I have been watching the National Geographic sites and think that they are worth mentioning here. The National Geographic Young Explorer is on line and the students can either read the magazine or they can have it read tot hem. It is a wonderful place with beautiful pictures and text. It is geared to the kindergarten and first grade reader. It really looks like a magazine. It would be wonderful to be displayed on the Smartboard in your room!
The website for older elementary students, National Geographic Explorer, is more like a website with games, ecards and articles. It is a beautiful place as well. It comes in the Pioneer and the Pathfinder edition, similar content, different size text and vocabulary. There is also a nice Teacher's Guide that goes with each issue, that offers worksheets and ideas for discussion. There is a National Geographic Extreme Explorer that is for middle school students that might be having some struggles with reading. By clicking here, you can see the digital edition of Extreme Explorer that goes along with the website.
National Geographic has a web just for educators that puts many of these tools and links in one place.
One more site, but not from National Geographic - but you will see how it fits with these. BBC has a great video magazine that is called BBC Earth. Each month they feature a beautiful montage that shows animals and the earth. It would be a great writing prompt!
