SPECIAL WRITING RESOURCE - Speak up by getting creative! Help your students to get writing about the news and, if they like, enter the Orwell Youth Prize 2021. There are lots of ways to start a conversation about the news. Banksy makes art. Stormzy pens songs. Darshan Singh Bhuller choreographs dance performances. What can your learners do? This resource, supported by The Orwell Foundation, explores George Orwell’s writing process to inspire learners to put their own ideas on paper. The whole resource ca be used independently by students.

New president, new start. Truth, trust and togetherness. Moments after taking his oath of office, President Biden gave his blueprint for overcoming the challenges facing America. This resources explores the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. What’s Joe Biden done in his first two weeks as president? And what next for Donald Trump? T These activities help your learners: Discover what was said on inauguration day Express what this story means to them View the events from different perspectives This is the first of two

Will new technology make fake news even harder to spot? Perfect for home learning: this resource contains an introduction video and a chance to vote online and share opinions. These activities help your learners: Explain why the 2020 alternative Christmas message caused controversy Assess the scale of the problem posed by deepfake technology View the issue from different perspectives Assess the benefits and risks of deepfakes Draw conclusions on who should have access to deepfake technology

Safe and successful covid-19 vaccines have given hope to many, but who will benefit first? And how significant will these breakthroughs be? Help learners get to grips with the numbers behind this development. These activities help your students: Explore questions of fairness and responsibility about the vaccines Analyse evidence to identify opportunities and problems Consider their position in light of new scenarios

During the first UK lockdown, many families reverted back to the traditional set-up of mothers doing more childcare. Experts say we are at a “coronavirus crossroads”: without more support for working mothers, the gender pay gap could widen. So what should be done? These activities help your learners: Analyse statistics about pay discrimination Consider the impact of a culture of secrecy around salaries Suggest solutions to help close the gender pay gap Learn about the law on equal pay Understand the impact of the coronavirus on the gender pay gap See this issue from different perspectives

In October 2020 the World Economic Forum released its most recent research into 300 of the world’s biggest companies. It showed that over 50% expect to speed up their plans for automation because of covid-19. With more robots in the workplace, who will be the winners and losers? Download these resources, supported by the Bank of England, to find out! Use these activities to help answer this question and others about automation: Why are business owners turning to robots? What are the reasons why they shouldn’t? What role might Artificial Intelligence play in the future of work? What kinds of jobs might be better suited to robots? How might automation affect your career plans? How would perspectives differ?

Joe Biden won the US election, but Donald Trump refuses to concede. What’s going on? Help learners to explore the results and the questions they raise. **In part one: ** How do American presidential elections work? What made this election different from all others? How have the candidates reacted? **In part two: ** What might be the consequences of Trump’s actions? Why was the election record-breaking? What’s been the reaction to the result?

A hula-hooping girl appears on a wall in Nottingham, England. What happened next? This week, download a resource that tells the story of Banksy’s latest mysterious mural and gets learners thinking about the questions it raises. Use this resource to help learners: Identify key information from a piece of text View a situation from different perspectives Use evidence to support their own opinion Study different examples of Banksy’s work Find out what the law says about graffiti Consider the impact of Banksy’s murals

Download activities that assess the information around President Trump’s positive test for covid-19. How did the information emerge and who from? What do people think about how Mr Trump handled his own diagnosis? Help learners reach their own verdict. This resource helps your learners to: Discuss recent events with contextual knowledge Identify the consequences of false information Assess different views before forming their own opinion

Strict lockdowns have caused pollution levels in many countries to plummet. Yet, as activity returns to normal, so will emissions. Many see the pandemic as a huge opportunity to press the reset button and build back better. But how? Get students talking about the balancing act of boosting the economy whilst protecting the environment. Use this resource to help your learners: Develop the skill of forming and supporting their opinion and use data to strengthen their reasoning Improve their thinking by connecting one issue to another Practise viewing a topic from different perspectives Research the ways that disasters have led to positive change

