Current Event Reflection!

For my current events project, I worked with Rachel and Brianna. The process began by looking at some websites that Dr. Smirnova suggested to us; Newsela and Tweentribune. To help us fin an article to use in class, Dr. Smrinova told us to look for something that had to do with what we learning in class, which was geography. She also suggested that we use a treasure hunt as our style of teaching. So, we found four interesting articles that were local, national, or international news. The four articles were:

"Robbery Attempt Preceded Ice Rink Shooting, Police Say"

"A Powerful Typhoon Speeds Across the Philippines"

"Spanish Message With One Word That Needs No Translation"

Army Suspends R.O.T.C. Closings at 13 Universities

Brianna started off the lesson by getting an understanding of what the students already knew. She asked them about the different types of news. First was global news. The students gave Brianna a variety of answers. The definition we used for it was "Global news is news that takes place in different countries and places around the world. examples- China, Europe, Philippines". The next type of news was State News. Again, Brianna received many answers and then supported the students by giving our definition: "state news is news that takes place in a certain state. examples- New York, Texas, Florida". The final type of news that Brianna discussed with the class was local news. After given different answers, she gave them the definition, which is "Local- news is news that takes place in a local area or region. example- Manhattan, Newburgh." After going over the different types of news, Brianna then went over the different types of maps that these would be found on.

When Brianna was done explaining the different types of news and the different types of maps, I discussed with the students the students the directions for the activity. We decided to split the class up into four groups. Each group was given all four articles and a sheet with a few phrases on them. The goal of the treasure hunt was to find which article your phrases were in. Each group was given about ten minutes to research their article. They were also asked to present their findings at the end. Rachel explained to them what they would have to present. We asked them to present what article they had, what it was about and whether it was local, national or international news. We also asked them to come up and point to which map the article would be found under.

The class seemed to enjoy this lesson and I enjoyed it as well. I think this is a great way to teach  a lesson and a lot of fun. The students get to become researchers and learn to both work with others but also how to research an article. After doing this project, I will definitely be using this activity in my classroom when I am a teacher. The students are definitely engaged and learning while having fun. They learn social skills as well as metacognitive skills.