CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 9th Grade Thematic Unit: Love
Complete teaching unit for 9th Grade Thematic Unit: "Love." In this unit, 9th graders will read six texts that speak to the theme of love. They will revisit the essential question "What is love, and how does it change us?" throughout the...
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Common Lit: Text Sets
This is a collection of 35 Grade-Leveled text sets (4-11). They are great for social studies teachers or for building background knowledge in reading class, CommonLit's text sets cover a range of historical, cultural, and political...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Code of Hammurabi" by Unknown
The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia dating back to 1772 B.C. The Code which consists of 282 laws and corresponding punishments. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Growing Down" by Shel Silverstein
In this poem by Shel Silverstein, a speaker tells an adult that he should try "growing down" rather than growing up. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired texts, questions and...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Abuelito Who" by Sandra Cisneros
In this poem by Sandra Cisneros, the speaker describes their aging grandfather. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Excerpt Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases by Ida b.wells
This is an excerpt comes from "Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases" by Ida B.Wells. In it she talks about lynching, or the murder by mob for an alleged crime without a legal trial. The targets of such violence and hatred were...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "On Tragedy" by Aristotle
In this chapter from "Poetics", Aristotle seeks to define "tragedy" as it relates to literature and human emotion. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired texts, questions and...
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Common Lit: "Ronald Reagan on the Challenger Disaster" by President Ronald Reagan
President Ronald Reagan delivered this speech to the grieving nation on January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, leading to the death of its seven crew members. A specific purpose for reading...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Road to American Independence" by Jessica Mc Birney
This informational text recounts America's road to independence, starting from the beginning of English colonization in North America and ending with the final battle of the American Revolution. A specific purpose for reading and...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "When Good People Do Bad Things" by Ann Trafton
In this informational text, Rebecca Saxe, associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at MIT, and her colleagues conducted an experiment to study the way people behave in groups. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are...
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Common Lit: "Truth" by Nikki Grimes
This poem appeared in Grimes' book "One Last Word", a collection inspired by poems from The Harlem Renaissance that follow the "Golden Shovel" form. In this poetic form, the poet takes a "striking line" from an inspirational poem and...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "I Have a Dream" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to over 250,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In this speech, King discusses racial...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Letter From Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
While in jail, King responded in a letter written on the margins of a newspaper, because it was the only paper available. King gave the letter to his lawyers, who published what is now known as the famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail."...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "America and I" by Anzia Yezierska
This is an essay about Anzia Yezierska, an immigrant from the Russian-Polish border, and her struggles adapting to living in America. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Gettysburg Address" by President Abraham Lincoln
This speech was given in 1863 after the Union and Confederate armies had been at war for more than three years and several hundred thousand Americans had already died. Thousands of Union soldiers died at the Battle of Gettysburg alone. A...
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Common Lit: "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus
This poem is currently engraved on a bronze plaque and displayed on the Statue of Liberty's pedestal. The statue stands across from the historic Ellis Island, through which millions of immigrants came into the U.S. in the late 1800s and...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe
In this short story, a wealthy prince holds a party for his powerful friends within the safety of his home, as a disease rips the rest of the country apart. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Tech/progress/industry: What Are Costs and Benefits of Technology?
This is a collection of Grade-Leveled texts (3-12) to address the question, "What are the costs and benefits of technology?" Select a grade level and a collection of grade-appropriate reading passages comes up. [Free account registration...
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Common Lit: "Keeping Up With the Joneses" by Common Lit Staff
A learning module that begins with "Keeping Up With the Joneses," accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Blue Eyed, Brown Eyed Exercise" by Common Lit Staff
A learning module that begins with "The Blue-Eyed, Brown-Eyed Exercise," accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Conformity" by Common Lit Staff
A learning module that begins with "Conformity" accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and student accounts. Text...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Nature vs. Nurture Debate" by Common Lit Staff
A learning module that begins with "The Nature vs. Nurture Debate," accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and...
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Common Lit: "Pet Rocks" by Common Lit Staff
A learning module that begins with "Pet Rocks," accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and student accounts. Text...
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Common Lit: "Herd Behavior" by Common Lit Staff
A learning module that begins with "Herd Behavior," accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and student accounts....