Lesson Overview
Using the photos in the articles, play a game where students look at only the photo and guess what the article is about. This activity emphasizes the importance of looking at all features of the text. Instruct students to read the article and then go back and compare their original inferences with what they now know.

STEP 1. Use filters to search for an article at reading level.

STEP 2. Show only the image to the students and ask them to to record their initial reaction to each of the following points:
• Observe: “I see...”
This should be based on what stands out to each student upon first glance.
• Predict/Infer: “ I think…feel…predict…infer…believe…conclude…”
This should identify what’s happening in the picture or predict what the story is about.
• Inquire/Question: “I wonder…”
This should be a question that the student has about the photograph.
• Activate All Senses: “I smell…I hear…I feel… I taste…I see…”
This may include an answer to one or many senses based on how the students’ senses react to seeing the photograph or how they believe their senses would respond if they were in the photograph.
• Reflect: “The photograph was trying to communicate…” “The photographer made the following choices because…” “The photograph was mainly about…”

STEP 3. Read the article out loud with your class (or have them read it in small groups in read-around format) and then ask your students to go back and see how their observations of the photograph matched the article.

STEP 4. Students compare their initial predictions after reading the article and share their thought process with the class.

NOTES:
• Complete this activity as a class. Ask students to share their predictions before you read the article.
• Once students start observing photographs in this way, it has a tendency to become a habit.

Lesson Overview
During a group reading, walk students through identifying the 5W’s of an article, a one-sentence summary of the article and examples of specific support. Show students how to use annotations to pose a question about the article. Once you have completed the lesson as a group, assign another article and ask students to complete the lesson individually. This is a great way to set expectations for how you want students to read an article and provide feedback throughout the school year. It is also a great way to prep for a Newsela quiz.

STEP 1. Use filters to search for an article and assign the article to students.
STEP 2. At the end of the article, add an annotation that poses a question about the article.
STEP 3. Read the article out loud with your class and identify the 5 W’s as a group. Use the Newsela Pro annotation feature to record these so that they become a part of the article for all students to view.
• Who: Who does the article involve?
• What: What is happening the in the article?
• Where: Where does the article take place?
• When: When does the article take place?
• Why: Why is this article newsworthy?

STEP 4. Challenge your students to come up with a tweet (140 characters or less) in groups of 3 that states the central idea of the text. By limiting them to only one sentence, the students are forced to consider the most important elements of the article.
Highlight the headline of the article and make an annotation to record the sentence. Each time students revisit this article, they will be able to see your annotation and be reminded of what they should consider when they read other articles.

STEP 5. Ask your students to identify at least two sections of the article that support their main i-tweeta. Highlight those areas and then add annotations that explain why this supports their group's central idea.

NOTES
• Once you have completed this exercise with the entire class, break the students into smaller groups and have them read a new article together. This also works as an individual project as well.

Lesson Overview
Although Newsela allows students to adjust the reading level on individual articles, they will inevitably encounter words they don’t know. Ask students to read an article and highlight any words they do not know. In the annotations, students should write what they think the word means and the context clues that helped them get there. Then, you can turn these words into a vocabulary list for the class.

STEP 1. Students choose current events article that interests them.

STEP 2. Instruct students to read the article at two levels and highlight at least three words that are unfamiliar to them in each article. For each word they identify, students should use annotations to record the following:
• What they think the word means
• Which context clues helped them draw that conclusion

STEP 4. Ask students to choose one of their words to share with the class.

STEP 5. Write all of the unknown words on the board and ask students to pick five words from the list..

STEP 6. As a class, look up the definitions of the five words. These words will serve as the vocabulary words for the week.

Articles in Spanish:
https://newsela.com/?needle=&language=es

With leveled articles in Spanish with an English counterpart (likewise leveled at five reading levels), teachers can ensure that their students reading in Spanish are still reading at grade level. Not only can students “scaffold” their reading in Spanish by starting with simple text and making it more complex, they can switch back and forth between languages at every level. Each Spanish article also corresponds to the same Common Core anchor standard as the English version.
By facilitating reading comprehension in more than one language, Newsela Español is leveling the learning field.

Set Lexile Levels:
https://www.newsela.com/articles/colorado-drought/id/11443/

Teachers can set lexile level for the class average and students can adjust their lexile level depending on their reading level, in both Spanish and English. This enables students to have control of their learning and reading. They can choose current, relevant articles, and read at their reading level.

Students practice reporting back:
Strategy 14 is Reporting back. This means that students verbalize their thought process as they come to their final conclusions. Reading on Newsela and using Reporting Back on the main ideas and thought processes gives students another way to express themselves and practice their reading comprehension at a level they are capable of.