Newsela is a collection of articles on current topics of interest to students across content areas. This is a fantastic resource for short, high-interest, nonfiction reading pieces for students at all grade levels. Each article is offered at various Lexile levels so teachers can provide the same content to all students while differentiating for reading ability. The articles have built in assessments aligned with the CCSS for ELA.
Anyone can create a free Newsela account to gain access to the content, but the district has recently purchased a Newsela PRO account for BRES and BRHS teachers and students. The PRO account gives teachers access to a “Binder” that keeps track of classes, assignments, and assessments, giving teachers valuable information that can be used to make curricular and instructional decisions. This video gives an overview of how the Binder works:
Teachers with Newsela PRO accounts can customize writing assignments related to each article. Students and teachers can highlight and annotate text as well. The Newsela Learning and Support section contains quick start guides and video tutorials for using all the built-in Newsela features as well as ideas for using Newsela within your curriculum.
To get started with Newsela, simply create an account and choose the appropriate school. You can log in with your school Google account. For more information about getting started, see Newsela’s Quick Start Guide for Teachers.