The value of magazines in the classroom. This vital resource can enhance literacy in the classroom

1. Integrating Magazines
in our Classrooms

2. A periodical publication containing articles
and illustrations, typically covering a
particular subject.
 Categories
 Periodicals
 Religious Magazines
 Satirical Magazines
 Trade Magazines

3.  The first magazine started in the 1700’s by
Daniel Defoe. The title of this magazine was
‘The Review’ and it purpose was for
individuals to comment on and criticize
particular matters, thus influencing the
public. The audience was composed of
members of the same social scene otherwise
known as the Gentile or Literate men.
 Thefirst magazines looked like books with
dense prints and very few illustrations.

4.  Until
the late 19th century, only upper classes
read magazines while the poor folks read
newspapers and weekly tabloids.
 However, the 21st century has seen a drastic
change whereby magazines are accessible to
all. It’s selection today is based on cost and
interests. Magazines are a rich source of
authentic materials and can be very
motivating and inspiring.

5.  Art magazines  Science magazines and
 Automobile magazines scientific journals
 Business magazines  Shelter magazines (home
design and decorating)
 Computer magazines
 Sports magazines
 Customer magazines
 Sunday magazines
 Fantasy fiction magazines
 Teen magazines
 Health and fitness magazines
 Trade magazines and journals
 Horror fiction magazines
 Fashion magazines
 Humor magazines
 Political magazines
 Literary magazines
 Teen magazines
 Luxury magazines
 Women magazines
 Music magazines
 Travel magazines
 News magazines
 Architecture magazines
 Online magazines
 Religious magazines
 Pornographic magazines
 Online magazines

6.  According to GRUNDY (1993, 8) one of the main reasons for
introducing Magazines and newspapers in the English
classroom is that they not only constitute authentic
material, but also, our responses to the information given
are authentic. In that sense, another essential reason for
reading them is to enable the student to get in touch with
certain cultural clues of the given country. Nowadays, the
importance of online press can also help us to introduce a
greater variety of materials as well as a direct source of
information of students.
 GARCÍA and BEJARANO (2001,16) claim that newspapers
may be a means to teach human values in the
classroom, such as solidarity, trust, charity, obedience…
Notwithstanding, apart from newspapers, magazines can
be included here, since they may be a way to connect with
the student’s interests: we can take magazines for young
people talking about their music idols, social
matters, cinema, even beauty or sports.

7.  What are the Benefits?
 Reading magazines can improve pupils' critical
thinking skills and serve as a motivator. When a
pupil learns to read critically, he has figured
out how to draw inferences and evaluate what
he has read. Using media, including magazines,
radio and television, helps motivate pupils to
improve their reading skills and critical
listening capabilities. Reading a story in a
magazine about a certain topic and then
hearing about that same topic on television
allows the pupil to compare and contrast the
different accounts. Pupils learn to question
and to argue constructively.

8.  It provides authentic information.
 Affordable and accessible because of the variety.
 It is more appealing than facing an entire book.
 Magazines can prompt debate in the
classroom, increase awareness of current
events and promote communication.
 It is a good source of history eg. of railway
stations and hospitals
 Keep readers captivated due to the varieties in
topics and colourful illustrations.

9.  It is less threatening to pupils who have
difficulty reading. They tend to gravitate
toward magazines because they're not as
intimidating as textbooks.
 It helps students to gain more knowledge
because using magazines can enhance your
lessons across curriculum.

10.  Produce provocative images that can corrupt
the mind of readers.
 Contributes to low self esteem (super model
images).
 High quality magazines can be costly to
produce.
 It is much more time consuming and
distracting to look for information in a
magazine.
 The articles can be subjective.

12.  Help young children develop observation and
language skills by identifying colors and
finding and naming pictures of animals,
fruits, people, toys or other objects in
magazines.
 Make an alphabet book. In a spiral notebook,
write each letter of the alphabet on
different pages. Look through magazines,
and help your child find pictures that begin
with each letter. Cut out the pictures and
paste them in the notebook.

13.  Usemagazines to teach current events.
Magazines are a great way to learn about
what is going on in your country or in the
world.
 Choose one article every morning to read
aloud to the class and have them write a
written response in a journal. Depending on
the age of your students, you could choose a
controversial article and have the students
debate it.

14.  Use magazines to teach reading and
grammar.
 Pass out a copy of an article or articles to
each student. Have them write down any
words in the article that they are unfamiliar
with. Use this as a basis for teaching the
students how to use the context clues in that
article to figure out what the word means.
 Ask the students to read an article; engage
them in discussions and then give them
comprehension questions to answer that you
have prepared ahead of time.

15.  Newspapers are also a great teaching
resource to use in the classroom. They are
cheap, plentiful and you can use them to
teach just about any subject such as social
studies, math, writing or reading. Many
newspapers will give you a discount if you
wish to order a classroom set. Alternately,
you could use just one newspaper or a few
and have the children work in groups.
Whichever option you choose, base some of
your classroom lessons on using newspapers.

16.  Use newspapers to teach writing. Give the
students only the headline of an article, and
ask them to write the rest of it.
 You could also show them a picture and have
them write an article based on the picture
alone.

17.  Use newspapers to teach Mathematics and
Physical Education--yes, Math!
 The sports section is a great resource for
numbers. Have the students calculate the
average or median baseball score from the
games played on that day or the percentage
of games a basketball team has won so far in
the season.