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Free Current Events Lesson Plans & More at this New C-SPAN Site

This week, C-SPAN published a new website called Classroom Deliberations.  This, from their press release: 

C-SPAN Classroom is delighted to announce the launch of "Deliberations", a website designed to engage students in classroom deliberations about current issues being debated in Congress.

On the website you will find a carefully selected set of C-SPAN video clips, along with newspaper articles that concisely present the leading positions on new issues. Teachers will find handouts, lesson plans, and deliberation strategies that make it easy to engage students on the issues.

New events will be added regularly; right now, there are two:  Unemployment and the proposed Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.

How to Get this Freebie:  Visit C-SPAN Classroom Deliberations

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Free Digital Literacy & Citizenship Curriculum for K-12

Common Sense Media is probably best known for its reviews of movies and video games.  They have released a full K-12th grade curriculum on topics such as online Safety, respecting Privacy, and Cyberbulling.  The curriculum includes lesson plans, videos and more.

Common Sense Media describes the curriculum like this: 

Common Sense Media offers FREE Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum to help educators empower their students and their school communities to be safe, responsible, and savvy as they navigate this fast-paced digital world.

How to Get this Free Curriculum:  Visit the Common Sense Media K-12 Curriculum page 

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Thank you, Mel, for suggesting this one!

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Free U.S. Electoral College Map Poster (in Your Mail!) & More Online

Have you heard of C-SPAN Classroom yet?  It's full of resources for social studies and history teachers (and homeschoolers & parents).  They have a lot to offer virtually on their site, and they will send a free Electoral College Map poster,  mailed free, to those teaching in the U.S. ((homeschoolers, too!) 

Here is what the site creators say about C-SPAN Classroom:

C-SPAN Classroom is a free membership service for social studies teachers. Our mission is to enhance the teaching of social studies through C-SPAN’s primary source programming and websites.

Membership [free, homeschoolers welcome] gives educators access to their own library to store C-SPAN Classroom videos and video clips, supplementary materials such as lesson plans and handouts, and special offers like our American Presidents Timeline poster.

How to Access C-SPAN Classroom:  Go to C-SPAN Classroom to browse and complete a free membership form. 

How to Get the Free Poster:  Go to the Special Offers page to order the poster, but you'll have to register with the C-SPAN Classroom site to receive it (free, no catches). The poster will be delivered to your US mailing address for free.

p.s. I'm not sure of their quantity in stock, but like the 6' presidential poster, this will be a Limited Time Offer

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Thank you, Charise, for sharing this in our Facebook community!

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FREE DVDs on Current Events (free shipping, too, to your snail mail!)

Want something in your snail mail again?  We've mentioned this offer before, but are running it again for the new readers (hi!) and those who missed it the first time around:  John Stossel, formerly of ABC News and now of Fox Business News, will mail you two free DVDs on current events topics, shipped free!   We've received several DVDs from him over the past two years.  Our teens and preteens really enjoy them!

The DVDs contain "segments from John Stossel's television programs—specially selected by John for your classroom—to spark thoughtful, engaging, curriculum-driven class discussions."  They cover current events such as food irradiation, border patrol, endangered species and other controversial topics. 

There are also free downloadable and printable teacher guides at the Stossel in the Classroom site, "with  suggested discussion topics and activities for your classroom." 

Learn more about Stossel in the Classroom.

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How to Get This Freebie: Visit Stossel in the Classroom to order the Stossel in the Classroom:  2011 Edition (38 minutes; 6 segments)  and/or the Best of Stossel in the Classroom  (70 minutes long; 12 segments).   They will be shipped free (US only?  I'm not sure about that.)

View the free teacher guides here.

Especially for Advanced Middle School, High School, and College Students

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FREE DVDs on Current Events (in your snail mail!)

Want something in your snail mail again?  We've mentioned this offer before, but are running it again for the new readers (hi!) and those who missed it the first time around:  John Stossel, formerly of ABC News and now of Fox Business News, will mail you two DVDs on current events topics.  We've received several DVDs from him over the past two years.  Our teens and preteens really enjoy them!

The DVDs contain "segments from John Stossel's television programs—specially selected by John for your classroom—to spark thoughtful, engaging, curriculum-driven class discussions."  They cover current events such as food irradiation, border patrol, endangered species and other controversial topics. 

There are also free downloadable and printable teacher guides at the Stossel in the Classroom site, "with  suggested discussion topics and activities for your classroom." 

Learn more about Stossel in the Classroom.

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How to Get This Freebie: Visit Stossel in the Classroom to order the Stossel in the Classroom:  2011 Edition (38 minutes; 6 segments)  and/or the Best of Stossel in the Classroom  (70 minutes long; 12 segments)

View the free teacher guides here.

Especially for Advanced Middle School, High School, and College Students

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FREE Current Events DVD (in your mail) for Middle School, High School, & College Level Students

John Stossel, formerly of ABC News and now of Fox Business News, has compiled 12 episodes from the 2007-2010 DVDs onto The Best of Stossel in the Classroom.  Simply order the DVD and you'll receive it in your snail mail box, 100% free, no catches.  We've received several DVDs of his over the past year. Our teens and preteens really enjoy them!

How to Get This Freebie: Visit Stossel in the Classroom.  You can order this DVD or the one we highlighted last time, 2011 Edition Stossel in the Classroom.  In fact, you can order both!

Especially for:  Upper Middle School, High School & College Level Students

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This Week's Historical Events & Holidays to Teach, Part I

Some exciting things happened in history this week!  Here are some of the historical events you may want to study with your students:

• December 13th:  St. Lucia's Day  is celebrated in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other (mostly Scandinavian) countries.  Here are some ways to celebrate St. Lucy's Day:

                            ~ Read the history of St. Lucia's Day (from Sweden)  or read more here (from Wikipedia)

                            ~ Create Santa Lucia dolls from pipe cleaners & wood beads (by Posie Gets Cozy)   and  make paper crowns & hats (by Kiddley)

                           ~ Make St. Lucia bread (courtesy of Family Fun)

          

• December 14th:   The South Pole was reached in 1911 by four Norwegians, led by a man named Roald Amundsen. 

                    ~ Read about the adventure in a brief history here,  or read about the expedition straight from Amundsen in his book (try to find it at your library for free or click below for more information on the book): 

                  

                        ~ View the South Pole with this webcam provided by the United States Antarctic Program 

                        ~ Here are some lesson plans & activities on the South Pole by National Geographic

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This week has quite a bit more, so I'm going to finish the rest tomorrow, in Part II.  For now, enjoy St. Lucia's Day as you prepare for tomorrow's South Pole adventure.        

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If you know of any historical events (from any country) that occurred between December 12-18, please share them in the comments section.   And please let us know if you find good lesson plans, history links, or tutorials for the above holidays. 

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