newsela homework

What is Newsela and How Can it Be Used to Teach? Tips & Tricks

Newsela is a news reading platform that's built for students to work on literacy skills

Newsela is a news story-based platform that aims to help students improve their literacy skills with real-world content.

The idea is to offer a place that features curated news content so students can safely improve their reading skills while also learning about real-world affairs at the same time. 

A free version is available, and there is a paid for option that offers more features, providing an opportunity to try this type of tool before deciding if committing to more features is worth it for students.

Featuring reading level sectionalized content and follow-up quiz options, Newsela is built for teacher and students, but is it right for you?

What is Newsela?

Newsela is an online news platform that uses curated real-world stories to help students improve their literacy skills. Since this is measured in reading levels it's an easy to use way for teachers to set reading tasks for students with real-world news minus the worry of unsuitable content slipping in there.

Content comes in daily and is sourced from a good range of news providers including Associated Press, PBS News Hour, Washington Post , The New York Times , Scientific American, and others. All of which offer English and Spanish options as needed.

Everything is spread across five lexile levels and runs from third grade right up to twelfth. While this can be shared based on ability, if you want to use content specific filters you will need to opt for the paid service – but more on that below.

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Everything is available online via a web browser, so students can get to it on their own devices to read in class but also from home or on the move. The quiz options are great here as these can be used for at home follow-up learning.

How does Newsela work?

Newsela offers a free package that allows teachers to share content with students for reading. This is limited to news and current events as opposed to more updated and subject specific content controls, which come with the paid version.

The free version can be accessed by students directly but the paid version allows teachers to set reading tasks and track progress. This features a dashboard for more controls and also allows teachers to work based on Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. 

Essentially, the free version of this tool is a great supplementary teaching tool while the paid version can play a more central role in teacher planning and delivery of lessons.

Schools and districts can sign-up to Newsela for wide controls and access across a broader use base. Then teachers simply sign in and begin using it, and can assign and share tasks digitally to students on their device of choice. Students simply enter a class code to get access to tasks and content set for them by the teacher, making it very easy to access.

What are the best Newsela features?

Newsela has a huge selection of features, with most available in the paid version, which is what will be talked about here. Primarily there is the ability to set reading based on ability. 

Useful follow-up tools help with teaching include quizzes, which can be edited by the teacher to suit specific students or groups. There are also follow-up writing prompts available that can support setting tasks to integrate learning and show how students are progressing.

Annotations are a useful feature that provide teachers a way to specifically steer students as they are reading through the material. This is ideal for at-home learning or for extra guidance if working as a group in the class -- particularly when some students may need more assistance than others.

Text Sets are helpful by offering a curated list of texts and accompanying tasks to suit what might be going on at that time. For example, a Native American Heritage Month specific content list that can easily be found, edited, and shared as needed.

Quite uniquely, Newsela offers Spanish and English reading options that can be toggled between the two as needed. That makes this a useful resource for teaching ELL and ESOL students as well as those who are learning Spanish and want to read real-world content, checking their comprehension as they go.

Subject specific packages are useful and include ELA, Social Studies, Science, and SEL – all of which are in the subscription option.

How much does Newsela cost?

Newsela does offer a free model that gets you news stories and current events. Go for the paid subscription and there is a whole load of more options.

Newsela Essentials gets you access to the Professional Learning resources in the Educator Center, quizzes and writing prompts, student activity viewing, and admin visibility.

Go for the Core Subject Products for the most comprehensive selection of features including the above plus access to subject specific content and curation, Power Words in articles, subject specific quizzes and writing prompts, curated collections, curriculum components, comprehension quizzes, state standards-aligned instructional content, custom collections, and teacher support workshops.

Pricing for the paid level subscriptions are available on a quote basis and vary based on the number of users and institutions needed. 

Newsela best tips and tricks

Quiz the class Set a reading task and quiz combination for the class to complete at home then follow up in class with a discussion to see how well the learning has been absorbed.

Prompt homework Use the reading prompts as a way to set follow-up tasks for at-home or in-class work that allows students to get creative with what they've learned.

