debbie oestreicher's List: Social Studies - Current Events

iCue is NBC’s newest venture into the realm of education. The sites aim is to create a collaborative 2.0 learning community that “incorporates gaming, discussion, and video resources in a safe, student-friendly online environment.” This is an excellent resource for getting your students interested in the world they live in through relevant news, videos, and a place to discuss them. The iCue video player is very robust and has the ability to take notes, leave comments, and create links for the video. The “Cue cards” can be saved in a student area for future reference. This site is a truly inventive way to teach with current events! iCue is a great way to keep your students interested and engaged with current events.

The Week in Rap brings students current events on their level in a fun and entertaining way. Every Friday a weeks worth of news is posted in video form. The entertaining piece comes in the way that the recap of the weeks headlines is presented, in the form of a rap. The videos will hold your students attention while they keep up to date with what is happening in the world. The lyrics for each rap are posted below the video

Time for Kids is an outstanding current events magazine for kids but did you know they also have a great website? On www.timeforkids.com students can read current events, play games, and get homework help. Games are all current events based and fun to play. Homework helper provides students with rapid research help, writing help, and facts from around the world. The teacher section of the site is amazing. You can find worksheets, mini lessons, and graphic organizers. They are separated by grade and subject making the site very easy to navigate.

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