Current Issues

Readings and activities to help high school students better understand the growing gap between rich and poor and consider the issue in light of this year's presidential election.

Three student readings examine the growing instability of Afghanistan.

A classic guide for how to explore sensitive issues in your classroom.

Students work in groups to come up with a definition of 'democracy,' then read and discuss an article on Occupy Wall Street's decision-making process.  

  for grades 4-7  Students explore the meaning of democracy and how Occupy Wall Street is using elements of democracy in their protests. Then students think of and analyze ideas that might make their classroom more democratic.

Students learn about the protest and its message, and consider how the Occupy Wall Street protest is related to public protests in other countries in the past year.

Students explore the question of taxes, Obama's recent 'Buffett Rule' proposal, and Republican charges of 'class warfare.'

Students learn about the Occupy Wall Street protest, discuss wealth disparity, consider some statistics, make their own charts, and find out what some of the protesters want and and why.

Student readings explore unemployment statistics and the human impact of joblessness, and examine the effect of government proposals on the crisis. Discussion questions and an opinion continuum activity follow the readings.

  In the wake of the execution of Troy Davis on September 21, students consider the death penalty through a web, a social barometer activity, readings and videos.