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News Currents by Building Wings logo in several shades of blue with an illustration of a globe.

News Currents® is the ONLY Inclusive
Educator-Led Current Events 
Program for Learners in Grades 3-12+

News Currents sample instructional materials including features stories, where in the world and a word jumble.

Develop Citizens of the World Through Differentiated Current Events Instruction with News Currents®

Teaching current events helps learners develop critical thinking skills, understand different perspectives, and become informed citizens of the world.  Lessons that incorporate news articles  are also a way to incorporate nonfiction text, and develop communication and language skills.

Sharing news about a discovery in space, animal behavior, or a sports achievement can be used by educators to foster communication and classroom engagement. Providing background knowledge about current and world events helps all learners in reading comprehension, can be applied across subject areas, and prepares learners to participate in discussions in classrooms and with peers.

News Currents® and Newstopia™
connect classrooms to the world.

News Currents is an online current events program for educators. New issues, which include custom news articles for students, are posted online every Friday afternoon with instructional materials, including videos and instructional slides. Educators in inclusive classrooms can also access additional supports for learners with complex learning needs to participate in current events instruction.

Benefits of Using
News Currents® with Newstopia™

Blue icon with illustrations of multiple heads to depict how News Currents Accommodates ALL Learners.

Accommodate ALL Learners

Instructional materials are provided at multiple levels to provide differentiated instruction and equitable access to the same instruction by all learners, including those who are non-speaking using the Newstopia portal.

Blue icon with illustration of a person juggling books, a globe and a graduation cap depicting how News Currents builds background knowledge.

Background Knowledge

Expand knowledge of the world for reading comprehension and global awareness including geography, cultures, government, people in the news, history, science and nature.

Blue icon with white conversation bubbles depicting how News Currents facilitates communication and discussion.

Communication and Discussion

Encourage critical thinking skills and communication through educator-led discussion. Engaging topics help learners share opinions and learn about different perspectives.

Blue icon with an illustration of a hand holding a clock depicting educator efficiency.

Educator Efficiency

Teach current events with done-for-you instructional materials, saving educators time and providing consistency of instruction.
Blue icon with illustrations of five hands depicting student engagement with Newstopia.

Learner Engagement

Provide a platform for learners to become citizens of the world through civic engagement and discussion of national and world events.

Blue icon with an illustration of a book with A-Z on the cover depicting how News Currents builds vocabulary.

Vocabulary Development

Provide repetition with variety to increase understanding of word uses and meanings. Learners learn related vocabulary in context in multiple formats with visual support.

What's Included: Supports for Educators and Learners within News Currents®

Screenshot of a sample of differentiated text in News Currents.
Differentiated Text Sets

Short news articles for learners in grades 3-high school+ written at multiple reading levels

Screenshot of Where in the World feature in News Currents that enables learners to demonstrate knowledge after current events instruction.
Learning Demonstration

Lessons and activities for learners to demonstrate knowledge

Screen shot of the weekly news articles in News Currents - showing an orangutan one of the many animal articles for students.
New Content Each Week
Educators have access to a variety of new articles each week to select from that align with student interest and topical importance.
Screenshot of one of the many current events videos for students that are part of the rich media offered in News Currents.
Rich Media
Videos, instructional slides, and graphics to support close reading
Screenshots of Fantastic Facts one of the educator supports for learners with complex profiles offered to News Currents subscribers.
Specific Educator Supports for Learners with Complex Profiles
The Newstopia portal within News Currents includes additional material including a Teacher Guide with prompts to use an anchor/read/apply approach and additional learning activities to provide repetition with variety including fantastic facts and secondary transition lessons

News Currents® Story Features

  • Current Events
  • Destinations
  • New Names, Places & Words
  • Faces & Places
  • This Week in History
  • Who am I?
  • Where in the World?

Enhancing Inclusive Education with Unified Resources

The News Currents logo and the Newstopia logo with an interlocking chain in between showing the inclusive education offered with unified resources within News Currents.

Building on our commitment to provide solutions for inclusive classrooms and classrooms for learners with complex learning needs, we are thrilled to announce the integration of News Currents and Newstopia into a unified platform. Both solutions focus on providing educators with curated current event articles and instructional materials to increase background knowledge and knowledge of the world for students. Currently, News Currents serves educators in general education / inclusive classrooms, while Newstopia serves special educators.

By combining these solutions, we have created a streamlined current events platform that effectively serves a wider range of students which ensures educators can meet the needs of students with complex learning needs and learners that are integrated into inclusive classrooms.

News Currents Pricing

News Currents subscribers also have access to Newstopia.

Site Wide

$349 USD /year
(per site)

Homeschool/Parents:
call us at 
800-999-4660
for a discounted license.

School District or
Organization

5-30%
Savings

Discounts are
available for
districts/facilities with
multiple licenses or whoselect multi-year options.

Karen A. Erickson, Ph.D.​

Karen A. Erickson, Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill. Her focus is on understanding the best ways to assess and teach reading and writing to children with the most severe disabilities. As a special education teacher, Dr. Erickson has worked to support students with a range of disabilities in a variety of classroom settings, particularly students who do not use speech as their primary means of communication.

Website: https://www.med.unc.edu/ahs/clds

Author Profile: https://products.brookespublishing.com/cw_Contributorinfo.aspx?ContribID=110&Name=Karen+Erickson,Ph.D.

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