I've mentioned in an earlier post that my students love Current Events Friday! All week the kids watch the news and keep up with local, national, and world events. Two students sign up to present two articles every Friday. We put the desks in a circle to create more of a discussion than a presentation. I like the comfort level this naturally creates. When each presenter is done with an article, he or she asks the class if they have any questions which they should be prepared to answer...as best they can! I'd rather they admit that they can't answer a question and then have someone in the class grab a laptop to learn more. Once all of the presentations are finished, we open the floor to anyone else who would like to share a news story, and then we watch the news and discuss stories that interest us. The kids love it!
One thing that I require of each presenter is that at least one of their stories is an international event. This can sometimes be a challenge for middle level students, not only locating these stories but also making sense of their context. I have shown them how to use Google News effectively, but yesterday I found something that will be an extremely useful tool for next year.
