Read Works
Read Works: Jumping Bodies
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a story about a boy named Charles who has the ability to switch bodies. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: See if I Care
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a newspaper editor who is tricked into following a false lead. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Fuels of the Future
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read about renewable energy sources that may replace fossil fuel in the future. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in comparing and contrasting.
Read Works
Read Works: Finger Food
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage is sharing information about the implementation of finger scanning technology in a school cafeteria. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills...
Read Works
Read Works: About You How Music Affects Your Mood
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction piece discusses how music influences mood. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding for...
Read Works
Read Works: The History of Planet Earth
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational text passage shares information about the history of the earth and its landforms. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...
Other
New York State Library: Student Activity: Primary Versus Secondary Sources
Read about the Railroad Strike of 1877 using three excerpts from textbooks and three original newspaper articles. Compare and contrast the information in the primary and secondary sources.
Education Development Center
Education Development Center: Tv411: Reading Structure of a News Story
Interactive lesson explains the content and organization of newspaper articles. Includes self-scoring exercises for practicing identifying the five W's (who, what, when, where, and why) in a series of brief news articles and a...
Education Development Center
Education Development Center: Tv411: Parts of a Newspaper
Students click through a lesson about the parts of a newspaper and answer questions about the types of articles found in each section, headlines, and captions that would go with photographs. Links to related videos are also provided.
Education Development Center
Tv411: Reading: Parts of a Newspaper
A series of three activities help readers become familiar with parts of a newspaper, from sections to headlines and captions.
Other
Primary Research Through the History of Beverly
At Beverly High School in Massachusetts, students learn history through their own primary research on local history topics. This article and links from it explain how it's done.
Scholastic
Scholastic Teaching Resources: Informational Reading Response [Pdf]
This graphic organizer can be used with students when they read informational text. Students will write three facts they learned, two questions they still have after reading, and one interesting fact that they want to share.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Compare Narrative and Informational Texts: Practice 1
Evaluate changes in audience, purpose, and tone in two different texts.
Other
Mine Safety and Health Administration: How a Bill Becomes a Law
This website provides a very simple walk-through of how a bill becomes a law, with minimal explanation.
iCivics
I Civics: Three Branches: Laws in Action
Embark on his WebQuest to follow the path an idea takes to eventually become a law. Read a short description regarding the role of each branch of government and then answer a follow-up question using the link provided.
Other
Learning Farm: Compare and Contrast Informational Texts
In this narrated tutorial, students are presented with information about first and third points of view, then read two passages about the same event and answer questions that compare how the topic is presented. After completing the...
US Government Publishing Office
Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: Learning Adventures: Branches of Government
Introduction to a learning adventure on the Constitution and branches of government. Students click on their age group icon to find information on which part of the Constitution spells out the powers of legislative, executive and...
US Government Publishing Office
Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: Judicial Branch (6 8)
This site from Ben's Guide to U.S. Government provides a brief overview of the judicial branch of the federal government. Discusses the origin of the judicial branch, the concept of judicial review, and functions of the judicial branch....
The Dirksen Congressional Center
Congress for Kids: Legislative Branch, the Senate
Activities that students can use to understand the job of the US Senate, and become more engaged in the legislative process.
The Dirksen Congressional Center
Congress for Kids: The Legislative Branch: Making Laws
Discover how laws are made in the United States, and then complete the trivia questions as a follow-up activity.
The Dirksen Congressional Center
Congress for Kids: The Legislative Branch: House of Representatives
Read a brief synopsis of the House of Representatives in the Legislative Branch, and then complete the short quiz to check for understanding.
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum: Three Branches of Our Government
This slide and the six that follow it (use the advance button near the bottom of the screen) offer an explanation of each of the three branches of government and the duties they perform, including discussion of the tensions arising from...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets
This is a collection of 35 Grade-Leveled text sets (4-11). They are great for social studies teachers or for building background knowledge in reading class, CommonLit's text sets cover a range of historical, cultural, and political...
US Government Publishing Office
Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: The Senate
Information about the qualifications and duties of the United States Senate.