Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Gridlock in 2010 Elections
Investigate symbolism within a political cartoon in this critical analysis handout, which outlines issues of the 2010 election process. Background information (on the risk of gridlock in legislation and the challenges of either party...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Oil Spill Perspectives
With the BP oil spill still fresh on your scholars' minds, take the opportunity to analyze various perspectives on it through political cartoons. This critical-analysis handout features 2 cartoons on the incident. Background information...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Distracted Drivers
How do your students feel about texting while driving? Two political cartoons display the issue using humor, and background information gives a more serious coverage of the dangers and legislation involved. Three talking points drive...
Curated OER
Refugees at Center Stage
What is an advocate? Help high schoolers understand the issues forcing refugees to leave their home country. After gaining some information on the subject, high schoolers create a dynamic presentation and persuasive essay encouraging...
Curated OER
The U.S. War in Iraq Officially Ends
Examine issues and events surrounding US withdrawal of troops from the Iraq War. After reading this New York Times article learners respond to each of the nine who, what, when, where, and why questions.
Media Smarts
Thinking like a Citizen
Explore the influence social activism can have on important issues, and create a class full of young citizen activists. This plan calls for learners to participate in a whole class discussion and brainstorm about ways to effectively...
Curated OER
Global Issues
Students explore the ways that local, national, and global events are interconnected. They identify current issues at a local and global level, identify organizations that seek to improve conditions in other countries, and examine the...
Curated OER
Political Issues Survey
Fifth graders develop and conduct a survey regarding issues in a current political campaign. They distribute and collect the surveys, input the data using a spreadsheet program, and compare/contrast the recorded results.
Curated OER
Current Events Research
Students look for news stories on the Web that highlight some of the prominent issues in modern American history they outlined in Lesson One. They see the connection between historical issues and current events.
Curated OER
Current Events Research
Students monitor current events using on-line and traditional resources. They explore issues such as what trends they see developing in specific news issues over time and how different news stories might be interrelated.
Curated OER
A Big Issue
Students examine the issue of childhood obesity. In this current events lesson, students explore the personal health issue as they discuss balanced diets, food diaries, and the 2012 London Olympics. Suggestions for classroom activities...
Curated OER
What is Your Issue?
Students discuss and debate critical political and social issues facing the United States today.
Curated OER
5 Themes Awareness of Current Event Issues
Young scholars identify the 5 themes of geography as being location, place, human-environmental interaction, movement and region. They explain a current event from the perspective of each theme and their interrelationship..
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Teaching a Current Event
Young scholars discuss current events. In this decision making activity, students work to solve how an issue in their classroom should be solved by using a six-step discussion procedure. They work as a class to come up with a fair way to...
Curated OER
Current Events Lesson Plan 10
Learners take a closer look at world events. In this current events lesson, students discuss the role of the newspaper throughout history. Learners also discern which sources for news are credible and look at international newspapers...
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Mr. Yamada’s Tips for Success on Current Events Commentary: Macroeconomics
In this economic systems instructional activity, students read and follow the provided 5 tips to locate, analyze, and discuss macroeconomics current event issues.
Curated OER
Culture, Climate, and Current Events
Students decide on a country to research as a class, keeping a list of the countries already being researched. Using the internet, they research the culture, climate and current events of the country. They end the lesson by compiling a...
Curated OER
Artists Teach Us to See the World through Visual Symbols
Tenth graders analyze a biographical piece of art by Raymond Saunders. They identify shapes, symbols, and lines that are used, and how the piece relates to the artist's life and modern society. They design and create an original piece of...
Curated OER
The U.S. Role in the World
Students examine the presence of the United States in the world. For this global issues lesson, students read "The U.S. Role in a Changing World," and debate the role of the U.S. at the current juncture in history.
Curated OER
Concerns of Elder Adults
Students collect current events that are important at the local and state level that relate to older adults. They question older persons in regard to issues that are important to them. They listen to a guest speaker discuss current...
Curated OER
Life Choices
By examining two differing perspectives on the topic of abortion, upper graders will be able to build an opinion of their own. A teacher-led lecture outlines key points in the debate for or against abortion including, the role of...
Curated OER
Olympics and Politics: Let the Games Begin!
Let the games begin! Use political cartoons to analyze current events regarding the Olympic Games. This instructional activity includes two cartoons depicting the 2008 Beijing Olympics, background information to help with analysis, and...
Curated OER
Protests, Revolutions, and Democratic Change
Students examine uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. In this global issues lesson, students view video clips, conduct group research, and present their findings in group presentations about the unrest in Algeria, Bahrain,...
NPR
Is There Really an Immigration Line?
If you've ever looked at the US immigration system, you know that it is complex and a source of controversy. An insightful lesson plan encourages learners to conduct their own analyses of the US immigration system by asking them to...