Good morning! The first big elections of the new Trump era took place on Tuesday. As you think about the results and what they might mean, we have lots of ideas for talking about civics, politics and history with your students. — The Learning NetworkResources to meet the moment
If you’ve been following our work, you know we don’t just ask young people about front-page news. But when an important issue develops, we try to help teenagers both understand why it matters and have their say about it. This week we published a lesson plan and a related student opinion forum dealing with President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Via Times articles, essays, graphs, podcasts and first-person stories, we help students understand the president’s deportation tactics and their implications; put these events into historical context; and formulate their own opinions. We have also published a writing prompt in response to the mayoral election of Zohran Mamdani that asks students what they want to see in political leaders at all levels. These are just some of the many civics-focused resources we have published this year. Here, listed chronologically, are more: Lesson plans: Student Opinion Forums: Recent Times reporting about schools
More teaching resources from The Learning Network
Activity for your students: Our weekly 10-question quiz
Which team defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in a dramatic, 11-inning Game 7 to capture the World Series? We bet your students know, and we hope they can also answer questions about a few more items recently in the news, including the federal SNAP program, the New York City Marathon, Nvidia, and a powerful Atlantic hurricane. Each multiple-choice question offers more information and a free link back to Times reporting, and at the end, your students can see how well they’ve done compared to others. You can find a new quiz here every Monday evening. Before you go, see what teens are saying about being “cringe”:
Inspired by a recent Times article about how a generation raised online under constant scrutiny has become hesitant to take risks or express themselves, we asked teenagers “Does the fear of being ‘cringe’ ever hold you back?” Among the many fascinating responses were these: It has held me back more times than I can count, and my heart is so full of regret because of what I have and haven’t done. The times I never put myself out there because I was scared of looking weird. The words and opinions I kept to myself because I was scared of being wrong. The Instagram story drafts that will collect dust because I’m scared of seeming vain. The parts of me that I will never show to anybody because I’m scared of being cringe. It’s always the fear of being judged for who I am and what I think, always grasping at my ankles as I try to outrun it and live a life I won’t regret. — Sage, San Ramon, Calif. In life, we dance on a high wire, a high wire on which many choose to stand frozen; wax acrobats in the spotlight, identically foolish in their attempts to appear perfect. But there tangoed the jingly jester and waltzed the ballerina in blue, smiling jubilantly. To escape this mind prison, I encourage kindling a deep love for something that lights you up — the thing that makes your heart excited with butterflies. You’ll find yourself proud to show everyone how wonderful your love for that magic is. Never let “cringe” rob you of that joy again.— Victoria, Union, N.J. We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to LNfeedback@nytimes.com. More next week.
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