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Columbia Education Center
Social Studies

Connie Hudgeons, Albuquerque Public Schools, Albuquerque, NM

AN APPROACH TO CURRENT EVENTS

Appropriate for grades 5-12.

OVERVIEW:  This is an activity that I use in Civics (Government),
U.S. History (11th) and World History (12th).  This activity is
designed to encourage students to read newspapers and to watch
network and local news reports.  This increases critical thinking
skills, encouraging analysis and criticism.  Students are
encouraged to express opinions with support.

PURPOSE:  Given above.

OBJECTIVES:  Students will be able to:

 1.  Analyze and critique newspaper articles and media news
     reports by comparison and contrast of content and
     presentation.

 2.  Identify key words and concepts in a given news article.

 3.  Identify words to add to a class vocabulary list.

ACTIVITIES:  This is a year-long weekly activity.  I start with
having students clip complete articles from current newspapers. 
At first, we answer the who?, what?, why?, when? and implications?
questions.  As time goes on, I branch from this and have students
do the following:

 1.  Students take question answers and rewrite the article from
     another viewpoint.

 2.  Students compare newspaper coverage to radio/television
     coverage of a story.  I record television and radio
     broadcasts for classroom use.

 3.  Students create a cartoon on a current news topic.

 4.  Students can write editorials and letters to the editor.
     Also, encourage students to write letters to elected
     officials.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS NEEDED:  I use newspapers from Albuquerque,
Santa Fe and other towns.  A variety from different towns allows
students to experience subjects from different viewpoints. 
Parents are a great source.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:  This is an activity that can be varied and
naturally evolves into many activities, some student suggested. 
This is a great homework activity.  Evaluation criteria can be
varied according to assignment difficulty.

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