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2. Easily Differentiate- I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for ways to differentiate, particularly with technology. Any time I find a tool that allows for differentiation, I do my best to share it with everyone I know. Commonlit makes differentiation EXTREMELY EASY! Teachers can use the guided reading format, which breaks the texts into chunks. Guided questions are ungraded questions that students are required to answer if the guided reading mode is being used. The student can't move forward with reading the text until they get the question right. Students also have the option to have the text read aloud to them. Even better, the teacher doesn't have to assign the guided reading mode to the whole class. You can choose specific students who would benefit from this, such as struggling readers or English Language Learners.

3. Easily Annotate the Text - Using the highlight feature, you can have students highlight the main idea, words they don't know, textual evidence... whatever is beneficial for your students. If they make a mistake, they can easily fix it with the eraser tool.

4. Paired Text & Related Media - The majority of the texts come with paired texts and related media options. The paired text includes a brief explanation of how the article/story relates to the one you originally chose, as well as suggestions for use. I'm a little obsessed with the related media option because this saves me from having to find additional ways to encourage critical thinking. The videos come from Ted Talks, Youtube, and more.

5. View Analytics on Assignment Report - Each text typically includes several types of questions: guided, assessment, discussion, and short response. The teacher can choose which type they would like students to answer. If you assign the assessment questions, the multiple choice is automatically graded for you. The scores will appear on the assignment report.

6. Easily Implement Writing with Short Responses - The last discussion question is usually the short response. This is a great way to have students use evidence from the text to support their answer. Short responses are the only part teachers have to grade on their own. CommonLit has an awesome 4 point rubric you can use to do this.

7. Assign Text to Specific Student or Group- CommonLit has a special feature that allows you to assign a text to specific students, rather than assigning it to the whole class. If you have students who need extra help or are out sick for several days, you can assign texts just to that individual. You can also assign certain texts to specific groups. For example, let's say you're doing a unit based around the theme Family and Friendship, and you have assigned each group to a certain topic related to this theme. You can then assign each group to a text that would apply to their given topic. It's a great way to differentiate learning!

8. Flip Your Classroom - I often assign a text from CommonLit for students to read at home. That way we can get right to our discussion questions or short response when they come into class. If students don't have access to the internet, you can always print a copy. All texts come with an option to print the article/story as well as the questions.

If you would like a video tutorial on Commonlit with access to handouts that provide step-by-step directions and a differentiation template, click here.

If you use CommonLit, I would love to hear how you do so. Tell me about it in the comments below.

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8 Reasons CommonLit.org is a MUST for ALL Subject Areas & FREEBIE

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As a teacher and a daily integrator of technology, I'm always on the lookout for ways to enhance my classroom's access to texts. When I discovered CommonLit, I felt I had truly hit the jackpot! If you're not familiar with this amazing, FREE tool, it's a digital library of leveled texts.

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As avid lovers of literature, teachers often find themselves wanting to impart every bit of knowledge about a well-loved text to their students. And this is not just an ELA issue-other disciplines also often focus on the content of a text. However, teaching reading skills in English classes and across the disciplines is an almost guaranteed way to help students retain content. Unfortunately, the tendency to focus on the content is a real enemy to the ultimate goal of building reading skills.

Without a repertoire of reading strategies that can be applied to any text, students are being shortchanged in their education. In order to teach students to read effectively, teachers must be sure that they are not simply suppliers of information on a particular text but also instructors of techniques to build reading skills. Here are some ideas on how to incorporate reading skills lessons into a curriculum.

Teach Close Reading Skills

Guide students in annotation by directing them to do more than highlight or underline. Encourage students to have a conversation with the text by jotting notes on the text while reading-this keeps students engaged and often increases comprehension. Annotations can include:

Defining new words

Asking questions

Coding recurring words and themes

Making personal connections to the text

Citing current events

Highlighting heading and subheadings

Summarizing paragraphs

Chunking

Categorizing information

Numbering and ordering

Drawing pictures

The list of possibilities is endless-the point is to have students form their own process when approaching a text. But don't be afraid to give students specific annotation guidelines such as "annotate the writer's characterization techniques" or "find examples of . . ." to help them focus. Annotations also help students identify which strategies work best for them as they try to process and understand information. The clip " Girls Read Comic" from The Big Bang Theory is a great way to introduce the concept of reading closely and its importance.

