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Extra! Extra! Eight Great Web Sites Connect News to Your Curriculum!

You probably use a newspaper in your classroom, at least occasionally, to teach current events. Newspapers connect your students to the real world and provide a better understanding of the world's events than almost any other news medium.

Even newspapers, however, are limited in their ability to explain in detail the background of a story or to connect the real news with what students are learning during the rest of the school day.

The sites featured this week can help you enhance and extend students' understanding of current events by linking them to other areas of the curriculum. Whether kids read about a tornado in Oklahoma, a war in Kosovo, or a corporate merger in Japan, one of the sites is sure to provide insights into the causes and effects of newsworthy events.

Have You Seen These Articles From the Ed World Archive? It's News to Me: Teaching Kids About the Newspaper Explore six great sites that will help you teach about the newspaper before you start teaching with it! Included: Seven original ideas for teaching students about the newspaper. Ten Great Activities: Teaching With the Newspaper Ten terrific classroom activities use the newspaper to teach all sorts of valuable skills, including reading and writing for meaning, map reading, media literacy, sequencing, word meaning, and math. Twenty-Five Great Ideas for Teaching Current Events If you're looking for ways to work news into your classroom curriculum, check out these great ideas for connecting current events to all subjects! (Published on Education World August 3, 1998.) Be sure to check out our Teaching Current Events archive.

NEWS LINKS TO...

Science. Speaking of tornadoes, did your students read about last spring's devastating tornadoes in Kansas and Oklahoma? Did they (or you) spend hours researching the science behind that news? Or did you simply visit The Why Files to learn the latest about tornado causes, predictions, and safety? The Why Files provides the scientific understandings that explain and support current events. At this site, students can explore the science behind the latest news stories, learn about the most recent scientific discoveries, view (or submit) newsworthy scientific photos, participate in science-based discussions, and explore the archives or search for previous topics. The next time a catastrophic weather event, a space flight, or a medical breakthrough occurs, your students will not only know the news but also understand it.

Social Studies. Of course, not all news stories have links to science. They all have links to something, though. Whether it's a country, a concept, or a personality, students can learn more about it at FactMonster. The site features a number of headlines about national, international, sports, political, and entertainment events, followed by a clickable list of relevant topics and issues. For example, a Turkish earthquake fact sheet, discussions of earthquakes in general, and information about Istanbul enhance a story about this summer's earthquake in Turkey. For more general background information, the site also provides sections on people, life, fun facts, sports, science, country information, and more. There's even a searchable homework center for those tough current events assignments!

Geography. Although this site is not specifically linked to current events, Virtual Tours can provide students with a more complete understanding of the places in the news. At this site, students can follow hundreds of links to virtually visit countries from Argentina to Vietnam and cities from Amsterdam to Washington, D.C. Students often have difficulty relating to people in far away, "foreign" lands. Taking a virtual tour of a distant country or city can personalize a story and make it more real than any map or written description can.

Art. Even your poorest readers will be fascinated by the political lessons offered at PoliticalCartoons.com. The site is full of constantly updated political cartoons that teach current events in a humorous way. The Teachers Guide provides lesson plans for students in elementary, middle, and high school based on cartoons about such current topics as Y2K, Star Wars, Mark McGwire, and the 2000 election campaign. Many of the cartoons are too sophisticated for your youngest students, but even they will be inspired by the sheer fun of such a visual medium.

Math. The Stock Market Game is another site more suitable for students in grades 4 to 12, who are ready to discover that there's more to the newspaper than the front page. In this game, students invest a hypothetical $100,000 in common stocks and then follow the progress of their investments. Students learn how financial markets work, how to manage budgets, how financial news affects financial markets, and how to make financial decisions. As they play, they're sure to discover the importance of the information in the newspaper's business section -- and how to interpret it. The site also provides training and teachers' guides for teachers whose classes participate.

Language Arts. Headliners, a news service written and edited by kids, is a more typical newspaper-related curriculum site. It concentrates on the language-based skills of reading and writing. Students can read, write, and think about the hot topics and issues that affect their own lives. The site includes current stories, as well as archived articles, on family and urban issues, sexuality and gender issues, government and politics, literature and the arts, education, science and technology, environmental and cultural issues, and more. In addition, readers ages 8 to 18 can respond to articles, participate in on-line polls and electronic round tables, and contribute their own stories or story ideas.

ONLINE NEWS QUIZZES ASSESS WHAT STUDENTS LEARN

Finally, when your students have finished their newspaper-based activities, find out what they learned by using one of these on-line current events quizzes.

Current Events
This section of the Weekly Reader(tm) site includes quizzes and contests to help students make sense of current events.

Christian Science Monitor Electronic Edition
This on-line news site includes an interactive crossword puzzle and a weekly news quiz.

The Online Quiz
This page, part of the News Currents site, provides a new quiz every Monday.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Newspaper In Education Program
This Online Education, Inc., site provides a weekly online lesson based on a current news story. Each lesson includes a discussion of the story, punctuated by links to sites appropriate for further research and understanding, and an activity based on the issue.

Newsweek Education Program
This section of the Newsweek site provides links to the latest news stories as well as teachers' guides and tips for using the news to expand the curriculum. The site includes archived stories and teachers' guides.

The Learning Network
This section of The New York Times on the Web provides news and background information for students in grades 6 through 12 and lesson plans and resources for their teachers. A current events quiz, a crossword puzzle, and an On This Day in history feature are also included.

Time for Kids
This kids' section of Time magazine's Web site provides separate news sites for students in grades 2 and 3 and 4 to 6. The site also includes sections for parents and teachers.

news-2-you
This news is produced for special education teachers and their students. Click the "Products" bar to view a sample newspaper.

Article by Linda Starr
Education World®
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