Weekly Reader
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Weekly Reader is a weekly educational classroom magazine designed for children in grades Pre-K–6. The editions cover curriculum themes in the younger grades and news-based, current events and curriculum themed-issues in the older grades. The publishing company also creates workbooks, literacy centers, and picture books for younger grades.
In 2007, Weekly Reader Corporation became part of The Reader's Digest Association, based in Chappaqua, New York. Weekly Reader's main office was relocated from Stamford, Connecticut, to Chappaqua at the end of May 2007.
Harrison M. Sayre of Columbus, OH, is said by some to have invented and produced the first edition of "Weekly Reader." However, the generally accepted version is that Eleanor M. Johnson proposed the idea of a 'newspaper for children,' and collaborated on it with the American Education Press company. The first edition was produced for the fourth grade, and appeared in September 1928. Its cover story was entitled "Two Poor Boys Who Made Good Are Now Running for the Highest Office in the World," and focused on the childhoods of Herbert Hoover and Al Smith. Other editions were added later, and by 1959, there were editions for kindergarten through grade six. A pre-kindergarten edition was added in 1980. There are also curriculum-specific magazines for middle and high school students, including areas such as health, science, careers, reading, and writing.
Weekly Reader Publishing, which began with the publication of the first Current Events on May 20, 1902, celebrated its 100th birthday in 2002.
At various times through its publishing history, the magazine has been known as 'My Weekly Reader.' The 'My' has come and gone over the more than 80 years that the publication has been available in schools. For the past ten years, at least, it has been simply, 'Weekly Reader.'
One of the best-known events in the magazine's history is its quadrennial 'Weekly Reader Student Presidential Election Poll'—one which has a remarkable record of almost always naming the eventual winner of the U.S. election. The poll is an educational exercise in which Weekly Reader-subscribing teachers conduct mock elections to find their students' preference for president. Teachers tabulate the results, then send them to Weekly Reader. (Since the 2000, the surveys have been developed with, and tabulated by, the Zogby International polling organization). This survey of students in grades K through 12 began in 1956, when readers chose Dwight Eisenhower over Adlai Stevenson. The poll has now been conducted 14 times, most recently in 2008, and the students have voted for the person who became president 13 out of 14 times; the exception was in 1992, when George H.W. Bush garnered more votes than Bill Clinton. (Third-party candidate Ross Perot, whose presence on the national ballot was important during the actual election, was not on the Weekly Reader ballot that year.)
In 2005, Weekly Reader Publishing's literary magazine, READ, launched a blog, which features student writing and other literary news. It also offers interactive opportunities for reading and writing, including its "What's Your Story?" program, which features "The Weekly Writer", where students can help authors such as Stephen King and R. L. Stine finish an original story. READ magazine has also pioneered 'electronic issues' around literary themes, including Canterbury Tales, William Shakespeare, and Edgar Allan Poe; these interactive websites incorporate video and film, music and sound effects, rap renditions and flash animation. In the 2009-2010 school year, the company will extend these 'e-issues' to four other Weekly Reader publications, including Weekly Reader editions 3 and Senior (4-6 grades), Current Events, and Current Science magazines.
Weekly Reader also provides educational content for the nationally-syndicated television show, Teen Kids News.
[edit] External links
- Weekly Reader - Official Site
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