Target individuals Take the time to assign specific articles to specific individuals based on their abilities and interests. Have them provide feedback to the class as a way to promote group learning.

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Luke Edwards is a freelance writer and editor with more than two decades of experience covering tech, science, and health. He writes for many publications covering health tech, software and apps, digital teaching tools, VPNs, TV, audio, smart home, antivirus, broadband, smartphones, cars and much more.

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9 Ways To Use Newsela With Your Students

Endless differentiated reading options at your fingertips!

OK, I have to admit I am becoming a huge Newsela fan. Here’s why. It’s really working for my students. Newsela is a free database of free quality nonfiction articles for my students from a wide array of sources. Newsela aggregates news articles from a variety of trusted sources , including The New York Times , The Washington Post , Scientific American , and more than one hundred others.  Even better, every article can be adjusted to meet five different reading levels.

You can print articles or have your students read them online, where they can annotate as they go. You can also assign built-in comprehension quizzes or writing assignments.

All those features are free for all teacher users. Schools can also subscribe for additional content, including 20+ genres of informational texts to support instruction across the curriculum. Learn more about Newsela’s paid options here . It’s pretty easy to assign Newsela articles and activities in Google Classroom , so you can use them as homework or for in-class activities. I got the hang of it quickly. The site also works with other learning management systems like Schoology, Classlink, and Canvas. Find out if your LMS works with Newsela here.

Newsela content includes documents and primary sources for ELA, social studies, and science. There is also up-to-date news and current events sections and even a social and emotional learning (SEL) collection. Here are some ways to use Newsela with your students:

1. Try the See, Think, Wonder Method

Reading is about more than just comprehension. Good readers ponder what they’ve read, considering the content and making their own connections. The See, Think, Wonder method helps students go deeper when they read, and it works perfectly with Newsela articles. Learn more about See, Think, Wonder from The Reading Roundup .

2. Notice and Note

Notice and Note is another way to approach close reading with news articles. Start by reading articles as a group and filling out the organizer together. Then, assign students articles to read on their own using Notice and Note. BetterLesson has more about this method, plus a free printable organizer.

3. Do an Article of the Week

Work on close reading skills by choosing one new article to focus on each week. Each day, spend time with the article in a different way, teaching students to read carefully and analyze the content. Learn more about using an article of the week from AdVenturas in Fourth .

4. Add supporting evidence to opinion pieces

Opinion writing can be a tricky topic, but it’s more important than ever to teach students how to back up their opinions with reliable evidence. Newsela’s PRO/CON articles are a great way to help students debate a topic and find the evidence they need when writing their opinion pieces. Learn more from Performing in Education .

5. Research background info for fiction reading

Close reading in fiction often means learning more about the time, place, or themes of a novel or short story. Newsela can help provide that info with their Paired Text sets, where common fiction books are matched with current events articles. Students can use the annotation tools or a graphic organizer to record their finds. Find out more at BetterLesson.

6. Make a vocabulary list

Newsela’s Core Subjects products (one of their paid subscription services) include Power Words automatically highlighted in each article according to the reading level. Teachers can use these to generate vocab lists. If you’re using the free version of Newsela, find your own vocab lists with a tool like VocabGrabber . Just adjust your Newsela article to the appropriate reading level, then copy and paste the text into VocabGrabber to get suggested words for your list. Speech Time Fun has more on using this cool tool.

7. Take Newsela on a speed date

Reading “speed dating” is all about exchanging facts and opinions with other readers. Students prepare for this discussion strategy by reading and annotating a news article. They then pair up with another student for a quick one-on-one conversation, sharing what they’ve learned and asking questions about the topic. You can get more info about the speed dating discussion strategy at BetterLesson.

8. Combine Newsela with Pear Deck

If you already use Pear Deck in your classroom, don’t miss out on their Newsela Daily Decks! Each school week, they’ll send you five new decks, one for each day. They’re ready-to-teach and include interactive prompts that will help you get each student engaged and involved. Find out more about these Daily Decks from Pear Deck .