Appeal to the Senses

While reading is the work of the mind, incorporating the senses provides extra reinforcement for students who are still growing their skills. Reading passages aloud and verbalizing questions you would mentally ask while reading can be a great benefit to students. Students often have no idea how to ask questions, what type of questions to ask, or the frequency of questions, so modeling this skill is invaluable. This can be further reinforced especially for visual learners by using a document camera or overhead projector to write questions, mark key words and phrases, and interact with a text. And as always, encourage students to read with a pen or pencil in hand.

Guide Students in Setting Reading Goals

While writing goals are used regularly in the classroom, students do not assess personal reading skills on a regular basis. Begin the year by having students write a reader's biography to gain insight into their reading habits, struggles, and successes; this serves as a foundation for discussions on setting reading goals. After reading a novel, nonfiction text, short story, or poetry unit, help students evaluate their reading skills: Did you feel confident reading the text? Why or why not? What parts of the text gave you trouble? Could you have used a different strategy to make reading the text easier? Students should evaluate goals on a regular basis and create new goals based on their needs and growth.

Vary Text Length

When approaching a particularly difficult text, break it up and offer it in shorter segments. Students often become discouraged with lengthy texts that require intense concentration. Giving smaller segments allows the students to digest chunks in pieces, acquire academic vocabulary, and build confidence.

Offer Opportunities for Choice Reading

Simply put, the best way to improve reading is to read, and students are more likely to read when they have a choice in the reading. Newsela and CommonLit offer a variety of nonfiction articles for choice (and CommonLit includes fiction as well); both sites include articles with various grade levels and across multiple disciplines. Classroom libraries built from donations, garage sales, and thrift shops encourage students to take books for personal reading. Ask students about their interests and make recommendations. Reading for pleasure builds transferable skills for content reading and should be encouraged, including in class.

Assess Content and Skill

Students should be able to demonstrate their skills in assessment, whether it's formal or informal, formative or summative. Recall and comprehension questions are a good way to check for basic understanding, but teachers should then move to the harder how and why questions. Choose activities that require students to dig deep into a text, such as:

Facilitate a socratic discussion.

Create a playlist for a character.

Write a formal essay.

Make a meme for a character.

Present a mini-TED talk on research inspired by a text.

Create a mind map, literary 3x3, or infographic.

Most teachers already incorporate skill building in their classes to some degree; however, taking time to discuss and actively engage students in the process will keep skill development at the forefront of learning. The result will be students who not only make gains in reading but also have an understanding of how to become better readers.

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6 Techniques for Building Reading Skills-in Any Subject

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As avid lovers of literature, teachers often find themselves wanting to impart every bit of knowledge about a well-loved text to their students. And this is not just an ELA issue-other disciplines also often focus on the content of a text.

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Imagine walking into an early elementary school classroom and seeing all students immersed in literacy experiences. Children are engaged in a variety of reading and writing activities while some students are working in groups and others working individually. Students explore books of various genres not just in the library or during reading times, but also in science, math, and social studies. During math the teacher reads aloud a book on math such as The Math Curse (Scieszka & Lane, 1995) and discusses the content in order to expose students to literacy across all content areas. During science, students explore the science literature such as eyewitness books to gain greater knowledge about concepts. Students interact with books on CD-Rom and listen to books on tape. Materials in the classroom are adapted not only to help students with challenges interact with text, but also to serve as a motivator for reading. Students write books and reports in all of the content areas, as well as writing in student journals and notebooks. When needing a resource for more information, students use books, computers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and word walls, as well as teachers and peers for assistance.

