SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE POST
New York Times Learning Network Revisited
Yesterday I came across a pretty fabulous NYT Learning Network Blog Post: 10 Ways to Use the New York Times for Teaching Literature. I plan to share it with our Language Arts Department.
But the great ideas in the post reminded me of how much I really love the whole New York Times Learning Network site and how useful it is for most every secondary classroom.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Launched in 1998 and relaunched last October as a Times blog, the site’s mission is to offer rich and imaginative materials for teaching and learning using New York Times content.
That content includes fresh and free educational resources based on all types of NYT media: articles, photographs, videos, illustrations, podcasts and graphics. Learners are invited to interact with this authentic content.
The Learning Network‘s current features include materials that inspire a balance of learning activities, critical thinking as well as basic understanding of what’s going on in our world:
- Lesson Plans — Daily lesson plans based on New York Times content.
- Student Opinion — News-related questions that invite response from students age 13 and older. [[This presents a wonderful opportunity for student journalists to express opinions to a real and large audience! The existing comments are bound to provoke.]]
- Word of the Day — Vocabulary words in the context of recent Times articles.
- 6 Q’s About the News — An activity in which students answer basic questions (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How) about an article.
- News Quiz — Interactive daily news quizzes on current top stories.
- Student Crossword — Topical puzzles geared toward teens.
- Fill-Ins — Times articles from which word and phrases have been dropped. Fill in the blanks with your own words, or choose from a scrambled list of the words that were removed.
And conveniently, for middle and high school teachers and librarians, the thoughtfully developed lesson plans (my favorite part of the site) are also organized by category:
Don’t miss the Teaching Topics page which gathers resources–current and archival–on frequently taught subjects and popular classroom themes. Among my favorites in this area:
- Five Easy Ways to Learn Grammar With The New York Times
- Learning About U.S. Immigration With The New York Times
- The Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: Teaching Resources and Essential Questions
- 10 Ways to Study the U.S. Supreme Court With The New York Times
- Resources: The Holocaust
- The Gulf Oil Spill in the Classroom
You can follow the New York Times Learning Network on Twitter @nytimeslearning, or fan the Network on Facebook, or get new lessons, the Student Opinion Question and the Word of the Day delivered via email every afternoon.
Filed under: news, professional development, websites
About Joyce Valenza
Joyce is an Assistant Professor of Teaching at Rutgers University School of Information and Communication, a technology writer, speaker, blogger and learner. Follow her on Twitter: @joycevalenza
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
Name That LEGO Book Cover! (#53)
Cover Reveal and Q&A: The One and Only Googoosh with Azadeh Westergaard
Exclusive: Vol. 2 of The Weirn Books Is Coming in October | News
Take Five: Middle Grade Anthologies and Short Story Collections
The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT