717 current-events results | sort by:

Web of Stories - WebOfStories.com
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): architecture (74), environment (246), family (51), heroes (24), mental health (32), politics (117), religions (90), space (216), video (264)
In the Classroom
Choose from videos on the site to watch on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) for any range of subjects. Make science more real by sharing these stories. Embed videos using the code on the site onto your class website or blog for students to view at home. Have students record responses using an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to create a visual comparison of two different videos on any given topic. Share videos with students to view when exploring career options.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies - Jesse Richardson, Andy Smith, Sam Meadon
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): critical thinking (122), debate (42), logic (161), persuasive writing (58), reading comprehension (149), thinking skills (15)
In the Classroom
Most academic writing presents a premise to be proved (an argument). When you first start to have your students try to understand logical fallacies, show them the online poster for logical fallacies and get them started trying to find these fallacies in their everyday lives. You could assign a fallacy a week and have students write in a journal, or a little tablet when they come across one. Or collect them on a class wiki with a page for each fallacy type. You could even have them make up their own logical fallacies. Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here) or PicLits (reviewed here. After introducing logical fallacies, have students peer edit papers to make sure the writer is not trying to support one of these fallacies. Of course, any speech and debate, or media strategies class would benefit from a review this site. During political seasons, be sure to share this site for evaluating politicians' positions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Take Me Back To - takemeback.to
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1900s (72), 1910s (6), 1920s (15), 1930s (20), 1940s (14), 1950s (8), 1960s (26), 1970s (10), 1980s (7), 20th century (62), decades (7), timelines (53)
In the Classroom
Build context around historic dates using details of pop culture, magazines, and more. Have students search for their birthdate and write about significant events on that date. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to create a visual comparison of two different dates or of a past date with today. Ask students to generate questions about an important date, such as Pearl Harbor day, and use cultural details to generate a "snapshot" of what life was like before the world changed. What can you tell from the information shared here? How do you know? Challenge your students to use a site such as Timeline Infographic Templates, reviewed here, to create timelines of events in the 1900's.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Newsola - Nick Nicholaou
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): countries (72), financial literacy (91), news (228), sports (81)
In the Classroom
Use this site to select current events for the day. Follow the same news thread for a period of time to look at changes and possible reasons for the change in the news. Be sure to check news stories from other countries for a different viewpoint on issues. Create a class discussion for the differences in viewpoints. Challenge cooperative learning groups to explore ONE of the subtopics (Showbiz, World, Finance, etc..) and present the highlights to the class. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools.Comments
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Center for Civic Education - Center for Civic Education
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): branches of government (64), civil rights (201), constitution (93), democracy (23), elections (82), electoral college (22), lincoln (66), martin luther king (45), presidents (135), sept11 (18), washington (28)
In the Classroom
Use lesson resources to supplement your current curriculum or commemorate events such as MLK Day, Presidents Day, or Constitution Day. Assign podcasts to groups of students to use, then report to the class. Rather than a traditional report, challenge cooperative learning groups to collaborate on a topic found on the site using Netboard, reviewed here to share ideas and information. Share a link to the podcasts via your web page or blog. Have students answer the daily question then respond with a short journal entry or with comments on your webpage.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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High School Journalism Initiative - Reynolds Journalism Institute
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): editing (93), journalism (73), media literacy (107), news (228), newspapers (92)
In the Classroom
This is a must-bookmark site for any high school journalism or English teacher and even as teacher background for Newspaper units at any level. Share resources with students. Download and use lesson plans. Assign groups of students different articles to read and present to the class. The News Literacy resources and feeds are also useful for social studies classes looking at the media and bias as they stay up to date with current events. Challenge your students to go past PowerPoint and make an online presentation using Animoto (reviewed here) or another reviewed presentation tool from the TeachersFirst Edge to share their findings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Inhabitat - Inhabitat, LLC
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): ecology (102), environment (246), inventors and inventions (80), persuasive writing (58), resources (83)
In the Classroom
When discussing environmental topics, be sure to share this link on your class website or on a class computer for students to access information about great technological breakthroughs. Use when students are researching technological advancements of their choice. Challenge individual students or cooperative learning groups to read one of the articles and report their findings to the class, making connections to some of the topics you study. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Venngage reviewed here. If you teach about advertising techniques inventions, challenge your students to select a "product" from this site to create a new advertisement using a specific technique. The innovative ideas will spark their interest! Use articles from this site for reading comprehension selections that will interest even the most reluctant readers. The articles are also useful prompts for persuasive writing or debates.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Carbon Footprint Calculator - Carbon Footprint Ltd.
