I sourced my magazine collection primarily from the school media center and our family magazine subscriptions. These unexpected encounters challenge the brain to make sense of new insights. Readers who flip through a print magazine have the opportunity to stumble upon stories they might have never seen while living within their filter bubble. Readers who consume media on devices are-knowingly or not-trapped in a world customized to their own preferences. One of the greatest advantages that print magazines have over online media is the freedom from algorithmic customization. Other popular stories included one about dogs serving in combat units and one about parasites that turn insects into “zombies” in order to spread their spores. Students were touched by the human element of the story and fascinated by the complexities of the medical procedure. The most popular single copy was an issue of National Geographic containing a feature story about a young woman who had received a face transplant after a failed suicide attempt left her disfigured. Students began recommending issues and articles to one another.
When a complaint did occasionally arise after the first two weeks, it was about the 15-minute reading time being too short. Within a couple of weeks, however, these complaints not only subsided but were replaced with quiet conversations among students about what they had read. Not surprisingly, it took a few days for some students to move beyond their initial impression of static print magazines as boring. What I most appreciated about the daily student engagement with magazines was seeing students reach the point of genuine, organic engagement even though I never assigned follow-up activities. This daily magazine-reading time was one of the more valuable learning activities that took place in those English classes. Strewn about the tables in my classroom were titles ranging from Entrepreneur and Bon Appetit to Leatherneck, a magazine published by the Marine Corps Association. I chose to have students spend this time exploring a broad variety of print magazines I acquired from the media center, our home, and other sources.
Teachers have the opportunity to incorporate this rich, diverse resource into daily instruction and provide students with a meaningful reading experience that promotes curiosity.įor the last several years, I have incorporated a daily, 15-minute silent-reading time at the beginning of my 65-minute regular English 11 class periods. Print magazines offer a unique synthesis of text and images that makes them an appealing option for reluctant readers.
Due to the ubiquity of digital devices and a steady decline in print subscriptions, very few of today’s K–12 students have had that experience. Many adults have childhood memories of leafing through print editions of National Geographic, LIFE, or Time magazine in their home, at school, and in doctors’ offices.