Village Gamer

GoGoNews, the online news resource for children, today launched GoGoTeach, an innovative, subscription-based lesson tool that empowers teachers to use GoGoNews most effectively in the classroom. GoGoTeach promotes literacy and facilitates collaborative programming without requiring any additional research, planning or resources. By offering lessons and content based on the day’s news and current events, teachers and students benefit from a simple and flexible tool that brings the outside world into the classroom in an informative and relevant way.

As an introductory offer, GoGoNews will provide free access to GoGoTeach for the current academic term ending June 2012. The trial is open to educators in public, private and charter schools and requires students have access to Internet-ready computers. All training and support will be provided by GoGoNews.

Enrolled educators simply log into GoGoTeach daily to access worksheets that are engaging, promote inquiry learning and teach students to become internationally minded. All worksheets are created by the GoGoNews team and tie directly to global current events featured on GoGoNews.com and in the weekly newsletter.

The Web-based tool offers teachers an easy way to track students’ interests based on topics they have flagged; create online task lists that identify areas where a student may need assistance; and issue e-assignments to students via their personalized “My Actions” tab. E-assignments may range from a quiz about a specific article, to making and defending an opinion about a hot news topic. Each area is designed to develop writing, reading and comprehension skills. Content is currently specific to Grades 2 – 5, with plans to expand content to Grades 6 – 8 in the 2012-2013 school year.

“The GoGoTeach program has been the most beneficial resource I’ve added to my classroom in almost 10 years of teaching,” said Zein Odeh, elementary and E.S.L. teacher at Toronto Elementary School. “As teachers, we plan out lessons for students months in advance. With GoGoTeach, I am equipped with all the elements I need: a relevant headline news article from GoGoNews for everyone to read, questions to help spur discussion, suggested assignments, and a points-based reward system. GoGoTeach makes it easy, fun and achievable for both the teachers and the students and the time I save is further invested in my students’ education.”

As private and public education systems face challenges imposed by reduced resources, GoGoTeach provides an affordable, alternative tool that fosters both academic and social development, without placing additional time, planning or curriculum demands on educators. GoGoTeach lessons are planned by a team comprised of children’s education, psychology and development experts. Their collaboration results in devising comprehensive lesson plans that address a wide range of global events, from natural disasters and civil wars, to scientific discoveries and cultural arts.

“GoGoNews was developed in response to the overwhelming feedback from educators who shared their stories of how they introduced and incorporated newsletter content to their classes,” said Golnar Khosrowshahi, founder and editor in chief of GoGoNews. “By creating GoGoTeach we’ve been able to provide a structured yet flexible forum for enhanced lessons that makes teachers and their students self-sufficient. In addition to greater reading comprehension, improved vocabularies and richer classroom discussions, teachers are reporting ancillary benefits of increased confidence, focused attention and proactive learning. We are excited to extend the reach of this program to additional grades and schools in upcoming months.”