CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: Women's Rights
Are women's rights different than human rights? What are the benefits of promoting equality for women? Study the history of women's rights in America and around the world as you learn about the fight for women's equality.This collection...
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Common Lit: Text Sets: Westward Expansion
Throughout the 1800s, Americans pushed ever westward in the search of prosperity and the American dream. It was a time of growth and adventure for settlers, and loss for most American Indians. This collection includes 7 Grade-Leveled...
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Common Lit: "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
Junior, a Native American boy growing up on the Spokane reservation in Washington, decides to attend Reardan -- an all-white school that's located 20 miles away from home. It includes selected (11) reading passages (grades 5-10) to pair...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "1984" by George Orwell
In this dystopian novel, the protagonist of the story, Winston Smith, attempts to rebel against a totalitarian government that exercises complete control over all aspects of its citizens' lives. It includes selected (8) reading passages...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte
This Gothic-Romantic novel, set in Victorian England, chronicles the life of Jane Eyre: a plain governess who falls in love with her employer and discovers a terrible secret within Thornfield. Selected (11) reading passages (grades 8-12)...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou recounts her coming of age story as a mature but apprehensive girl in the American South and California during the Jim Crow era. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 7-10) to pair with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros
Told through a series of vignettes, Esperanza Cordero narrates her life growing up as a Latina girl in a Chicago neighborhood, and her desire to grow up and leave. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 5-8) to pair with "The House on...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Holes" by Louis Sacher
Stanley Yelnats is sent to a juvenile correctional camp for boys where each day he is forced to dig holes into a dry lake bed. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 5-8) to pair with the novel "Holes" by Louis Sacher. [Free account...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Hobbit" by j.r.r. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit homebody, joins a party of dwarves and their wizard companion in a series of adventures to reclaim the dwarves' homeland from the great dragon Smaug. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 5-9) to pair with the...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad
In the novel "Heart of Darkness," Marlow travels up the Congo River on behalf of a Belgian trading company. Once he is far upriver he encounters the mysterious Kurtz, a man who has set himself up as a god amongst the natives. Selected...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
A coup by religious extremists helps to establish the sexually-oppressive, dystopian Republic of Gilead. Offred, a Handmaid, struggles with her role as a reproductive servant to the elite. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 9-11) to...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare
Prince Hamlet attempts to avenge his father's death by deciphering the devious plot of the new king, his Uncle Claudius - only to be tragically killed. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 9-12) to pair with the drama "Hamlet" by...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
In this novel, Louise dreams of leaving her tiny island home in Chesapeake Bay, but first she must escape the shadow of her twin sister who seems to rob her of everything. Selected (11) reading passages (grades 6-10) to pair with "Jacob...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'dell
Karana's tribe has lived on the Island of the Blue Dolphins for centuries, but a tragedy forces them to leave. When Karana gets left behind, she must learn to live alone. Selected (10) reading passages (grades 5-9) to pair with the novel...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Inside Out & Back Again" by Thanhha Lai
In this novel based on her life, Ha and her family are living in Saigon when the Vietnam war forces her family to flee to Alabama. Selected (6) reading passages (grades 5-8) to pair with "Inside Out & Back Again" by Thanhha Lai....
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Incantation" by Alice Hoffman
Estrella is a girl living in Spain during the Spanish inquisition and dealing with the secret of her Jewish heritage, an unacceptable crush, and her best friend's betrayal. Selected (6) reading passages (grades 5-9) to pair with the...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
"In the Time of the Butterflies" is the story of the four Mirabal sisters, who lived through the despotic regime of General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Throughout the novel that spans more than 50 years, Julia Alvarez masterfully weaves...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Grendel" by John Gardner
Selected (6) reading passages (grades 9-11) to pair with "Grendel" by John Gardner. [Free account registration required for specific tools.]
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Nick Carraway observes the wasteful lives of four wealthy acquaintances in the nouveau riche society of West Egg, Long Island. During his time there, Carraway befriends his affluent and enigmatic neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Selected (10)...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck
The Joad family leaves Oklahoma in search of work after their farm is destroyed by the Dust Bowl. They arrive in California only to find that fair jobs, food, and sympathy are scarce. Selected (9) reading passages (grades 8-11) to pair...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
In the dystopian novel "The Giver," Jonas is chosen to be the new Receiver of Memories; he meets his incumbent -- The Giver, a man who is tasked with holding onto the community's collective experiences and memories. Selected (11) reading...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
In the novel "Frightful," a peregrine falcon, has spent most of her life depending on a human and must now learn how to survive in the wild on her own. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 4-9) to pair with "Frightful's Mountain" by...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
Moon Shadow is eight years old when he sails from the Middle Kingdom (China) to the land of the Golden Mountain (America) where he meets his father, Windrider, for the first time. In San Francisco, Moon Shadow and his father endure...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Anne Frank's diary provides a first-person account of the struggles an adolescent girl faces as her family hides from the Nazis within the terrifying setting of an overcrowded annex. Selected (7) reading passages (grades 6-8) to pair...