Social Studies Journals

As a school, we are incorporating Social Studies into our Communication Arts.  I think this is a great idea and decided to use journals as way for the students to reflect on what they learn.  I am not a huge fan of text books as a sole resource to teach, so I am always on the internet looking for ideas/resources to use.  We also have USA Weekly papers which are a wonderful tool.  What I have been doing so far (which is tentative as this is new for me) is teaching the lesson either whole group or through partner reading of the USA Weekly.  After the lesson, the students write a reflection as to what they learned.  I give them questions to guide their reflections.  When they are finished with the written part of the journal, they include an illustration that goes along with what they learned.  Depending on the concept being taught, I plan to include maps, timelines, etc as well as the written reflection and illustration.  I would love to hear how other people use Social Studies journals in their classrooms or any suggestions/ideas.