A student speaks while another listens attentively.

Collection

Current Event

Current Events in the Classroom

Explore classroom resources for making connections between current events and your curriculum, including activities and discussion strategies for high school and middle school students.

Published: August 2, 2019

Last Updated: May 22, 2022

Collection

Language

English — US

Subject

Civics & Citizenship
History
Social Studies

Grade

6–12

Democracy & Civic Engagement
Global Migration & Immigration
Human & Civil Rights
Racism

Overview

Engaging with current events is an essential part of educating young people to be informed and humane participants in society, helping them develop the capacity to examine issues from multiple perspectives and think critically about the world around them.

Our current events collection includes strategies for addressing current events with your students and mini-lessons on topics in the news, which can be adapted to teach in one class period or less.

This collection supports thoughtful classroom conversations about current events. It includes:

Flexible mini-lessons to help you address specific events and issues in the news.
Printable explainers to introduce key terms and ideas that are essential to understanding today’s news.
Collections of resources on four key topics: global immigration, democracy and civic engagement, racial justice in the United States, and bigotry and hate.

Preparing to Teach

Toolkit

This toolkit provides flexible and adaptable tools and strategies for integrating current events into your teaching.

Professional Learning

Jul 1, 2023 - Jun 30, 2024

Virtual

This workshop introduces Facing History’s approach to teaching with current events, which includes reflection, pedagogy, and teaching strategies.

Guide

This guide includes tools and strategies for organizing discussions about current events in your classroom.

Photo of students seated in a classroom.

Inside this Collection

Mini-Lesson

Help students develop healthy habits for protecting their mental health while staying informed and taking action.

Diverse group of teen college students ignoring each other looking at mobile phones checking social media

Mini-Lesson

Learn about some of the factors impacting teen mental health and actions we can take to promote wellbeing.

Mini-Lesson

This is the second mini-lesson in a two-part series on the impact of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E on education.

Students in classroom work on their laptops.

Explainer

Use this Explainer and Tropes Chart to help students understand what antisemitism is, how it shows up in contemporary settings, why it persists, and how it impacts individuals and communities.

Three people stand together with a sign that has the Star of David on it with the saying "Stand Together Against Hate."

Mini-Lesson

This mini-lesson explores celebrity influence and online hate, specifically antisemitism.

Picture of Children Using Mobile phones stock illustration.

Mini-Lesson

Use this mini-lesson to help students reflect on their emotional reactions to climate change, their connection to the natural world, and the power of collective action.

There are more than 250 million migrants around the world, including more than 65 million refugees. Explore the policies, debates and human stories of immigration around the world.

Democracies across the globe are increasingly fragile. Examine the health of democracy, voting and elections, and the pivotal role civic participation of young people plays.

We are in the midst of a national and global reckoning on race and justice. Use these resources to understand the past and present of racial inequities in the United States and the ongoing struggle for justice today.

Hate is in the headlines around the world. These resources offer sensitive entry points to confront troubling violence and injustice, including terrorism, genocide, and attacks on human rights.

Collection

Explore resources that meet the California History–Social Science Framework standards.

Four students sit in a circle in conversation. The student in the center speaks with their hands raised.

Collection

Explore resources that meet the Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework.

Students working in groups in a classroom

Unit

This unit is designed to help students in the UK reflect on how Islamophobia manifests in contemporary society and what needs to be done to challenge it.

Lesson

Students explore Islamophobic tropes, their troubled history, their evolution and their present manifestation in further depth, and consider the harm that their circulation can cause.

Picture of students working in a classroom.

Lesson

Students reflect on how Islamophobia manifests in the media and in the entertainment industry, and the potential consequences of being exposed to Islamophobic content.

Photograph of student in uniform working on a worksheet in class

Lesson

Students learn how Islamophobia intersects with misogyny and the impact that this has on the treatment of Muslim women.

Lesson

Students reflect on the impact of Islamophobia on Muslims’ sense of belonging, consider what can be done to foster integration, and explore ways in which they and others can challenge Islamophobia.

Picture of high school students smiling.

Activity

Students explore the supporting question “How did the Angel Island Immigration Station both reflect and enforce borders within American society?”

Captain examines passengers aboard the The Shimyo Maru vessel.

Activity

Students explore the supporting question “How does the history of immigration through Angel Island help us understand how we create and challenge borders today?”

Assessment

Students culminate their arc of inquiry into the Angel Island Immigration Station by completing a C3-aligned Summative Performance Task and Taking Informed Action.

Inquiry

This 5-7 day C3-aligned inquiry explores the compelling question “How does the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station help us understand how borders are erected, enforced, and challenged?”

Activity

Students explore the supporting question “How did border enforcement at the Angel Island Immigration Station impact immigrants and their descendants?”

Angel Island Immigration Station Graphic

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Most teachers are willing to tackle the difficult topics, but we need the tools.

— Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Bay Shore, NY

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Current Events in the Classroom