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If living in the information age has taught us anything, it’s that students of all ages can take some lessons in media literacy. Whether it’s analyzing a news report beyond the headlines, identifying media bias, or analyzing the connection between two current events, strengthening these skills empowers students to become competent citizens and think twice before believing everything they read!
We’ve gathered some tips and resources for teaching current events to high school students in social studies, language arts, or any other subject. You’ll find low-prep, standards-aligned ways to guide students in analyzing texts, finding reliable sources, discussing sensitive topics, and connecting news stories to their own lives.
1. Set classroom discussion standards
Before you bring an article or news clip into class, you need to set discussion norms. These established rules help build classroom community and create an environment where students can discuss any current event, even if it evokes strong feelings.
- Let your teen students know that even if they strongly disagree, they need to respect each other and need to avoid accusations or offensive language.
- Tell them to express ideas, not people, and to really listen to someone’s position before making their own response.
- Model these behaviors with low-stakes current issues that are devoid of emotion or politics so students can be prepared for more resonant news stories.
2. Teach high school students how to consume news
Even if your students are already in high school, they may not have grasped the essentials of informational reading. Use CCSS’s foundational information texts to help high school students thoughtfully and responsibly consume news content.
- Start by walking them through the various parts of a news story, including the title, byline, and inverted pyramid article structure (most important information first).
- Remind students that news reports are primary sources, but that does not always mean they are reliable. Discuss how unreliable sources can lead to misinformation.
- Discuss media bias, how students can identify media bias when reading news reports, and how social media should not be the only source of current events.
Guide students through the information reading process
Need a way to get students to reflect on what they just read before discussing it? Guide high school students through current events with structured current events activity sheets, graphic organizers, and analysis activities that help them break down the main ideas and important details of what they just read.
Editable current event templates – digital and print versions
Author: Fashion Science Teacher
Grade: Grades 6-12
Subjects: Science, Social Studies
Review any event in the news with the versatile Current Affairs Assignment Worksheet. This resource includes ready-made worksheets with review questions, editable templates to fit your classroom needs, and digital forms for students to fill out and submit online.
Current Affairs Reading Comprehension Worksheet | Use with any article
Diversification through Middle School Social Studies
Grade: 8-11
Subjects: English Language Arts, Informational Texts, Social Studies
Standard: CCSS RI.9-10.1; RH.9-10.4
Integrate ELA informational reading skills and social studies content with guided activities for understanding current events. This current affairs activity sheet meets informational reading standards and is designed for multiple levels of comprehension and includes five word questions, five inferential comprehension questions, and opportunities for students to cite evidence from the text.
3. Change your discussions and activities
Discussing current events with high school students is not as simple as sitting in class talking about the news. Use different types of discussion styles and activities to challenge students to reframe their thinking and engage a wider range of speakers in discussions of current events.
- Use Socratic seminars to encourage students to plan their thinking and answer discussion questions about current events.
- For current events that are the topic of debate, have students work in groups to organize a formal debate.
- Consider asking high school students to write about their positions on current issues as journal topics rather than discuss them verbally, or expand their topics into longer research projects.
Assign a longer current affairs research project
It’s one thing to follow the daily news, but it’s quite another to provide in-depth analysis of current events and their impact around the world. Lead high school students through a more comprehensive current affairs project that includes long-term research, writing, and presentation goals in social studies.
Current Affairs Global Issues World or Human Geography EOC Research Project
Author: Let us cultivate greatness
Grade: Grades 9-12
Subjects: Environment, Geography, Writing
Standards: CCSS RH.9-10.1, 2, 3, 6, 9, RH.11-12.1, 2, 3, 6, 9; WHST.9-10.1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 8, WHST.11-12.1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 8
For an in-depth project that addresses multiple social studies literacy standards, try this adaptable current affairs research project in your high school classroom. This complete research resource includes two project options (full research paper and one-page) as well as step-by-step checklists, annotated sample papers and projects, outline and paper graphic organizer, and differentiation ideas.
