Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support. FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 02, 2018 The year ahead: These topics and events will be on front pages during 2018
 Select a photo or article about a person sure to be in the paper again during 2018. Do you want to read more about her or him?
 Pick a story about another ongoing subject and explain why it'll stay in the news.
 Which upcoming event or events are you most interested in? Tell why.
We start this year with a brief sketch of topics that will make headlines during coming weeks and months in the areas of government, world affairs, sports and entertainment. Congressional campaigns are a major focus of national attention because voters will fill all 435 seats in the U.S. House and one-third of those in the Senate this fall. Democrats could regain a House majority, some observers say, which would let the party challenge or block some of President Trump's policies. The Nov. 6 balloting is called a midterm election because it comes nearly halfway through the four-year presidential term in office. Overseas news will come, again, from the Middle East. In a six-year old Syrian civil war, opponents of President Bashar al-Assad are trying to end his harsh rule. And in Israel, U.S. plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- a holy city for Judaism, Christianity and Islam – have intensified protests by Palestinians and could complicate efforts to negotiate a peace agreement. Elsewhere in the world, North Korean tests of long-range nuclear missiles cause concern -- especially in South Korea, Japan, China and America. Back here, Americans will mark the 50th anniversary of tumultuous events in 1968 – notably the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Democratic presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy. In more uplifting news, next week we’ll see next-generation tablets, phones, headphones, gaming consoles, virtual reality goggles, flat-screen TVs and other devices at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas from Jan. 9-12. Then from Feb. 9-25, top skaters, skiiers, boarders, bobsledders and other athletes compete in South Korea at the Winter Olympics – a televised global championship held every four years. The next month, we'll learn on March 4 which 2017 films, actors and directors win Academy Awards – a live event from Los Angeles hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The flashpoint topics of sexual harassment, gender equity and racial balance in filmmaking are sure to arise.
Front Page Talking Points is written by
Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2025
Front Page Talking Points Archive►National Guard anti-crime mission in cities blurs the line between police and military ►Warning sign: Bleaching of colorful ocean coral worsens off Australia, adding to concern ►Conflicts arise as U.S. politics gets enmeshed with science ►Billion-dollar cut in federal support for public TV and radio imperils stations nationwide ►EPA wants to drop finding that lets it limit planet-warming pollution ►Government defends masks hiding immigration agents' faces, which raise 'secret police' concerns ►Measles moves from medical history to a renewed concern as U.S. vaccination rate drops |
Editor says: "It will be a critical year on many fronts, including North Korea's nuclear challenge, the Brexit negotiations, China's economic reforms and America's midterm elections, as well as the presidential polls in Brazil and Mexico." – Daniel Franklin, executive editor of The Economist magazine