Get Your Read On(line)!

Useful Online Reading Resources for Secondary English Teachers

By Debbie Perez, Secondary ELAR Coordinator

           One of the biggest rewards of teaching English is that we have the opportunity to select powerful texts that correlate to students' interests and reading levels while still addressing essential reading skills. This opportunity, however, becomes our responsibility and, ultimately, our greatest challenge.
              So we teach strategies. We inundate students with graphic organizers, stem responses, annotation techniques, etc. "Dig Deep," we say and await the magic of those Aha! moments. This is our life. This is our love.
            But the advent of technology integration and accessibility has opened up a landscape of resources available to us to help us directly meet the needs of students - their learning profiles, along with their reading and interest levels. Perhaps, we wouldn't have to work so hard if we relied on what's tried, what's true, what's available at your fingertips.

Exploring Online Tools

          Many are already raging about the usefulness of NewsELA and TeenTribune but that river runs deeper, and many other amazing reading resources hang like a carrot before us, waiting to be discovered and explored, if only we didn't have the 120 essays to grade by next Tuesday, parent phone calls to return, faculty meetings to attend, paperwork to submit.  So what I've done as a gift to our profession is compile a list of helpful reading resources that let us address varying needs of students.
The following online tools help teachers

• find the right mentor or short reading texts with which to build reading skills, 
• encourage text-dependent thinking and differentiated reading practice, 
• and/or implement computer-based individualized reading instruction in the classroom. 

          All suggestions are FREE or have free features, but may require an account set up. Additionally,  I've tried to include the genres and a brief description so that you're selective in your exploration. Resources marked as "Teacher Use" indicates that teachers are able to select texts, questions, etc to print for classroom use. "Student Use" indicates that students are able to create a free account to read text and/or participate in online learning experience.

Online Reading Resources	Available Genres	Description
	Fiction Expository Poetry Drama Persuasive Non-Fiction	For Teacher Use Can select texts by grade level, genre, lexile, theme, etc Texts may include leveled Single or Paired Passages  Comprehension and Analysis Questions incorporated in all selections Available lessons to address comprehension skills and strategies Standards Alignment
	Fiction Expository Poetry Drama Persuasive Speeches Fables And much more	For Teacher or Student Use All grade levels represented Theme-based articles and passages which can be paired Authentic texts available by theme and discussion question  Numbered paragraphs with discussion questions and short-answer practice
	Expository Informational Articles	For Teacher or Student Use All grade levels represented (including College) Multiple lexiles of the same article to meet varying reading levels of students Open ended questions and quiz options available Text Sets that provide multiple articles that address a similar theme/topic
	Expository Persuasive	For Teacher or Student Use Up to 10th grade High-interest, low readability current event articles by Grade level Same article is provided with varied lexiles to help address multiple reading levels Can pair up with new-story clip if available
	Expository Informational Articles	For Teacher or Student Use Three reading levels for each online news article (Grades 5-12) Multiple grade-levels of the same news story to meet varying readabilities  Open ended questions, online polls, and discussions available Track student's reading, interest in topics,  and reading levels choices Current Event and other categories; easy to navigate
	Expository Persuasive	For Teacher Use High school authentic articles  Topics Relevant to Adolescents Comprehension/Analytical Discussion Questions Articles used to develop close reading skills that lead to analysis of author's craft. Consider using as mentor text for writing.  Archive of previous articles available
	Expository Persuasive Literary	For Teacher Use Middle School Articles with close-reading strategies Lexiled to address reading abilities Comprehension and Analytical Discussion Questions Rubrics and Anchor Charts Article Templates
	Informational Literary Academic All Genres	For Teacher or Student Use Written by Teens Varied articles and selections High interest, varied readabilities, all genres  Sorted by Likes and Comments Can use as models for writing during revising process when writing, or as an initial mentor text when studying the structures of writing modes
	All Genres	For Student and Teacher Use Database of Reading Comprehension Assessments and Activities for every grade level, up to College Entrance exams Initial student reading diagnosis for personalized reading and learning experience Teachers can track student progress in reading levels Online classroom platform, free of charge, but requires sign up
	All Genres	For Student and Teacher Use Database of Reading Comprehension Assessments and Activities Track student's reading progress with account set up Free components of virtual reading classroom support with free account
	Video Clips Current Events Articles	For Teacher Use All grade levels represented Thematic videos with literary and informational connections Free daily Current Events with Free Subscription Differentiated current events articles with discussion questions Correlation to ELAR TEKS
	Expository Persuasive	For Teacher and Student UseFree Featured QuickCerca includes: Leveled Texts (Grades 6-12) Close Reading with Audio Support Automated Assessment on Screen Vocabulary Support  Writing Prompts for most reading sets Theme-based Pairings Suggested If you're looking to maintain rigor while addressing the complexity of persuasive reading and writing, ThinkCerca is the perfect resource.
	Informational texts Vocabulary	For Student or Teacher Use Students choose the informational text based on something they wonder about  Wonderpolis features a question of the day Resources embede vocabulary, practice, and games Assessment of reading available Additional resources, readings, videos, audio, etc correlate with most readings Consider hosting a "Wonder Day" where students learn about their chosen topic
	Expository Persuasive	For Teacher Use Adolescent news articles available in three reading levels (L, M, H) ESL Support included Other instructional resources available to teachers  Writing Prompts Differentiation Resources Comprehension Support Instructional Strategies
	News Article Informational Articles	For Student or Teacher Use  News Articles (Grades 2-8) Professional Development and Webinars Provided to make most use of resource Archived Articles Available Free without subscription
	News Article Informational Articles	For Teacher Use News Articles (Grades 2-8) Additional Thematic Readings Suggested Curriculum Activities per Instructional Level Provided  Language or Writing Component Suggested
	News Articles	For Student and Teacher Use Leveled International News Articles available to English Language Learners ESL Support: Audio and Video
	News Articles Learning English Articles  Literary Stories and Poems	For Student Use Leveled News Articles available to English Language Learners Audio and Video Support for Level 1, 2, and 3 Culturally Relevant Articles

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• Please share any additional online text resources for teachers in the comments section below. Thank you for contributing to the list. :) Also, feel free to provide any other comments or feedback about the list.