9. Give current events reports

Because Newsela’s articles are updated daily, they’re ideal for keeping up with current events. Assign a different student to give a current events report every day, or have each student turn in one report each week or month. You can buy printable templates for them to use from Literacy in Focus , or make up your own.

How do you use Newsela with your students? Come share your ideas on the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

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Getting Started with Newsela

Learn the basics for long-term newsela success with this collection of curated resources..

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About this course

Welcome to your course: Getting Started with Newsela We are excited to learn with you!

What can I expect to learn?

This 15 minute course will help you learn the basics for long-term success with Newsela.

Essential Tip: Be sure to log into your Newsela account to access this course, and bookmark this page to easily access your course in the future. Please note that certain resources that are shared within this course may not be available to you depending on which Newsela subscription your school or district has purchased.

• Integrating Newsela into Your Classroom (6 Minutes)
• The Benefits of Newsela
• Connecting Classes and Students to Newsela
• Integrating Newsela into Instruction
• Enhancing Learning Activities with Newsela (6 minutes)
• Sharing Content with Students
• Article Activities and Accessibility Tools
• Review Student Activity
• Additional Resources and Support (3 Minutes)
• Teacher Resource Hub
• Extend Your Learning
• [Optional] Share Your Feedback

What can we help you with?

Getting Started

Account Management

Content + Products

Assignment & Instruction

Student Work: Reviewing & Reporting

Admin Resources & System Setup

EverWrite (by Newsela)

Formative (by Newsela)

Newsela Support & Community

Student Resources

Newsela Product Updates

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Review by Patricia M. , Common Sense Education | Updated February 2020

Great stories, just-right leveled reading; now mostly by subscription

Learning rating

Community rating, privacy rating, subjects & topics.

Digital Citizenship, English Language Arts, News & Media Literacy, Social Studies

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Pros : Sprawling library of high-interest, cross-curricular, adjustable nonfiction texts.

Cons : Needs better search and filtering. A lot sits behind a paywall.

Bottom Line : While pricey, Newsela has ascended into an all-in-one destination for leveled, non-fiction reading.

• How Can I Teach with This Tool?
• What Is It?
• Is It Good for Learning?

Newsela changed its pricing structure starting in the 2019 – 2020 school year, making a mostly free service now mostly subscription-based. If you're not a paid subscriber, you'll find drastically less content available than there was before, and some of the best features (including reporting tools and vocabulary practice activities) are available only to paid users. That said, even in its slimmed-down free version, Newsela can be valuable for teachers, since there are still reading comprehension quizzes and writing prompts and annotation features. There's just a lot less content, so the free version of Newsela is likely to be a supplement to your curriculum rather than a central component.

Meanwhile, if your school or district springs for a subscription, you've got access to a huge library of the best leveled reading materials out there, and great classroom management and assessment features. Keep an eye on Newsela's Text Sets, which offer thematically curated texts as well as lesson plans and activities that can give students a more holistic picture of a topic. These rotate regularly, including timely content like a set of texts for Native American Heritage Month. Newsela's range of reading levels invites targeted intervention and differentiation. You can assign articles to individuals as well as small groups, using the quizzes to track progress and make further suggestions. Whole-class work has just as much potential: You can select articles for targeted instruction on specific reading standards while modeling good annotation and close-reading strategies for your students. Afterward, encourage them to practice independently. 

Newsela is an online news-as-literacy platform that features high-interest articles on everything from current events to myths and legends and from literature to science. Users can choose a free account (which just features news and current events) or paid subscriptions that include daily news story updates and subject-specific products for ELA, social studies, science, and SEL. Content is updated daily, with stories from a wide range of sources (from the Associated Press to Scientific American to the Washington Post ) in English and also often in Spanish. Topics run the gamut from pop culture to roller derby and Minecraft, and they touch on subjects that encourage cross-curricular reading, such as DNA testing, global women's rights, living conditions in Syria, and travel to Mars. All articles are available in five Lexile levels, ranging (roughly) from third to 12th grade. Each leveled text features a quiz tailored to that particular article plus a writing prompt that asks students to write and respond to what they've read. 

