Learning Network: Making sense of the war in Iran

March 4, 2026

Good morning! This week we have resources to help your students make sense of the war with Iran, no matter what background knowledge they may bring to it. And, our opinion-writing contest is live! — The Learning Network

The war in Iran: A place for student questions and reactions

An image depicting the top half of the print front page of The New York Times. A big headline running across the entire top of the page reads “U.S. Strikes Iran.”

The front page of The New York Times on Sunday. The New York Times

There is a lot happening, and it’s happening fast. Whether your students already understand some of the context they need to make sense of this war, or whether it’s all new for them, we’ve published a collection we hope can help.

Via a menu of links to free New York Times maps, videos, articles, photos, podcasts and opinion pieces, they can both get the big picture and fill in the details.

Then, our open-ended prompts invite them to post their questions and share their reactions.

Recent Times reporting about schools

An illustration of scissors cutting holes into a pouch designed to hold a mobile phone.

Photo illustration by Tonje Thilesen for The New York Times

In some schools, Yondr, a pouch marketed to keep kids off devices, has proved no match for actual children.
Universities from Harvard to Hampshire have admitted significantly more students with disabilities over the last decade, as diagnoses for A.D.H.D. and anxiety increase.
After a Columbia University undergraduate was arrested by federal immigration agents using a tactic of questionable legality, a look at what ICE agents are allowed to do on college campuses.
The Supreme Court sided with religious parents and blocked California’s trans student policy.
Parents in China are turning to A.I. chatbots and other tools to help their children gain an edge and ease the fighting over homework.

More teaching resources from The Learning Network

Punch with his plush companion at Ichikawa City Zoo. Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

News Literacy: Why was Punch, the baby monkey pictured above, in the news this week? What did President Trump say in his annual State of the Union address? Who is bidding to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, and why does it matter? Could your students answer these questions from our Weekly Student News Quiz?
Writing Prompts: This week we asked teens if they’d go to a concert with their dad; what cultural and family traditions are important to them; if they are picky eaters; and how they’d change a local neighborhood.
Visual Literacy: An experiment? A dog training school? A competition? Students had many ideas about what’s going on in this picture.
Vocabulary Words: Can your students use capacious, benevolent or virtuosity in a sentence?

Student Activity: Our Open Letter Contest

An illustration of a line of people holding a large envelop, pencil and stamp above their heads

Yukai Du

Our spring opinion-writing contest is now open! We invite students to write public-facing letters to people or groups about issues that matter to them.

Do we have a step-by-step guide? Of course! We also have:

an enormous collection of prompts for argument writing
advice from a librarian who has helped her school teach with this contest
and a new edition of our Ask a Journalist series in which students are invited to pose questions about opinion writing for the Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.

Before you go, see what teens are saying about grade inflation.

A building with a clock tower can be seen past a green field, some trees and a bridge.

The Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Mass. A recent report found that a majority of grades given out at the school were A’s. Sophie Park for The New York Times

What is the meaning of an A in school today? Is it recognition of mastery of a subject, or should it be a scarce resource used to distinguish only extraordinary work? Should schools limit the number of A’s teachers can give?

Here is some of what students told us:

To me, an A is the recognition that a student has successfully mastered the content and can apply it accurately. It does not diminish the value of an A by awarding it to multiple students, just as a driving test is not diminished by awarding multiple passes. The purpose of school is to learn, so therefore A’s, and grades as a whole, should measure mastery, not triumph over other students. — Kavi, Fairfax, VA

Instead of asking how many A’s are too many, we might need to question why one letter carries so much weight in defining success. Learning is more complex than a single grade, and reducing it to a number or letter may miss what really matters. — Hyerie, Saint Paul Preparatory Seoul

Grades no longer mean what they should. Students don’t seem to earn them and teachers give out A’s like candy or Pokemon cards. A limit of how many they can give will make them choose the best work to give it out to. — Franklin, Graham High School, NC

We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to LNfeedback@nytimes.com. More next week.

If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

To stop receiving The Learning Network, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings.

Subscribe to The Times Get The New York Times app

Connect with us on:

Change Your Email Privacy Policy Contact Us California Notices

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018