Happenings Around The World

families - who don’t think things through. Listen to both sides: Teach your kids to listen to both sides of a debate and to pay attention to people they think they will disagree with. We must learn how to cultivate multiple sources when gathering information. For children to become competent lifelong learners, they must learn how to use nonfiction materials to expand their knowledge base, solve problems, and make decisions. That point was made by Edward F. DeRoche, dean of the School of Education at the University of San Diego in his book The Newspaper: A Reference for Teachers and Librarians (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1991). A large body of research supports the use of newspapers and current events as teaching tools, says DeRoche. Among the research he sites: Students who use newspapers tend to score higher on standardized achievement tests -- particularly in reading, math, and social studies -- than those who don't use them. Newspapers help teach students to be effective readers. Newspapers can help develop and improve student vocabulary, word recognition skills, and comprehension. Newspapers are effective tools for teaching many math concepts, particularly fractions, decimals, currency, and averages. In surveys, students overwhelmingly support the use of newspapers in the classroom and have a positive attitude toward reading newspapers. Newpapers increase awareness of and interest in current events. Students who read newspapers in school tend to continue reading them when they become adults. Students who study news or watch TV news in school are more interested in current events than those who do not, according to a large body of research cited in a 1997 report (Student Interest in National News and Its Relation to School Courses) from the National Center for Education Statistics. Studies indicate that elementary and high school students are not intrinsically interested in current events. But evidence suggests that including current events in the school curriculum can increase interest. In a recent survey, 135 inner-city schoolteachers who used a program designed to incorporate current events into lesson plans said the program was effective in increasing student interest in current events. Another study of 798 students in grades 9 to 12 showed that students who study news or watch TV news in school "are more likely to engage in news-seeking behavior outside of school." The NCES study also reported results of the 1996 National Household Education Survey (NHES), which revealed that students who take classes that require them to pay attention to government, politics, or national issues report increased interest in those issues outside of school. About two-thirds of students in grades 6 to 12 reported in the survey that they had taken such a course in one of the last two years; about half of the students surveyed had taken such a course in both of the last two years. Overall, 65 percent of students who took at least one course during the last two years reported their interest in politics and national issues increase "some" or "a good deal" as a result. Among students who had taken such a course in both of the last two years, 71 percent responded that their interest had increased. In another NHES measure, students who reported taking a course that generated at least some increase in interest in politics or national issues also reported outside news-seeking behaviors. They were more likely than others to discuss the news or watch or listen to the national news with parents. ACTIVE, PARTICIPATORY CURRENT EVENTS!