For teachers, the paid subscriptions offer the site's most useful options, including a dashboard to manage students' assignments and view both individual and class results, tracking progress toward meeting the related Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Subscription packages include Newsela Essentials (formerly Newsela PRO), which features news stories, and subject-specific subscription packages for four subjects: ELA, Social Studies, Science, and SEL. The subscription-based accounts are designed for implementation by schools and districts, and they include more features for tracking student progress, customizing their reading experience, and supporting teachers' professional learning. The subscription pricing isn't available online, so contact Newsela for a quote.

Newsela is a standout resource for supporting students' nonfiction literacy. The inclusion of adjustable Lexile levels for every text (and quiz) is a significant feat and gives Newsela a considerable leg up against competitors that offer more static nonfiction reading instruction. Additionally, the customized quizzes and structured writing prompts paired with each leveled text are an asset to teachers and students alike. These assessment features offer a rich, flexible way for students to demonstrate what they've learned, to practice their close reading skills, and to use their writing to analyze and discuss what they've read. It's especially powerful that there's so much content available in Spanish, making this a great tool for Spanish speakers or Spanish-language students, as well as for Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs). The fact that ELLs can toggle between the English and Spanish versions of a text and adjust the Lexile level in either language (for many, though not all, articles) is particularly groundbreaking. Features like a comprehensive built-in dictionary, an in-line translator, or audio supports could make students' experience even richer. Also, better search (vs. filtering) functionality could help the process of finding that just-right article feel more fruitful. These additions, however, would just bolster an already impressive, robust platform. 

Teachers -- especially those already familiar with Newsela -- should be aware of some changes in the pricing model. Much of Newsela's content used to be available for free; however, in 2019, the developer shifted most of the texts and assessment features (including CCSS and NGSS alignment information) behind the paywall of subscription-based accounts. With a paid account, teachers gain more customization options plus access to students' assessment data that can help guide instruction and target instructional interventions. Without a subscription, there's a much slimmer, more static content library to choose from, and this more limited experience makes Newsela stand out less from other leveled reading tools teachers might use. Overall, Newsela is an exceptional tool for bringing current events and high-interest nonfiction texts to students -- it's just a shame that its new price tag may put it out of many students' reach.

Learning Rating

Overall rating.

Daily, high-interest news articles. Simple, clean design that focuses on the texts and images. Students can read right at (or just above) their level.

Students can read texts at multiple levels, in English and Spanish, without compromising depth. Brief quizzes, annotation exercises, and writing prompts help assess learning.

Adjusting reading levels and language makes for an excellent, flexible reading experience. There's lots of great info to help teachers get started, but a lot of support requires a subscription.

Excellent tool

While the platform's grading format and quiz reliability may initially present obstacles, many educators find that clear communication of expectations and active guidance lead to increased satisfaction with the tool over time. By adopting a student perspective, teachers can identify and address potential confusion, thereby enhancing the overall learning experience.

Despite recent changes to access limitations, with articles now predominantly designated as "PRO," Newsela remains a valuable resource for educators willing to invest in their students' reading comprehension and confidence. Its ability to provide articles at various reading levels enables teachers to support learners with diverse abilities, fostering a sense of empowerment and engagement in the classroom.

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What can we help you with?

New product transition faq.

Newsela ELA, Newsela Science, Newsela Social Studies, and Newsela Essentials contain content to fit the needs of classroom subjects, teachers, students, and schools.

Learn more about our solutions.

Newsela ELA

With Newsela ELA, you’ll have access to 20+ genres of authentic and accessible content that is aligned to standards and classroom ready. 

More content specifically selected for ELA by text type, theme, subject, and even fiction category. 

Improved navigation and a subject-specific homepage make the content you care about easier to find. 

Expanded content curation that helps you find content that supports your core ELA instruction. 

Instructional supports, including Lesson Sparks and Implementation Guides, designed for the ELA classroom.

Learn more about Newsela ELA

Newsela Social Studies

Newsela Social Studies helps teachers build connections, promote inquiry, and get students thinking like historians, political scientists, or geographers with content that is relevant and accessible to students and aligned to standards.