The classroom has labels with words and pictures everywhere so that students constantly connect written language with the things they represent. Teachers display these labels based on student needs and interest to provide children with disabilities support in the classroom (Dorrell, 2002). Students use calendars, schedules, signs, and directions to see how words can be used everyday. Teachers and students reconstruct the classroom to represent a book or a theme that the class has studied with written materials so that students can live in the lesson. All materials are adapted to meet the needs of children with disabilities. For example, Braille and textured materials may be used in labels, signs, and other displays for children with visual impairments.

Teachers engage in language and literacy activities in all elements of instruction. Conversations abound in which teachers elicit language from students and ask them to transcribe that language. For example, a teacher conducting a science lesson may request hypotheses, observations, and conclusions from students in an oral and written form. Teachers also facilitate language and literacy exploration with games and activities that students can use one-to-one, independently, or with peers. Finally, teachers demonstrate their own participation in language and literacy through modeling its use continually throughout the day. Teachers can demonstrate writing on the board by recording what children share in class discussions.

From the atmosphere and decor of the room to interactions with peers and teachers, every element of the classroom is designed to allow students with disabilities explore the elements of literacy. The literacy rich environment emphasizes the importance of speaking, reading, and writing in the learning of all students. This involves the selection of materials that will facilitate language and literacy opportunities; reflection and thought regarding classroom design; and intentional instruction and facilitation by teachers and staff (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1999). Because literacy-rich environments can be individualized to meet student's needs, teachers are able to create both independent and directed activities to enhance understanding of concept of print and word, linguistic and phonemic awareness, and vocabulary development. All of this occurs in a concrete setting giving students with disabilities multiple opportunities to gain the skills necessary to participate in the general education curriculum. For example, books, technology, manipulative materials, art projects, and explorative activities can be used around a central theme.

Classroom materials for literacy-rich environments

The intentional selection and use of materials is central to the development of the literacy-rich environment. Teachers ensure that students have access to a variety of resources by providing many choices. Teaching staff connect literacy to all elements of classroom life. Teaching staff alternate books in the classroom library to maintain student's interest and expose them to various genres and ideas (International Reading Association [IRA] & the National Association for the Education of Young children [NAEYC], 1998). For example, teachers should include both fiction and nonfiction literature. Classrooms include miscellaneous literacy materials that are used in everyday life further demonstrate how literacy is used (Goodman, Bird, & Goodman, 1991).

Examples of materials

Taking dictation for students not yet fluent in writing allows students to see how oral language is translated into written language. Written words let students see what they say. Therefore, writing makes thoughts visible. As students make attempts to write, allowing for diverse materials (pens, pencils, markers, and crayons of varying shapes and sizes, typewriters, computers, keyboards, magnetic writing boards, etc.) increases students choice and motivation. Adapted materials such as tactile books, manipulatives, slant boards, and pencil grips for diverse learners offers accessibility and motivation. Home-school connections are made through lending materials that ensure that students with diverse ability have literacy opportunities at home as well as at school. Parents are made aware of the materials and shown how students can use them at home.

Adapted materials

Tactile Books - textured print or pictures within books for students to touch and sniff

Manipulatives - hands-on skill building materials such as pattern blocks, color tiles, and reading rods

Slant boards - boards propped up on an angled book stands to assist students with their writing

Pencil grips - a pre-shaped grip that is placed over a pencil to assist students with proper grip and letter formation

Conclusion

The literacy-rich classroom serves as a means to build the basic skills necessary for literacy development by demonstrating to students with disabilities the function and utility of language in an intentional, purposeful, and intensive way. While many students come to school with exposure to literacy in their everyday lives, students who may not have access or exposure benefit from the instruction and intensity provided by teachers and staff in this setting. Given the support of this environment, students are better prepared to work on other literacy skills including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

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The literacy-rich environment emphasizes the importance of speaking, reading, and writing in the learning of all students. This involves the selection of materials that will facilitate language and literacy opportunities; reflection and thought regarding classroom design; and intentional instruction and facilitation by teachers and staff.

