Yes, I teach History. My classes and I spend about 20% of our time discussing current events. I think paying attention to news events is important to understand "current" history, but more importantly, I have never encountered a class that is indifferent to current events. Since I require my students to keep a current event journal, I allow them the opportunity to choose whatever news interests them to write about (well, as long as it's not celebrity gossip). Each grade level I teach has different requirements and expectations, and obviously, the complexity that I expect progresses from 6th to 8th grade.
I utilize a wikispaces account for communicating with my classes, and I upload the complete written instructions for submitting journal blog entries onto the appropriate wikis for my students to consult when necessary. I also use an infogram for each grade level so the students can see at a glance what work is required of them from assignment to assignment. I'm still working on the 6th and 7th, but here are the requirements for the 8th grade:
easel.ly
Looks good. Just wondering the nature of the current events; local, US, World, Regional. Want to know how you pick or how students pick the CE. I like the assignment.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. The students pick current events that interest them. I provide several sources, but let them decide what they want to do. I get stories that range from National Geographic, archaeological finds, to local philanthropic news and everything in between. The only requirement is that the entries are well thought-out and well written.
DeleteWhy not celebrity gossip? Compare how it changes over time. Who (what type of person) counts as a celebrity in different periods of history? Are people that count as pop celebrities remembered 100 years later? How is gossip related to other forms of information transmission, such as journalism, historical writing, satire?
ReplyDeleteThese are just random thoughts...
Thanks for the comment. I think you have great suggestions, and I will see how I can incorporate them into a cool project; sounds fun! For this on-going assignment, though, I intentionally have the students stay away from celebrity gossip because this is what they are reading already. I want to introduce students to things that they would not ordinarily read. I do, however, accept extra write-ups ("bonus," if you will), and these extras can be, literally, anything. The students who can't stay away from these stories get their chance to use them, once in awhile.
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