771 current-events results | sort by:
return to subject listingCreate Your Visited States Map - Jeremy Nixon
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): maps (209), north america (14), states (122)
In the Classroom
Creating this would make an interesting map to create as a class project when learning about the 50 states. Go through the states list on your interactive whiteboard and create your class map to print or share as a digital image on your class website. Do a map as a class to see which states MOST students have visited. If you feel students may be embarrassed at their lack of travel, this may be better done on individual computers or on a personal response form given to you to input privately. For a whole class activity, divide your class into groups to create separate maps. Compare and contrast states visited. Send home a link to the website for students to create a map with their families. For older students, use the map for content and reassign colors as needed. For example, create a map showing the birthplace of U.S. Presidents: assign red to states without a president, yellow with one president, and green with two or more. This same format could be used in nearly any subject while studying differences in states (democrat or republican, most popular agriculture product, how many - if any - NFL teams, teen pregnancy rate, and much more).You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Try the Google Yourself - BackgroundCheck.org
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): digital citizenship (89), infographics (55), internet safety (113)
In the Classroom
Share this infographic on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) and discuss with students as part of online safety lessons and digital citizenship. Include this site on your class web page for students and parents to access as a reference. Have students complete the challenge as an informative exercise before completing college applications.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Breaking News - NBC News Digital Network
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (143), globe (12), maps (209), news (229), newspapers (91), primary sources (115)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a resource for current events projects. Assign students various weeks through out the semester in which they are to be the class news reporter. The reports should keep their peers up to date and informed. Have students research what is going on via this news site, and give a small presentation at the beginning of class every day during their week. Students can do an oral presentation or create a short video summarizing the same information. View several news articles from different areas and discuss bias and point of view from other cities and countries. Choose dots on the map randomly from the various sections to see what is trending in different regions. Have students create news briefs and share them using a tool such as SchoolTube reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Nautilus - Nautilus
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): careers (139), expository writing (31), scientists (62), writing prompts (58)
In the Classroom
Share these articles as part of a broad discussion of the role of science in our world, such as during a unit on scientists or careers. Share Nautilus with your gifted or science-focused students to spark interests in scientific fields that are new to them. Assign gifted students to select an article and research it further when they have tested out of regular curriculum. They can share their discoveries as a multimedia presentation or write a blog post about them. Use articles from the magazine as fodder for class debates in English class or pull excerpts to use as writing prompts for informational or expository writing. The reading levels are high school and up, so be sure to partner weaker readers with a more capable reader if using this for class assignments. Check specific reading levels of an article by pasting its url into the Juicy Studio Readability Test, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Travel By Drone - Jan Hiersemenzel
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): cities (17), countries (69), landforms (38), landmarks (18), news (229), setting (4), video (257)
In the Classroom
This site is continually adding new places to see. If you don't find what you want, check back frequently. Make geography come to life by showing students WHERE a story or news event takes place. Share the videos on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Use this tool to explore how it looks in the country or city studied in world cultures (or languages). Explore geography concepts, historical locations, famous battle locations, and more. Students creating a multimedia presentation with a setting can look at Travel By Drone to see if there is footage they can use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Give Me Sport - givemesport.com
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): independent reading (85), journalism (72), sports (77)
In the Classroom
Offer Give Me Sport as an alternative to reluctant readers for independent reading. Challenge students to find articles and then research additional information for writing projects or biography reports. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Image Annotator, reviewed here. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook featuring a sports personality.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Useful Science - Jaan Altosaar
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creativity (92), fitness (38), nutrition (134), parents (60), science fairs (19), trivia (18)
In the Classroom
Use Useful Science on a projector or whiteboard as an excellent source for quick scientific facts or trivia. Share this site with students as a resource for finding ideas for science fairs or research. Challenge students to explore topics further and find additional articles supporting or disputing summaries found on the site. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Venngage, reviewed here. Viewers can also add unmoderated comments.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Netwars - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): game based learning (171), internet safety (113)
