Western Hemisphere: Current Events 2013-2014

The goal of this blog post, which will be updated throughout the 2013-2014 school year, is to provide news stories from the Western Hemisphere that would be appropriate to discuss with students.  Quite frequently, I notice how teachers use current events in their classroom.  Consider this...How might the study of current events connect to curriculum goals within social studies so students come away from 6th grade have a richer sense of what's going on in the Western Hemisphere? How might I support students in applying a political, economic, or social/cultural lens to understanding current events?  As students track stories, teachers might further develop student sense of place by placing stories on maps of the Western Hemisphere. (The most current stories will be at the top, and I'll update as frequently as time permits.)

• Posted April 11, 2014 - (Bolivia) Turnabout in Bolivia as Economy Rises from Instability
• Posted April 11, 2014 - (Brazil) Video Brazilian army occupies Rio de Janiero slums
• Posted April 4, 2014 - (Brazil) Culture Slideshow The Biggest Carnival to Date
• Posted April 4, 2014 - (United States) For Latino Parents, Bilingual Classrooms Aren't Just About Language
• Posted April 4, 2014 - (Global) Should We Close Part of the Ocean to Keep Fish on the Plate
• Posted April 4, 2014 - (Mexico/U.S.) Audio Story AFT Works to Slow Flow of U.S. Weapons Across Border
• Posted April 4, 2014 - (Chile) Earthquake Hits Off Coast of North Chile and article (with video) titled Responding to Quake, Chile Uses Lessons of the Past and Powerful Aftershock Hits Chilean Coast
• Posted March 21, 2014 - (Chile) Chile to review biggest energy project plan - hydroenergy
• Posted March 21, 2014 - (U.S./Mexico) Audio Story For Illegal Immigrants, Journey to U.S. Soil Cut Short
• Posted March 21, 2014 - (Haiti) Audio Story Why Cholera Persists in Haiti Despite an Abundance of Aid
• Posted March 21, 2014 - (Brazil) - Rio's Race to the Future Intersects with Slave Past
• Posted March 3, 2014 - (Ecuador) - US judge annuls Ecuador oil ruling against Chevron
• Posted March 3, 2014 - (Brazil) - Brazil revellers celebrate the first day of carnival
• Posted Feb. 28, 2014 - (Brazil) - Audio Story For descendants of Brazil's slaves, a quest for land
• Posted Feb. 28, 2014 - (Nicaragua) - Audio Story Scientists fear ecological disaster in Nicaragua's planned canal
• Posted Feb. 28, 2014 - (Brazil) Audio Story Drought could drain more than Brazil's coffee cup
• Posted Feb. 28, 2014 - (Brazil) Audio Story As Brazil gears up for Olympics, some poor families move out
• Posted Feb. 27, 2014 - (Canada) Canada's postal service will cease home delivery over next five years
• Posted Feb. 27, 2014 - (Venezuela) Two dead as Venezuela anti-government protests turn violent
• Posted Feb. 27, 2014 - (Brazil) Meteotsunami hits Brazilian beach
• Posted Feb. 27, 2014 - (Chile) Annual Tomato Wars: Chileans pelt each other with rotten fruit to bring attention to their national crop
• Posted Jan. 10, 2014 - (Brazil) Battle of the Amazon: Troops dispatched after attack on tribal reserve
• Posted Jan. 10, 2014 - (South America) Latin American rivers among most polluted in the world
• Posted Dec. 11, 2013 - (Nicaragua) Nicaragua grants Hong Kong company the right to build a shipping canal to compete with the Panama Canal
• Posted Dec. 11, 2013 - (Brazil) Brazil mulls use of balloons to bring internet to Amazon rainforest
• Posted Dec. 3, 2013 - (Argentina) Argentina police strike
• Posted Nov. 22, 2013 - (Mexico) Mexican senate: Tax on high-calorie food could bite into obesity problem
• Posted Nov. 20, 2013 - (Philippines) Teaching about the typhoon in the Philippines
• Posted Nov. 14, 2013 - (Colombia) The battle over bullfighting in Colombia
• Posted Nov. 14, 2013 - (Brazil) Poor Amazon farming community scores big
• Posted Nov. 14, 2013 - (Cuba) Halloween and cultural change
• Posted Nov. 1, 2013 - (Dominican Republic) Some Dominicans suddenly outsiders in their own country
• Posted Sept. 20, 2013 - (Venezuela) Newsprint Shortage in Venezuela 
• Posted Sept. 12, 2013 - (Mexico City) Teacher Fury and Educational Reform - As tens of thousands of enraged teachers demonstrated across the country, Mexico passed a sweeping reform to the nation's abysmally performing education system.  Lawmakers needed riot police to escort them past the crowds of protesters outside Congress. President Enrique Pena Nieto's reform mandates competency exams for teachers and allows the firing of those who fail. Under the old system, teacher certificant was regulated only by the teachers union, and teachers often bought their positions. In the weeks before the vote, Mexico City was clogged with massive, often violent demonstrations by rock-throwing, balaclava-wearing teachers. (Synopsis from The Week Magazine)
• BBC (2 Sept. 2013) - Mexico's President Pena Nieto defends education reform 
• Reuters (4 Sept. 2013) - Mexico Congress approves contested education reform 
• BBC (11 Sept. 2013)- Mexican teachers clash with police over education reform 
• Posted Sept. 12, 2013 - (Brasilia) U.S. Spied on Presidents - Brazil and Mexico are demanding explanations after a Brazilian TV new show reported the the U.S. National Security Agency had intercepted phone calls and emails of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. The broadcast cited documents obtained from NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden showing messages in which Pena Nieto discussed his cabinet nominations, and others detailing communications between Rousseff and her staff. "from our point of view, this is an inadmissable and unacceptable violation of Brazilian sovereignty," said Foreign Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo. "The United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations," the White House said. (Synopsis from The Week Magazine)
• CNN (3 Sept. 2013) - Brazil, Mexico summon U.S. ambassadors over espionage reports
• NY Times (6 Sept. 2013) - Obama Tries to Soothe Brazil and Mexico Over Spying Reports