Use these activities to help learners discover the story of Alexei Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, who was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. What do we know so far? What are governments saying about the case? Is the Russian government guilty of attempted murder? Use this resource to help your learners: Discover the details behind the headlines Answer questions from several perspectives Assess the story’s importance to different people

Download the first in our new series of resources designed for form/pastoral time. In this resource, learners investigate why Donald Trump seeks to ban the social app TikTok. Part 1: get thoughtful discussions going in as little as 20 minutes and develop key news-literacy skills: speaking, listening, creativity and problem-solving. Part 2: dive deeper. Expand student’s understanding of this topic; structure thinking using evidence and examples, and generate hypotheses based on what has been learnt. The download includes Part 1 and 2, sign up to receive them each week here.

Give students a great revision activity to help them to understand current affairs. This resource covers content from The Economist Educational Foundation’s home learning resources. Haven’t used all of our resources yet? No problem - they can all be downloaded here. There’s ten answers to find, all lurking within the resources we’ve sent out since the start of lockdown in March. Can your learners collect them all? This resource gives clues for where to find answers to questions like: What do you call someone who has been blamed for something that wasn’t their fault? What sport does Colin Kaepernick play? Which “hat” helps you create humour, according to Kal, The Economist’s cartoonist? To spice things up, why not add a time limit or make it a race?

Help learners separate fact from fiction by understanding how conspiracy theories start and spread. This resource gets learners thinking about questions such as: What is a conspiracy theory? How do conspiracy theories spread? Who is responsible for stopping their spread? The activities look at fake stories about the coronavirus and investigate the dangers of letting conspiracy theories go unchallenged. Learners can also explore deeper questions about free speech, censorship and the role of social media.

Published in response to recent events, these resources helps learners to explore questions like: What is prejudice? What does discrimination look like? Whose responsibility is it to end racism? Is racism always obvious? Is treating people equally always fair? Is racism getting worse? This resource includes Advice on managing sensitive conversations with young people. Links to further anti-racism resources for both children and adults. A special piece for older students with thinking questions.

Photographs can shape our reactions to current affairs. How do we know when to trust them? These fun activities help learners explore the role of photographs in the news and challenges them to step behind the lens themselves. When should we believe our eyes? Get learners discussing this and a range of other questions: How do photographs help us understand the news? How should newspapers choose their photographs? Do photographs give us the whole picture? Learners are also tasked with finding ways to photograph the same thing in different ways. Can they create two contrasting impressions of the same subject?

Download Part 2 of our activity pack on whether sport and politics should mix. Through this activity, learners can hear from a range of perspectives on this question and stage their own radio debate! This resource investigates several pressing questions: Should sport and politics mix? What are the arguments on either side of the debate? Why is it important to hear from several perspectives? This resource encourages learners to support their views with evidence but doesn’t need lots of prior knowledge about sport. These activities build on the resources in part one which you can download here.

This resource helps students to explore whether sportsplayers should share political opinions on the field. It is packed with pertinent questions such as: What happens when sport and politics mix? Is it acceptable to express political opinions on the field? Do sportspeople have greater responsibilities than others? This resource encourages learners to support their views with evidence but doesn’t need lots of prior knowledge about sport. This is the first of two resources exploring sport in the news. You can download Part 2 here.

Coronavirus and wellbeing. Help children reflect on their wellbeing in the current climate and consider how they could help themselves and others. This resource encourages learners to think about how others are coping during the pandemic and the factors that can affect this. Get learners to explore questions like: What kind of things help your wellbeing? How has the coronavirus impacted your mental health? How could you help someone else stay positive during this time? Learners can also find links to further support on mental health.

This resource helps learners think for themselves about the power of headlines and the ways newspapers present their stories. These activities provoke thinking on questions like: How should newspapers choose their stories? What responsibilities do they have to their audience? How should the media report on a crisis? After making editorial decisions, learners are encouraged to investigate the current news cycle and view it from different perspectives. Challenge your children to think deeper about the stories they see everyday and develop their news literacy and communication skills: reasoning, open-mindedness, scepticism and speaking up.