Our Mission
Mission
Using the standards and resources of PBS’s NewsHour, PBS NewsHour Extra provides students and teachers with quality educational resources based on current issues and events.
Extra’s mission is to help middle and high school students understand world events and national issues and answer the question, “Why should I care about the news?”
Extra helps educators spark young people’s interest in the world around them by:
a) providing news articles written for students with the background and context needed to understand complex topics,
b) creating high-quality, free lesson plans and teaching tools that make it easy to bring current events and issues into the classroom, and
c) offering an outlet for young people to speak out on issues important to them by publishing original work, including essays and video reports. These student works are directly related to the news and give adults insight into how events affect young people.
Have more questions? Check out our FAQs, or send all comments to our contact page.
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Native American tribes feel the impact of government shutdown
In this NewsHour lesson plan, learn how the government shutdown has affected Native American tribes who rely on federal funds allocated by treaty rights. Continue reading
Donald Trumpfederal fundingFederal GovernmentfurloughfurlougheeGeographygovernment &government shutdownlesson planNative American rightsNative AmericansSocial StudiestreatyWisconsin Public Television -
Trump’s speech through a media literacy lens
In this NewsHour lesson plan, students will analyze President Trump’s primetime speech about immigration and the government shutdown. Continue reading
border wallchuck schumerCongressDonald TrumpElection 2016federal employeesGovernment & Civicsgovernment shutdownimmigrationlesson planMedia LiteracyMexicoNancy Pelosinews literacyOval OfficeSocial Studies -
Student breakdown on government’s shutdown
Use this PBS NewsHour lesson plan with your students for the latest on the government shutdown. Continue reading
border wallDamion PalettaDepartment of Agriculturedepartment of homeland securityDHSDonald TrumpEconomicseconomyfederal employeesFederal Governmentfood stampsgovernment shutdownimmigrationInternal Revenue ServiceIRSMedia LiteracyMexiconational parksnews literacyShields and BrooksSNAPSocial IssuesSocial StudiesStudent VoicetaxestaxpayersTSAwashington post -
What news stories do students want to see in 2019?
Middle and high school students across the U.S. recently shared what issues they would like to see the news media cover in 2019. Check out what they had to say! Continue reading
2019ELAEnglish & Language ArtsJournalismlesson plannew yearNew Year'sSocial IssuesSocial StudiesSRLstudent journalistsstudent reportersstudent reporting labsyouth media -
Lesson plan: What 2018 news stories mattered most to your students?
For a fun end-of-year activity, students will create an online magazine of their top 10 news stories from 2018 to share with classmates and family members. Continue reading
2018current eventsdigital literacyELAenglishEnglish & Language ArtsEnglish language learnersFlipboardGovernment & Civicslesson planmagazinemathematicsMedia Literacynew yearNew Year'snew year's resolutionnews storiesphysical educationSocial Issuessocial mediaSocial StudiesSTEM