Current Events in the Classroom
Our current events resources help teachers lead effective and engaging discussions on today's news.
Today’s students are growing up in an extraordinarily complex time. Learning about and discussing the issues of the day at school helps students make sense of the world around them and develop the skills they need to grow into thoughtful, civically engaged adults.
Explore our Current Events Collection
Our collection of mini-lessons, explainers, and teaching strategies is designed to help your students make important connections between current events and your curriculum.
Why Teach Current Events?
Teaching current events can be challenging, especially when the news cycle moves quickly, stories evolve, and the issues elicit strong emotions.
Our current events mini-lessons and explainers are designed to be used within a single class period to spark thoughtful conversations among students as they build their capacity to:
- Think critically
- Engage emotionally
- Reflect ethically
- Develop media literacy
- Foster civic agency
We have even more evidence now than we did a decade ago that high-quality and inclusive discussion of important current issues and events is a critical component of civic learning.
Guardian of Democracy, Civic Mission of Schools; Annenberg Public Policy Institute, 2011
Current Events Toolkit
This toolkit provides flexible and adaptable tools and strategies for integrating current events into your teaching.
Current Events in Your Classroom: Fostering Dialogue in Divisive Times
Virtual
This 30-minute webinar introduces you to our current events resources designed to foster thoughtful classroom conversations and build your students’ capacities for critical thinking, emotional engagement, ethical reflection, and civic agency.
Looking for something specific? See all current events materials in our resource library.
See all resources
Educator Tested & Approved
In a 2021 survey of over 700 educators, teachers appreciated that our current events resources:
- are timely - arriving just in time to help guide a potentially challenging class discussion
- save educators time
- support reflective conversations that activate the head and the heart
- help teachers connect individual events with larger themes and historical patterns
