ILA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #4: Newsela (http://www.newsela.com)

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      My third review on an effective literacy website is on Newsela (http://www.newsela).  Newsela is a literacy-focused online learning platform that offers leveled and standards-aligned content in both English and Spanish. It has a free account that offers basic options. You can also receive additional resources with a paid subscription. Former teacher and founder of the company, Matthew Gross, started this website while working on the Common Core State Standards roll out in New York. He was upset when outdated books were labeled Common Core-Aligned.  As a result, he started Newsela because he wanted to make a bigger impact on education. 

         Newsela provides engaging content with integrated assessments in every subject. It offers interesting news articles that can correspond a student’s reading level. There are over 14,000 articles to choose from, from over 100 publishers, including the Associated Press and Encyclopedia Britannica. Short comprehension quizzes, annotation exercises, and writing prompts help students respond and demonstrate understanding. Newsela also offers “Newsela Elementary” for the younger students. They formed a partnership with BrainPop in 2017. So, a student can directly link to Newsela articles from the BrainPop website as well.         

         Creating a class in Newsela is as simple as one-two-three. You simply input your students’ names in the class roster and send them an invite code. Once students enter the invite code, they are automatically inserted into your Newsela class! You can have students browse articles and choose what to read or you can assign articles based on your lesson or standard. When a student begins or completes independent or assigned work, it is listed in an activity feed listing. This will help you monitor who is logged in and completing their work. Students’ progress on assignments appears automatically after they submit it. This will assist in grading and providing feedback promptly! Newsela seems like a great supplemental resource to use, and I look forward to introducing it to my students!

 

 

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