AgMag engages students with MN agriculture
Above: Jill Haehn is a teacher-coach with the St. Cloud Public Schools
Written by Jonathan Eisenthal
When you think about skills for life, reading rises to the very top.
Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC), which is supported in part by Minnesota Corn, provides a very powerful tool that can help the young person, thirsty for that knowledge, find their way into reading, according to Jill Haehn, a teacher-coach who works with 40 teachers in the St. Cloud school district. For years Haehn has helped these teachers make educational breakthroughs with their students using MAITC’s AgMag, a magazine for elementary school students that features articles and activities about agriculture.
When she first encountered AgMag, Haehn was astonished at its broad utility — she found it could excite gifted students and help struggling learners as well.
“We had lessons that got (gifted and talented) kids to think outside the box, and consider where their food comes from,” Haehn said. “Then I also used the AgMag with my reading intervention groups. What I really liked about it is that I could use it across multiple grade levels. For all kids, no matter what their ability of reading in that grade level, I could just grab a different magazine, and they didn’t know what grade level it was. I have used it in a small group setting. I also like that it can be used independently as well. And then the teacher can ask the student to bring something back from their independent reading time and share something that they learned in the magazine or pick out what was the most interesting thing to them and share that with the group or with another student in a one-on-one discussion.”
She noted that the interesting collection of facts about agriculture has something to pique every kid’s curiosity, and get them buzzing, so that they become really excited when they have a chance to chat with a classmate or share something they learned in front of the whole class.
“AgMag is a great resource, and one of the best parts is that it’s free,” Haehn said. “So, make sure to order them for every student, so each kid has their own copy. There are amazing posters and other materials that come with it, and they are all free.”
MAITC publishes two editions of AgMag every year, in October and March, for each grade level from kindergarten to sixth grade. In addition, the organization publish an activity sheet called “Food For Thought” that includes maps depicting different aspects of agriculture in Minnesota.
AgMag supports 62 Minnesota teaching standards across the spectrum of disciplines from science and geography to math and reading. Included is a teacher guide that offers 17 standards-based lessons, to make the piece useful for all students, from kindergarten through 12th grade.
With under 2% of the population directly engaged in production agriculture, just getting kids to connect to farming is a feat, but AgMag makes it look easy.
In the Fall 2022 grade 5 edition, for instance, a bright, colorful map of Minnesota jumps off the page with a four-color representation of Minnesota’s four major growing areas. The activity is titled “What makes Minnesota such a great state for agriculture?” and asks the student to start by making an X where they live and then place symbols on the map where things like food crops, fuel crops, fiber sources, or flowers are grown. This activity is made easier by a teacher-driven change in AgMag. Haehn was excited to learn that, responding to teacher input, MAITC will now print its AgMag on paper that can be drawn and written on, with either pencil or crayon.
Minnesota Corn has been a supporter of MAITC and AgMag for more than three decades. The motto on the banner of every AgMag reads “Agriculture: Helping you every day!” Every page of each magazine takes that somewhat abstract slogan and draws kids into activities that make them think about food and learn how all these vital products, grown right in Minnesota, are things they depend on and enjoy every day.
