CNN Student News

Today’s website: CNN Student News.

What is it?

The website provides a large amount of news videos, each of which has transcripts, discussion questions, and news quizzes. New video made based on the recent important news will be uploaded from Monday to Friday. It is suitable for intermediate to advanced learners.

Why is the content good for language learning?

• CNN is well-known as one of the most reliable media sources in the world. Therefore, we can be sure about the quality of the news and the videos.

• The material is authentic and covers diverse topics.

• The video will begin with a short and brief introduction related to the topic of the video.

• The transcript can help student understand what the news is about.  

•  Learners can use the weekly Newsquiz to test their knowledge of the news they watch on CNN Student News. Besides, if students find problems answering the questions, they can use the clues to figure out those sentences they missed.

• On the website, learners can find more resource like the huge collection of audio and video podcasts about News, Business, CNN TV, Sports, Technology, Health, and Entertainment.

Classroom use

After teaching a lesson about weather, teachers can have students to watch the video about how the severe climate can influence people’s life. Click here to watch the video.

• The teacher tells the students the topic of they are going to see in the video first. Then the teacher introduces some keywords and the name of the places which will be mentioned in the news. The teacher can also give students the map (it can be printed out from the website) and ask them to find the places. Later, the teachers have students watch the video for two times and have them take notes. Students, either in pairs or as an individual, answer the teachers’ yes/no comprehension questions as a game.  Afterwards, the teacher asks students to share with one another what they have written down in the notebook, and encourage students to bring those ideas together and make up the story. In the end, the teacher gives students the transcript and have them read it.

• The second way to use the news is that the teacher have students work in pairs. Student A of the pair has to watch the video, while Student B has to read the chunks of the transcripts. Afterwards, they have to work together this time to rearrange the orders of the chunks according to the videos. Both of them have to explain to each other what they just watcher/read. In the end of the activity, the teacher has all the students watch the video again and check if they accomplish the task.      

Limitations

• The news might cover topics related to American society and politics, which students might be unfamiliar and uninterested in. Therefore, teachers had better choose the video whose content is more relevant to their students’ life.

• The anchor might use jargons or special terms when reporting news in some specific fields. Teachers might have to introduce some key words first before students watch the videos.

• The website is not interactive. Besides, sometimes the content as well as the discussion questions provided is a little bit dull and serious. Without interesting activities implemented, students might feel bored when watching the videos alone.

• There is neither a category nor the titles of the news on the webpage which contains all the news videos. It is inconvenient to know what the videos are about unless we click on each link.