Hello everyone! I’m Bianca, and this is Tanner. We are editors at Common Sense, and every Tuesday, we introduce a new tool that you can use in your classroom. You can always visit us at CommonSense.com/education to explore all the resources and tools we’ve reviewed that might be helpful for you.
Today, Tanner is going to tell us about a cool tool called Next Gen News. We gave it a three-star rating because it’s a new product with lots of potential to grow. It’s designed for students in grades six to eight, but it also has content for grades three to five. Let me explain why we focused on the older grades.
Next Gen News is a paid platform, but you can try it for free for 60 days. After that, it costs about $239 per year. It’s similar to Time for Kids, which we talked about before. What’s special about Next Gen News is that it offers video broadcasts hosted by young people, and these are updated every two weeks.
Next Gen News reminds me of something called Channel One from when I was in school. It brought news broadcasts into classrooms. The hosts are usually teenagers or young adults, and they present current events in short videos that last about four minutes.
One of their free lessons talks about Elon Musk buying Twitter. The videos feel like school broadcasts, which makes them fun and relatable. Besides the video newscasts, they offer detailed lessons for each topic. While they might not be as creative as Time for Kids, they have a lot of content that’s easy to use in class.
Each newscast release comes with videos and lessons. There’s also a $299 per year version that includes quizzes and writing prompts. The quizzes are automatically graded, which is a handy feature.
For example, there’s a lesson about Twitter and Free Speech that takes about 60 minutes, but it could last for a couple of class periods. It includes a teacher guide and a slide deck to help you watch the video and discuss definitions and topics with your class.
The lessons come with ready-to-use slide decks, making it easy to bring them into your classroom. They also provide articles adapted for different grade levels, which is important to know.
We chose grades six to eight because the reading level is higher than what grades three to five might be comfortable with. The materials aren’t quite right for younger students, and there’s not much flexibility in reading levels.
However, you can adapt the content for your needs. The quizzes have basic questions and writing prompts, along with graphic organizers that match the slide deck. The writing assignment asks students to argue why free speech matters, which might be tough for younger grades. But with some adjustments, it can work.
They also offer suggestions for English learners and gifted students, which is great.
In summary, Next Gen News is a tool worth watching, especially if you’re looking for engaging video content about current events. It might be a top choice for you because it offers something unique that other providers don’t. However, there’s definitely room for improvement with Next Gen News.
You can find more information at nextgennews.com.
Next Gen News covers current events and important issues, even the tough ones. They also have “Word of the Week” and “Image of the Week” content that you might find useful.
Thank you for joining us! You can find more reviews like this at CommonSense.org/education or check out our reviews every Tuesday.
Imagine you’re a news anchor for a day! Choose a current event topic that interests you and create a short video newscast. Use your creativity to present the news in an engaging way, just like the hosts on Next Gen News. Share your video with the class and discuss the different topics covered.
Participate in a classroom debate about the importance of free speech, inspired by the lesson on Twitter and Free Speech. Divide into two groups, with one supporting the importance of free speech and the other discussing its limitations. Use evidence from the lessons to support your arguments.
Work in groups to design a weekly schedule for a school news broadcast. Decide on segments, such as “Word of the Week” or “Image of the Week,” and assign roles like anchor, reporter, and producer. Present your schedule to the class and explain why you chose each segment.
Choose a current event from the Next Gen News platform and research it further. Create a poster or digital presentation that includes key facts, different perspectives, and your own opinion on the event. Present your findings to the class and answer any questions they might have.
Write a news article about a recent event in your community or school. Use the structure of a news article, including a headline, introduction, body, and conclusion. Share your article with the class and discuss the different writing styles used in news reporting.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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**[Intro Music]**
Hello everyone! I am Bianca, and this is Tanner. We are Common Sense Editors, and we are here every Tuesday to walk through a different tool that you can use in your classroom. You can always check us out at CommonSense.com/education to see all of the resources we’ve reviewed and tools that might be helpful for you.
Today, Tanner is going to walk us through a tool. Tanner, what do you have for us today?
