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DESCRIPTION
Newsela is a non-fiction literacy resource that will allow you to differentiate between various student reading levels and introduce up-to-date and relevant current event news to your students.
TOOLS & FEATURES
- There are a variety of topics including: arts, science, health, kids, etc
- For some articles, the reading level can be changed in the top right-hand corner to a different Lexile by the classroom teacher or the student reading
- In each of the articles there are power words, words that maybe a bit trickier and have definitions provided - if you click the speaker next to the word, it will read out both the word and definition
- Students are also able to highlight and annotate within the text
- As a teacher, you can add more than one class by clicking "Your Name" and then the tab "Classes" and selecting the blue "Create a class" button
- As a teacher, you can also assign articles to a class and adjust the reading level automatically, as well as, provide instructions for students
- For each of the assignments, it will provide a short multiple choice quiz, a chance for students to practice the power words in the articles, and a writing prompt that you can edit by clicking the "Activities" tab on the right hand side of the article
- You can view your students' progress by clicking on your "Binder" tab at the top
- click on the specific article to see each student's progress
- Classroom teachers can assess work and send back to students for revisions, if needed
OTHER INFORMATION
In the top right-hand corner there is also an Educator Center tab that provides mini videos and articles to help educators navigate through Newsela and lesson plans/unit plans to get ideas for distance learning.
This resource requires Teachers to set up an account for use. Surrey Teachers are encouraged to use their District email to do so and provide the least amount of personal information during the set up.
Users please note this resource:
- offers open use to users 18+, students 13+ must have parent permission through a join code
- collects personal information
- collects computer information (IP address and location)
- has free access to full service for a limited period of time (COVID dependent)
- requires sign-up for a full free account
