Finding free resources for leveled text for junior high can be a challenge. Another hard thing teachers have to do is balance having different levels of students in their class. However, when students are constantly being given text that is at their frustrational level, it causes them to fall behind and form a bad relationship with reading. I know that is not your intention!! This post will help both teachers and students out! You need to use leveled texts in junior high and you should not have to look high and low for them. That is exactly why I am sharing with you five free leveled text resources in this quick read.
Teaching with Text FREE Checklist
Before we get too far into exploring the resources in this post, I wanted to share this checklist with you! It covers all the important components to review when using texts to teach. No worries, the checklist is free! It will guide you through your planning and ensure you are maximizing the text you’re using. I included what I did based on my experience of teaching ELL students. These are vital components to lesson planning even when I don’t use text.
Five Free Leveled Text Resources
Teacher time is so limited and having multiple resources can be a total time saver. These resources I am about to share are going to be a saving grace for you not only in time but when it comes to using them in your instruction. When students can access a text and actually learn from what they are reading, it’s a huge relief! Leveled texts enable teachers to meet students at their individual reading levels, rather than forcing them to read texts that may be too difficult or too easy for them. This can help students develop a love for reading and build a strong foundation for future learning.
Another benefit that comes from using leveled texts are they help students develop important reading skills, such as phonics, comprehension, and fluency. As students progress through the levels, they will be exposed to increasingly complex texts and develop more advanced reading skills. We use language as a way to teach content and content helps us teach language. Meetings students at their level aids with content and language development. So let’s get started with these five free leveled text resources!
Free text resource #1 – Newsela
An oldie, but a goodie for sure! This resource has been my go-to for years! It was so helpful when being in multiple content areas during my co-teaching years. They have leveled texts, including some in Spanish. As the years have gone by, they have changed their pricing and become more exclusive with their articles however, I still find Newsela to be a great first stop. They also provide comprehension questions and writing prompts.
Free text resource #2- Commonlit
This site is great for text sets. For reading levels, you will have to enter in a range of lexiles as it doesn’t have the same article at different levels. It will take students through a whole lesson if you want that as an option. You can also track student progress which is great if you’re in ELA or a reading intervention class. They also have a Spanish library. Here are some details straight from their site:
Free text resource #3 – Wonderopolis
Wonderopolis provides a wide array of texts for all subjects. The texts are in a friendly format and students can listen to the text. They do not have the lexile levels, but are typically written at friendly levels. Many texts have videos to accompany them! Off to the side or at the end of texts there is vocabulary assistance and a knowledge check. I especially liked this site when I taught math! Students can also submit their wonders which is a great extension activity.
Free text resource #4 -TweenTribune
Let’s get back to the same text at different lexiles! On TweenTribune you’ll find lexiles from K-12. TweenTribune splits their articles by subject (which includes a Spanish library!) and grade band. You have to search a bit more here for articles. It’s very simple to assign the article to Google Classroom and they have a quiz option.
Free text resource #5 –ReadWorks
Another great site that has the same text at different lexile levels. They split their topics into science, social studies, and arts. The text sets they provided pair nicely with each other and they have collections for ELLs. Some of the texts have audio to accompany the text.
Here is a helpful chart of lexiles from Lexile.com. This will help you select the appropriate grade level in relation to your student’s level when searching texts.
Engage Students and Leveled Text with Games
Now that you’re set with leveled texts, check out these 5 Simple Reading “Games” to play in the classroom. They are engaging and reiterate the concepts of the texts you’ve read. Since students will be reading about the same content, these games will tie in perfectly! Students getting leveled text PLUS being engaged in a game?! Heck yes. Students will leave your class for sure having learned more than one thing.
Don’t forget to grab the FREE Teaching with Text checklist! It’s a simple addition to your planning to assure you cover everything! It’s super helpful when you have EL students in your class.
Recap of Providing Leveled Texts
I am glad you checked out these resources. You are on your way to using leveled texts in your classroom more often! Students often form a bad relationship with reading when they are reading texts that are too difficult. You are about to change that with these leveled texts! If you ever want to bounce ideas off each other, have specific questions about language learners, or want to be friends, please reach out! You can leave a comment on this post or find me on Instagram. I hope these free leveled text resources are useful in your junior high classroom.
One Response