The Real World
By Sandra Feldman

Whether they're learning about long division, Longfellow or a long-lost civilization, students often want to know how the subjects they're learning will help them in "real life." It's a fair question. As teachers, one of our primary responsibilities is to prepare students for "real life" as informed, engaged and inquisitive citizens.

A great way to cultivate these qualities in children (and to demonstrate the relevance of what they are learning) is through the study of civics and history. But, like many teachers, you may have found that these disciplines take a back seat to subjects like reading and math. No one would dispute the importance of these core academic subjects (which happen to be the topics assessed on most standardized tests), but it's just as important to include civics and history in any core curriculum.

Studying current events shouldn't be a "show and tell" about the events, but a way to expose students to ideas, places, actions and cultures that they might not otherwise know about or understand. Using current events, the teacher can guide students into the overwhelming and virtually endless stream of information available from newspapers and electronic media. And learning about the world around them helps students understand why the things they study in school are important.

Discussion of current events can complement other academic goals. Reading the newspaper can expand children's vocabulary and comprehension. And most news writing provides students with an excellent example of clear, concise expression. As for math, the many types of media that surround us today present endless examples of real-life uses of fractions, decimals, averages and currency. Here are ideas for how to use current events to make history, civics and the other subjects your students are studying, come to life in your classroom:

• Plan a scavenger hunt. Provide students with a list of things they're studying that they might find in a section of the newspaper. They can find past-tense verbs, adjectives, acronyms, percentages, historical references, scientific discoveries, etc.
• Hold a current events "bee." Ask students to name three countries in the news, the governor and mayor or a recent action by the state legislature or U.S. Congress.
• Conduct mock trials. Piggyback on a high-profile court case to teach about the "roles" individuals have in legal proceedings (lawyers, defendants, juries, judges). Ask students to investigate how the Constitution governs our system of justice.
• Go on a spending spree. Give your students an imaginary $100 to spend. Have them use ads from the paper to determine how they'll spend it on clothing, food and entertainment. Here's a lesson in math – and reality.
• Picture this. Use either editorial cartoons or comic strips. Younger students can explore how to tell a story through pictures. Older kids can learn how serious or complex messages can be captured through seemingly simple illustrations.
• Create historical newspapers. Ask students to create a newspaper about a period of time they are studying. Items can include news stories, letters to the editor and even advertisements.

You can use current events to help students see the relevance and importance of their studies, that history is not a "has-been" and, perhaps most importantly, how as productive citizens they can put their education to use in "real life."

Sandra Feldman is the President of the American Federation of Teachers.