by Kimberly Kimbell-Lopez
Do you find it challenging to locate web resources that provide your students with an engaging reading experience? A major resource can be found through National Geographic, which provides you with access to three of their magazines, National Geographic Young Explorers for K-1, the Pioneer edition for grades 2-3, and the Pathfinder edition for grades 4-5. These interdisciplinary magazines address reading, science, and social studies skills through stories, photographs, maps, charts, and diagrams.
The National Geographic Young Explorers’ issue includes a "Listen and Read" option where students can view the multimedia version of the book, then click on the sound icon 
shown next to the segments of text to view each highlighted word as it is read. The text for the Pioneer and Pathfinder editions is not read for students, but they can still simulate the reading of the magazine as they explore each page, zoom in on pictures and text, and click to turn pages. An added feature is the ability to add notes to each page that you and your students can click on to view when discussing each article.
For all three
National Geographic magazines, you can click on the "Teachers" tab at the top of the page to access the digital version of the magazine as well as the Teacher’s Guide and interactive whiteboard activities.
Past issues for Young Explorers are found through the "More Issues" tab, and past issues for Pioneer and Pathfinder are available through the Archive tab.
The National Geographic website is an educational resource that every teacher should explore! In addition to the magazines, their web site offers a wealth of informational articles, videos, and links to other web resources.
Not only will your students enjoy learning about a variety of real-world topics, but you can gather materials and activities that will augment and enhance your classroom instruction.
Kimberly Kimbell-Lopez teaches at Louisiana Tech University, kklopez@latech.edu.
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