In the past couple of weeks, we have re-subscribed to all of the magazines that we had last year. The reason for this is because the students love them. However they do not always read the articles; pretty colour pictures can be a real distraction for the students. Think about what you can do with the magazines though.
If the students have a natural instinct to go towards them, develop that. Perfect time to have a bit of pastoral care with them to start with. If they are looking at a magazine about motorbikes, you know that they have some sort of interest in motorbikes and motorbiking. If they are enjoying the pictures, there is a pretty good chance that the article attached to it is going to interest them as well. Perfect literacy teaching opportunity.
Maybe you also need to think about where we live. Being in an isolated location can mean that students tend not to look at current events around Australia and the world.What a surprise, we have a stack of newpapers too. The NT News, Centralian Advocate, Koori Mail, Indigenous Times and Weekend Australian are all available to students and staff to browse though..
I encourage everyone to come and have a look at the magazine collection that we have. It is a great resource that could be utilised a whole lot more than what it is.
Hi High School Library!
ReplyDeleteI have started to develop my student's interest in magazines too - because not everyone likes to read a novel! I feel that if I can gauge their interest in reading this way - then at least they are reading something they want to and it isnt being forced on them. This makes it more enjoyable for my students also.
I have started the concept of book boxes and am always looking for magazines or old books to fill them up. PLease let me know if you have anything that you want to giveaway to a great 3/4H classroom library!
Keep up that fantastic blogging!
Sarah Henderson