Newsela PRO for 3rd and 4th grades

I have been using Newsela in my ELD classroom for the last two years and have found it to be a priceless resource for high interest reading material. I have found it to be particularly effective with my English Learner students because it provides all students with access to the same content, but tailored to their individual reading levels. We are able to discuss current events with high rigor and expectations. This benefit also extends to our other below grade level readers. The articles can be used as supporting evidence in academic discourse and debates. The quizzes can be valuable formative assessments before revisiting articles for close reading. Students are also able to choose articles based on their own interests.  The PRO version allows teachers to hone in on individual students’ needs and see each article a student has chosen to read, the amount of time they took to read it, and how they did on specific quiz questions. These features are not included in the free version. Additionally, I have found Newsela to be a more effective reading tool for our older students as they begin to transition out of our other reading program, Reading A to Z.