I want to share with you a current events activity I developed during my thirty-five years of Social Studies teaching. I needed an activity that would excite students about current events but would not require a large amount of prep time. I also wanted something that I could use in all my classes. What I finally created was a competitive activity that meets two needs of Social Studies classroom teachers:
• A tool that brings current events into the classroom. • A tool that takes minimal prep time as students work in small groups.
The result is Know Your Current Events, a competitive game that really works and involves minimal work on your part.
A unique benefit of Know Your Current Events is that you can use this activity with any of your 9-12 classes—history, government, geography, humanities, or economics.
Every two weeks you will receive the latest edition of Know Your Current Events, complete with 70 questions, answers, and directions. Questions come from articles in major Internet news sources, such as USA Today, CNN News, The New York Times, and The Christian Science Monitor. Questions cover politics, sports, music, culture, and economics, as well as a taste of history and geography.
Know Your Current Events is about teaching citizenship skills. It’s about teaching awareness of national and world news. It’s about introducing your students to the strands of Social Studies—history, geography, citizenship, social and cultural relationships. It’s a terrific activity as a starting point for discussions or individual/group assignments.
The cost for a yearly Know Your Current Events subscription is just $85. Issues will be sent on the 15th and 30th of every month, September through May--a total of 18 issues. Included in each issue will be questions, directions, answer sheet, and answer key.
The “Ordering Information” page provides simple directions for ordering.