In the Classroom
Use portions of this site with more mature students to spark discussion about the real (or unreal?) threats of cybersecurity. Every week, news stories about data breaches and hacking proliferate. Include this site as one of many current events topics in a government or civics class where you talk about the issues facing both the executive and legislative branches -- as well as the constitutionality of some proposed solutions. In a research unit in English class, include this as a site to be evaluated. Is this a reliable source? Does it show bias? Is the threat portrayed substantiated with facts or is it designed to scare the audience? Have student groups write and create a web tour using a tool such as Screencast-o-matic, reviewed here, to make an argument about the site and support their points with examples from the site's visual "text." Challenge gifted students to research other evidence supporting or debunking the facts from this site. Since the site is also available in German, world language teachers may want to share it with more advanced German students for language listening and practice.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Vox - Vox Media
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): news (229)
In the Classroom
Share specific articles from this site -- or a collection of them-- for students to gain experience with informational texts that demystify the headlines they are seeing on the TV screen crawl. Use examples from this site as models for student groups to do research to explain a science or economics topic that has been in the news and share it with peers as a digital poster showing the top ten things they should know about X. Use a tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to create a "poster" of sticky notes. Not only will your students gain experience reading for understanding, but also choosing the most important things to know from an article. Use this approach for students to research and share articles in health class (such as on new vaccines or discoveries) or on national issues during an election cycle. Be sure to include this link on your class web page for upper grade students to find current events articles (along with a disclaimer that some topics may be controversial).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears - The Ohio State University, College of Ed. and Human Ecology
Grades
K to 12tag(s): animals (280), arctic (40), climate (80), energy (130), habitats (87), plants (144), tundra (14), water (101)
In the Classroom
Include this site with your other materials for teaching biomes, specifically the tundra. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from these lessons using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here, or Word Clouds for Kids, reviewed here. Use this site for students to research and report to the class. Use the information for a Did You Know poster activity using Design Cap Poster Creator, reviewed here or as an introduction to lessons in class. Take advantage of the many free lesson plans! Have student groups explore specific topics and create an interactive book to share with the class. Try Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox creates beautiful page-flipping digital books in minutes, and you can embed video, music, animation, games, maps and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Timeline: US-Cuba Relations - Council on Foreign Relations
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 20th century (59), cold war (30), communism (3)
In the Classroom
No lesson on the Spanish American War, the Cold War, or US diplomatic relations within the Americas is complete without an examination of the tensions between the US and Cuba. The timeline is suitable for use on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Share or embed this tool into a classroom website or blog.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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LearnEnglish232.com YouTube Channel - learnenglish232.com
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): idioms (32), slang (15), vocabulary development (90)
In the Classroom
Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. In pairs have students list idioms they did not understand. Create another list of new vocabulary words. Have students try Funnelbrain, reviewed here, to create flashcards of the new idioms and vocabulary to help them bring the words into their active vocabulary.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Recycling 101 - Facts Guide - Recycling Facts Guide
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): conservation (83), consumers (14), recycling (46), resources (88)
In the Classroom
Use the information on this site to inform students about the various items that can be recycled. Consider using the site as background information for student created surveys for students and their families to complete. Use the information from the surveys to develop a campaign to bring awareness to consumption and use patterns that can save money for families as well as landfill space. Create a survey or a poll using Obsurvey, reviewed here. Use this site for meeting the Common Core Standards for nonfiction reading. Provide a link to the Recycling Facts Guide on your class website. Create a student project where students use information on this site to create a campaign to promote awareness about recycling. Debate recycling and recycling programs by comparing information from this site and others as well as misconceptions many may have. Use the information here to establish a recycling campaign in your school or community. Use this site as inspiration to write a story or cartoon based on the life of a particular resource.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Penguins: Everything You Need - Scholastic Inc
Grades
K to 8This site includes advertising.
