Current Events Presentations Week 25-26

Below are the groups for presentations for this week. You need to be prepared to present any day starting on Wednesday, February 26.

Please note that you will not be allowed to work on a presentation (or present) until your written analysis is completed.

802 Groups / 801 Groups

• Michael Dunn: Nathaniel, Malik T. // Naya, Kelvin, Joseph, Rashel

• American "Cool": Malik S.

• School Uniforms: Adrian, Anthony S., Thomas, Carmen // Elicia, Tim

• Sochi's Stray Dogs: Donte, Malik J. // Dayhana, Katy

• Sausage / Pigs: Brittney, Steven // Oneil, Dante, Elijah

• Emily / Sex Trafficking: Jada, Trinity, Sarah, Ashley // Anthony L, Brianna, Melanie

Current Events Week 25-26

This week we will be recording our responses on a paper form, which I will give you, and which is linked to here. We will put more focus on the presentation aspect this week.

Below are the article options:

Law

Another case of self-defense and race in Florida

By Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff

02.24.14  midnight

Denise Hunt tears up as she finds out the jury is deadlocked on the first-degree murder charge for Michael Dunn in the shooting death of a black teenager. She was standing outside of the Duval County Courthouse in Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 15, 2014. Photo: AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Kelly Jordan

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Arts

Putting together a who's who of American cool

By Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff

02.20.14  midnight

Jazz singer Billie Holiday photographed in 1951. Curators at the National Portrait Gallery want to know what it means to be cool. They studied the uniquely American concept of cool, and how it became a global export. The museum brought together 100 photographs of people who helped create the idea of cool as a name for rebellion, self-expression, charisma, edge and mystery. Photo: AP Photo/Bob Willoughby, National Portrait Gallery

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Kids

Nevada public school's uniform policy ruled unconstitutional

By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff

02.20.14  midnight

Phoenix Anderson, 6, of Chicago shops for school uniforms with her mother Dana at Kmart on Addison Avenue in Chicago, Ill. Kmart expanded uniform offerings in response to the growing number of public schools that will require students to wear uniforms. Photo: John Konstantaras /AP Images for Kmart

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War & Peace

U.S. Olympians want to help Sochi's stray dogs

By San Jose Mercury News, adapted by Newsela staff

02.20.14  midnight

Animal activist Igor Airapetian carries a stray dog, brought out of Sochi by fellow activist, to his car at a rendezvous point 120 kilometers away from the Olympic area in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014, in Tuapse, Russia.Photo: AP Photo/David Goldman

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New York Times Articles: Please note that you may only choose these articles if you have mastered the "Max" level of the NewsEla articles.

OP-ED COLUMNIST

When Even the Starting Line Is Out of Reach

One little boy’s story illuminates how we can build opportunity for all.

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OP-ED COLUMNIST

Is That Sausage Worth This?

Most sows live, give birth and then die in cages hardly bigger than their bodies. Now, that’s changing.

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OP-ED COLUMNIST

When Emily Was Sold for Sex

When this 15-year-old girl went missing, her parents never stopped searching for her. There are thousands more kids like her in danger right now.

Current Events Presentations Week 23-24

Below are the groups for presentations for this week. You need to be prepared to present any day starting on Wednesday, February 12.

Please note that you will not be allowed to work on a presentation (or present) until your written analysis is completed.

802 Groups / 801 Groups

• CVS: Donte, Carmen, Jada, Daniel // Hunter, Trinity, Nathaniel* // Kelvin, Joseph, Victor, Tim

• YA Dystopia: Brittney, Ashley // Elijah, Dante, Oneil

• Edward Snowden: Steven, Anthony S., Malik T.* // Anthony L., Malik S., Brianna

• 4th Graders: Malik J., Adrian // Jose Luis, Yaneiry

• Mixed-Race Americans: Peter

• Toilets for the Developing World: Sarah // Dayhana, Katy, Rashel, Melanie

• Single Motherhood and Poverty: Naya, Elicia

Current Events Week 23-24

This week we will be recording our responses on a paper form, which I will give you, and which is linked to here. We will put more focus on the presentation aspect this week.

Below are the article options:

Health

Reinventing the toilet to help the world's poor

By Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, adapted by Newsela staff

01.30.14  midnight

Indian children returning from school walk back to their homes in Dharavi, Asia's largest slum, in Mumbai, India. Most residents are squatting illegally and many have little access to basic sanitation. Photo: AP Photo/Gautam Singh, File

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Law

PRO/CON: Is Snowden a hero or traitor?

By Mark Weisbrot and James Jay Carafano, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

02.04.14  midnight

Demonstrators rally at the U.S. Capitol to protest spying on Americans by the National Security Agency, as revealed in leaked information by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, in Washington, D.C., Oct. 26, 2013. Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

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Health

CVS becomes first national drugstore to stop selling cigarettes

By McClatchey-Tribune, adapted by Newsela staff

02.06.14  midnight

One of the nation's biggest pharmacy chains, CVS Caremark, announced Wednesday that it will clear its shelves of cigarettes and other tobacco products this year, giving up almost $2 billion in order to brand itself as a health care company rather than a convenience store. Photo: Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT

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Kids

4th-graders’ reading skills improve, still low

By Adrienne Lu, Stateline.org

02.07.14  midnight

Fourth-grade students Zack DiAmore, 10, (left) and Jose Berrios, 10, (right) read to kindergarten student Vinny DeFrancesco, 6, at Cooper Elementary School in Cherry Hill, N.J. Photo: David M. Warren/Philadelphia Inquirer/KRT

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New York Times Articles: Please note that you may only choose these articles if you have mastered the "Max" level of the NewsEla articles.

OPINIONATOR | THE GREAT DIVIDE

How Single Motherhood Hurts Kids

The link between poverty and absent dads in the U.S. can’t be denied.
[1,029 words / 35% difficult words / 10.2 Dale-Chall Readability]

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DISPATCH

Where Is My Family on TV?

Mixed-race families are absent from our screens.
[769 words / 34% difficult words / 10.1 Dale-Chall Readability]

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RIFF

Our Young-Adult Dystopia

In the bleak wasteland of 21st-century publishing, there is only one hope: The young-adult novel. That’s a problem.
[1,876 words / 32% difficult words / 9.5 Dale-Chall Readability]