Daily Current Event Study
Rationale
We kick off every day with Current Event Study from 8:30-9:00am. We believe being informed about what is going on in the community, country and globally is foundational for becoming active and empowered citizens. Students are required to present and/or discuss articles gathered from newspapers or other online news sources. This is part of our year long approach to studying Canada's Interaction with the Global Community (Social Studies Grade 6 strand).
Activity Description
Assessment
Article Study (Students presenting)
In addition to the presentation aspect of Current Events, students must:
Reflection Index Card (Students not presenting)
Students respond to one of the following prompts on an index card each morning.
> How does this connect to my life?
> Something that surprised me is…
> Something I am still wondering about is
> How does this connect to something I already knew?
PROCESS NOTES:
We kick off every day with Current Event Study from 8:30-9:00am. We believe being informed about what is going on in the community, country and globally is foundational for becoming active and empowered citizens. Students are required to present and/or discuss articles gathered from newspapers or other online news sources. This is part of our year long approach to studying Canada's Interaction with the Global Community (Social Studies Grade 6 strand).
Activity Description
- Students will be divided into 5 groups and each group assigned a day of the week. Every student will be expected to bring in a current event article on their assigned day.
- Each student will have 3-4 minutes to give a brief, oral summary to the class and supply one "extend your thinking" question that could be taken up by the class for discussion.
- **Due to time constraints, not all questions will be brought up for discussion to the class. A topic that is of particular interest to the class or relevant to a current area of study will be chosen for discussion.**
- Students who are not presenting are expected to listen attentively, participate in discussion and hand in a reflection index card.
Assessment
Article Study (Students presenting)
In addition to the presentation aspect of Current Events, students must:
- Read their article three times
- Highlight the main ideas and/or conclusions
- Highlight unknown vocabulary words and look them up in the dictionary, annotating the article with the definitions.
Reflection Index Card (Students not presenting)
Students respond to one of the following prompts on an index card each morning.
> How does this connect to my life?
> Something that surprised me is…
> Something I am still wondering about is
> How does this connect to something I already knew?
PROCESS NOTES:
- Before starting Current Event Study, survey students to see who has access to newspapers or internet at home. Make sure to schedule students who do not have access in the middle or end of the week so they have adequate time at school to find an article.
- Talk about different resources for finding articles. Some students will be able to read at a much higher level. For students who struggle, make sure sources like TimeforKids and Teachingkidsnews are available.
- Make newspapers/other sources available in the classroom for students who do not have access at home.
- Use a timer to help students use their share time effectively.
Ontario Curriculum Connections
Balanced Literacy Food Groups: Reading Comprehension Strategies, Oral Communication, Knowledge Building, Vocabulary
Social Studies: Communities in Canada, Past and Present; Canada’s Interaction with the Global Community (depending on the content of articles shared)
Balanced Literacy Food Groups: Reading Comprehension Strategies, Oral Communication, Knowledge Building, Vocabulary
Social Studies: Communities in Canada, Past and Present; Canada’s Interaction with the Global Community (depending on the content of articles shared)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Language Arts: Reading, Media Literacy, Oral Language
Comprehension Strategies
1.3 identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand increasingly complex texts |
Demonstrating Understanding
1.4 demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing and explaining important ideas and citing relevant supporting details |
Extending Understanding
1.6 extend understanding of texts by connecting, comparing, and contrasting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them |
Responding to and Evaluating Texts
1.8 make judgements and draw conclusions about ideas in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views |
Production Perspectives
1.6 identify who produces various media texts, the reason for their production, how they are produced, and how they are funded |
Clarity and Coherence
2.3 communicate orally in a clear, coherent manner, using appropriate organizing strategies and formats to link and sequence ideas and information |
Purpose
2.1 identify a variety of purposes for speaking and explain how the purpose and intended audience influence the choice of form |
Extending Understanding
1.6 extend understanding of oral texts by connecting, comparing, and contrasting the ideas and information in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights; to other texts, including print and visual texts; and to the world around them |