Activities and Resources

Activities

Answers to this week's SmartStuff are listed on Page 2 of the Issue 16 Teacher's Guide that accompanies Current Events magazine.

Resources

To download the Teacher's Guide click here (PDF).

Taliban Terror

• Read about the difficult lives of children in Afghanistan and Save the Children’s efforts to help educate them.
• Learn more about the country and people of Afghanistan at the CIA Factbook and PBS.
• Watch an interview with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai and see video of life in Afghanistan.
• Trying saying a few phrases in Farsi, a language spoken in Afghanistan. Click on "An Afghan 'Speak Easy.'"

A Moment of Silence

• Critics of state laws requiring a "moment of silence" in public school say those laws are simply ways for politicians to get around the First Amendment's establishment clause: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Supporters say a moment of silence gives students time to calm down and reflect. Have students come up with a list of ways they could use a moment of silence at the start of each day. Then have the students discuss whether each idea would be allowed under the Constitution or if it might violate the establishment clause.