Becoming Historians with Current Events

Current events are very important to teach to elementary school students. In order to create informed young citizens, teachers should incorporate current events into the social studies classroom. There are several resources that teachers can utilize to find grade appropriate current event articles to teach and relate it to the study of the social sciences. One website that provides teachers with leveled news articles is Newsela. Newsela can be a useful resource for teachers to use because it has many current event articles on various topics that are appropriate for the elementary grade levels. Another nice feature of this website are the quizzes. For many articles on this website, students can be assigned to take a quiz in order to assess their understanding of the current event article that is being discussed. Also, as a teacher, I was able to create a binder for my class. By giving my students the corresponding course code, students will gain access to all of the articles and assignments that I include in my class binder.

After finding the article that I was going to teach, I then had to consider a method to teach the current event to the class. One method that I thought was very effective if used properly is the Five W's of a News Story. In the presentation linked above, my group and I were able to pre-assess the class' understanding of what the 5 W's may be. After this simple pre-assessment, we shared the graphic organizer that the students would use to learn about the current event. 

The main focus of the Five W's of a News Story is for each student to understand the important aspects of the current event article that he or she is reading. Typically, each student would be assigned a different article to read and use to complete the graphic organizer. After the organizers are completed, each student would trade his or her organizer with another student. Based on the completed organizer the student received, he or she will write the introduction to a news story based on the information provided and compare it to that of the original article. 

Current events can be used at any grade level to emphasize the importance that history and the social sciences can have in the lives of people today. By relating the current events to the social studies that is being taught in the classroom to students, teachers are helping students make sense of what is going on around them, understand the importance of their studies of history and the social sciences, and become informed young citizens.  Many times, current events may be overlooked because the teacher must meet specific learning standards for each school year. However, teaching current events can be incorporated into the school curriculum. For example, one of the standards that must be addressed teaching the history of the United States and New York State. In the activity that I used for my classroom demonstration, the standards can be addressed. Students can complete an extended research based assignment in which they look into the past to see if this event has occurred before, for what reasons, and how it was resolved. 

The government shutdown was the topic of the news article that two of my classmates and I decided to teach to our peers. This website provides tips to teachers on how to teach the government shutdown to a class of elementary school students. One of my favorite suggestions for teaching the shutdown involved the students taking the role of historians. This is something that is emphasized in my classroom because I think that it is very important to create authentic learning experiences for the students. Students can take the role of historians by considering how history would view the stalemate and the government shutdown. Building on the extended activity that the students could complete, teachers can have the students put themselves in the mindset of a historian. By having them study the past and draw connections to the present situation, students are able to better make sense of the importance of studying history and the social sciences. This website also provided several videos and quizzes for the students to view and complete in order to enhance their understanding and knowledge of the government shutdown and the effects that it is having on society. 

The use of current events in the classroom will vary depending on the grade level that they will be taught. The language or the article should be appropriate for the grade level. Also, the methods for teaching the current events may vary. Though the same 5 W's worksheet can be used for first graders as well as sixth graders, I think that the way that each of these lessons is conducted should be different. For example, sixth grade students are more capable if completing the activity without any modifications. However, it may be best for first graders if the focus is placed on only one news article and the students worked together in groups to find the important components of the article and to complete the graphic organizer. 

Overall, I do plan on incorporating current events into my classroom instruction as a weekly activity. Though I really liked the Five W's of a News Story activity, there are several other methods for teaching current events that I feel could benefit the students' overall understanding of the world around us. 

Using Technology for a Scavenger Hunt

Using a QR code scavenger hunt in class can be a very useful technique for teaching. Students are taking on the role of the teacher and learning through a process. I think that this process of learning is very important because students are using skills and strategies to come to an answer rather than just being told the answers. This activity can be used in an inquiry based, indirect instruction lesson because students are completing the research to learn for themselves, of course with the guidance of the teacher!

In class, Dr. Smirnova created her own QR code scanner scavenger hunt where our groups had to complete and answer the questions about cooperative learning that coincided with each barcode. Some of the questions were easier to answer and we were able to do so based on our prior knowledge of the content. However, others required much more thinking and research. The ideas presented in some of the questions were new and unfamiliar but were able to be learned. 

As mentioned before, this activity would fit into an inquiry lesson plan. However, I liked how Dr. Smirnova used an inquiry based method of teaching to teach us about cooperative learning, another method of teaching. Many times students are taught using direct instruction and there is little room for exploration. Students are given the facts and content and that is it. In inquiry lessons, students are going through a process of learning to eventually reach the answer. Learning occurs during the process of coming to the right answer and I think that this activity can be useful in aiding that process.