Current Issues
Classroom activities to engage students in learning about and discussing issues in the news
Students discuss two related issues and their impact on voters: the election's focus on ""swing states"" and the winner-take-all Electoral College system. Students discuss these issues and then take part in a roleplay to deepen their understanding.
Students talk about the 2012 election and President Obama's statement in his acceptance speech that "democracy does not end with our vote." Students then consider the issues that are most important to them, research the issues, and figure out how to take action on them.
We offer suggestions to introduce the topic of Hurricane Sandy in the classroom and ideas on ways to teach about it, with links to helpful articles and resources.
Students discuss the most important issues for them in the presidential election and research these issues as homework. Then they stage a mock debate with teams playing the roles of the candidates, the moderators, fact-checkers, reporters and audience.
Students discuss the history of voting rights and the current push to restrict voting, including the arguments for and against.
Get your students talking (or writing) about the presidential debate with these questions.
Students consider the debate over such issues as access to contraception, abortion, and equal pay in the 2012 presidential election and discuss their own perspectives on these issues.
Students learn about what unions and strikes are, then read and discuss different perspectives on the 7-day strike by Chicago Teachers Union strike, which ended on September 19, 2012.
President Obama's recent decision to stop deporting some young undocumented immigrants came in the context of a powerful movement by young people to enact the immigration reform proposal known as the DREAM Act. Student readings examine the new Obama policy and the tireless efforts of young...
This lesson, which requires two class periods, aims to help students understand why people come out, and the impact coming out can have on both a personal and societal level. Students will read and discuss the statements by two celebrities who recently came out (Anderson Cooper and Frank Ocean) and...