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): carbon dioxide (10), carbon footprint (5), climate change (94)
In the Classroom
Have each student use the calculator to determine their total. Compare students in the class and the types of activities that cause a greater amount. Ask questions as to why some activities raise the carbon footprint more than others. Research the reasons for a better understanding of what causes a carbon footprint. Discuss ways that families could take action to reduce their carbon footprint. Most students are unfamiliar with carbon offsets. Discuss what these are and whether they are important or needed. Create a campaign or contest to reduce the carbon footprint of your community and make a change for the future. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site (or things that will increase your footprint) using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. Create infographics using the class footprint stats and a simple infographic tool such as Visme, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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AllSides - John Gable
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): elections (82), evaluating sources (28), media literacy (107), politics (117)
In the Classroom
This is an excellent site to easily find topics presented from various points of view. Use articles with students to demonstrate point of view in writing, bias in media, or for students to use as points for debates. Use an online tool such as Interactive Three Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to create a visual comparison of different points of view.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Promethean Planet - Promethean, Inc
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Before you try any of these activities, think about how you can make the lesson more student-centered. Find ideas in TeachersFirst's Hands off, Vanna! Giving Students Control of Interactive Whiteboard Learning . Browse the site for interactive whiteboard resources to download for classroom use. Bookmark and save favorites for later use. Download any resource, then tweak it to your individual needs. Have questions about creating Promethean Flipcharts? Post your question on the technical board to receive helpful replies. If you have a SmartBoard, be sure to check out the SmartBoard lessons and resources page located here. You will need to download the ActivInspire software (free).Comments
This is the go-to site for Promethean flipchart downloads. Most files were created by teachers. The only downside is that the files are hit-or-miss. There are many gems, but you might have to browse some not-so-great files to find them.Tim, , Grades: 0 - 6
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Do Lectures - Talks That Inspire Action - The Chicken Shed
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): business (52), careers (141), creativity (86), debate (42), environment (246), nutrition (137), psychology (65), sociology (23), video (264)
In the Classroom
Do Lectures are a great place to find inspiration and new ideas for your classroom. Many of the videos connect today's real world with curriculum topics, even in entrepreneurship, health, or family and consumer science classes. Use Do Lecture videos as the perfect supplement or launching point for units of study in your classroom. Find a video that supports the topics happening in your classroom. Share on your website for student viewing. Use on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) for a whole class discussion. Stop the video at various points to discuss or debate ideas included. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos in response to videos viewed on Do Lectures or their own topic. Share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here. Teachers of gifted could plan an entire unit of study around one video or have students select one to use as the launch point for an independent project.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Explore Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emmissions - EPA
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): carbon dioxide (10), climate change (94), fossil fuels (10)
In the Classroom
Use this site during a unit on pollution. First be sure to discuss what combustion is. Choose facilities found within your state to investigate. Compare similar facilities across various states to compare emissions. Have students or groups compare by facility type (especially different types of power generation) then research the type of fuel used to determine the different emissions. Research how emissions compare to the driving of automobiles and the use of agriculture. Research the types of changes and alternatives that could change these numbers. Have students make simple infographics to show comparisons and conclusions. Try using a tool such as Venngage, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Connect the Dots for Democracy - Witte Design, LLC
Grades
8 to 12What's missing? There is no audio recording of the script that could accompany the slides; you must print the script and read it while viewing the slides. And, despite its goal of "making it simple" for busy folks, you have to dig a little in the site to discover that the author is firmly in the "Progressive" political camp, and that the presentation on Health Care, for example, includes one section on "GOP Care" and repeatedly slams the Republican party's handling of the health care crisis. To its credit, the sources for the information presented on the graphics are cited. Be aware also that the graphics use language like "We're Getting Screwed!" which may be inappropriate for younger kids.
