Follow a Foreign News Source
Choose a child-friendly foreign news source, follow it for one week, translate or summarize three stories daily, and record differences in a journal.
Step-by-step guide to follow a foreign news source
Project-Based Learning: Raising Student Achievement for All Learners
Step 1
Choose one child-friendly foreign news source to follow for one week.
Step 2
Pick a week on your calendar and write the start and end dates in your notebook.
Step 3
Make a journal template on one page with headings: Date; Story title; Summary or Translation; Three key facts; Difference from local news.
Step 4
Each morning find three stories on your chosen foreign news source and write their titles under that day’s date in your journal.
Step 5
Read the first story and underline the sentence that tells the main idea with your highlighter.
Step 6
Write a short 2–3 sentence translation or summary of the first story in your own words in the Summary or Translation area.
Step 7
Write one sentence that explains how this story would be different if your local news reported it (tone facts or focus).
Step 8
Repeat Steps 5–7 for the second story and then for the third story.
Step 9
At the end of each day put a checkmark on your calendar to show the day is complete.
Step 10
Repeat Steps 4–9 every day for the seven days you chose.
Step 11
After the week, read your journal and write three things you noticed about how the foreign news was different, then share your finished journal and what you learned on DIY.org
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!
Help!?
What can we substitute if we can't find a child-friendly foreign news source or don't have a notebook, highlighter, or calendar?
If you can't find a child-friendly foreign news source (Step 1), use BBC Newsround, The Day for Kids, or News in Levels, and if you lack a notebook, highlighter, or paper calendar make the journal template in a Google Doc, use colored text or the highlight tool for the main-idea sentence (Step 5), and mark days with Google Calendar or phone reminders.
What should we do if the child can't identify the main-idea sentence to underline or struggles to write the 2–3 sentence translation?
If finding the main-idea sentence (Step 5) is hard, teach them to look for the first or topic sentence and mark it with a highlighter or bold text, and if the 2–3 sentence summary (Step 6) is difficult use an online translator for a rough draft then have the child rewrite it in their own words.
How can we adapt this activity for younger children or for older kids who need more challenge?
For younger children shorten Steps 4–9 to one picture-based story per morning with a parent reading and sticker checkmarks on the calendar (Step 9), while older kids can keep three stories, add source citations and a brief critique in Step 11 before sharing on DIY.org.
How can we extend or personalize the project after completing the seven days?
To extend the activity after the week, add a small map and country label to each journal entry, track recurring topics across days, compare headlines to local coverage in Step 8, and create a short DIY.org post or classroom slideshow with your three final observations.
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Facts about news literacy for kids
🗞️ Different news outlets often use different headlines or angles for the same event — comparing them is a great detective skill.
📺 Kid-focused programs like Newsround started in the 1970s to explain big world events in a way children could understand.
🌍 There are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world — following foreign news helps you hear stories from many voices.
🔁 Translators often rearrange sentences and pick equivalent ideas rather than translate word-for-word to keep meaning clear.
📝 Writing short daily summaries and reflections strengthens reading comprehension and memory — even 5–10 minutes helps.
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