Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Follow That Koala!

For Teachers 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses how and why koala bears are tracked by scientists. This passage is intended for guided practice and is designed to reinforce essential reading comprehension skills.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The Helping List

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational passage shares a list of ways to be helpful. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding for...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: After the Floods

For Teachers 4th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational text passage shares information about a horrific flood that devastated parts of Pakistan in 2010. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: "America From Washington to Madison" by James Folta

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This is a seven-page PDF nonfiction passage entitled "America from Washington to Madison" by James Folta which focuses on Americas first four Presidents: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. It is...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Fit for Life

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage includes the information about how to stay healthy for life. This passage is intended as a guided passage to instruct students how to classify and categorize information.
Article
Read Works

Read Works: Ride of the Century

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses the New York's subway system history. This passage is intended for guided practice and is designed to reinforce essential reading comprehension skills.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The Anthems of America

For Students 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This five-page PDF nonfiction passage "The Anthems of America" focuses on the traditions of July 4th and the origin of the anthems of America including "The Star- Spangled Banner. It is followed by 10...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Forms of Art Watercolor

For Teachers 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage explains the process of watercolor painting. It includes comprehension questions and a teacher guide and can be used as both a read-aloud exercise and an individual practice tool.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Non Colonists in the American Revolution

For Teachers 4th - 7th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This ReadWorks passage gives information about the roles of some French, Native Americans, Hessians, and Polish citizens during the American Revolution. A question sheet is available to help students...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about scientists and learning about our solar system and how it works. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide...
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English Zone

English Zone: Dolphins Around the World: Dolphins 1

For Students 2nd - 5th Standards
This reading comprehension exercise uses a passage about the lives of dolphins to quiz readers on what they have learned. Students will learn about these animals while also improving their information seeking skills.
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A New Park [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"A New Park" is a one page, non-fiction, reading passage about how a school in need of a playground got a city park instead. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park

For Students 5th - 8th
Based on a true account, this book tells the story of Salva Dut, an 11-year-old boy separated from his family by the civil war in Sudan, and Nya, a girl from a small village who walks miles each day to fetch water for her family....
Website
Other

Eastport Elementary School: Mrs. Donahue's Site: Identifying the Main Idea

For Students 4th Standards
Information, examples, and practice passages to use while learning how to identify the main idea of an informational text.
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Our Streets [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd
"Our Streets" is a one page, nonfiction passage about how streets are designed, built, signed, and maintained. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Prairie Ecology [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
"Prairie Ecology" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and how it works using three animals: the skipper butterfly, ground squirrel, and the bison It is followed by an open-ended question which requires...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Plants and Places [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"Plants and Places" is a one page, nonfiction passage about how plants fit the types of environment they live in such as cactus like hot, dry weather and live in Arizona. The state flowers fit the climate of the states. It is followed by...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Nutrition Lesson [Pdf]

For Teachers 6th
"Nutrition Lesson" is a one page, nonfiction passage about protein including what it does in the body and what foods contain protein. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Plants and Food [Pdf]

For Teachers 6th
"Plants and Food" is a one page, nonfiction passage about plant foods and the importance of knowing what plants are safe to eat and how to prevent food from spoiling. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Traveling West [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
"Traveling West" is a one page, nonfiction passage about pioneers traveling west in wagon trains. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most important...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Economic Connections [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
"Economic Connections" is a one-page nonfiction passage about the economics of importing and exporting goods among countries to get what people need. It is followed by an open-ended question that requires students to provide evidence...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learn About South Africa [Pdf]

For Teachers 8th Standards
"Learn about South Africa" is a one page, nonfiction passage about South Africa and its fight to end the apartheid. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Grant Park [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
"Grant Park" is a one page, nonfiction passage about Chicago creating a landfill by putting the trash from the Chicago fire in 1971 into the lake, on which they built Grant Park. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires...
Article
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

Depaul University: Center for Urban Education: Native Americans: Potawatomi[pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"Native American Life--Potawatomi Profile" is a one page, non-fiction, first person reading/thinking passage about the Potawatomi Native American tribe. It includes information about what they did during each of the seasons of the year.