Newsela
What’s It Like? Newsela is an online news-as-literacy platform that features current articles in seven categories: War & Peace, Science, Health, Kids, Money, Law, and Arts. Content is updated daily, with stories from a wide range of sources (from the Associated Press to Scientific American to the Washington Post) in both English and Spanish. On top of this, all articles are Common Core-aligned and available in five Lexile levels, ranging (roughly) from third to 12th grade. Each leveled text features a quiz tailored to that particular article plus a writing prompt that asks kids to write and respond to what they’ve read.
Price: Free/paid
Rating: 5/5
Grades: 2-12
Pros: An innovative tool for delivering high-interest, cross-curricular nonfiction texts to students, right at their reading levels.
Cons: Expanded search and recommendation features could help kids connect with articles tailored even more to their interests and reading levels.
Bottom line: Up-to-date, high-interest articles meet kids right at their levels: Use this robust tool to bolster students’ nonfiction reading practice.
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