Current events in Africa

In this lesson for grade seven, students find two news stories about a current event in Africa: one from an American media source and one from an African media source. Students compare the two to gain an understanding of cultural bias and perspective.

A lesson plan for grade 7 English Language Arts, Information Skills, and Social Studies

By Shane Freeman

Author’s note

Current events activities are frequently used in social studies classrooms, but exploring the cultural effects of current events in a distant country can transform a lesson into one that teaches about bias, good research techniques, and understanding primary sources.

This lesson seems simple but it is designed to be a starting point that can be used to teach students the concepts of developing, researching, and producing a project that includes both their own understanding of an issue and the perspectives of members of the culture that they are studying.

This lesson can be repeated throughout the year with each unit on Africa, Australia, Asia, and The Middle East.

Learn more

• Voice of America News Read or listen to current stories and breaking national and international news in 50 languages and covering topics from agriculture to American culture.

Related pages

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• Wife inheritance and the AIDS epidemic in Africa: When an African man dies, it is the responsibility of his brother to inherit his widow. This has become a key factor in the spread of the AIDS virus. This plan looks at this tradition and the AIDS epidemic in African countries and students will discuss possible solutions in a Paideia seminar.
• Africans before captivity: Graphic organizer: This activity provides a way for students to further their comprehension as they read an article about the regions of Africa from which most American slaves originated. Students will complete a graphic organizer and answer a series of questions.

Related topics

• Learn more about Africa, current events, media literacy, news, newspapers, and social studies.

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Many teachers incorporate current events into their teaching about national and international subjects. When students bring newspaper and magazine clippings to the classroom, they believe that they are objectively telling the story of an event either near or far. Yet too often they are also unknowingly bringing bias and stereotypes to the classroom and its discussions.

Whether your class is studying Africa, Latin America, or Asia there are many untapped sources that students can use in order to tell more than one side of the story. Internet resources from your school’s computer lab or from students’ home computers can open a window directly to another country or territory through international newspapers and newscasts. This simple plan will broaden your students’ abilities to conduct research and expand their understanding of cultures that their American textbook covers only generally. This simple lesson plan is designed to be a starting point for teaching research and analysis.

Learning outcomes

• Students will gain research skills as they seek information from international sources.
• Students will improve their media literacy by thinking critically about the information they find in newspapers and other media.
• Students will expand their understanding of other cultures by examining reports of current events published in other parts of the world.

Teacher preparation

Time required for lesson

Two to three class periods. Homework time is required.

Materials needed

• Student computers with internet access
• Current newspapers and magazines containing articles about Africa
• Optional: PowerPoint software

Activities

Before the lesson

1. The night before the lesson (or a few nights before), instruct the students to find a current newspaper or magazine article about the region of Africa you are studying. Have each student write a one-page summary of the event described in the article. The summary should include the student’s reflection about how the events relate to him or her. Have the students bring their articles and summaries for the day of the lesson.

In class

2. The day of the lesson, have the students present the events described in their articles. In most cases, students will have brought articles from American media sources. When all the students have finished presenting, ask the class what a person from Africa might think about the various stories the students have been discussing. The students may attempt to re-tell their events from the perspective of an African person, but these responses will likely be based on speculation.
3. Explain to the class that when two people witness an event they re-tell two different versions of the story. When a reporter from America tells the story of an event that occurred in a culture in which the reporter was not raised, he or she tends to relate the story to his or her own culture. As a result, the reporter can leave out details and fail to comprehend the true effects that an event may have on the community in which it takes place.
4. Help the students create hypotheses based upon their current understanding of African culture. The focus of the hypotheses must consider how the local citizens of the region are affected by the events described in the articles the students brought to class.
5. Have the students work in the computer lab or at home to find online newspapers from the region where their events take place. (Many African Newspapers are printed in English. See suggestions below under “Websites.”)
6. The following day, have the students present any evidence that they have discovered concerning their current events. Have the students explain whether or not the evidence that they found proved or contradicted their hypotheses.
7. To help the students synthesize what they have learned, conclude the activity by using one of the following suggestions:
   • Have each student create a Venn diagram that lists the similarities and differences between the American version of the story and the African version.
   • Have students use the basic information that they learn from this exercise to write a short paper. Encourage students to develop their research skills by properly citing sources and tracking their internet links to create a chain of evidence for their topics.
   • Have the students work in groups to produce a PowerPoint project or to create a short electronic book on a topic they have researched.
   • Combine any or all of the previous assessment ideas to create a full-scale research strategy that begins with the student’s research idea and ends in an formally-produced project.

Assessment

Assess by students’ participation in presentations and discussions, and by students’ work assigned for the final step of the lesson.

Websites

African sources for current events

Note: Many African newspapers can be easily found online. It is important to remind your students to carefully choose each news source so that they find articles published in the country in which the event occurred. As enrichment, they may also look for the event as it was recorded in surrounding countries and report how it was interpreted. Depending on the maturity of your students and various sensitive issues it is a good idea to preview Africast and the major newspapers before the students view them. If necessary, the online newspapers can be printed and used as handouts instead of using the computer lab.

African Newspapers and News Sites

Provides a list of African countries from which to select, with links to newspapers from each. Pan-African news sources are also listed.