Teaching Current Events is so important for the secondary classroom, but finding content-strong, student-appropriate sites can be such a challenge. To make it easier on you, I’ve compiled these Top 15 Websites for Teaching Current Events! I hope they will help you take your students out of the classroom so they can be more knowledgeable on the world in which we live.
Top 15 Websites for Teaching Current Events
- Student News Daily – This is not only a great website for up to date information and breaking news, but they also provide great questions and prompts for student analysis and evaluation of the news content. Be sure to take a look at the Editorial Cartoon section to give your students relevant practice of this vital Social Studies skill!
- Time for Kids – TfK is a great source for current news and information, but is also great at making it relevant for kids! They take the mundane and focus on aspects they will draw the interest of the younger readers. The site also offers lessons and resources for teachers, making teaching current events a breeze.
- CNN Student News – For breaking world and national news events, this is the place to go. CNN is best at providing the facts, and this student section will present the information in a manner that educates without inducing fear or anxiety for younger readers.
- Smithsonian Magazine – The Smithsonian is always the go-to location for American History, and it is also the go-to for national news and events. Focusing on interest articles and research-based stories, the online magazine brings a different view to many of the big stories of the day.
- National Geographic – This is definitely the first stop for Geographic studies, and if you want to bring Geography into your every day History lessons, this is the place to start. National Geographic is also very skilled at putting that fun twist in their stories to engage readers, and we all know about those amazing pictures opening up our eyes to the world!
- Town Hall – While you can always read the news stories presented at this Town Hall website, it is much more fun to listen to the news updates on the top of each hour. In the History classroom, this taste of the past can help your kids travel to the past and learn at the same time.
- Breaking News – For this most current of current news, this is the place to go. Watch as the homepage updates before your eyes, breaking the news as soon as it becomes available.
- The New York Times Learning Network – This amazing site is not only a great source for current event articles, but it also offers amazing resources for teachers. Complete lesson plans walk students through analyzing news reports and allows practice so vital in the Social Studies classroom.
- DOGO News – While this website was created for the primary grades, it offers leveled readings all the way through grade 8. More importantly, for the high school classroom, this site provides relevant content for those students not quite on grade level or those early language learners.
- Social Studies for Kids – As well as providing great maps, timelines, listings, and more, current events are linked to help students stay up to day with the news of the world. Listings of each year’s current events can also be found, helping students examine the recent world history so often overlooked.
- Scholastic News Magazine – This is another website that provides current news as well as teaching resources so students can get the most from their current event reading experience.
- Headline Spot for Kids – An amazing compilation of links, this site breaks the news into searchable categories helpful for targeting students interest or topics for further research.
- HereThereEverywhere – This fun site offers news with a twist for younger readers. The topics are arranged in categories, but are written with greater zest to keep readers engaged and ready to learn. Take a look through their archives for interesting research prompts or topics of study for those who finish assignments early!
- Wall Street Journal World – Secondary students should be reading relevant world news at an adult reading level. Despite their current reading abilities, exposing them to real news articles can pique interest and desire for greater reading abilities. More importantly, delving into the “real” news sites can keep students tied to real current events, better preparing them for the world ahead.
- The BBC – One of the greatest lessons we can learn in our U.S. and World History classes is that America can be perceived differently by those outside of our borders. Allowing students to read from foreign news press opens up their eyes to those varying points of view, not just about our nation, but about the whole world.
Teaching with current events is so important in the middle and high school classroom. Not only does it help students better understand the events of the past, it also helps them better prepare for the future.
Happy Teaching!