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Insightful and Contains Links to a myriad of resources.

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Life is integrated. Why isn't learning?

Discipline-based learning was popularized in the mid 19th century. Disciplines were locked into place by course and credit structures a century ago. While experts would argue that disciplines have unique epistemologies worth exploring, the drawbacks of a discipline-based approach have long outlasted the benefits. It dampens engagement, narrows learning and damages preparation

Eighty years ago, the National Council of Teachers of English (ironically, a discipline-based organization) encouraged correlation (casual attention to related subjects), fusion of two subjects (often called multidisciplinary learning) and integration (the unification of all subjects and experiences).

Repko (2009) and others have asserted that interdisciplinary instruction fosters advances in cognitive ability and gains in the ability to recognize bias, think critically, tolerate ambiguity, acknowledge and appreciate ethical concerns.

The rise of whole-student outcome frameworks (e.g., Deeper Learning, MyWays, NMEF Student-Centered Learning, and GPS Transferable Skills) makes extended and challenging interdisciplinary essential.

Why do 95% of high schools retain discipline-based structure and staffing decades after the cost has been shown to significantly outweigh the benefit? As Tevya said, "Tradition!" More specifically, it's due to state graduation requirements, college entrance requirements, discipline-based certification and university education. For decades, school boards adopted discipline-based textbooks and publishers delivered. In the 1990s, state standards were set by discipline-based groups. In high schools, master schedules take on a life of their own and employment contracts lock in department structures.

Ok, ok, disciplines are a monster of our own creation. But how to break out of the box? This post outlines a few integrated schools, networks, resources and models that might be helpful.

12 Integrated Schools

Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Pam Moran (@pammoran) urged us to check out Albemarle High (@AlbemarleHigh) and this video.

, in Cambridge Massachusetts, is an innovative school based on a project-based studio model lead by coaches who are leaders in their industry, experts in diverse fields, and passionate thought leaders.

Building 21 Philadelphia is a non-selective competency-based public high school in Philadelphia supported by a nonprofit launched by three Harvard grad students. Students are supported to design their own pathway to graduation-a pathway defined by B21's competency-based framework-with a series of dashboards for students and teachers to use to inform their experiences (featured on CompetencyWorks).

Boston Day and Evening Academy has proficiency-based pathways that allow students to progress based on demonstrated mastery rather than seat time. Students benefit from wraparound services, digital tools that help create a personalized approach, and a school open 12 hours a day. Self-paced alternative ed meets adventure-based leadership training meets blended learning (see our feature).

Kettle Moraine, west of Milwaukee, has some very interesting charter schools including KM Perform, with a performing arts blend, and KM Global, a flex model global studies school (listen to our podcast with superintendent Pat DeKlotz.)

Boise nonprofit One Stone opened a small innovative high school to help young people make the world a better place (see feature, podcast and video).

4 Integrated School Networks

The 200 schools that make up the New Tech Network share an integrated project-based learning model and platform. Most learning takes place in big double classrooms through the collaboration of two teachers working together as a team to co-facilitate a course. By integrating subjects together, the course better reflects the way content and projects work in the world, with many subjects co-mingled. Since most secondary teachers are only specialists in one subject area, New Tech schools pair teachers together to collaboratively design those integrated projects. New Tech Teachers use Echo, a project-based learning platform with a big library of integrated projects.

A recent podcast of ours featured Oso New Tech and their English-World Studies course and innovative Art-Biology mashup. Health and Physical Education and Physics and Algebra 2 are other common combinations.

Matt Bertasso directs Compass Academy in Idaho Falls School District 91. In 2016, Matt led the development of Compass 2.0, a reengineering of course integrations (pictured below). The links between bubbles represent integrated project-based learning experiences.

Big Picture Learning is a national school network that starts with interest-based internships and adds integrated projects and personalized learning.

