Community reviews for Newsela

This tool allows for teachers to have students read informational text at a reading level that works for them. Students can all read the same article at different levels. I think its a great product. The articles are current events.

Being able to adjust the reading level is a great option for students. Many of my students seek to challenge themselves and set the lexile slightly higher than their own level. For everyone, it enriches our conversations in the classroom because the core ideas of the readings are now accessible to students of almost every level. No one feels left out, and everyone can weigh in. There is, of course, a limitation in that you have to work with the articles on offer, but they have a very impressive variety that is constantly being updated. The paid version of the service is, however, quite expensive. Even though a lot of teachers in my school are now using it, the per student subscription fee was deemed to high at about USD18 per person. I am still using the free version.

The fact that I can specify topic, grade level and even the length of the article make this a no-brainer when it comes to finding articles for discussion of current events and to practice non-fiction reading skills. Saves countless hours of searching for and adapting articles myself for classroom use.

I liked the way I could vary the reading levels of these extremely up-to-date current events topics.

It makes it easier to teach with the same article to different level readers.

I love using Newsela - I can assign articles per group or individually. I can also put articles in the students binder and then allow them to pick articles they would like to read from there. Students can also independently pick articles by their interest level. I like that students are reading the same article but at the level that is appropriate for them. The comprehension questions are varied and very much aligned with common core standards

Overall, I think this is a great tool for differentiation. I teach intervention-level English and ELD, and I teach them how to find the lexile that works for them. Then I have them do a first read at the reading level that challenges them without being over their heads, and we discuss the main ideas in the article. I can then do a class second-read with the original text projected and I can work through key ideas while students look at the text of their reading level on their screen. It would be nice if there were some expanded functions that were particular to using articles in the classroom. Quizzes are great when they are available, but they are one of the few "student-centered" functions that put the ELA in NewsELA. It would benefit from the addition of some functions that we as teachers already do when we teach news articles - preidentification of challenging vocabulary (with perhaps a click-out or a mouse-over definition), or an annotation feature.

I absolutely love the idea of having different vocabulary and comprehension levels with the same news article. It fosters differentiation as it makes scaffolding easier. At the same time, kids have the opportunity to move up in their understanding by choosing more complex versions of the same text, and therefore increase their vocabulary and structure. I would appreciate of more quizzes were provided and the level of questions posed would aim more at the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Also, more articles to read in the free version would be desirable

Overall, this is a great resource to use when teaching nonfiction texts. In addition, if you are in need of guided reading materials for grades 5-12, Newsela has a ton of resources! I really like how the teacher can differentiate the lexile level for every article, and how there is a comprehension check at the end of many articles. It is a great tool to use for whole group, small group, or individual instruction. Additionally, it is very easy to find articles that have topics that students can relate to!

This is a terrific website to provided differentiated reading instruction on current events. I cannot say enough great things about Newsela. The basic features are free to all. Teachers can pay for more features if they wish to build classes and track student progress through the site. Differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all students is of utmost importance. Newsela offers that opportunity for teachers to differentiate reading instruction with minimal work. The Lexile levels are already built in, meaning teachers do not have to spend time leveling texts. Quizzes are also leveled based on the Lexile level of the articles. Newsela can help meet the need of the new focus on informational reading and writing through the Common Core State Standards. What a great website!