The new social studies specific homepage makes it easier to find content and inspiration for instruction. 

Expanded collections help you find curated and sequenced content that supports your core Social Studies instruction, complete with instructional resources. 

All social studies content is now aligned to standards, and a selection includes a subject-specific quiz and Write Prompt.

Learn more about Newsela Social Studies

Newsela Science

Newsela Science helps teachers integrate literacy and science with authentic, real-world texts that are accessible to students and aligned to standards. 

The new science-specific homepage makes it easier to find content and inspiration for instruction. 

Expanded collections help you find curated and organized content that supports your core Science instruction, complete with instructional resources. 

All science content is now aligned to standards, and a selection includes a subject-specific quiz and Write Prompt.

Learn more about Newsela Science

Newsela Essentials

Newsela Essentials, formerly known as Newsela PRO, helps teachers integrate literacy across subject areas with texts that are engaging and accessible to students and relevant to all classrooms. 

An extensive library of authentic cross-topic nonfiction texts from the world’s best publications across 20+ genres. 

Leveled texts presented to students at their recommended reading level to support differentiation.

Multiple choice standards aligned quizzes and customizable write prompts to strengthen student comprehension.

Learn More about Newsela Essentials

I have a Newsela product that doesn’t match the subject I teach.  What does this mean for me?

Your district purchased a subject-specific product from Newsela. If this isn’t what you teach, not to worry, Newsela still offers an extensive library of authentic cross-topic nonfiction texts from the world’s best publications across 20+ genres. Whether you teach ELA, Social Studies or Science, every teacher has the leveled texts presented to students at their recommended reading level to support differentiation.

The best way to find what you are looking for is to search by topic to quickly surface the articles you need to teach your lessons tomorrow. Just like before, teachers can leverage reading comprehension quizzes and write prompts to better understand students as readers. 

Why are 6.1 million students using Newsela?

Editor’s note: This article is part of the series The Right Tool for the Job: Improving Reading and Writing in the Classroom that provides in-depth reviews of several promising digital tools for English language arts classrooms.

With the transition to the Common Core, one of the biggest challenges teachers face is finding high-quality, relevant, nonfiction texts. Many of the traditional reading programs do not have the balance of fiction and nonfiction for which the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) call, and as a result, a lot of teachers struggle to find the resources they need to effectively prepare students.

As a teacher, I have spent countless hours trying to find appropriate nonfiction texts that I can use with a classroom of diverse learners. I have struggled to find engaging articles that could be read by my English-language learners and still challenge those students who are reading above grade level. Thankfully, last year, I found Newsela.

Newsela overview

Newsela.com is an education website focused on building student reading comprehension by providing high-quality news articles and real-time assessments for students in grades 2–12. The site offers both a free version and a more extensive paid version called Newsela PRO. As many educators and schools are working with limited budgets, this overview focuses on the free version, but it also discusses Newsela PRO briefly. (Due to concerns about mature subjects and the content of some news articles, Newsela has created Newsela Elementary . Its content and organization mirror the original Newsela site, but it contains only articles appropriate for elementary-aged students.)

The free site content includes current news articles, historical documents and texts, and student-assessment features, all detailed below.

The news articles span a wide array of content, including science, money, law, health, arts, sports, and opinion. The site provides high-quality nonfiction texts from well-regarded media sources, such as the Washington Post , the Scientific American , the Los Angeles Times , and the Associated Press. An added benefit of using the site is that students not only practice reading nonfiction but also stay current with what is happening locally and globally.

Along with a library of articles, Newsela provides real-time assessments of student comprehension through multiple-choice quizzes and writing prompts. Each article is accompanied by a four-item quiz that probes the following areas: what the text says; central ideas; people, events, and ideas; word meaning and choice; text structure; point of view or purpose; multimedia; or arguments and claims. These categories are aligned to the first eight Common Core Anchor Standards for Reading, but they are also written generally enough to be aligned to reading-comprehension standards in states not using the CCSS. Teachers also have the option of assigning a short writing prompt related to the article the students read.

Students and teachers can also use Newsela’s built-in “annotation tool” as they read. They can highlight passages in articles, mark them with symbols, ask questions, jot notes, and write short summaries of important ideas. This is a great way for students to purposely interact with text, to promote their active reading, and to further their comprehension.

Newsela is adaptive, with each article accessible at five reading (Lexile) levels. The original article is used as the highest Lexile level. It’s then rewritten by Newsela staff for different grade levels, using a Lexile conversion chart available on their website. Teachers initially set the grade level for all students in their class; after a student has taken eight to ten quizzes, the site adjusts the articles to that student’s appropriate reading level—a continuous process based on pupil performance. This adaptive feature allows for an entire class to read and discuss the same content, while permitting individual students to access material at their individual reading level. To make its content accessible to more students, Newsela has also translated many of its articles into Spanish—again available at five reading levels.

Though nonfiction news articles make up the bulk of Newsela’s resources, the site also has a “library” that includes primary-source documents, biographies, famous speeches, and historical “Time Machine” articles. Resources available in the library include fascinating documents such as Howard Carter’s diary written during the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb; engaging articles, such as a 1900’s account of children working in the coal mines of Pennsylvania; and inspiring speeches, such as Cesar Chavez’s “Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” Like the news articles, each document contains a multiple-choice quiz and a writing prompt to assess comprehension.

Along with its online library of news articles and historical documents, Newsela provides both students and teachers with “binders” where assignments and assessment-related information can be stored. Teachers are able to view classroom-level data, including the number of students who have completed an assignment and the class average on a quiz, but cannot review individual student data or writing responses unless they subscribe to Newsela PRO. Assignments can be filtered by academic standard so that teachers can see how their class is performing on quizzes that address a specific standard. Students are able to view their assignments and individual assessment data in their binders.

The Newsela website can be accessed on a variety of digital platforms, and Newsela apps have been designed for both iPads and iPhones. The website is intuitively organized and easy to navigate.

Unsurprisingly, Newsela has proven popular with educators: as of July 2016, it had been used by over 6.1 million students and 800,000 teachers in all fifty states and internationally. Students have read nearly 100 million articles since Newsela was created!

Newsela PRO

Newsela’s fee-based version, Newsela PRO, offers enhanced tools and experiences. Newsela does not publish prices on its website but shared in a recent tweet that the Pro version costs about $6,000 per school, $2,000 per grade level, and $18 per student per year. (Newsela has worked with DonorsChoose in the past, so that may be an option for teachers who wish to subscribe to Newsela PRO on their own. They can also request a free thirty-day trial to see whether Newsela PRO works well for their purposes).

The biggest benefit of the PRO version is that it allows teachers to go beyond classroom-level data to view individual student progress and to track student progress against the CCSS. It allows teachers to see individual quiz results and read, score, and provide feedback on student responses to the writing prompts. Teachers are also able to sort and filter student-performance data and print reports, enabling them to track data, identify trends, and adjust instruction accordingly.

The PRO version also has several added features. Teachers can edit writing prompts so that they align more closely with what they’re doing in the classroom. This allows teachers to more easily link Newsela articles with topics they are discussing in class.

Newsela PRO also provides options for both students and teachers to annotate text—and allows them to view and respond to each other’s annotations. Teachers can use this to call attention to specific points in the text, to prompt students to reflect about something said in the text, or to add more notes to aid with comprehension. For their part, students can respond to teacher questions, ask their own questions, or just type in thoughts and reflections. This definitely makes the reading more interactive and helps teachers to promote close reading.

Although Newsela’s articles and resources are valuable instructional tools in their own right, the site also includes text sets: sets of news articles, biographies, speeches, and historical documents organized around a central theme or topic (see this post for more). For a closer look at Newsela’s text set capabilities and how they can be used in the classroom, please see part two of this review .

Shannon Garrison is a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher in California with two decades of teaching experience. She holds a National Board Certification, serves on the National Assessment Governing Board, and was also recently selected as a Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year.