One way to get students to enhance their English skills is by having them read or listen to current events. Several websites report the news at a level your language learners will be able to understand. These websites also have quizzes, writing activities, listening exercises, and games to accompany the articles. Your students will be able to make a real connection to the stories, which are happening now. Below, find websites, apps, and resources for learning English with the news for young learners to adults. For lesson ideas and activities, check out our webinar recording, Newsworthy: Learning as Reporters.
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Recommended Web Tools
- Newsela– News you can choose by grade level with quizzes and writing activities.
- Newseum– Find the headlines of the day and sign up for free to access primary resources and lesson plans.
- Breaking News English– Sean Banville’s news stories that are read aloud and accompanied with pdfs of activities and online games for learning vocabulary and grammar.
- VOA News– Stories read aloud accompanied by PDFs of activities.
- News in Levels– Students take a test to decide their level then do activities with news items according to the level. They learn grammar, vocabulary, and more.
- BBC News Report– Students listen to authentic news from the BBC.
- BBC Lingo Hack– Students learn with BBC news headlines and bulletins.
- Radio Days– A website full of news recordings from famous broadcasters who reported news in the past.
- CNN Learn English– For 30 days students can learn English wtih CNN news stories.
- Bite Sized English Newstory– Create the headline, upload an image, and write a short news story.
- Google Newspaper Templates– Create a class newspaper with these simple templates.
- Talking Tom and Ben News iOS and Android App– Students work in pairs to report the news as either Tom the cat or Ben the dog! Takes place in a news station and records a video to share with others or post online.
- NuSkool– Find news articles and lesson plans dealing with news stories that involve topics such as pop culture and science.
Other Resources
- Primary Resources has various lesson plans to encourage journalistic writing and news writing.
- Creating Newspapers in the Classroom is a ScoopIt of resources and examples of student newspapers. Find free templates for Powerpoint and Microsoft Word.
Check out the Teaching with Technology Certification course we offer online.
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