4. Make current events a part of your daily life
High school students may find it easier to discuss sensitive news topics if current events become part of their classroom routine. News reports are introduced on a weekly or daily basis to give students extensive experience analyzing current issues.
- Use recent events in the news as questions of the day for high school students to discuss in class or add to a written journal.
- Encourage students to bring in news stories that interest them and share them in current affairs groups.
- Prepare a worksheet or graphic organizer that students already know how to use when you present a current news story.
Familiarize students with informational text analysis
The news never stops, so students’ information reading shouldn’t either! Keep their reading analysis practices current and relevant with resources related to any article from any time during the school year or news cycle.
Free Current Affairs Worksheets
Author: History Girl
Grade: Grades 6-12
Subjects: Civics, U.S. History, World History
This no-prep worksheet allows students to analyze and evaluate recent news or historical events. It includes space for basic information, student questions about the text, an analysis of any images included in the article, and a tweet-length summary for students to summarize the information they read.
5. Connect current events to core themes
Current events don’t need to stop in social studies classes. Find ways to connect recent news reports to other core topics in high school students’ agendas and make these connections as they continue to analyze current events in different contexts.
- For news reports about medical research or scientific discoveries, have students analyze the social impact and scientific perspective.
- Integrate math skills into current affairs lessons by focusing on data and statistics in news reports.
- Prompt high school students to research news reports on a different topic, such as an era in history, literature, or the performing arts.
Help students connect current events to their own lives
Any news story that can relate to high school students will resonate with them. Help them make connections to current events by tracing how they relate to their own lives, historical events, or other current issues in the news.
Middle School and High School Current Affairs Worksheets/Templates and Assignments
From history to core and more
Grade: Grades 6-12
Subjects: Social Studies, United States History, World History
Six different formats invite high school students to write source information while conducting research on current events in the news. With checklists and headlines, a list of news sources, a log of current events and presentation notes, this editable resource is a great way for learners to keep track of the sources they refer to throughout their assignments.
6. Introduce multiple perspectives
No two people have the same opinion about the same event, including the students in your class! Teach high school students that current events are more complex than they seem, and that studying an event through different perspectives can provide them with the context they need.
- Have students compare the way print news, social media, and 24-hour news networks discuss the same event.
- Demonstrate how two people can see an issue in opposite ways by having student volunteers debate different perspectives on the same issue.
- Discuss how the audiences of news media influence how they report on current events and how seeking a variety of perspectives can alleviate this problem.
7. Be prepared to talk about emotional events
Sensitive or inflammatory news stories are bound to capture students’ attention, whether they scroll through them in their own feeds or hear their peers talking about them in the halls. While it may be tempting to avoid these heavy topics, addressing hot news stories like any other current events in the class is an important way to help students deal with issues that evoke strong feelings.
- Be prepared to talk to high school students about breaking news stories as soon as possible, even if it’s just a brief class discussion or journal topic.
- If you feel strongly about a sensitive news story, model an authentic emotional reaction because your honesty will resonate with teens.
- Remind students of discussion norms and the importance of talking about a topic in a respectful manner, even if it makes them very emotional.
How to Find Current Events for High School Students
Gone are the days of distributing newspapers to students to find interesting current events. Use these free 21st-century resources and tools to guide students in crafting credible accounts of current events for discussion in the classroom.
- Common Sense Education: List of free and paid online news magazines with aligned assignments and lesson plans.
- Academic Magazine: Grade-level articles and reading exercises for high-interest news coverage.
- PBS News Classroom: A multimedia exploration of current events designed for middle school students.
- CNN 10: A popular video resource where students can access the latest news and current events.
- Newsela: Adapt articles and assessments to information reading skills for each grade level.
- Smithsonian: A collection of digital articles and interactive resources to help teens learn about current events.
Teaching current events to high school students is an organic way to address important literacy standards and critical thinking skills. As students practice these life skills activities, they will see the news in new ways and be able to form their own opinions about the events described in the news. Find more high school current events resources to teach media literacy to teens and enjoy the authentic moments current events discussions can bring to your classroom.
