Below is the link for Newsela.
Strategies to use with Newsela
The goal of Newsela is to improve nonfiction reading and create a social awareness building upon our classroom content. Newsela is hard. Follow the strategies below to help you.
1. Read the articles more than once before taking a quiz.
2. Annotate (TttT) within the articles.
3. Read the articles at a lower lexile score, building up to the required lexile score.
4. Print the articles and TttT on the articles.
5. When taking the quizzes, refer back to the articles to find evidence to support your answer.
6. Read the article out loud; often, we are better at monitoring our understanding when we do so.
NEWSELA: Quick Start Guide for Write (Student)
To respond to a prompt
1 In the sign-in bar (black), click on the Binder link.
2 A list will appear, showing all of your assignments.
3 Scroll to the Your Work section to view all assignments for all classes.
4 Click on the article.
5 Read the article.
6 In the reading level bar, click on the Write icon.
7 The Write section appears on the right side of the page.
8 Click on the class for which you want to type a response.
9 Note: If you are only enrolled in one class, you will automatically see the prompt.
10. In the field under the prompt, type your response.
11.Note: As you type, Newsela will autosave your work. You can return to this prompt at a later time to make changes.
12.Once you are ready to submit your response to your teacher, click on the Submit button.
13.Note: You will no longer be able to update your response once you click on the Submit button.
Each writing prompt should be:
Be 7-10 sentences in length
Use a quote from the article as evidence
Use a MLA in-text citation
Follow the guidelines addressed in the prompt
Newsela is a non-fiction database of current articles. Some of you have never read non-fiction before. It’s different from reading fiction.
Newsela asks you to think critically. Often, answers are similar. Look carefully at word choice and find evidence to support your answer. For most of you, this is the first time doing so and it’s difficult. You are not expected to get 100s on all articles. Some will be easier than others. Some may be more interesting than others.
Think of it as training your brain to think in a different way than you have in the past. It’s not just about finding the right answer, it’s about finding the best answer.