7 FREE Current Events Websites for Students
Studying current events gives students the opportunity to make relevant real world connections, engage with high-interest topics, and practice foundational reading and writing skills. Although working with current events is extremely valuable, it is not always easy to find news outlets that provide accessible content for students. The websites listed below are FREE of charge, don’t require any type of sign-in, and contain a variety of kid-friendly and appropriate news sources for students to utilize when studying current events.
DOGO News
DOGO News offers standards-aligned current event articles written with kids in mind. Higher level vocabulary is printed in bold and hyperlinked to a definition. Lesson plan ideas are also offered for multiple grade level bands.
Smithsonian Tween Tribune
The Smithsonian Tween Tribune provides students with high-interest news articles that can be adjusted according to Lexile level. As a teacher, you have the option to share articles straight to your Google Classroom.
Teaching Kids News
Teaching Kids News has been publishing news articles for kids for over ten years. Each article includes links for further reading and ideas for connecting the article with ELA curriculum. In addition to the current event articles for students, there is also an entire category on the website dedicated to media literacy.
Science News for Students
Science News for Students is an award-winning publication dedicated to providing students with the most up-to-date news in the fields of science, health, and technology. Each article includes a glossary of terms and a readability score. In addition to the news articles, the website offers additional learning opportunities including Word of the Week, Experiments, Cool Jobs, and more.
Student News Daily
Student News Daily has six main categories: Daily News Article, World Events, Media Bias, Editorial, Editorial Cartoon, and News Quiz. Each news article includes comprehension questions, background information and additional resources (videos, maps, etc.).
The New York Times, Lesson of the Day
The Learning Network from the New York Times features short lessons based on current event news articles. The lessons are designed to help students better understand world events, think critically, and make text-to-self connections.
CNN 10
CNN 10 is a ten minute news show that appears as a daily video on CNN.com. Daily news from around the world is presented in short video segments. The goal of CNN10 is to deliver internationally significant stories that are digestible for a younger audience. The show strives to provide a neutral position on all topics by providing multiple viewpoints and general overviews.
Instantly make your current event assignments cross-curricular by aligning your worksheets with reading comprehension skills. Click here to read more about how you can rotate through five different standards-based formats when assigning current event reports. If you don’t want to recreate the wheel, you can add diversity to your current event assignments with these printable AND digital standards-aligned templates. Each current event worksheet focuses on a different reading comprehension skill including main idea & details, text connections, vocabulary in context, fact vs. opinion, and summarizing.
