Current Events Lesson Plans for Grades 6-12

Current Events Hub gives you classroom-ready lessons created from global news stories, with every lesson adapted for three grade levels. Save prep time, differentiate faster, and teach current events with confidence.

Explore Membership OptionsTry Free Lessons
  • 3 reading levels in every lesson
  • Grades 6-12 plus IB and AP
  • New lessons every week
  • 20-80 minutes easy flexibility

Subscribe now to get full access to the growing lesson library, with new lessons added every week!

Current Events Hub – a quick tour for teachers

Teaching current events in social studies is rewarding, but it's also a lot of work. Tracking down a relevant news story, checking whether it's appropriate for your grade level, writing discussion questions, and then differentiating it for mixed-ability classes is hours of work before you've even thought about assessment.

Current Events Hub does that work for you.

New current events added every week

Browse Most Recent Lesson Plans
NewPeace & Conflict

How Have Nuclear Weapons Shaped the War in Ukraine?

No nuclear weapon has been fired in the war in Ukraine, yet nuclear weapons have shaped it throughout. Students explore deterrence, Russian and US nuclear policy, the Budapest Memorandum, and Russia's threats, then judge which effect has mattered most.Mini-unit: Ukraine War · Lesson 7
Environment & Sustainability · Oct 15 New

Swiss Glaciers and Climate Change: Prevention or Adaptation?

Media & Technology · Oct 14 New

Ukraine Data Centre Strikes

Mini-unit: Ukraine War · Lesson 6Rights & Justice · Oct 8 New

Student Lycée Protests in France

One Lesson, Multiple Levels

Every Current Events Hub lesson comes in three differentiated versions: a simplified reading for Grades 6–8, a mid-level version for Grades 9-10, and a higher-order analysis task for Grades 11–12, IB, and AP students.

  1. Level 1

    Grades 6-8

    CEFR Level B1 and Below

  2. Level 2

    Grades 9-10

    CEFR Level B1-B2

  3. Level 3

    Grades 11-12 · IB/AP

    CEFR Level B2+

Ideal for Universal Design for Learning classrooms! Use all three levels in a single UDL lesson.

More on Differentiation

What membership gets you

Our ready-to-teach current events lesson library makes whatever you're teaching more relevant. Here’s what comes with every lesson, shown with our lesson on Melting Glaciers in Switzerland.

Level 1 handout, first page
Level 1
Level 2 handout, first page
Level 2
Level 3 handout, first page
Level 3
See how a lesson worksMore about Lessons
Paul Korczyk

Built by a Teacher, for Teachers

Current Events Hub is designed by the same practicing Social Studies teacher and IB Coordinator who brought you the Korczyk's Class YouTube channel, a teacher who knows what an 80-minute class looks like, which topics need careful handling, and how all of the demands of teaching affect the time it takes to plan great lessons. These aren't generic resources produced at scale. They're lessons built to the standards of real curriculum planning, with IB, AP, C3, Common Core, GCSE, Canadian, and many other curriculum connections mapped in.

More on Curriculum Connections

What teachers are saying

As a high school Social Studies teacher with students from grade 8 to 12, I find the value in these resources is not just in the relevance and timeliness of the events that are taking place in the world, but in the concepts that are emphasized in each one. This conceptual focus encourages my students to think deeply about these global issues and to find connections to issues in their own lives and to the world we live in. The tiered lesson levels that are available for each resource ensures that concepts are accessible to a diverse range of learners in my classrooms.

Megan T.High School Social Studies Teacher, British Columbia, Canada

As an IBDP Global Politics teacher, I'm always encouraging my students to engage with current events, but finding the time to create resources to support this was a real challenge — until I discovered Current Events Hub! The ready-made lessons have been a game-changer, saving me so much time while genuinely sparking my students' interest in what's happening around the world. The differentiated readings have been especially brilliant for my multilingual classes, and the focus on IBDP Global Politics key concepts helps students independently make meaningful connections between the course and real-world events. I'd highly recommend it to any teacher — or student — of IBDP Global Politics!

Robin D.Head of IB Global Politics, Hong Kong

Paul Korczyk's Current Events Hub was a smart purchase for my current class load. I am able to use it in IB Global Politics, International Relations, and US History and Government. Paul is also very accommodating; I asked if he was able to post the lessons as Google Slides in addition to Powerpoint, and he obliged the same day! This resource is worth every penny! Thank you from a new IB teacher in NY.

Michele G.Social Studies Teacher, New York

Simple Plans for Individual Teachers and Departments

Compare everything included in each plan