News-O-Matic app - The Daily Newspaper Just for Kids

The News-O-Matic app, by Press4Kids, delivers the daily newspaper just for kids! Each edition has five new articles based on current events around the world.  I came across the app about a month ago and was very intrigued because I knew I could connect my iPad to our class Smartboard so we could read the daily newspaper together. The subscription to the app was very reasonable at $10 for the year (they have subscription deals frequently).  If you aren't sure if you want to subscribe yet, you can read some of the editions to try it out before committing.  Once you subscribe, you are able to access past issues in addition to receiving the new edition daily.  

I love how the newspaper is interactive and you can see the five new stories at one glance to see which one or ones you are interested in reading first.  Once you make a decision, you click on the photo for the article and it brings you directly to that story.  The articles cover all the latest current events and are written in a kid-friendly way.  Within each story, there are nonfiction text features such as headings, bold words, quotes, etc so it is a great resource to include more nonfiction reading skills within the day. Each story also includes an "act" and a "fact" button.  When you click on the "act" button, it will tell you what you can personally do to make a difference and get involved. When you click on the "fact" button, it gives you an important fact related to the story.  This app is also completely free of ads so there are no worries about anything inappropriate popping up while reading the daily newspaper articles with kids.  

Almost every day, I connect my iPad to the Smartboard during morning meeting, while kids are eating snack, or at closing circle so we can read the newspaper and the kids love it! They are so engaged, learn a lot of new information, and also get inspired by some of the stories.  For example, there was one article about a child who was granted a wish through the Make a Wish Foundation and they were immediately inspired to get involved with the foundation and have already started brainstorming ways we can raise money for the foundation.  This app was well worth the $10 for a year subscription and I highly recommend purchasing it and using it in your classroom! 

Enjoy!