Stone Soup

I am not sure how many people are familiar with the magazine for kids, Stone Soup.  I had never heard of it, so exploring their website was eye-opening.  I can only imagine how motivating it would be to have some copies of Stone Soup in my classroom to show students. They would be able to look through and read writing from other children around their age level. Better yet, they might be encouraged to write something for the magazine. Whenever I have students write something that other people (besides me) are going to see, it is amazing how much more effort they will put into their writing and conventions.  Writing for a magazine like Stone Soup might really help some students become focused and concerned with their writing. They are writing for a possible audience, and that is a huge motivational factor!

I did some research about the Stone Soup website and found that it was mainly for children ages 8-13. They do not take emailed submissions so students would have to focus on writing neatly or using good typing skills to submit their stories through the mail.  I looked through a sample copy of their magazine, and it looked amazing! Students would really love this magazine, and I truly think they would be ecstatic to write a piece for submission. You could easily teach writer’s workshop lessons about editing to go along with their submission.  There is also an archive of past stories, and students can also listen to authors reading their own stories.  I also liked seeing the variety of cultural stories, including some written by young Navajo children.  I really suggest looking into the website and encouraging students to submit their writing. It would be a great motivational writing experience.