Newsela Product Overview
Newsela is a comprehensive educational platform designed to enhance literacy and subject-specific instruction across various disciplines, including English Language Arts (ELA), Science, and Social Studies. Here’s a detailed look at what Newsela does and its key features:
Purpose and Scope
Newsela is a personalized reading service that helps students master non-fiction literacy by providing daily news articles and a wide range of educational content at multiple reading levels. This platform is tailored to support teachers in delivering standards-aligned instruction, promoting student engagement, and fostering differentiated learning experiences.
Key Products
- Newsela ELA: Provides access to over 20 genres of authentic and accessible content, aligned to ELA standards. It includes instructional supports like Lesson Sparks and Implementation Guides, and features a subject-specific homepage for easy navigation.
- Newsela Science: Integrates literacy and science with real-world texts that are accessible and aligned to science standards. It includes a science-specific homepage, curated content collections, and subject-specific quizzes and Write Prompts.
- Newsela Social Studies: Helps teachers build connections and promote inquiry in social studies by offering relevant and accessible content. It features a social studies-specific homepage, expanded collections, and instructional resources including quizzes and Write Prompts.
- Newsela Essentials: Formerly known as Newsela PRO, this product helps teachers integrate literacy across subject areas with an extensive library of cross-topic nonfiction texts. It supports differentiation with leveled texts and includes features like reading comprehension quizzes and customizable write prompts.
Key Features and Functionality
- Adaptive Reading Levels: Each Newsela article is available at five different reading levels, ranging from grades 2-12, allowing teachers to assign content that matches each student’s reading ability.
- Quizzes and Assessments: Includes multiple-choice quizzes and open-ended Write Prompts that are aligned to standards, helping teachers assess student comprehension and writing skills.
- Annotations and Highlights: Allows students to annotate and highlight articles, enhancing their engagement and understanding of the content.
- Classroom Integration: Facilitates easy assignment of articles to classes and integration with existing classroom activities. Teachers can assign content, track student progress, and customize assignments.
- Content Library: Offers an extensive library of authentic texts from top publications, covering over 20 genres and various subjects. This library is continuously updated with current events and relevant topics.
- Differentiated Instruction: Supports differentiated learning by providing leveled texts, quizzes, and write prompts that cater to diverse student needs.
- Teacher Resources: Includes instructional supports such as Lesson Sparks, Implementation Guides, and professional development resources to help teachers effectively use the platform.
- Student Progress Tracking: Enables teachers to monitor student progress, view quiz results, and assess student responses to write prompts, helping in continuous evaluation and improvement.
- Interactive Activities: Features interactive activities, reading clubs, and other engagement tools to keep students motivated and engaged in learning.
- Translation Tools and Offline Access: Provides translation tools to support diverse student populations and offline access for flexibility in learning environments.
Additional Benefits
- Standards Alignment: All content on Newsela is aligned to educational standards, ensuring that the material supports core instruction in various subjects.
- Current Events: Keeps students informed with daily news articles and current events, making learning relevant and timely.
- Customizable Assignments: Allows teachers to customize assignments, quizzes, and write prompts to fit the specific needs of their classrooms.
Newsela is designed to be a versatile and powerful tool for educators, offering a range of features and functionalities that support personalized learning, improved literacy, and enhanced subject-specific instruction.