Research Supports the Benefit of Teaching Current Events

(Click here to go to mobile site)

(Taken from an Article on Education World (http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr084.shtml).

For children to become competent lifelong learners, they must learn how to use nonfiction materials to expand their knowledge base, solve problems, and make decisions. 

An NCES study reported results of the 1996 National Household Education Survey (NHES), which revealed that students who take classes that require them to pay attention to government, politics, or national issues report increased interest in those issues outside of school.

Edward F. DeRoche, dean of the School of Education at the University of San Diego in his book The Newspaper: A Reference for Teachers and Librarians (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1991) reports a  large body of research that supports the use of newspapers and current events as teaching tools.

Students who use newspapers tend to score higher on standardized achievement tests -- particularly in reading, math, and social studies -- than those who don't use them.

• Newspapers help teach students to be effective readers.
• Newspapers can help develop and improve student vocabulary, word recognition skills, and comprehension.
• Newspapers are effective tools for teaching many math concepts, particularly fractions, decimals, currency, and averages.
• In surveys, students overwhelmingly support the use of newspapers in the classroom and have a positive attitude toward reading newspapers.
• Newpapers increase awareness of and interest in current events.
• Students who read newspapers in school tend to continue reading them when they become adults.

Start getting the benefits of using current events to enhance your student's critical thinking skills today.

Source:

Why Teach Current Events? http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr084.shtml