www.newsela.com
Newsela takes current events/news articles from news outlets and rewrites them for different Lexile levels. In my classroom I teach the gifted cluster. So I have students in 4th grade who are reading on an 8th grade level, but I also have students who are barely on 4th grade. The content is the same, but the reading level can be changed.
They have a ton of articles. I try to find high-interest articles-- like the one on Minecraft, which the students LOVED. I also have used it to integrate content. For example, when we were studying light in science, I used this article on the Nobel Prize for physics about LED lights.
Here's the weekly breakdown of how I use the articles and close reading:
RACE is an acronym my school uses Restate the question, Answer the question, Cite evidence, Explain your thinking.
We do this everyday somedays it takes 10 minutes somedays 30 minutes depending on the difficulty, interest, and how much other stuff we have to do :). I don't always check it, I rarely grade it, but I do have them use it and the article during the comprehension quiz. Newsela even has quizzes for some of their articles.Yay!
The goal of Close Reading is to become familiar with a text through multiple readings. The way I use close reading over the week helps students become more fluent with non-fiction. I also feel that using a news article or current event helps us connect what we are learning about to the world.
They have resources I haven't even used yet like online comprehension quizzes and annotations. I would love to look into those aspects in my free time (LOL, like that exists!).
And did I mention this is FREE? They have a Pro version, but I haven't used it so I don't really know what I am missing between the free and pro.
Have you ever used Newsela in your classroom? How do you do close reading? Share with me :)
Couldn't get my comment to post last night...Google was being a diva about signing me in! I could hear you talking when I read this:). I love how you break down your weekly schedule with the passages. It is so important to remember the whole point is for the rereading to dig deeper. I am a firm believer in integrated content so I love how you do that with science. I use close reading passages in SS with interactive notebook foldables. Or I try to find relevant news stories that go along with our content. I've been trying to really push paired passages and comparing/contrasting. You have inspired me to get into the blogging realm soon!
ReplyDeleteHello! Can you tell me about the comprehension questions you use with the NewsELA articles? I'm also working with a gifted cluster. I am trying to find a list of go-to questions for any article that are beyond the typical "who/what/where/when/why" because they can handle a deeper level.
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