Current Event Lessons

Today we had to do a quick 10 minute presentation on a current event. I was very excited for this project because current events is something that I believe should be introduced in every classroom. I was the second teacher candidate to go and I decided to do a compare and contrast lesson. We were assigned to find current events that were linked to our unit plans. So I began my research on Newsela determined to find two interesting articles that students could easily compare and contrast. I found an article that discusses how Flint, Michigan's water pollution troubles are making it harder to promote water in other cities. The second article I found was discussing how the Mayor of Flint, Michigan vowed to drink tap water for a month to prove to his citizens that it was in fact safe (the jury is still out on how safe it is by the way). I explained to my "students" that they were to read both of the news articles, highlight what they believed was important, and fill in the corresponding diagram. Mind you, this all had to be done in ten minutes. But my "students" did an amazing job of completing this task! For independent practice, students were assigned to find another article discussing water pollution either locally, nationally, or globally and create their own venn diagram.

If this had been an actual lesson, it would have taken a lot longer than three minutes! I would have read the articles along with students instead of them reading it independently. But overall, this is definitely a lesson I will be putting into my arsenal!