Current Events is NOT a Thing of the Past...

Once upon a time, teachers used to compel students to bring in newspaper clippings and we'd all take turns summarizing the story. Some teachers kept bulletin boards of those clippings and others asked their students to keep journals or scrapbooks. There was always some sort of learning attached to this literacy event - summary writing, learning to recount or retell, or even simply writing a news report ourselves. I worry that students don't talk about what's going on in the world around them. I wonder if our kids could make sense of these editorial cartoons:

(Could our students understand the humour behind this cartoon? Can they articulate why this is relevant to them?)

(Do our kids really understand what's going on? Do they understand the meaning of words like "pandemic"? Do they possess the necessary health literacy to navigate the health care system?)

(When hasn't this issue been in the news? Do our students understand the implications of what the Pope is saying? What it means to the historical context of this story?)

Why rely so heavily on textbooks when the world itself is providing the content that we can use to teach our students necessary and relevant skills to live in it?

I'm not suggesting returning to the age-old practice of cutting and pasting. This is neither relevant to our students nor effective for our teaching. All I'm saying is that the news should play an active role in our programming and course work so that real-life connections can be made on a regular basis. Admittedly, I'm pretty disturbed that some teachers are STILL asking kids to cut and paste articles, summarize them and expect students to understand that they have just acquired some pretty important skills. Let's keep it real...