Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Influential Speeches

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This is a collection of 47 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12) on the topic Influential Speeches. What makes a great speech, and what makes a great speech memorable? Study some of the most influential speeches in history and learn how they...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Immigration

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 24 Grade-Leveled texts (5-11) on the topic of Immigration. Most Americans can trace their ancestry back to immigrants coming to the New World. Learn about America's history of immigration, particularly during the...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Native American History

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 27 Grade-Leveled texts (4-12) on the topic Native American History. Before European settlers came to North America, millions of native people lived in many unique societies. Explore the history of Native Americans...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Mythology

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This is a collection of 18 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12) on the topic of Mythology. From prehistory to the present, mythology has played an essential role in how humans interact with and understand the world around them. Explore a world of...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: The Holocaust

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 26 Grade-Leveled texts (6-11) on the topic The Holocaust. The Holocaust was one of the worst genocides in history, in which Adolph Hitler's Nazi Germany killed over six million Jews and five million others deemed...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: The Great Depression

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 12 Grade-Leveled texts (3-11) on the topic The Great Depression. On October 29, 1929, the Roaring Twenties ended with the crash of the American stock market, initiating The Great Depression. The world struggled to...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: The Gilded Age

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 8 Grade-Leveled texts (5-12) on the topic "The Gilded Age." Mark Twain named 1870-1900 "The Gilded Age" in hopes of capturing how the era of serious social problems was veiled by a thin layer of gold. While robber...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Founding the United States

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This is a collection of 15 Grade-Leveled texts (5-12) on the topic The Founding of America. Once the Revolutionary War was over, America's Founding Fathers had to develop a nation. Learn about the founding of American democracy, from the...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: College and Career Choices

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 12 Grade-Leveled texts (8-12) on the topic College and Career Choices. Start the conversation about your students' future aspirations with these texts. Build their knowledge of what college is really like, how to...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: The Cold War

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 16 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12) on the topic The Cold War. After America and the Soviet Union fought as allies in World War II, a new "cold" war emerged between the two superpowers characterized not by direct...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: The Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 29 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12)on the topic The Civil War. The American Civil War lasted for only 5 years but divided the country along bitter lines as the North fought to keep southern states from seceding from the...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: The Civil Rights Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 34 Grade-Leveled texts (4-12)on the topic The Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement emerged after nearly a century of little progress for African Americans following the end of slavery. Explore the...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Argument, Bias, and Persuasion

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Collection of 43 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12)on the topic Argument, Bias, and Persuasion. Have students track arguments through texts as they examine logical reasoning, bias, and persuasive techniques such as emotional appeals, character...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Ancient Rome

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 13 Grade-Leveled texts (6-11) on the topic Ancient Rome. Ancient Rome was one of the most influential republics and empires in recorded history. Learn more about how the republic and empire emerged and about the...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Ancient Greece

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 13 Grade-Leveled texts (7-11) on the topic Ancient Greece. How much can we credit today's art, philosophy, and democracy, among other fields of study, to Ancient Greece? Explore Ancient Greece and discover how the...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: Ancient Egypt

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 6 Grade-Leveled texts (7-12) on the topic Ancient Egypt. Egyptian civilization is over 5,000 years old. While modern Egypt is different in many ways, the influence of Ancient Egypt can still be felt along the...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Hearts and Hands" by O. Henry

For Students 7th - 9th
A learning module that begins with "Hearts and Hands" by O. Henry accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas

For Students 9th - 10th
In the mid-1800s, a French sailor is unjustly imprisoned for fourteen years. He escapes, finds a fortune, and seeks revenge on the those who put him in prison. Selected (7) reading passages (grades 8-11) to pair with "The Count of Monte...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker

For Students 9th - 10th
Celie is an African American woman living in Georgia in the early 20th century. She suffers decades of abuse as she struggles to find love and friendship in her life. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 8-12) to pair with "The Color...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "The Circuit: Stories From the Life of a Migrant Child" by F. Jimenez

For Students 5th - 8th
A collection of autobiographical short stories about a boy whose family moves from America to Mexico where they become migrant workers. Selected (6) reading passages (grades 5-8) to pair with "The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

For Students 9th - 10th
When Jerry Renault refuses to sell chocolate for the school's annual chocolate fundraising drive, the rest of the student body turns against him. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 9-11) to pair with "The Chocolate War" by Robert...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Catcher in the Rye" by j.d. Salinger

For Students 9th - 10th
From a mental institution, where he is receiving treatment, Holden Caulfield recounts the two day period after he is kicked out of school. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 8-12) to pair with "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D....
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Catch 22" by Joseph Heller

For Students 9th - 10th
An air pilot named Yossarian and his squadron navigate life in the army during World War II. Despite their attempts to stay alive, the army's "Catch 22" rule continues to put them in danger. Selected (5) reading passages (grades 9-11) to...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis

For Students 5th - 8th
After losing his mother four years ago, 10-year-old Bud Caldwell runs away from the foster care system in search of the father he has never met. Selected (11) reading passages (grades 5-8) to pair with "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher...