Current events are significant incidents that occur in the world. They happen both locally and globally. They include political, economic, and social issues that usually have the potential for broader impact. Current events are particularly important because they help citizens stay informed and make better decisions.
Why is Learning Current Events Important for Students?
Learning current events is important for students because it helps them think critically and analytically. It also causes them to develop a deeper understanding of the world. Other benefits that result from students appreciating the importance of current events are that they become better at forming sound opinions based on factual information. They also learn to engage in discussions that are meaningful and relevant while increasing their awareness of world issues. Students also learn to evaluate current events and compare them to similar events in history. Most importantly, improving their grasp of current affairs helps students grow into informed and responsible citizens who understand complex global occurrences. There are fortunately many ways students can learn current affairs. Let’s explore some of the best ways below.
Debating Current Events
Encouraging students to debate interesting or controversial news stories is a great way for them to learn about important current events. Students can be given age-appropriate topics and positions to either support or oppose. They must then research their positions and come up with points that support their perspective. Teachers can then encourage the students to express their points based on evidence, good reasoning, and thorough analysis. Debating the topics will help students look at complex issues from different viewpoints. It will also help them consider the validity and reliability of their sources and become mindful of biases.
Encouraging Student-Created Podcasts
Students can be encouraged to explore current events on topics they are interested in and make podcasts on those topics. These can be topics around students’ hobbies, concerns, or things they deeply care about. These can be anything such as social issues, sports, environmental issues, or entertainment. To make things even more fun and interactive, students can vote for their desired topics. Selecting topics students care about will give teachers the advantage of tapping into students’ internal motivations. This makes students more engaged in the lessons and significantly boosts student participation. Creating podcasts also improves students’ creativity, media literacy, and research skills.
USING THE CNN10 ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
One of the best ways to teach current events to secondary school students is by using the CNN10 (formerly called the CNN Student News). Its a captivating resource that has been rated excellently and proven effective by over one thousand teachers. The CNN10 is an activity set that has 15 templates and is aligned with Common Core Literacy and Writing Standards for ELA, history, and Science (NGSS).
The CNN10 enables students to see daily current events in a short format that retains their attention. Students can see current events for free online and the tool fascinatingly keeps them thinking about current events through a Common Core lens. It’s a simple, convenient, and easy-to-use tool that teachers can use to increase their effectiveness in teaching current events and save time.
The best part about the CNN10 is that it’s a completely Google Classroom-ready lesson which comes with the added benefit of printable PDF copies. It includes Google 1:1 compatible templates that vary according to style and class ability level. These templates involve several activities such as supporting claims with evidence from the news, drawing conclusions, illustrating data, summarizing key information, and reflecting on class connections to the current event.
The CNN10 is further a flexible resource usable in both remotely or distance-learning environments. It is a virtual leaning experience that satisfies the needs of an online classroom that perfectly fits a Google Classroom platform. It has the further benefit of making extra credit and homework assignments very easy for teachers. That’s because students can easily access this incredible resource at home.
If you are a teacher who loves to deepen students’ learning and increase their knowledge and understanding, make sure to read our article on CER in History. It is a brilliant Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) approach that ensures students take their subject content beyond the surface level and transform their thoughts into beautiful writing pieces with advanced comprehension.
For more incredible resources, check out History with Instructomania!
Learning current events presents students with a fantastic opportunity of enhancing their critical and analytical skills. It is also a great way of ensuring students develop a deeper understanding of the world. The CNN10 is an engaging and captivating resource to achieve that aim while retaining students’ attention. If you enjoy Instructomania lessons, check out our history teacher membership. With this membership, you have access to all curriculum content through a single login.