EL Education (@ELeducation) is another project-based school network. The network focus has shifted to developing and supporting open source literacy curriculum. Models of Excellence is a curated, open-source collection of high-quality PreK-12 student work.

Integrated Curriculum

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) support the shift to 'doing' science-conducting inquiries and constructing understanding-by embracing crosscutting concepts and practices. It's not curriculum, but NGSS should lead to more integrated content.

Buck Institute for Education is the Gold Standard for project-based learning. They offer seven integrated units on economics, six on government, and tons of examples across the curriculum.

Global Learning Models has great integrated high school courses linked to #GlobalGoals. Digital Promise also has challenge-based learning resources linked to Global Goals.

Literacy Design Collaborative (@LitDesignCollab) promotes literacy across the curriculum with quality prompts and a collaborative lesson authoring environment.

EduChange (@EduChange) has offered integrated science since 2002.

There's a lot more out there. What did we miss? Feel free to add your thoughts to the comments section below.

And one last thought-you don't have to reorganize your whole school. You can start with one integrated unit planned with the teacher across the hall. Just get started!

For more, see:
Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update

Tom Vander Ark is author of Difference Making at the Heart of Learning, The Power of Place, Better Together, Smart Parents, Smart Cities and Getting Smart. He is co-founder of Getting Smart and Learn Capital and serves on the boards of Education Board Partners, 4.0 Schools, Digital Learning Institute, Latinx Education Collaborative, Mastery Transcript Consortium and eduInnovation. Follow Tom on Twitter, @tvanderark.

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Integrated Curriculum: Why It Matters and Where to Find It

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Life is integrated. Why isn't learning? Discipline-based learning was popularized in the mid 19th century. Disciplines were locked into place by course and credit structures a century ago. While experts would argue that disciplines have unique epistemologies worth exploring, the drawbacks of a discipline-based approach have long outlasted the benefits.

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An anchor chart to help students select just the right book. 

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8 Ways to Use Commonlit in Middle and High School

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We ❤️using this free digital tool across the curriculum.

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Combining Literacy Skills and Community Building (SEL)

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Combining Literacy Skills and Community Building (SEL)

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A shared reading journal strategy encourages rich conversations that support differentiated instruction and social and emotional learning.

These days, many of us are struggling to stay on top of our reading, both personal and professional. Our workloads are often overwhelming, and precious time with books and articles is often a casualty.

But educators aren't the only ones struggling to adapt to new literacy norms-many kids are, too. Some don't have a quiet place to read, others are unengaged and unmotivated, and still others are just plain tired or depressed.

In the face of this crisis in reading, teachers need reliable methods that attend to social and emotional learning and cultural sensitivity while being flexible enough to work in multiple modes of instruction-synchronous or asynchronous, in person or remote.

It's worth exploring a versatile approach called the reading conversation journal (RCJ) that engages students in reading in a thoughtful, personal way that works well in a virtual environment.

What a Reading Conversation Journal Is and How It Works

Reading conversation journals are rooted in the notion that literacy growth and development are energized and amplified through carefully crafted, deliberate talk between student and teacher that unfolds-sometimes over the course of an entire academic year-ideally in an online document. Teacher and student write back and forth to each other, but the student leads the conversation, while the teacher coaches with deliberate, calculated comments and questions, providing literacy instruction based on the student's individual interests, needs, and developing skill.

The RCJ model adapts the usual side-by-side approach by shifting individual conferences online and takes it up a notch because resources from the internet can become part of the conversation. Within an RCJ, teachers can spontaneously recommend books; suggest articles and infographics related to student interests; share YA novel and movie trailers; post music videos, commercials, how-to tutorials, and read-alouds; relay author interviews and related book and genre lists; offer multilingual novels and book translations; and steer readers toward online libraries and book clubs, fan fiction, reviews, and Amazon previews.

An RCJ is a powerful literacy tool, but it can also double as a check-and-connect SEL mechanism. I've found that over time, students often reveal social, emotional, and mental health struggles in their RCJ, as well as things that are affecting their learning success or focus in school (e.g., bus, cafeteria, or hallway problems; name or pronoun changes; parental or sibling concerns; or frustrations with other classes).

