Weekly Reader facts for kids
| Categories | Classroom magazine |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Weekly |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Final issue | 2012 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Weekly Reader was a popular educational magazine for kids. It started in 1928 as My Weekly Reader. This magazine came out every week.
It taught students about different school subjects. It also covered current events and news for older kids. The company that published Weekly Reader also made workbooks and picture books.
In 2012, Weekly Reader stopped being its own magazine. It joined with Scholastic News. This happened because more schools wanted digital magazines. Also, school budgets were getting smaller.
Contents
Student Presidential Polls
One of the most famous things Weekly Reader did was its "Weekly Reader Student Presidential Election Poll." This poll happened every four years. It was a fun way to teach students about elections.
How the Poll Worked
Teachers who subscribed to Weekly Reader held pretend elections. Their students voted for who they wanted as president. Teachers then sent the results to Weekly Reader.
Since 2000, a company called Zogby International helped with the surveys. They collected and counted the votes. This poll included students from kindergarten to 12th grade. It first started in 1956. That year, students chose Dwight D. Eisenhower over Adlai Stevenson II.
Poll Accuracy Over Time
The Weekly Reader poll happened 14 times. Students picked the person who became president 13 out of 14 times! This shows how good the poll was at predicting winners.
The only time students did not pick the winner was in 1992. In that year, students voted for George H. W. Bush. But Bill Clinton won the real election. A third candidate, Ross Perot, was important in the actual election. However, he was not on the Weekly Reader ballot that year.
Read Magazine and Student Writing
In 2005, Weekly Reader also had a magazine about literature called Read. This magazine started a blog called Word. The Word blog shared writing from students. It also had other news about books and writing.
Interactive Reading and Writing
Read magazine offered cool ways to read and write. One program was "What's Your Story?" It featured "The Weekly Writer." In this program, students could help famous authors finish a story. Authors like Stephen King and R. L. Stine took part.
Read magazine also created "electronic issues." These were interactive websites about famous literary topics. Examples included Canterbury Tales, William Shakespeare, and Edgar Allan Poe. These websites used videos, music, and animation. By 2009-2010, other Weekly Reader publications also used these "e-issues." This included Weekly Reader editions for grades 3 and 4-6, Current Events, and Current Science magazines.
