This resource was created in collaboration with CFR Education from the Council on Foreign Relations, PBS News Hour Classroom, C-SPAN Classroom, Financial Times and Ryan Werenka (Troy High School, MI) and Jane Highley (Devon Preparatory School, PA).
Why teach the headlines?
In seconds, news from across the globe can make its way into any U.S. classroom. Students want and need to be able to separate fact from fiction among the mis- and disinformation online about important global affairs issues. Educators need to equip their students with the knowledge, skills, and perspective crucial to understand and engage with today’s most pressing global issues.
5 Best Practices for Teaching Current Events
1. Offer Student Choice
Provide students with guidelines or a list of news topics to choose from. Let them read and do an activity about a topic that fits their interests.
2. Build a Routine
We are creatures of habit! Prepare your students to unpack world news by doing current events on a regular schedule. A routine helps build habits of mind and literacy skills, while cutting down on transition time between your classroom exercises.
3. Provide Multiple Perspectives from Reliable Sources
Breaking news can usher in opposing views. Assign different authoritative sources and policy options to curb polarized thinking and support understanding of our diverse, interconnected world.
4. Model and Practice Civil Discourse
Civil discourse is key to a healthy democracy. Modeling and practicing respectful conversations about breaking news topics as an educator equips students for a future of civic engagement.
5. Develop and Improve Media Literacy Skills
Help students evaluate the credibility of sources by teaching them lateral reading. When students find a website they’re unfamiliar with (especially if it makes a big claim!), they can hop off that site and read about it on other sources before deciding whether to take the website seriously.
Case Studies from the Classroom
Engage in Media Literacy with Current Events – Left, Right, Center Approach
“Teaching current events and media literacy using American politics and elections is a valuable approach. The first step that I utilize in my classroom is to have my students examine the Ad Fontes Media chart on Political Bias of sources. I have my students search websites, TV, and video sources and select one liberal source, one conservative source, and one middle/balanced source. Students choose a notable current event, such as a presidential debate, and then examine how each source covered the event, rhetoric that was used, if the source leaned in favor of one candidate.”
Ryan Werenka is a social studies teacher at Troy High School in Michigan.
Examine Breaking News Through the Lens of Sovereignty
“When we discuss regional conflicts, especially as news is breaking on a near-daily basis, I guide my students to gather essential facts about all parties involved so that we have a common understanding of their geography, political economy, demographics, government structure, and culture. Then we examine the conflict through the lens of sovereignty using resources from CFR Education and C-SPAN Classroom. It is a tough concept to grasp because it’s easy to assume that a country either has sovereignty or it doesn’t. And we Americans have not experienced conflicts that put the United States’ sovereignty in jeopardy. However, sovereignty is at the heart of conflicts that our students have witnessed in the Middle East and in Ukraine."
Jane Highley is a social studies teacher at Devon Preparatory School in Pennsylvania.
5 Topics To Cover
1. Democracy & Civics
What Are Different Types of Government?, CFR Education
Resource Collection: U.S. Government and Civics, C-SPAN Classroom
Bell Ringer: Should the Electoral College Be Changed?, C-SPAN Classroom
Democracy videos, content, Financial Times
2. Immigration
Migration Today, CFR Education
Geography class, Financial Times
Lesson Plan: Changing American Demographics, C-SPAN Classroom
3. Artificial Intelligence & Technology
Regulating AI Simulation, CFR Education
Lesson: How AI-generated misinformation threatens election integrity, PBS News Hour Classroom
Deliberation: Is AI an Opportunity or a Threat?, C-SPAN Classroom
AI for Schools Financial Times
4. Ongoing Conflict in the Middle East
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Timeline, CFR Education
Conflict in the Middle East Resource, PBS News Hour Classroom
Middle East war coverage, Financial Times
5. Climate Change
Climate Change Resources, CFR Education
Lesson: How to analyze climate change stories online, PBS News Hour Classroom
The Climate Game: can you reach net zero by 2050?, Financial Times
Deliberation: What Role Should the Federal Government Play in Conservation?, C-SPAN Classroom
CFR Education from the Council on Foreign Relations aims to close the global literacy gap in our country by providing accessible, accurate, and authoritative resources that build the knowledge, skills, and perspective middle, high school, and higher education students need to understand and engage with today’s most pressing global issues. Subscribe to the CFR Education newsletter to receive free teaching and learning resources straight to your inbox.