Strategy #1: Current Events

The first strategy I want to talk about is suggested by Watson. This strategy is to set aside a few minutes everyday to talk about current events in the world.

How? Watson suggests each week selecting 1 student to bring in a current article to discuss with the class (but also encouraging all students to bring something in at any time if they come across something that interests them. She is also sure to point out the importance of showing the students how to use and access newspapers (both print and online) because how can we as teachers expect them to find articles if they don't know where to look (Watson, 2015).
This is a great tool to encourage students to be aware of what is going on in the world around them currently, while secretly also having them practice their research and reading skills, as well as their summarizing skills when it comes time to tell the class about their article. Aside from just the one student a week who is to find the article this strategy can also help stimulate conversation and debate about the topic, which will help our kids with their critical thinking skills.
 I know in my own career I had a teacher (my military history teacher in 11th grade) who did not formally assign people to bring in current events, but would start each class by asking "What's going on in the world today?" And without fail kids all across the class would have something they wanted to share. It soon became one of my favorite parts of the school day.

*Alternative method* Throughout my own personal career as a student I have had a couple teachers assign current event "projects" or "homeworks" you could call them. During these it would be up to us as the student to find an article in the category the teacher selected (like environmental, elections, international, economic, local... etc) and then we were to answer the questions assigned by the teacher about the articles we selected. This could be a good choice for you if you are looking to make this more of a formal assessment rather than a weekly discussion.