1. Preview the issue.

Look over the NewsCurrents Teacher’s Guide to select the stories you’d like to cover. You may want to write subjects you’ll be discussing on the board and ask students to bring in newspaper clippings related to those subjects. You do not have to use every story every week. Choose the stories that are most suitable for your students and complementary to your curriculum.

2. Look for related stories.

Quickly scan the newspaper and your NewsCurrents teacher’s guide for related stories. For example, if there’s a story on the environment in your guide, find a related local environmental story or issue in your newspaper. Bringing the national or international stories down to a local level helps students to understand their relevance and helps to place the events from around the world into perspective.

3. Expand the “Who Am I?” frame.

Use the “Who Am I?” concept with local and state personalities in the news. Direct students to find newspaper photos of newsmakers and use the accompanying captions or news stories to write “clues” about the news personalities. Mount the photos and clues on index cards and use them to quiz the class.

4. Use the reproducible features.

Use the suggested newspaper activities to reinforce basic reading, writing, math, and art skills in creative and fun ways.

5. Use the review quizzes.

Use the Review Quiz appropriate to the level of your discussion. This assessment tool reinforces learning and helps students meet state standards.

6. Encourage discussion.

Ask open-ended questions about each story. Encourage each student to critically think about the issues and topics. Have students take turns being the NewsCurrents moderator each week, or form debate teams around a selected issue.

7. Create a vocabulary notebook.

The teacher’s guide of each issue of NewsCurrents contains important vocabulary words used in that week’s stories. These are words students will hear and read in other news sources. Have students create their own vocabulary notebooks using words highlighted in NewsCurrents stories or other words they find in their independent newspaper reading. Occasionally test students on the spellings and meanings of these words.

8. Make a classroom news map

NewsCurrents helps reinforce important geography skills. Place a world map on a bulletin board large enough to pin newspaper clippings around the outside edges. Have students bring in clippings about stories found in NewsCurrents and post those next to the map. Put a pin in each story and another in the appropriate location on the news map and connect with a piece of string or yarn.

9. Teach a unit on the newspaper.

Review all the sections of the newspaper, how it is created, and the types of jobs people perform at the newspaper. Schedule a tour of your local newspaper as a field trip.

10. Conduct your own opinion polls.

Poll your students before and after discussing NewsCurrents stories. Measure the results to see if their opinions changed after learning more about the issues.

11. Use the newspaper and NewsCurrents together.

Remember, the newspaper is the textbook for NewsCurrents. NewCurrents gives your students the background information they need to read the newspaper intelligently. It will also get them interested in news stories and motivate them to follow up with news reading to see how stories develop. Encourage newspaper reading by keeping a daily newspaper handy and using NewsCurrents consistently.