult citizens.
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