We’re Changing Our Free Product, What You Need To Know
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We’re Changing Our Free Product, Here Is What You Need To Know

Pep Carrera
Mar 21, 2023

On June 30, we will retire the current free version of our product and replace it with Newsela Lite, a new freemium experience of Newsela ELA, Newsela Social Studies, and Newsela Science.

Why the switch?

When a teacher decides to bring Newsela into the classroom, we don’t take it lightly. We constantly evaluate and evolve our products to ensure they respond to the needs of modern-day educators and students. Our evolution spans ten years beginning with daily news articles available at five reading levels, to the development of our premium subject products, to today.

We recognize the free version of Newsela—in its current form—does not meet the needs and expectations of what technology can really do in the classroom. And we want to fix that. 

Students are constantly changing, shifting, and never standing still, so it's no longer enough to offer materials without the real-time student feedback that teachers need to shift and adjust in turn. Teachers are strapped for time, so it's no longer enough to offer content without the tools teachers need to easily incorporate it into lessons. Classroom minutes are precious, so it’s no longer enough to offer news articles without the connection to grade-level learning objectives.

Enter Newsela Lite

Starting next school year, Newsela Lite will offer four leveled news articles for teachers to choose from at a time. Each article is hand-selected by our editorial team and will be available to teachers for four weeks. Each week one of the four articles will expire and be replaced with another timely piece of news content. When a teacher assigns an article, they will be able to see student actions and quiz results, supporting real-time instructional decision-making and individual communication and collaboration. These instructional supports were previously only available in our premium products.

What do teachers get with Newsela Lite?

Newsela Lite is free for any teacher to:

  • Access 4 pre-selected news articles, offered at 5 reading levels 

  • Select and lock reading levels for students

  • See alignment to state standards

  • Schedule assignments and set due dates

  • Access students' quiz scores 

  • Respond to students’ write prompt submissions and annotations

Our full catalog of 8,000+ leveled news and current events articles will only be available in our premium products. Starting next school year, we will offer extended free trials to give all teachers more time to explore the 15,000+ subject-specific texts, news articles, and videos across 20+ genres, instructional curations, Curriculum Complements, lesson resources, and more. Teachers can also refer their school for a free trial, extending their own free access and unlocking our products for all their fellow teachers. 

If you are already using our premium subject products, your access doesn’t change and no action needs to be taken. 

We are grateful for all the teachers who bring our products into their classrooms every day, many of whom have been with us since the beginning. If you have feedback to share about these changes, please contact us. To learn more about these updates, get in touch with our team. 

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