I recently had a bright idea. Like all bright ideas it turned out to be time consuming, frustrating, and totally worth the results. My fifth grade curriculum required that I teach a nonfiction reading and writing unit. The end result of my unit turned out to be an awesome magazine.
The first step is to prepare your students to write by reading, analyzing, and researching. I brought in several magazine articles on the student's reading level that also happened to high interest (we even read about the Jonas Brothers). We spent time reading articles and dissecting them for text features and organizational text structure.
At the same time my students selected a topic to research. Since we needed to fit Social Studies in, I decided to ask my students to select a topic from Early America. Each student selected a different person, place, or event to keep our magazine varied and interesting.
Once we concluded our study of nonfiction magazine articles my students selected the organizational text structure for their piece, and the drafting began. In order to make life easier I set up a Microsoft Word Document with a header and two columns. This allowed students to type their pieces in a structured document that looks like a magazine piece. After revising and editing they added one additional text feature like a picture, sidebar, bullet points, or graph. The end results were amazing. I compiled the articles together and created a cover for our "Early American Magazine". Each student received a copy to take home.
Creating a magazine turned out to be a great opportunity for a number of teachable moments. We were able to integrate reading, writing, research, Social Studies, and technology into one culminating project.
Copyright 2009
Reprinted by Permission from The Wired Teacher
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