The Instructional Benefits of the RCJ

RCJs create opportunities for one-on-one conversations with students, even if those conversations are asynchronous. Students can share what they think about what book they're reading and how those books make them feel, directly with their teacher. That deep thinking helps make them comfortable with the very act of talking about books, which is of course crucial to literacy.

There are other benefits, too.

Equity: Any given class can be populated with a combination of ELLs, students with special needs, and students with different literacy skill levels. RCJs allow all students the opportunity to grow and develop academically, socially, and emotionally, at a pace that works for them.

Differentiated instruction: With digital conversation journals, teachers can read students' work any time, but the data they get from the journal can inform more formal one-on-one conferences, resulting in conferences that are more focused and characterized by more deliberate teaching tactics.

Easy record keeping: Digital reading journals can function as a running record for each student in any classroom. Information from them can document how specific readers are progressing toward IEP or 504 learning objectives; be shared with parents who are curious about what their children are reading and how their writing is progressing; and be folded into responsive teaching practices.

Authentic reading and writing instruction: When literacy teachers feel limited in the classroom, often citing state and district testing mandates and curricular guides, student writing and reading assignments tend to follow suit, resulting in assembly-line assignments culminating in bland five-paragraph response essays. RCJs counter that by encouraging choice and creative commentary, which increases motivation. An RCJ can even operate as a yearlong reading response essay with multiple thesis statements, multiple texts, multiple genres, and hundreds of chances for precise, differentiated reading and writing instruction.

Getting Started

Teachers can ask students to write in the journal daily, every other day, or once a week. If the writing is happening in the Google Classroom, teachers can view live writing, quickly scroll through an entire classroom full of journals, and even watch volume increase and revisions happen in real time. (Be sure to have students write their newest entry at the top of the document so you don't have to scroll to find it.) Hold virtual writers accountable by saying things like, "Kamal, I don't see you in your journal" or "Alina, you have only written one sentence. Can you look over the questions I asked and see if you can elaborate a bit?"

Here are some things to remember as you start your digital reading conversation journals in your class.

Respond regularly: Regular writing is key, and so is regular teacher response. Don't let too many days go by without responding to what students are writing. This is ultimately a conversation, so treat it like one.

Ask questions to promote thought and exploration: Questions allow students to think more deeply about what they are reading and promote more writing volume. Asking questions about how readers are feeling, what they are learning, and where they are headed is an important part of the RCJ process. Questions can be chosen depending on the skill level of the reader.

Share your own stories: Share stories about yourself in the digital exchanges you have with your students so that your human, personal side emerges and reveals itself. This builds deeper, more meaningful relationships and trust in any kind of classroom.

De-emphasize grading: The response writing should have the feel of a conversation-casual, continuous, intimate, organic. If students are thinking about earning a grade (or the criteria on a 10-point rubric), they are less apt to talk freely, and they are much less likely to say or realize anything interesting.

Allow the conversation to wander: Reading conversation journals give students space to talk to a caring adult about the things that excite them, the things that get them out of bed each day, and their passions, beliefs, and struggles. Let the conversation veer into the realm of movies, video games, sports stars, or fan fiction. Also, in these tangents, students might reveal information that could help you better differentiate instruction or understand their learning style and classroom goals. Moreover, tangents might be where students reveal details about their home life, language needs, physical disabilities, classroom seating preference, reading or writing limitations and history, and emerging beliefs and philosophies about culture and lifestyle choices.

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Combining Literacy Skills and Community Building

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A shared reading journal strategy encourages rich conversations that support differentiated instruction and social and emotional learning. These days, many of us are struggling to stay on top of our reading, both personal and professional. Our workloads are often overwhelming, and precious time with books and articles is often a casualty.

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CommonLit definitely keeps me organized. It's easy for me to grade and it's easy for me to see students' reading growth increase throughout the year.

