Read Works
Read Works: Where Does Food Go?
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational text passage explains the process of food digestion. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding...
Read Works
Read Works: Explore Our Solar System
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational text passage shares facts about planets in the solar system. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes...
Beacon Learning Center
Beacon Learning Center: Get the Idea
Learn about and practice finding the main idea in short reading passages.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Chicago Changes [Pdf]
"Chicago Changes" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about how Chicago changed from a small town to a large city. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: determining...
Quia
Quia: Reading for Facts
This interactive quiz assesses students' reading comprehension skills of informational text passages. Students will read 30 short passages and answer question about a detail for each.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A Great Digger a Fable [Pdf]
"A Great Digger: A North American Fable" is a one-page fable about Benny the Badger who dug holes for all the other animals in the plains. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Seasons on the Prairie [Pdf]
"Seasons on the Prairie" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about what grew in the prairie each season. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: choosing five important...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Transportation Workers [Pdf]
"Transportation Workers" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the various jobs of transportation workers. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes determining the main...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Our Streets [Pdf]
"Our Streets" is a one page, nonfiction passage about how streets are designed, built, signed, and maintained. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Prairie Ecology [Pdf]
"Prairie Ecology" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and how it works using three animals: the skipper butterfly, ground squirrel, and the bison It is followed by an open-ended question which requires...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Working at the Hospital [Pdf]
"Working at the Hospital" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the various jobs of people who work in a hospital. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Space Food [Pdf]
"Space Food" is a one page, nonfiction passage about how astronauts prepare and eat food and clean up afterward to stay healthy. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence from the story; it...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Working at the Television Station [Pdf]
"Working at the Television Station" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the various jobs of workers at a television station. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Public Transportation [Pdf]
"Public Transportation" is a one page, nonfiction passage about public transportation in Chicago helps people get where they want to go and provides jobs for many people. It is followed by questions which requires students to provide...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Recycle Center [Pdf]
"The Recycle Center" is a one page, nonfiction passage about students who, with the help of a nearby church, started a monthly recycling center for the community. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Nutrition Lesson [Pdf]
"Nutrition Lesson" is a one page, nonfiction passage about protein including what it does in the body and what foods contain protein. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Plants and Food [Pdf]
"Plants and Food" is a one page, nonfiction passage about plant foods and the importance of knowing what plants are safe to eat and how to prevent food from spoiling. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Prairie Keepers [Pdf]
"Prairie Keepers" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the history of prairies and the Department of Agriculture's efforts to restore the prairie. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story;...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learn About Physical Therapists [Pdf]
"Learn about Physical Therapists" is a one page, nonfiction passage about what it takes to be a physical therapist. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Prairie Keepers [Pdf]
"Prairie Keepers" is a one-page, nonfiction passage about how the prairie was saved from total destruction and the efforts of the Department of Agriculture to rebuild the prairie. It is followed by questions which require students to...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Sister, the Soldier [Pdf]
"My Sister, the Soldier" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a boy and his mother who are worried about his sister who was a soldier in Iraq. [Contains some mechanical errors; students could find and correct.] It is followed...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Transportation Changes [Pdf]
"Transportation Changes" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the history of transportation across both land and sea. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes:...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about scientists and learning about our solar system and how it works. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Prairie Changes [Pdf]
"Prairie Changes" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the changes in the prairie over time and the effect it has on plants, animals, and habitats. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence...