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The editors of NewsCurrents are careful to select not only the most important news stories, but stories with educational merit. We will not cover a story that is purely tabloid fodder, and we never sensationalize the news. Our stories cover a range of topics in government, economics, science, history, language arts, art, and society, but each of them is linked to current events. In this way, we help teach a variety of subjects in a current, relevant context. For example, we received high marks from teachers in the past year for our coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and President Clinton's impeachment trial. Although we covered the story thoroughly, we looked at the events in the context of the constitutional, governmental, and judicial processes at work, and did not focus on the prurient aspects of the events.
The NewsCurrents Online editors are careful not to take any point of view either in our choice of stories or the way we report them. We cover all sides of news events and debates fairly and without bias. Our mission is to prevent all sides of the issues so your students can discuss them and form their own judgments.
You don't have to. One of the great things about NewsCurrents Online is that it lets you choose which stories you want to cover, and how you want to cover them. Use the Index to find out which stories are being covered that week, then preview the text and visuals. That way you can choose which topics are of interest to your students and which stories you want to spend time studying. When you get ready to show NewsCurrents Online, just click on those stories and you're ready to go. You don't even have to download the guide for stories you don't want.
Absolutely not. We write the teacher's discussion guide as a guide for you. And although we think about how it will sound when the words are spoken aloud, we actually encourage you to review the guide, and then paraphrase it for your students. After all, no one knows better than you do how to get these concepts across to them.
Absolutely. Each story in NewsCurrents Online is written on three learning and vocabulary levels: Basic, General, and Advanced. That means it's appropriate for kids in grades 3 to 12, on a variety of learning levels. We suggest you review the guide and decide which level is appropriate for your students. Most teachers choose to work with one level for most of the stories they teach. But you may find that occasionally you would prefer to use a higher or lower level, depending on your class and the complexity of the topic. The choice is yours; you'll be provided with all three levels every week.
As we mentioned, NewsCurrents Online includes access to not only a weekly discussion program with news-related activities, but also interactive online content for your students to do as a class or individually. Your students can challenge themselves in the weekly interactive online NewsQuiz, or voice their opinions online in our opinion polls . These and other features can be accessed in the Students area of the Web site. In addition, NewsCurrents Online sponsors other, non-Internet activities. One of our most popular is our annual Student Editorial Cartoon Contest . Now in its eleventh year, the contest attracts approximately 10,000 entries annually from students in grades 2 to 12. For more information, see the student area of the NewsCurrents Online site.
NewsCurrents Online is actually one of the most cost-effective current events programs on the market. One subscription price buys you a site license for your entire school. That means as many teachers with as many students as you want within the school building can share a single subscription. Currently, the price of a one-year subscription to NewsCurrents Online is $200. Compare that to programs where you have to buy a separate subscription to a news magazine for every kid in the class, or a separate license for every classroom in the school. Call, fax, or e-mail us, we'll be happy to give you more information.
Call us at (800)356-2303 and ask for tk? We're available from 8:00 to 5:00 Central time to answer any of your questions.
First, check our technical support area, to find out if your question is answered here. If you need more assistance, call our technical guru, Dan Hildebrand, at (800)356-2303, ext. 3021. He'll be more than happy to help you.
Knowledge Unlimited is NewsCurrents Online's parent company. Knowledge Unlimited is an independent, woman-owned, educational publisher. Since we were founded 16 years ago, Knowledge Unlimited's mission has been to provide the very best in educational materials to help you do what you do best - teach. In addition to NewsCurrents Online, Knowledge Unlimited produces an array of award-winning and critically honored teaching resources, current events programs including the acclaimed NewsMatters series, and children's books through our imprint, Zino Press. To see a complete selection of everything we have to offer, check out our online catalogue, www.thekustore.com.
You bet. We provide the same great NewsCurrents program in nonelectronic form. You'll receive all the same content every week, including a filmstrip and teacher's discussion guide, through the regular mail. Call us at (800)356-2303 or e-mail us to find out more information.
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