Saturday, December 30, 2023

Effective Literacy Website #3: Newsela by Tammy Leon Guerrero

  

    Newsela (https://newsela.com/) is an online hub for resources for teachers. It offers a search engine for resources and articles based on specified topics and criteria. Teachers can also sign up and provide a class code for their students to use the search engine.

    On Newsela, it is easy for teachers to sign up for a free account (Newsela Lite). With Newsela Lite, there are three highlighted features teachers can utilize. The first is that teachers can access four articles at a time. New articles are then added every week. The second feature is that teachers can differentiate instruction on five reading levels. The third feature that teachers have access to is that they can assign content along with different writing prompts and standards-aligned quizzes. Quiz responses can then be saved and later accessed in a digital binder. Newsela also makes it easy to sync classes from Google Classroom. Teachers can easily assign content to students that can also be easily tracked.

    Teachers can be assured that the content they assign to students is safe and informative. There are lots of topics to choose from and search for. When an article has been selected, teachers can also assign a poll for students to take. This poll features a question that can tap into a student's prior knowledge before reading. This is a great feature to have since it has been academically proven that when the proper schema of a child is activated, it gives more room for higher-quality thinking and comprehension.

    Newsela is a great online tool for teachers to incorporate into their classrooms. Teachers can share information on current events and other news topics to lead discussions within the classrooms. The free version of Newsela is a great start to encourage literacy.

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