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

Mar 27 - Jun 30, 2023

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

This mini-lesson helps students understand recent events in the Tennessee and Montana state legislatures and consider the implications of using rules of decorum to sanction state representatives.

Expelled State Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, delivers remarks outside the state Capitol, in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, April 10, 2023. Pearson was sworn in, a week after he and state Rep. Justin Jones were banished for a gun control protest on the floor of the House, in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting.

Mini-Lesson

Use this mini-lesson to help students process the tragic news of recent shootings of young people going about their daily lives.

KANSAS CITY, MO- APRIL 18: Protesters chant at a rally for Black teen Ralph Yarl in front of U.S. District Court on April 18, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Mini-Lesson

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

Students in classroom work on their laptops.

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.

Mini-Unit

This series of mini-lessons is designed to help students think critically about the long and troubling history between law enforcement and Black Americans.

Police officer monitoring protestors on motorcycle.

Mini-Lesson

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

Picture of Children Using Mobile phones stock illustration.

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.

Additional Resources

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

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

Mini-Lesson

Help students understand how the United States’ complex asylum process works. Invite them to consider the question, who has an obligation to asylum seekers?

Image for What Is Our Obligation To Asylum Seekers?.

Collection

Lead students in an examination of identity, membership and belonging, and civic participation through an analysis of historical case studies and literature.

An educator points with a white board marker while speaking with students.

Mini-Lesson

This mini-lesson uses images and firsthand accounts of Haitian migrants to humanize the events happening at the US–Mexico border and give shape and nuance to the news.

Lesson

Students explore the strategies, risks, and historical significance of the 1963 Chicago school boycott, while also considering bigger-picture questions about social progress.

Crowd fills LaSalle Street between City Hall and building housing Board of Education as hundreds of demonstrators marched in Chicago on Oct. 22, 1963 following a one-day boycott of public schools.

Lesson

Use this lesson to help students process how they are feeling about the devastating war in Ukraine, develop media literacy in what news they consume and how, and explore the mounting refugee crisis.

Ukrainian Refugees crossing a fallen bridge.

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Facing History & Ourselves is designed for educators who want to help students explore identity, think critically, grow emotionally, act ethically, and participate in civic life. It’s hard work, so we’ve developed some go-to professional learning opportunities to help you along the way.

Professional Learning

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Listen to #DisruptTexts founder Julia Torres about taking a critical lens to text selection in ELA classrooms.

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Issues of equity and education have long existed in our country and continue to manifest today. How can writing and the power of one's voice help us respond to these disparities? Listen to writer and educator, Dr. Clint Smith, where we hear his poetry and reflections on working for justice, equity, and civic agency in our schools.

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Explore approaches to centering student voice, building authentic relationships and cultivating community with Molly Josephs, the creator of This Teenage Life, a youth-driven, story-sharing podcast that started as a school club.

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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