Using CNN 10 In Your Social Studies Classroom

I love Fridays when we start class by watching CNN 10.  If you haven't incorporated this into your weekly schedule, I don't think you'll regret giving it a try!

One of our goals throughout the year is to find connections from the past to the present and what might be happening in the future.  CNN 10 helps bring about some great discussions!

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CNN 10 is hosted by Carl Azuz every school day (Monday-Friday).  Carl Azuz doesn't disappoint and knows how to connect with his young audience.  He is very upbeat, animated, and unrolls a list of wild puns at the end of his news cast like he's just had 8 espressos!

What students like the most about Carl Azuz, and the rest of the reporters on CNN 10, is that they are energetic but very professional.  They deliver stories in short segments to hold the attention of their viewers.  

There is also a segment called "Ten Second Trivia" where your students will call out loud their guess to the correct answer.  Once the answer is revealed, CNN 10 will do a 2-3 minute story about that topic.  These trivia/news segments will tie into something that is happening regarding that topic in the news today so your students will see why it is important.  

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I have two free resources in my Teachers Pay Teachers store that connect with CNN 10 that you might find helpful in your own classroom.  

The first is "My CNN 10 Journal" that has 180 days of journal entries available for your students.  You, of course, wouldn't have to use all 180.  Maybe you do one per week, or just use it a few times throughout the year.  The additional sheets can just be deleted.  

Students will journal about a story that stood out to them from that day's news, a summary of the story, and make inferences about what they think might happen next with the story.  

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An additional resource that works well with the "My CNN 10 Journal" is an end of the year research project called "The Year in Review."  Students will create a booklet that has a variety of stories that happened over their school year such as a worldwide event, national event, local event, something from sports, entertainment, and even a feel-good news story among others.  

This is a nice way to end the year with students, and they are also nice booklets to keep year after year so students can see what was going on in the world through the eyes of students that were there before them.  

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The other free CNN 10 resource I have is the CNN Hero of the Year resource that allows students to look at the Top 10 individuals who CNN has selected to possibly win the $100,000 prize to help aid the charity they are working on.  This resource is totally free and will be updated  yearly to focus on that specific year's CNN Heroes.  

Links to each person's video story are available as well as a persuasive writing assignment for students to choose one of the heroes they would like to see win the top prize.  

Instructions are also included for you to create a Google Form survey so your students can see how their hero ranked compared to others in your class/classes. 

CNN 10 never disappoints, plus it gives you 10 minutes per class on Fridays to quickly enter grades, fine-tune that lesson you're working on, or take care of the hundreds of things you need to complete as a classroom teacher!

Enjoy!
​Matt @ Surviving Social Studies

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