We have been promoting the use of CNN Student News in our district for years, with limited success. A small percentage of teachers have been dedicated enough to set their VCRs to record the newcasts on a daily basis. We even set up a VHS recording and duplication system in our district tech office to handle those times when there was a high interest story and teachers who didn’t get it recorded wanted copies.
Several years ago we purchased a TiVo for the district office so that every episode was recorded onto the DVR and could be easily retrieved on request.
CNN has now made it much easier for teachers to use CNN Student News – it is available as a podcast that can be subscribed to using iTunes.
Once you subscribe to the CNN Student News podcast, every episode will be automatically downloaded to iTunes (Mac or Windows). You can play it in a small window or full screen (just click on the small video to enlarge it). With a video projector in the classroom, students can easily view the newscast.
Since it is available as a podcast, it is in digital format. You can pause and start the video by pressing the spacebar. You can also jump to parts of the broadcast by clicking on the “scrubber bar” instead of fast forwarding like you do with a VCR recording. You can archive the MP4 files in case you want to cover a topic later in the school year.
CNN Student News also provides free curriculum materials to go along with each newscast, from a full written transcript to questions and resources put together by educators. This can be found each day on the CNN Student News web page.
CNN Student News
What is CNN Student News?
How to use CNN Student News
Archived CNN Student News video
Schools of Thought - CNN's Educational Blog
Today's episode includes segments on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and fracking, a topic relavent to us in northwest North Dakota. The entire transcript for each episode is available on the CNN Student News site. <Today's transcript> Maps are often included in the resources.
The Daily Discussion resources for today include these two discussion questions:
What do you know about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? How was Martin Luther King Day celebrated this past weekend? Did you participate in any events related to the holiday? What do you think young people could learn from Dr. King's life? Explain.
What is the purpose of hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking"? According to the program: What concerns have some people raised with regard to the wastewater from fracking? How have supporters of this practice responded to these concerns? What are your thoughts about this issue?