Current Issues
Classroom activities to engage students in learning about and discussing issues in the news
An overview of income tax laws and the accompanying chart provide the basis for student inquiry into who benefited most from the Bush tax cuts. The questions and assignment that follow test students' ability to read a statistical chart and draw conclusions from it.
As controversy grows over military recruitment in high schools, we offer a set of rigorous, inquiry-oriented and student-friendly readings and activities that explore many aspects of the military, the draft, and the war:
An opening exercise and two readings offer students an opportunity to learn about the Patriot Act and to grapple with some of its controversial provisions.
Now is a teachable moment for study and discussion of the First Amendment and the religiously tinged politics of our time. Here, a quiz, a short history of the First Amendment, four case studies and suggested classroom activities.
What right, if any, "to keep and bear" arms does the Constitution guarantee individuals? What right, if any, does Congress have to regulate them?
Readings and activities on WorldCom, the profitable world of stock options, and other financial shenanigans and what Congress & the President are doing about it.
What should the U.S. do in Iraq? A student reading offers an overview of the five most discussed strategies, issues associated with each, and suggestions for class activities and student inquiry.
A reading followed by an inquiry exercise invites student scrutiny of four different estimates of Iraqi civilian deaths.
A student reading discusses the dangers faced by organizations providing humanitarian aid in Lebanon, Congo, Darfur, Sri Lanka, and Gaza. Discussion questions, suggestions for further inquiry and citizenship activities follow.
The Torture Issue (with a DBQ) A student reading includes examples of U.S. treatment of prisoners as revealed in investigations and excerpts from the Geneva Convention and UN Convention Against Torture. A DBQ (document-based question) includes diverse points of view on the efficacy and morality of...