Michelle Hofmann

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OUR WORLD TODAY?

Grades 5+

September 10, 1996, 30 minutes, throughout the semester

Performance Expectations:

Students will become familiar with the newspaper
and magazines. They will become more aware of the events happening
in their city, state, nation, and world. They will learn to summarize,
find locations on a map, and compute distances using map scales.
Students will develop an ability to critically analyze current
events for related issues, etc.

Materials Needed:

Various newspapers for each student, magazines for
each student, maps, rulers, writing utensils, computer with internet
access if possible.

Directions:

Introduction:

1. 
   First thing in the morning, each student chooses
   an article from the newspaper or magazine. You may want to set
   a minimum/maximum length.
   
2. 
   You could also do a different topic area each
   day, if you leave it broad enough for them to discover articles
   of their interest.
   
3. 
   Students will write their article titles on the
   board to avoid duplication.
   

Development:

1. 
   During the day, the students will read their
   article when they have free sessions.
   
2. 
   They will then summarize it.
   
3. 
   Using a map, the students will find the location
   of the story and compute the distance to their city.
   
4. 
   At the appropriate class time each student will
   point out the location on the map and state its distance.
   
5. 
   The summary is read aloud.
   

Closure:

1. The class follows along in their own newspaper
and asks the presenter questions from the article.

Adaption:

Each day, designate local, state, national, or international
as their realm of topics. Also, they could follow their story
throughout the week. They could then delve into a study about
related aspects of the article: culture, crime, statistics, environment,
etc. Journals could be used. This could be used to prepare students
for making their own class newspaper. Many ideas are possible!

Shy children may need a slightly altered activity.
They could prepare a written final draft of their

article and post it on the board for the next morning
with questions for thought to be discussed as a morning opener
or an afternoon closing activity.

Assessment:

Children will be assessed on their participation,
summary, and quality within the guidelines give for their topic.
They should not be judged on the topic or their opinions during
follow-up questions.

Reference:

Norris, Sharon. "Current Events, Geography",
Gopher://bvsd.k12.co.us:70/00/Educ…ig%20Sky/social_studies/CECsst.185.
(September 26, 1996.)