Lesson Plan: Current Events

Overview: Students will use multi-media avenues, such as television, radio, newspapers, and the

internet to access current events, develop ideas about them, and then express those opinions in

writing. The students are to bring in written summaries of news stories theyve found and share

them with the class. The class then selects three of the stories to research further, and students

ultimately write letters to the editor from topics that originated from the news stories.

Subject and grade level: 7th grade Social Studies

Materials Needed: Current Event assignment sheet, computer with internet connection and

Microsoft Word, and access to radio, television, newspapers, and internet.

Objective:

Day One- Students must find a newsworthy story to write at least one-paragraph summary

including two or more sentences on why they chose the story. Students can use internet,

newspaper, television, or radio as the source of their story. They also must be prepared to share

and discuss their summary in class.

Day Two- The students will share the current events that they have selected and summarized,

and then they engage in a lengthy and lively discussions about the meaning and importance of

the stories. Each student also answers classmates questions about his or her topic. Following

the discussion, the students vote anonymously for their favorite stories. The three with the

most votes become stories of the week, and the authors of the wining stories identify the

important facts from the story, (who, what, when, where, why, and how) and record them on the

board for the whole class.

Day Three- Once the topics are determined, students working in groups move to the computer

lab to find stories based on their topic. They will use a computer-based discussion board to post

messages describing the stories theyve found, and each group decides on a story on which to

focus the individual letters to the editor they will be writing.

Day Four- Once the students have written drafts of their letters to the editor. They work in pairs

to assist in the editing and revision process.

Day Five- The final draft of the letter to the editors is submitted through email.

Special Needs Student: The special needs student in my classroom has ADHD or Attention

Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In order to assist and meet the criteria for the special needs

student I will do three things. First I will accommodate him/her by making sure that they are

front and center in the classroom during the lecture. Secondly, during instruction, I will make

sure that the special needs student has been provided with multiple visual slides and cues, as well

as audial instruction. Just to be sure that I know that he/she is getting the information needed for

the assignment. Thirdly, I will intervene with the student any time that he/she gets out of hand or

just not understanding the assignment. I will take the student aside and make sure he/she is on

track, even if that means that I need to go over the lecture again. In conclusion, most students

that have special needs will have a 504 Plan or IEP that will tell the teacher what

accommodations they need to make for their special needs student.