I encourage the kids to read USA TODAY and pick out a topic or topics that interest them, then express in class their own interests and opinions about these articles. Sometimes I have the older students read articles from USA TODAY and then work with the younger students to explain to them the details and the news information that are described in the articles.
The kids' favorite parts of the paper are the visuals. Kids respond great to visuals. They love the Experience TODAY activities that involve creating or utilizing USA TODAY's charts and graphs and assessing and learning new information.
The students like USA TODAY's human interest stories. Last summer the Olympics was really popular among the students because they liked reading about the athletes. The girls especially liked the articles and pictures about gymnastics. Also, all the kids really like the LIFE section profiles of musicians. Articles about athletes and musicians inspire them to want to read, helping their reading skills.
