Current Events #9: A Day in Pictures

"No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline. --Kofi Annan

This post from Free Technology for Teachers inspired me to rethink the opening of my Social Studies and Civics classes. On many occasions, I have used a news clip to start my lesson, but what if every class started with a photo taken in the past 24 hours? What a conversation starter!

Richard Bryne (at Free Technology) uses BBC's In Pictures, but another excellent resource is the blog, The Big Picture, which posts amazing (although sometimes disturbing) imagery of what is in the news. You can use Google Reader to subscribe to both resources.

Connecting with current events visually brings the stories alive, leads students to ask questions, and puts global citizenship at the forefront of the classroom--a great way to make Social Studies meaningful.

References

BBC. (2011, November 18). Day in pictures: 18 November 2011. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-15791213

Byrne, R. (2011, November 18). Using pictures for current events [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/11/using-pictures-for-current-events.html

Nelson, P., Turner, L., & Young. L. (2011, November 15). Dangerous work: "the mine" in Guatemala City [web log post]. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/11/dangerous_work_the_mine_in_gua.html