About This Webinar
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, educators face the important task of helping students navigate a complex national narrative. This SML session, "Beyond the Soundbite," equips middle and high school teachers with the tools to transform Judy Woodruff’s America at a Crossroads series into a catalyst for deep, nuanced classroom inquiry.
Participants will explore pivotal moments from U.S. history as well as current events curated for the America 250 anniversary, intentionally examining both the "highs" of American progress and the "lows" of our shared challenges. By looking past polarized rhetoric, we will focus on how to use high-quality journalism to help students synthesize conflicting perspectives and appreciate the complexity of the American experiment.
Attendees will be provided with a suite of PBS News Hour Classroom lesson plans, also published on Share My Lesson, specifically designed to facilitate these difficult conversations. We will practice concrete strategies for fostering civil discourse, ensuring students can disagree respectfully while grounding their arguments in evidence. Finally, we will discuss how to move students from passive observation to active civic engagement, empowering the next generation to see themselves as stakeholders in the nation’s future.
Want more sessions to choose from? Check out all of the free, for-credit webinars in Share My Lesson's Summer of Learning 2026 series.
