Whatever you do, never throw out your magazines when you’ve finished reading them. They can be used and re-used in the classroom in so many different ways. What’s more, they’re free! Here are just a few suggestions for literacy activities and lessons that revolve around these free teaching resources. With a little time and imagination you can probably think of many, many more. Descriptive writing A – select suitable images from the magazines and either present the whole class with one image or give a different image to each group.Descriptive writing B – the children cut out a picture from a magazine. Can they write a descriptive passage that would identify that image? Display the pictures then read their descriptions, or have the children read them aloud to the class. Can we guess which picture they were describing? Or simply display the passages and pictures side by side. The vocabulary expected would depend on the age and ability of the children.Persuasive language – look at suitable passages, articles or letters in the magazines and discuss how the language used helps to persuade the reader of the writer’s point of view.
Set the children the task of writing a persuasive letter or article using similar techniques and styles. You might ask them to write a reply to the original letter or article.Looking for Bias –Find an opinion piece or clearly biased report. ready to throw away magazines. So clear a corner in the classroom and start hoarding them. Get your family and friends to donate their old magazines to the cause too, and you’ll soon have a veritable treasure trove of teaching resources to delve into.