Getting the Most Out of Student News

If you look at the right side of this blog, you'll see that there are links to CNN's student news.  There are a couple of things you can do to get the most out of CNN's student news.

This is a screenshot of CNN's Student News

First, the transcript is located below the video.  I recommend that you don't read the transcript right away.  First, watch the video without reading and see how much you can understand.  Only use the transcript later to check your understanding.

A great task you can do help improve your skills is to watch the video and take notes.  Note-taking is an especially important skill for future university students, as you'll be expected to remember what professors lecture about in class.  Many students do this by taking notes.

Taking notes can also help give you a reason to listen and can help keep you focused on the material.  It's important to have a goal in mind when you practice listening. If you don't have a goal while you're practicing, it's easy to get distracted or feel overwhelmed.  Also, if you are able to accomplish your goal, you'll feel a sense of achievement.  Listening to the news in another language is difficult, so even if you can only understand some of what's happening in the video, then you're still doing well!

If you look underneath the video, you'll see the "Story Highlights."  The last bullet point is a link to discussion questions.  You can click here to get some questions that you can either discuss with your other students or answer yourself to practice critical thinking.  Critical thinking skills are especially important if you plan to study in a U.S. University.  Professors will encourage you to think critically and discuss or write about many different issues.

You'll also notice that you can download .pdf maps that are related to the day's news broadcast.  These maps can be especially helpful if you don't know the area or region of the world that is mentioned in the days' news.