Political News vs. Other News

As you know, I've been posting much less frequently over the last few months than I had previously posted. In part this is because my business is in a period of significant growth. The decision as to what news article to select can also be paralyzing. Here are a few questions related to this paralysis:

Discussion Starters for Younger Students

• Tell students to imagine that they are reporters working for a newspaper, what one event that happened in the classroom today, would they like to write a newspaper article about? Why?
  
• If students could ask a question to any person in the world to whom would they ask a question? What would they ask? Why?
  

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Ask students to consider the importance of paying attention to the Presidential primaries. Do students think it's important for citizens of the United States to know who wins each primary? Why/why not? Is it important for students to know the major candidates running for the presidency? Why/why not?
  
• If students could ask each candidate one common question, what question would they ask? Why would they ask this question? If students had to answer this question, how would they answer it?
  
• The front page of today's Washington Post contains the following headlines: "Bush Begins Mideast Peace Push", "Gibbs Resigns from Redskins" and "McCain Deals Romney Second Loss" among others. Which article do your students think is most worthy of being read and discussed? Urge them to explain their opinions.