I am a 5th grade teacher at a public charter school in Richmond, CA. We are a Title 1 school serving a 85% Free/Reduced Lunch population of underrepresented scholars. My scholars are making leaps and bounds in our school of high expectations, however, much of this is due to outside resources I provide in my classroom. Literacy is one of the biggest indicators of future success and college readiness for a student and therefore, must be highly encouraged and supported in classrooms. We are unable to provide a school library and many of my students do not have a supply of their own books at home. I have spent many years attending free book drives or buying books to compile my own classroom library but as such, it is not always as up to date or engaging as I would like it to be.
In order to further expand my student's access to engaging texts, I would like to provide a plethora of non-fiction magazines in my classroom in order to continue engaging students in reading that is relatable and encourages their interaction with unfamiliar cultures and places. Magazines such as Time for Kids or National Geographic for Kids are a great resource for students to learn about these unfamiliar topics as well as increase their exposure to highly engaging non-fiction text that will challenge their current reading abilities to grow further. With a subscription based text set, students could find excitement in waiting for the next edition to arrive in our classroom, further promoting excitement about literacy and engaging students in accessing new text and information. These magazines would deeply enrich my student's reading experiences as well as grow their highly applicable non-fiction reading skills into future careers and experiences.