Introduction to Newsela, Module 1

[Brianna Kraynak]

http://briannakraynak.weebly.com

Blog Post Title: Multimedial tutorial (1 or 2 posts down I believe)

Newsela is an interactive reading tool that allows teachers to assign students the same articles as their classmates at different lexile levels in order to discretely differentiate their reading from their peers. Within my internship school, Newsela has been an essential tool in making sure that each student is receiving a challenge that corresponds to their ability level with out the material leaving some students in the dust.

The first step to using Newsela is to create a faculty or staff account that is linked to the school that you are affiliated with.

Once the account has been set up and the school has been selected, the teacher may "create classes." When classes are created, the teacher is provided with a "class code" that they give to their students to plug in while they are registering.

Once classes have been created and students sign up using their class sign up code, the teacher is free to select articles for the class and assign a different lexile level to each student for the same article. When the students access the articles online, articles of lower lexile levels look identical to the same article in a higher lexile level.

Pros:

• Discretely differentiate for students
• Students can highlight information on the actual article as they go
• Students can take quizzes on articles online

Limitations:

• Students have to read articles online for it to be discrete. (When articles are printed out in different lexile levels, it is a bit more noticeable that pictures are in different places on different print outs)

Overall, I have seen Newsela work whether the articles were assigned online to a class or printed out and handed out to the class. Ideally, Newsela works best when students are able to have computers and access the articles online because it is more discrete that they will be reading articles at different lexile levels. Reading the article online still allows students to highlight and take notes on the screen as they read, so they do not lose that benefit of having articles printed on paper. Through this tool, teachers are able to differentiate and challenge their students in ways that they would never have been able to before. To top it off, it is an extremely easy tool to navigate through and to be able to teach students to use. 

#ormsmooc #ed6671 

For more information on how to use Newsela, visit:
http://support.newsela.com/hc/en-us
https://www.edsurge.com/newsela
https://www.youtube.com/user/Newsela

(pictures are provided on my blog post)

[Ian O'Byrne]

Hi Brianna,

First of all, the blog looks really good. I would change the "2nd trimester" label that you have at the top of the blog. I hope you'll continue to use this after this class....and that label looks out of place.

For your submission for the first badge...this is a great tutorial for Newsela. In your application for the badge, you'll want to include the link to go directly to the post. I got the direct link by clicking on the title of the post.

The tutorial itself looks good. I would include a screencast (video)...but that's not necessary if you don't want to include it. Also, at the bottom of the tutorial, please include some text indicating why you're including the Storify content at the bottom.

Good work. Badge awarded...now go display that badge. :)

-Ian