tag(s): branches of government (64), congress (40), elections (82), media literacy (107), politics (117)
In the Classroom
The infographic presentations would be great for discussions of election-year politics for Civics/Government classes or Current Events debate. They would be better if the accompanying scripts were available in an audio file. Exercise caution, however, because there is clearly a political agenda here. Ironic that a site that purports to cut through the rhetoric is loaded with its own. Use it, therefore, as yet another example of how a savvy media can "spin" the issues. Invite students to look for the bias inherent in some of the information presented. What questions should be asked about the data contained in the slideshow? How could you verify the information? How would you rebut it with your own infographic? Can you find a site that presents an opposing spin on the same topics?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PBS Video Online - PBS
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): video (264)
In the Classroom
Teachers you can now access videos from PBS without having to record them. Use the subject search to find videos relevant to a unit of study. Display videos with your projector or add a link to your class website so students can watch at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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QR Code Classroom Implementation Guide - Vicki Davis
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): qr codes (18)
In the Classroom
QR codes are a sure-fire motivator for any class equipped with their own smart phones or school iTouches/iPads. Choose one of the ideas suggested in the article as a starting point for using QR codes in your classroom; then try additional ideas a little at a time. Share the article with other teachers and split up the ideas for each to become an "expert" in one of the strategies, share your experiences as you learn together.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Endangered Languages - Alliance for Linguistic Diversity
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (172), word study (60)
In the Classroom
As part of a world cultures unit or study of langage origins, students ask their parents and grandparents what part of the world their ancestors came from and then explore this map to determine the number of endangered languages found where their ancestors lived. Gifted students may be fascinated by these unusual tongues. Have them explore to learn more about the culture behind the language. Compare words for the same thing across different languages to see how the languages are related.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Spotzi - Spotzi.com
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): business (52), diseases (67), ecology (102), environment (246), natural disasters (17), natural resources (37), resources (83)
In the Classroom
Use Spotzi to make information more relevant and meaningful when paired with an actual map. Find trends easily. Have students choose a topic and investigate maps to identify and develop general statements from the data. Ask students to generate questions to further research the topic. This tool is invaluable for environmental, ecology, health, economics, and other research topics. Use this map to add new dimensions of information about places in the news. Share on a projector or interactive whiteboard to learn more about countries participating in the Olympics. Use data to compare countries and discuss possible cause/effects for poverty, health challenges, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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House History Timeline - History, Art & Archives United States House of Representatives
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): branches of government (64), congress (40)
In the Classroom
Although this site is not the most visually exciting, it would still be useful on an interactive whiteboard, particularly when you are discussing a defined time period. Select the relevant Congress, then compare the legislative activity with world events. For example, choose a Congress during wartime, and highlight events related to war or the military. As elections approach, use the timelines to compare the activities of a previous Congress during "election season" to see if there are patterns of Congressional behavior.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The HTML5 Gendered Advertising Remixer - Jonathan McIntosh
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): advertising (26), consumers (14), media literacy (107), psychology (65), sociology (23), women (146)
In the Classroom
One of the truisms about analyzing culture is that it is difficult to see the impact of cultural norms and practices from the inside. Students will probably agree that advertising targets boys differently than girls, but they may have serious difficulty considering what impact it has had on them. This site may help them see the subtle messages in advertising, and how those messages constrain or empower them. Project the mashups on an interactive whiteboard and then ask students how the audio changes the message on the video portion. Reverse the two and ask the same question. What does this say about the girls' gender roles? What does this say about boys' gender roles? What does this say about the impact of play on learning adult roles? Have student groups create digital "collections" of examples of gender-targeted ads using a tool such as Evernote (reviewed herehttp://www.teachersfirst.com/single.cfm?id=10550) or turn them into mosaics of ad images using Mosaic Maker (reviewed here). Note: Since students are specifically studying advertising and critiquing the ads, it would not be a copyright violation to add images as part of a media project to illustrate gender targeting.Comments
This is fascinating but somewhat difficult to know how to use. A rich resource. I found the key to making it usable was the list of questions for discussion which are here: http://www.genderremixer.com/curriculum/Sandra, , Grades: 0 - 5
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Knoema - Knoema
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): charts and graphs (170), countries (72), data (151), maps (215), statistics (120)
In the Classroom
Use in Social Studies or World Cultures to compare economic indicators of countries. Create data sets and visualizations of environmental data around the world. Use data in the writing of papers or creation of presentations on the country statistics such as GDP or exported goods. Trying to find meaningful data to include in an infographic? Knoema has it! Math teachers can use data sets for practice activities with statistics.Comments
I absolutely love Knoema! They also have World Data Atlas (Chrome Web Store app for free) - chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/world-data-atlas/knlgfedckdhkgjinnhogmhkbcjpmmhko that I strongly advise to use.Olga, , Grades: 0 - 12
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