Learning Network: Our 2020 Civil Conversation Challenge for Teenagers

Racial justice, the pandemic response, voting right and more.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story September 25, 2020 Dear Reader, Four years ago we ran an experiment we called our Civil Conversation Challenge. We invited teenagers to come to our site and, via the comments section, have productive and respectful conversations around some of the issues at the center of that year’s election, like immigration and gun control. We loved the results. By popular request, we’ve brought it back for 2020 — inviting students to discuss the coronavirus pandemic response, racial justice, education, voting rights and more. What we’ll be looking for are not so much excellent posts by individual students, but civil, productive discussions between students. Sometime after the contest ends, we’ll be calling out favorite conversations and notable individual and school participation. For many teachers, meeting with students to have in-person “civil conversations” at all this fall will be impossible. At the same time, since 2016 the very notion that “civil conversation” works for all of us has been called into question by those who say that, without equity, “civility” can “feel like an effort to stifle people’s outrage over injustice or hate.” And, of course, four years later all of us, not just students, are worn out by a fog of news — and by having to constantly figure which of it is true, false or spin. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT None of this is easy, but we hope our challenge can still help. We hope our online forums will be welcoming, equitable places for students all over to practice the skills of respectful, informed conversation across ideological and demographic divides. In fact, we hope that, at a time when many teenagers are isolated, encouraging them to not only to post their thoughts but also to read and respond to the thoughts of others might make them feel a little more connected. For teachers, we hope this challenge is fairly easy to integrate into the curriculum as you struggle to adapt to new and ever-changing circumstances — and we hope a related Reader Idea about using it in the context of media literacy can help cut through the noise. We welcome your students to these important conversations. The discussion has already started! Katherine Schulten, editor PS: And speaking of student voice, the first-ever New York Times Learning Network books have just published! The first is a collection of 100 argument essays by teens that have won our Student Editorial Contest over the years, as the second is a teacher’s guide to using them as mentor texts in the classroom. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT CIVIL CONVERSATION CHALLENGE FOR TEENAGERS contests Our 2020 Civil Conversation Challenge for Teenagers Beginning Sept. 22 and running through Oct. 30, we’re inviting teenagers to have productive, respectful conversations about some of the issues dividing us this election season. By Katherine Schulten student opinion Civil Conversation Challenge, Forum 1: How Does Your Identity Inform Your Political Beliefs and Values? When did you first become aware of having political opinions? What do you think shaped them? Have they changed over time? By Katherine Schulten student opinion Civil Conversation Challenge for Teenagers, Forum 2: Covid-19 and Our National Response How well do you think our leaders have responded to the coronavirus crisis? If you were in a leadership position, what would you do differently? By Jeremy Engle reader idea News Groups: A Simple but Powerful Media Literacy Idea to Build Community An English teacher tells how she adapted the structure of book groups to help her students become critical consumers of news. By Jessica Kirkland RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS What’s Going On in This Graph? | Sept. 30, 2020 Who are our essential workers? By The Learning Network picture prompts Wave Rider What story could this video tell? By The Learning Network current events Lesson of the Day: ‘Mind Games: The Conservation Test’ In this lesson, students will learn about the science of how young children see and understand the world. Then they will design and conduct their own cognitive experiment to illuminate the mysteries of the human mind. By Jeremy Engle picture prompts Going Nowhere Fast Would you take a flight to nowhere? By The Learning Network weekly news quiz for students Weekly News Quiz for Students: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, TikTok, The Emmys How well did you follow the news this past week? How many of these 10 questions can you get right? Compiled by Jeremy Engle and John Otis student opinion Justice Ginsburg Fought for Gender Equality. How Close Are We to Achieving That Goal? Her vision was once seen as radical. What work still needs to be done to end discrimination based on sex? By Michael Gonchar and Shannon Doyne current events Lesson of the Day: ‘Learn to Argue Productively’ In this lesson, part of our suite of resources for our Civil Conversation Challenge, students will practice putting six practical tips into action — in person and online. By Katherine Schulten What’s Going On in This Picture? | Sept. 21, 2020 Look closely at this image, stripped of its caption, and join the moderated conversation about what you and other students see. By The Learning Network Like this email? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here. ELSEWHERE IN THE TIMES As Schools Go Remote, Finding ‘Lost’ Students Gets Harder Early data for the new school year suggests that attendance in virtual classrooms is down, possibly because students are working or caring for siblings. By Abby Goodnough How One District Got Its Students Back Into Classrooms Cajon Valley in California is doing something that many lower-income districts have postponed: offering in-person instruction. By Jenny Anderson What We Know About Coronavirus Cases in K-12 Schools So Far Thousands of cases have already been linked to schools this season. But a lack of reporting means that a national accounting remains out of reach. By Yuriria Avila, Weiyi Cai, Barbara Harvey, Juliette Love, Eleanor Lutz, Alex Leeds Matthews and Kate Taylor How are we doing? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to LNfeedback@nytimes.com. 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