Relevant, non-fiction texts became primary teaching materials for second grade English Learners in a poor urban school in the Midwest United States. Politics, news and other current events captured children's attention, helping to engage, explore and extend their literacy confidence in the real world. The Principal Investigator employed the participatory approach (Freire, 1970) as an essential pedagogy to model and share literacy strategies with students and their families. Subscriptions to Time for Kids[TM] & Scholastic News[TM] became the teaching platforms in the classroom, then were sent home to be shared with siblings and parents. This study provided participants with physical texts and reading materials, as they did not have the financial means to use technology in their homes. Results showed that ELs' literacy skills improved measurably without the online tools, and that parents/guardians demonstrated high-level collaboration with their children using literate behaviors (Heath, 1990).