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The CommonLit assessment questions are aligned to our ELA standards, which is extremely helpful when prepping for the state exam.

Teachers trust CommonLit to foster students' reading comprehension

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CommonLit | Free Online Reading Passages and Literacy Resources

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CommonLit is a comprehensive literacy program with thousands of reading lessons, full-year ELA curriculum, benchmark assessments, and standards-based data for teachers.

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Customizing and Assign a Digital Lesson on CommonLit

Previewing CommonLit's Student Experience

Scaffolding Reading Instruction Using CommonLit

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Student Choice and Voice

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Student-Centered, Asset-Based Learning

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Type the school or site name you wish to access in the "Search for Site Name" box to the left or click the boxes on the left to find the school or department group you would like to search.

You can search the library catalogs at any school without logging into Destiny.

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Do you want to find out if a textbook or supplemental material has been Governing Board approved? Click here to get the instructions. Are you a TUSD employee who wants to look for surplus textbooks and supplemental material to use with TUSD students? Do you want to search for a textbook or resource at your site?

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CommonLit is a free digital library of leveled texts: news articles, poems, short stories, and historical documents. You can filter collections by grade level, Lexile level, theme, genre, literary device, and even Common Core State Standards. Every passage includes footnotes with vocabulary words and essential background information. An adaptive-technology-type toolbar for online reading includes a dictionary, a highlighter, text-to-speech functionality, and translation features for 13 languages. Below the toolbar, you'll find a question set included side by side with the text: four discussion questions, five text-dependent multiple-choice questions, and one short-answer question. The text-dependent questions address Common Core standards, and each of those standards is noted right next to the question. Suggestions for paired passages and related media resources are also included, and you'll find those in the tabs along the top of each page. Multiple-choice responses and short-answer exemplars are included in the Teacher Guide tab. In addition, the Parent Guide tab comes filled with suggestions to extend learning at home.

Students and teachers can sign up for free accounts. Teacher accounts include an easy-to-navigate teacher dashboard that allows you to create multiple classes, assign reading passages to students, score responses to questions, and track progress for an entire class or an individual student. Student data is gathered and displayed in colorful, easy-to-follow visuals that include graphs, tables, and charts. At the bottom of the teacher dashboard, you'll even find a list of students who need to be challenged more and those who may need further remediation.

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CommonLit Review for Teachers | Common Sense Education

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CommonLit is a free digital library of leveled texts: news articles, poems, short stories, and historical documents. You can filter collections by grade level, Lexile level, theme, genre, literary device, and even Common Core State Standards. Every passage includes footnotes with vocabulary words and essential background information.

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CommonLit | Many U.S. Football players had brain disease, data show

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Watching football, it's clear that it's a rough sport and can cause serious physical injuries. But how dangerous is it to players' brains? In this informational text, Aimee Cunningham discusses a study that looks at football players' brains and the effects of repeated hits to the head.

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In this informational text, Pamela Huber describes a special mathematical formula, known as the golden ratio, and its uses by humans and in nature.

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Nipsey Hussle and the Street Art of Los Angeles

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Nipsey Hussle and the Street Art of Los Angeles

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View the CommonLit collection and filter by grade level, theme, genre, literacy device and common core standard.

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View the CommonLit collection and filter by grade level, theme, genre, literacy device and common core standard.

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Ever wonder why people all look and act differently? This informational text explains that people's traits, like their different appearances and personalities, develop mainly from two sources: their parents' genes and the environment.

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There is a disproportionately large number of boys who participate in math competitions and pursue math-related careers later on in life. Where are all the girls? In this informational text, Rachel Crowell discusses researchers' attempt to answer this question.

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CommonLit | The Nature vs. Nurture Debate by CommonLit Staff | CommonLit

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CommonLit | Cesar Chavez: His Fight for the Farm Workers

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Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) was a Latin American labor leader and civil rights activist. In this informational text, Barbara Bloom discusses Chavez's activism and how he improved the rights of farm workers.