**Tanner:** We’re going to talk about Next Gen News, which we gave a three-star rating. This is a relatively new product, so it definitely has room to grow. We gave it a grade range of six to eight, although it covers grades three through five as well. I’ll explain why we didn’t include those.
This is a paid platform, but it has a 60-day trial. After that, if you want to continue using it, you’ll need to pay about $239 annually. This is similar to Time for Kids, which we’ve discussed previously. The important thing about Next Gen News, compared to Time for Kids, is that it is a bi-weekly website with video broadcasts hosted by young people, which makes it quite unique.
It reminds me of a product called Channel One from when I was in school, where they would beam news broadcasts into classrooms. The hosts are typically teenagers or young adults, and they present current events in broadcasts that run about four minutes.
One of their free lessons is about Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. The videos are a bit home-spun and not highly polished, but I think that gives them a flavor of a school broadcast, which is appealing.
Beyond the bi-weekly newscasts, they have robust, ready-to-go lessons that are very in-depth for each topic. While I wouldn’t call them as innovative as Time for Kids content, there is a lot of material, and it’s super easy to implement.
Let’s take a look at some of that. Each bi-weekly release of news comes with a couple of videos and lessons. The pricing also includes a $299 a year version that adds quizzes and writing prompts, with quizzes being auto-graded, which is a nice feature.
Now, looking at the lesson plans, this one goes along with the Twitter and Free Speech topic. It’s timed at about 60 minutes, but I could see it stretching into a couple of class periods. It includes a teacher guide and a structured slide deck that prompts you to watch the video and then go through definitions and class discussions.
Each lesson includes a slide deck that is truly ready to go, allowing you to bring it into the classroom easily. They also provide adapted articles for different grade levels, which is important to note.
However, we modified the grade range to six to eight because, in our review, the reading level scored much higher than the targeted three to five range. The materials aren’t quite optimized for that elementary population, and there isn’t much in the way of adjustable reading levels.
That said, you may be able to adapt it for your own purposes. The quizzes include basic comprehension questions and writing prompts, along with graphic organizers that connect to the slide deck.
The writing assignment involves making an argument about why free speech matters, which may be a bit challenging for grades three to five. However, these can be adapted with some examination of the language.
They do include differentiation suggestions for English learners and gifted learners, which is nice.
In summary, this is a tool to watch, especially if you’re looking for engaging current video content. It may be a top choice for you, as it offers something unique that you don’t see with other providers. However, there is definitely room for growth with Next Gen News.
You can find more information at nextgennews.com.
**Bianca:** What are some of the other topics it covers?
**Tanner:** It focuses on current events and important issues, not shying away from tough topics. They also have “Word of the Week” and “Image of the Week” content that you could use as well.
Thank you for discussing this with us! You can find more reviews like this at CommonSense.org/education or check out our reviews every Tuesday.
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This version removes informal language and any unclear references while maintaining the core content and structure.
Education – The process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university. – Education helps students learn new things and develop important skills for the future.
Communication – The act of exchanging information or expressing ideas and feelings. – Good communication between teachers and students is essential for effective learning.
Students – Individuals who are enrolled in a school or educational program to learn. – The students worked together on a group project for their science class.
Lessons – Units of instruction or learning sessions in a particular subject. – Today’s math lesson focused on understanding fractions.
Quizzes – Short tests given to students to assess their understanding of a subject. – The teacher gave a pop quiz to see how well the students remembered the last lesson.
Writing – The activity or skill of composing text for various purposes. – Writing essays helps students improve their language and communication skills.
Content – The information or topics covered in a book, document, or other forms of communication. – The teacher reviewed the content of the textbook before starting the new chapter.
Classroom – A room where teaching and learning take place. – The classroom was decorated with colorful posters and student artwork.
Videos – Recordings of moving visual images used as a teaching tool. – The teacher showed educational videos to help explain the science experiment.
Speech – A formal talk given to an audience to inform, persuade, or entertain. – Each student prepared a speech about their favorite book for the class presentation.
