Reading online can be lots of fun, fast, and simple when you know a few places to go and some strategies for reading on the web.

Today we can find a wealth of informational (expository) reading online.  The links below will guide you in your search. Remember that there are different skills for reading informational text and different skills for online reading. If needed, Mrs. Newton can help you match the best resource to your need.

Banner adapted from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images

How to Determine an Article's Readability

* Did you know that you can type or copy and paste an article into Word. Word will give you a readability score.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/test-your-document-s-readability-HP010148506.aspx gives you step-by-step directions.


* Okapi is a web based application that enables you to type or paste text, articles, or social studies, science or health text into a form that will return a reading probe and readability analysis of the text. Be sure to use the Dale-Chall Readability Formula for middle school grades.
http://www.lefthandlogic.com/htmdocs/tools/okapi/okapi.php

Article Sources

Try these first...

* Articles of the Week- Passages with Lexiles, middle school and high school level
http://vms.vale.k12.or.us/articles-week

* ReadWorks - Passages with Lexiles, elementary level - high school
http://www.readworks.org/passages

* Newsela - Free leveled nonfiction, current events, primary source texts with assessments.
https://newsela.com

* Scholastic's Differentiated Articles - contains 3 levels of the same article; usually with a 200 Lexile score difference between each
http://action.scholastic.com/Differentiated-Articles

* Scholastic's Listen and Read - contains 3 levels of True Stories, includes a listening component and quizzes
http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754584

* Tween Tribune 
GREAT RESOURCE for weekly high-interest short articles
http://www.tweentribune.com

* DOGO News - Also available through the Mackin Via app.
https://www.dogonews.com

* Middle Search® Plus 
Contains full text for more than 140 popular, middle school magazines. All full text articles are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexile). Must access through INSPIRE
http://wfxsearch.webfeat.org/clients/wfxisl/isl_qs.asp?cid=12240

Also peruse these sites... 

• Breaking News English Lessons: ESL Plans Teaching Current Events English lesson plans
  Free lessons and online activities, handouts and podcast for teaching current events, speaking, listening... http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com

• Center for Urban Education - one page passages by grade level and strategies
  http://teacher.depaul.edu/Nonfiction_Reading_Resources.html

• CNN Education - Breaking News, US, World, Weather ...
  http://edition.cnn.com/studentnews

• Common Core Text Exemplars
  http://www.achievethecore.org/steal-these-tools/close-reading-exemplars

• ElleGirl - Free dress up games, get beauty tips and find out the latest in celebrity fashion at Elle Girl.
  http://ellegirl.elle.com

• izzit - Current event lessons and materials many of which offer alternative prespectives
  http://www.izzit.org/events/index.php

• Learning from NY Times
  Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older
  http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com

• One Page Reading and Thinking Passages aligned to Common Core
  http://teacher.depaul.edu/Nonfiction_Readings.htm

• National Geographic Kids News
  Kids News highlights news, features, and science articles on subjects of interest to kids. Sites for teachers and parents include lesson plans and teaching materials.
  http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories

• Newsweek ~ Online version
  http://www.newsweek.com

• PBS News Hour Extra 
  US, World, Science, Economics, Health, Art/Media, Student Voices, and Teacher Center
  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra

• People in the News 
  Listed by specific years 1997 through now
  http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0908502.html

• Popular Science
  http://www.popsci.com  137 years of archived magazines http://www.popsci.com/archives

• Science News
  The bi-weekly news magazine of the Society for Science & the Public
  http://www.sciencenews.org

• Science News for Kids
  http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org
  or go to the article archive 

• Smithsonian KidsCastle
  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/?source=kidscastle.si.edu

• Sports Illustrated for Kids
  http://www.sikids.com/blogs

• Teen Vogue 
  http://www.teenvogue.com

• Time ~ Online version
  http://www.time.com/time

• Time for Kids
  This fun, interactive news site from TIME magazine categorizes current events articles and activities by grade level and includes games, trivia, and a homework helper.
  http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news

• The Why Files
  The science behind the news
  http://whyfiles.org

Strategies (for Teachers)

• 21st Century Literacies
  http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies

• Classroom Strategies - Download "before," "during," and "after" strategies.
  http://www.adlit.org/strategy_library

• Comparing Electronic and Print Texts About the Civil War Soldiers http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/comparing-electronic-print-texts-68.html

• Connecting News with National Science Education Standards
  http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/connectingnews

• e-Moments - A list of strategies that capitalize on how students learn best. “e-Moments” are moments when students become engaged, get connected, and make personal meaning of the content they are learning.
  http://www.tarleton.edu/~deltaconference/emoments.pdf

• EnglishCompanion Tools
  http://www.englishcompanion.com/classroom/notemaking.htm 

• Fiction and Non-fiction Outline Templates
  http://www.donjohnston.com/downloads/rol_guides/Fiction_and_Non-fiction_Outline_Templates/index.html

• Glenwood Intermediate Reading Strategies  
  http://gis.bcsd.k12.il.us/Classroom%20Web%20Pages/Reading%20Web/Reading%20Teacher%20Resources.htm

• Increasing ELL Student Reading Comprehension with Non-fiction Text
  http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/29035

• Hoax Sites
  Evaluate these! Note: Teachers, as with any resource, do review these pages before using them.
  http://www.shsu.edu/~lis_mah/documents/TCEA/hoaxtable.html

• How to Detect Hoax Web Sites - Examples and think alouds
  http://tepserver.ucsd.edu/courses/tep203/fa04/b/classnotes/hoax.html

• Nonfiction Text Features - Lesson with graphic organizer for text features. ... Google.docs

• Online Reading Stategies - A Flash example of a ThinkAloud

• P.I.E.S.  - An anacronym to help evaluate the "bias" behind the message. (pdf) Created by Mrs. Newton.
  http://fayette.k12.in.us/cmslmc/reading/PIES.pdf

• Prints and Photographs - from the Library of Congress
  http://www.loc.gov/pictures

• Reading Critically - Explores the C.L.A.I.M. method of thinking critically about reading.
  http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/critical.html

• Reading Quest - Strategies, while noted as a Social Studies resource, the strategies can be used across content areas.
  http://www.readingquest.org/strat

• S.O.S. for Information Literacy - Web-based multimedia resource that includes peer-reviewed lesson plans, handouts, presentations, videos and other resources to enhance the teaching of information literacy (K-16). Voted one of the TOP 25 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning by AASL.
  http://www.informationliteracy.org

• Strategy Guide for Online Reading
  http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/reading-online-30096.html

• TeachHub - Need something to spice up your lesson plans? Looking for ways to get students excited about learning? Archive of more than 500 rintables and lesson plans inspired by pop culture & news headlines, aligned to teaching standards, available for K-12 grade levels & core subjects
   https://www.teachhub.com/pop-lesson-plans/?publicxid=fc67d241e984bdb4cd85a0a378015802

• Teach Students How to Read Nonfiction Texts by Jim Burke 
  Look at the links on the right for specific genres
  http://www.englishcompanion.com/classroom/readNarrative.htm

• Twenty-Five Great Ideas for Teaching Current Events
  http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson072.shtm

• Using THIEVES to Preview Nonfiction Texts
  http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/using-thieves-preview-nonfiction-112.html

Fact vs Fiction - Truth or Hoax?

• Hoax or No Hoax?
  Lesson Plan from ReadWriteThink.org

• Mythbusters from the Discovery Channel
  Is it myth or fact? Take our MythBusters  quizzes to find out.
  http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/quiz/quiz.html

• R A D C A B
  Learn how to evaluate an article, document, or web page.
  http://www.radcab.com

• Snopes - Urban Legends Reference Pages
  The definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation.
  http://www.snopes.com

Newspapers

• Newseum - Today's front pages
  http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages

• Newspapers - US and Worldwide
  http://www.refdesk.com/paper.html

• Newspaper Source™
  Provides cover-to-cover full text for 20 national (U.S.) & international newspapers, including The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Times (London), Toronto Star, etc. Must access through INSPIRE
  http://wfxsearch.webfeat.org/clients/wfxisl/isl_qs.asp?cid=12240

• Newspaper Clipping Generator - Create your own newspaper clipping
  http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp