These are crazy times we are living in. Here are a few resources to help my fellow teachers. Sending Lots of Love and Peace to all of you!
Leveled News-Based Reading Websites
Each website has news articles available at different reading levels and related reading and vocabulary activities. Sites with an asterisk (*) require account set up. All have free versions; some have paid versions with extra features.
https://breakingnewsenglish.
*https://newsela.com/ (News stories available at several reading levels with corresponding quizzes, vocabulary exercises, and writing activities.)
*https://tweentribune.com (Produced by the Smithsonian Institute. Students can read articles without registering but must have an account to take quizzes.)
Leveled Reading Websites (not news-based)
Each website has reading passages available at different reading levels and related reading and vocabulary activities. All require account set up and have free versions; some have paid versions with extra features.
*http://er-central.com (Free. 20 different levels; students can listen while reading.)
*https://www.readworks.org/ (Topics ranging from STEM to literature.)
Other Websites
www.mentimeter.com (Mentimeter can be used to create presentations, polls, quizzes, word clouds, and more. Free and paid versions; account set-up is required.)
perusall.com (Billed as a “social e-reader,” this website/app lets students and teachers mark up documents together. It integrates with Canvas, Blackboard, and other LMSs. It is free if you are using your own documents.)
Book
Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters by Kylene Beers & Robert Probst (April 2017, Scholastic Teaching Resources). Available from Amazon.
The book outlines strategies for increasing students’ engagement with and comprehension of reading materials and helps teachers foster students’ lifelong reading habits.
Article
Excerpted from a scholarly book entitled The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads by Daniel T. Willingham (May 2017, Jossey-Bass).
The excerpt is called “What works for getting kids to enjoy reading?” and can be found at