Teaching Current Events

1
Teaching Current Events

• Are our Current Event experiences similar to
  Calvins?
• How to go beyond this approach?

2
Approaches to Current Events

• The "add-on" approach
• occasional discussion of news items
• "current events day"
• The 'supplement' approach
• use of news items to augment theme units
• teacher searches for stories that 'extend' a
  topic/theme (e.g., Our Community)

3
Approaches to Current Events

• The 'currents events' unit
• units developed around current event topics
  (e.g., technology, energy, a political issue,
  etc.)
• unit extends students understanding of the
  current event

4
Strategies for Teaching Current Events

• 1. Daily discussion of news
• class subscribes to newspapers or creates own
  newspaper
• analyze/create political cartoons
• analyze letters to the editor

5
Strategies for Teaching Current Events

• 2. Decision-making on issues
• What to include in the news? Critical Thinking!
• Analysis of controversial events
• identify the facts
• identify the issues
• select one issue
• What are the sides? Predict what will happen.

6
Strategies for Teaching Current Events

• 4. Writing about issues
• Structured 4-paragraph essays
• Paragraph 1 Tell reader the topic
• Paragraph 2 Describe your views
• Paragraph 3 Describe reasons against view
• Paragraph 4 Conclusion
• Writing letters to the editor

7
Enduring Public Issues

• Parker identifies 5 themes for these types of
  issues
• Poverty
• Human-Environment Interaction
• Justice
• Peace
• Diversity/Unity

8
Newspaper Activity

• Can we find examples of these 5 enduring issues
  in todays newspaper?
• Can we find an appropriate current event that we
  can discuss today in class and one that we might
  build a unit around?