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Lessons on Current Events
 

Elementary Level Activities
  1. Build geographical awareness. Use a newspaper to make a list of countries in the news. They can all be from a specific region or fit within your current curriculum focus. There should be one country for each pair of students.
  2. Assign or have each pair choose a country from the list.
  3. Have them find and outline that country on a markable wall map.
  4. Have students "research" their country. They may use an atlas to see what their country's population is, what the land is like, and what the people look like and wear. They can also use library resources, such as encyclopedias to learn about the history and culture of the country. Also, have them use the Internet to find out what's happening there now.
  5. If a student finds additional articles or references to their country in a periodical, such as a news magazine or newspaper, give extra credit.
  6. Have students write a report on their country and present it to the class. The reports can all be presented on the same day, or you may group them by region, i.e. all reports about European countries on one day, etc.
  7. Find music, food, or costumes native to each country and turn each presentation into a cultural celebration. Enjoy!
 

Upper Elementary to Middle School Activities
Objectives:
  • On a world map, locate the sites of international events.
  • Use maps to describe a place shown in the newspaper.
  • Compare the benefits of different kinds of maps for learning about a place.
 
Materials
  • markable world physical/political desk maps
  • water-soluble ink markers, pencils, tissues for cleanup
  • today's local or national newspaper (or a current news magazine)
 
Lesson
  • Have students find references to six foreign countries in the front section of the newspaper. Have them list these countries on a piece of paper.
  • Have students find and circle the names of these countries on the desk map.
  • Have students pick three of these countries and briefly describe the news event that occurred in each of these places.
  • Have students use the political, physical, and thematic maps on the desk map to list four characteristics, such as the climate, population, or natural features, of each of these places.
  • Have students find a map in the newspaper that accompanies an article. Have them list the similarities and the differences between this map and the desk map.
  • You can also have students explore how the five themes of geography (location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and regions) are addressed in other articles, photographs, and maps in the newspaper.
 

Upper Middle School through High School Activities
This weekly activity encourages students to read newspapers, news magazines, and watch network/cable news reports.
  1. Have students clip articles from current newspapers.
  2. Read the articles as a class, or have students report on them individually.
  3. Have the individual student responsible for the article, or the entire class, answer the following questions: who?, what?, when?, where?, why?, and possible implications?
  4. As the year progresses, have students continue with the following:
    1. Rewrite the article from another viewpoint.
    2. Compare newspaper coverage to radio/television/Internet coverage of a story. Live broadcasts can be recorded for classroom use.
    3. Write editorials and letters to the editor.
    4. Write letters to elected officials about issues in the news.