Current events for middle school students
Five real stories from this week that work for grades 6-8, each with a quiz question and something to discuss. Below them is our list of the best current events sites for middle school.
Many of your students already get their news from short clips on their phones. A few minutes of real reporting in class gives them something to check those clips against. The stories below are short enough to read in one sitting, and none of them are about crime or violence.
This week's current events for middle schoolers
All five ran in Newsreel this week. Each comes with a quiz question, and we've added a discussion prompt.
Japan launches mission to bring home pieces of Mars' moon
A Japanese spacecraft is on its way to Phobos to collect rock and soil. Scientists hope the samples show how Mars ended up with two moons.
Quiz: What does Phobos resemble, according to scientists?
Discuss: Why would a country send a spacecraft all the way to a moon of Mars for a scoop of rock and soil?
Nearly all coral reefs could collapse within 50 years, study finds
A new global study says rising ocean temperatures threaten 96% of shallow-water reefs.
Quiz: What process makes corals push out the algae that feed them when the water gets too warm?
Discuss: Who depends on coral reefs, and what changes for them if the reefs die?
Oil-rich Alberta votes to stay in Canada
Voters in the Canadian province rejected a proposal that could have started it down the road to independence.
Quiz: What does Alberta hold most of in Canada?
Discuss: Should a region get to vote on leaving its country? Can you think of a time it happened in U.S. history?
It's not just France: protests escalate across Europe
People in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Albania are marching over housing and energy prices.
Quiz: What two problems are people protesting?
Discuss: Why would housing and energy prices push someone to march in the street?
Websites go offline amid global rush to fix AI-discovered security flaws
AI found a flaw in software that runs up to 70% of websites. Governments and companies took some services offline while they patched it.
Quiz: What name was given to the main flaw found in PHP?
Discuss: If AI can find these flaws, who else could use it to find them first?
Students can read the full stories and take the quizzes in Newsreel Classroom. We make it, and it's one of the sites in the table below.
The best current events sites for middle school
| Site | Format | Good for | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newsreel Classroom | Short stories by vetted journalists, with a quiz | Reading the news and turning something in | School plans |
| CNN 10 | Ten-minute daily video | A bell-ringer with no prep | Free |
| PBS NewsHour Classroom | Daily story with discussion questions | Discussion and writing | Free |
| TIME Edge (TIME for Kids) | News written for middle grades | Newer or younger readers | Free and paid |
| DOGO News | Kid-friendly news with questions | Reading on their own | Free and paid |
| Science News Explores | Science and health news | Science class | Free |
| Junior Scholastic | Magazine and website | Planned units across the year | Paid |
| Newsela | Articles at several reading levels | Mixed reading levels, if your school subscribes | Limited free, then subscription |
For high school, and for what to use instead of CNN 10, see our guide to the best current events websites for students.
After each Newsreel Classroom story, students answer a quiz and a poll like these.
A 10-minute current events routine
This fits at the start of a period, two or three times a week.
- Read the headline aloud and ask what students think the story is about. (2 minutes)
- Let them read the story on their own. (5 minutes)
- Ask the quiz question. You'll see who actually read it. (1 minute)
- Ask one question with no single right answer, and push students to point to a fact in the story. (2 minutes)
Once a week, swap the discussion for a source check. Who wrote this? How do they know? Where else could we confirm it? Our guide on how to teach media literacy has more ways to build that habit.
How to pick stories that are right for middle school
Read every story before you assign it. Science, environment, technology and civics stories usually raise good questions without graphic detail, which is why this week's list leans on them. Newsreel puts a content warning at the top of stories about hard topics, so you can decide before you assign.
Look for stories with a real disagreement inside them. "Should a region get to vote on leaving its country?" gets a class talking in a way a list of facts won't. It also helps to mix in stories that aren't about a crisis.
Today's stories for your class
Newsreel Classroom is a media literacy resource for grades 5-12. New stories come out every day, each with a quiz, and it works with Google Classroom.
See today's Classroom storiesFrequently asked questions
Where can middle school students find current events?
For daily news, teachers of grades 6-8 most often use CNN 10, a free ten-minute video, and PBS NewsHour Classroom, which posts a free daily story with discussion questions. DOGO News and TIME Edge write news for younger readers, and Science News Explores covers science. Newsreel Classroom gives students short stories by vetted journalists, each with a quiz.
What are good current events topics for middle school this week?
This week's picks are Japan's mission to bring back rock from Mars' moon Phobos, a study warning that 96% of shallow-water coral reefs are at risk, Alberta's vote to stay in Canada, protests over housing and energy prices across Europe, and the scramble to fix a website flaw that AI found.
How do you teach current events in middle school?
Keep it to about ten minutes, two or three times a week. Read the headline aloud, give students five minutes to read, ask one quiz question to see who read it, then end with a question that has no single right answer.
What is the best free current events website for middle school?
CNN 10 and PBS NewsHour Classroom are the free options teachers use most. CNN 10 works as a bell-ringer video. PBS NewsHour Classroom is better if you want students to write or discuss.
How do I pick current events that are appropriate for middle schoolers?
Read the story yourself first. Science, environment, technology and civics stories tend to raise good questions without graphic detail. If a story covers violence or crime, check whether it carries a content warning and decide whether your class is ready for it.