Current Issues
Classroom activities to engage students in learning about and discussing issues in the news
A student reading describes the problem of college debt and provisions of the new reform law. A second reading presents arguments comparing college debt to indentured servitude and calling for free college education. Discussion questions and writing and citizenship actions follow.
Two student readings and discussion questions examine the safety of nuclear energy as well as the wider debate about the pros and cons of nuclear energy.
Alan Shapiro offers a process (including two student readings) to help students conduct a rigorous inquiry into the controversy over climate change.
In three readings, students explore the origins of the movement, its anti-government anger, its alliances, and consider its relationship to what historian Richard Hofstadter called 'The Paranoid Style in American Politics.' Discussion questions and subjects for inquiry and writing follow.
Two student readings consider the controversy over the Bush administration attorneys who counseled that 'enhanced interrogation techniques' were legal.
Marieke van Woerkom's activity helps younger students consider how Haitians are faring now that the news media has largely moved on.
Students analyze new evidence of growing wealth disparity based on race and ethnicity and overall U.S. economic inequality. Then they consider what they and others might do to reduce inequality.
The important and often controversial historian and social movement activist Howard Zinn died on January 27. A student reading about the man and his ideas is followed by discussion questions and suggestions for further inquiry and citizenship.
A student quiz, reading and discussion explore the court's role in interpreting the Constitution and its recent decision to lift limits on corporate & union election ad spending.
Help your students learn about the earthquake and Haiti's history, and brainstorm about how they can help Haitians now and in the long run.