Current Issues
Classroom activities to engage students in learning about and discussing issues in the news
Circles are a powerful way for people to come together, share their thoughts and feelings, be heard, mourn and heal together. Below are suggestions for a circle to help students share their thoughts and feelings following the massacre of nine people at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, on...
In this brief activity, students take a quick quiz about vacation policies and practices in the U.S. and other countries, analyze a chart comparing vacation policies, and discuss what they think about U.S. vacation policies.
In this brief activity, students reflect on issues that are most important to them, discuss why 65 percent of media election coverage is not about issues, and consider what they most want to know from candidates.
In this brief activity, students take a quick quiz on voter access, then discuss the debate over this issue, including Hillary Clinton's recent proposal to make voter registration automatic.
In this brief activity, students learn about recent controversies surrounding the Confederate flag, discuss opposing views of the flag, and consider the range of opinion among different groups about the flag.
An investigative report by the New York Times uncovered the deplorable and frequently illegal conditions faced by employees at nail salons. This lesson has students consider different points of view on the subject, and how they, and consumers in general, should respond.
Through a quiz and brief discussion, students consider Tsarnaev's death sentence and growing opposition to capital punishment.
Chicago decided on May 6, 2015, to provide reparations for its history of brutal police abuse, after decades of organizing by activists. This brief classroom activity uses two quotes to help students consider the news and its implications.
Through quotes, photos, and video, students explore responses to Freddie Gray's death while in Baltimore police custody, and the protests that followed.
Students dip into the 2016 presidential race with a brief look at the two latest contenders to announce: Senators Marco Rubio and Bernie Sanders.