Finding trustworthy middle school-friendly news and current events sources has never been more important.
In today’s fast-paced world where news is at our fingertips, the news cycle can feel intimidating to anyone. As an ELA/social studies teacher, there is more pressure than ever to ensure students are media literate, particularly with the multitude of well… questionable places they may get their news. The following 5 websites are a great place to get kids started down the road of learning civics, current events, and media literacy in and outside of the classroom!
If you have your students writing feature articles using news sources as mentor texts, check out this post: Why You Should Use Feature Articles to Teach Informational Writing.
Newsela
Newsela is a great way to give students a breakdown of stories in the news cycle and is ideal for current events assignments. It curates news stories and other content. You can use Newsela to enhance literacy skills, facilitate discussions, and engage students with relevant topics. The platform also offers assessments and resources to track student progress. A great feature of Newsela is that it allows you to change the Lexile score on articles allowing you to differentiate it for students of all needs!
Time For Kids
This spin-off of the popular Time magazine is another great resource for kids in breaking down current events. The articles cover a wide range of topics including a section devoted solely to the 2024 election that are broken down by age level to further support your students! This resource also has age-appropriate opinion-based questions for anyone who wants to do a discussion or Socratic Seminar lesson.
Dogonews
If you are looking for a website that covers a wide range of topics in a kid-friendly format, Dogonews has a multitude of topics to pique your students’ interest. From articles about history, scientific curiosities, civics, and current events, this website provides articles for students with a variety of different interests.
PBS Newshour Classroom
This resource provides accessible, up-to-date articles for your students to enjoy and also provides great resources for teachers as well. From lesson plans for different ways to get your students engaged in current events, to examples of classroom voices around the nation on various topics, PBS Newshour will be a hit for both you and your students! This resource also provides articles on an array of topics including ELA, Civics, and STEM among other topics
CNN10
Unlike these other resources, CNN 10 provides students news in a medium they may be more familiar with. Video content!
CNN10 publishes 10 minute current events videos breaking down the week’s global and national news. This format may be more accessible for students who have prefer learning from visuals, and the recommended age for this source is 13 and up.
A bonus site from the New York Times: The Learning Network
The Learning Network is a great fit for older kids, using articles from the New York Times to create engaging blogs and activities for tweens and teens. It’s also a goldmine for teachers crafting lessons on current events, history, science, and more. Keep in mind, it covers real-world news, so sensitive topics might pop up.
Helping your students make sense of the world starts with giving them access to news they can trust. By exploring these five trustworthy sites with your class, you’re not just teaching them about current events—you’re equipping them with the tools to question, analyze, and think for themselves. And isn’t that the ultimate goal?
Take a moment to check out these resources, try them out in your lessons, and watch as your students grow into informed, thoughtful citizens.
You’ve got this—your students will thank you (well, maybe not today, but definitely someday). Keep inspiring those bright minds!