tag(s): adaptations (14), animals (280), antarctica (28), arctic (40), OER (43), preK (254)
In the Classroom
Use these literary resources to meet your Common Core standards for narrative and informational text. Integrate your language arts into your science curriculum while studying animals, adaptation, or habitats. Participate in reading and writing penguin fun. Share text on your interactive whiteboard and focus on main idea, details, inferences, sentence types, note taking, or characteristics of great writing. Start with informational pieces and then lead into narrative books for a deeper comprehension. After reading informational articles, have students write a narrative integrating details for the setting and penguin information into their stories. Post the stories on your blog or class website. Use digital storytelling to make it come alive.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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News in Pictures - BBC
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): news (229), newspapers (91), photography (131)
In the Classroom
Use the photos on this page as a jumping off site for many activities. Challenge students to read about the same topic/news using a different site and then writing a comparison essay. Students can submit their own photos for consideration. Students can learn summary writing by looking at these photos and writing briefly what happened. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Thinglink, reviewed here.This site allows users to narrate a picture. Challenge students to upload a copyright-safe photo, and then narrate as if it were a news report. Students of multiple ability levels can respond to the photos, each at their own ability level.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WeTheEconomy - 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss - Vulcan Productions/Cinelan
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (143), financial literacy (92), money (119), supply and demand (4)
In the Classroom
Sign up to download the support materials and plan one or several lessons to demystify the economy as part of a civics/government class or an economics course. Transform the technology use in your class by assigning students to watch films in small groups and create digital booklets explaining the key concepts to the class using a multimedia tool such as Calameo, reviewed here. As economic issues come up in current events or during an election cycle, use these films to explain the underlying issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Center on Representative Government - Indiana University
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): branches of government (62), civil rights (194), comics and cartoons (53), congress (39), politics (112), primary sources (115), womens suffrage (44)
In the Classroom
Clearly, this is a great resource for those teaching civics or US government. These activities will also be useful to US History teachers, as the issues covered span important political eras. For example, there are activities related to women's suffrage, the child labor movement, the GI Bill and the development of the Interstate Highway system. Lesson plans range from those designed to cover several days, to short "Congressional moments" videos perfect for introducing a concept or sparking class discussion. A number of the lesson plans and activities are designed specifically for iPads. Of note also is the fact that the video clips on the site are not links to YouTube, so will not pose an access problem for school districts that block the site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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IFL Science - IFL Science
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): brain (54), environment (240)
In the Classroom
Share this site for students to explore informational articles related to what they are currently studying or to explore the many aspects of science not included in standard school curriculum. Challenge student partners to find an article they enjoy and share it creatively as a poster or mock interview with the scientists involved. They can use a simple tool such as Magazine Cover Maker (reviewed here) or actually make a video "interview" and share it on TeacherTube (reviewed here). Have your gifted students explore articles to extend required curriculum. Use this site for career day explorations about the many places where scientists work.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Climate Time Machine - NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/CIT
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): antarctica (28), arctic (40), carbon dioxide (10), carbon footprint (5), climate (80), climate change (87), temperature (35)
In the Classroom
Want to get students attention? Begin with the Average Global Temperature on an Interactive Whiteboard or projector. Start the slider slowly at 1884 and be sure to pause and back up when global temperatures become cooler. However, be sure to point out to students that even though temperatures cycle a bit through time, as you progress to present day, much warmer temperatures persist. Follow this demonstration. How does this visualization compare to Carbon Emissions? Spend time in class looking at the Sea Level changes and list the areas that will be affected the most because of sea level rise. Create reports or posters about the various facts about those areas (populations, points of interest, culture, and history) to understand what will be lost. Have students create online posters individually or together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Create a campaign for halting climate change beginning with simple actions that EVERYONE can make. Take time to determine each student's carbon footprint and changes that matter.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PBS Newshour Classroom - PBS NewsHour Productions LLC
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): civil rights (194), elections (80), holocaust (41), memorial day (12), news (229), pearl harbor (9), poetry (189), veterans (20), video (257), women (137), world war 2 (149)
In the Classroom
Watch the news together on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Allow students to watch independently on laptops or at a learning station. Use any video or article as a current events writing prompt. Challenge students to create blog posts about them. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, replace pen and paper and have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Webnode, reviewed here. Don't forget the many free lesson plans (already aligned to Common Core standards). Click on the Lesson Plans link to explore the countless topics available (Poetry, Veterans, Elections, Ebola, Civil Rights, and more). For articles and videos about conflicts and tension, extend student learning by having your students engage in a debate using a tool such as Virtual Debate, reviewed here, which has online examples and resources for conducting virtual debates. Keep your class up-to-date on the news using this site. Provide this link on your class website for students (and families) to access both in and out of your classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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