15 Student-Favorite Titles for National Book Lovers Day

National Book Lovers Day is on August 9, and it’s a good excuse to celebrate the stories students already love—and discover a few new ones! It also lands right at the perfect time for back-to-school planning.

Use these 15 Newsela ELA novel and book study ideas to find grade-band-friendly titles, build background knowledge, and connect each book to resources they can use before, during, and after reading.

[Elementary school novel and book studies for National Book Lovers Day](id-elementary)

Elementary students will love stories about mythological heroes, finding your voice, and learning what life was like for young people in different eras. These Newsela ELA novel and book studies can help you connect student-favorite titles to background knowledge, discussion, and writing practice.

1. “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan

The first book in Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series introduces the titular character and his cross-country quest to find his father, rescue his mother, and learn more about himself. Use this novel study to help students explore Greek mythology, heroism, identity, and inclusion. 

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”

Use these resources to help students build background knowledge about Greek mythology, explore what makes a hero, and connect Percy’s story to inclusion and identity.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes mythological violence, family separation, monsters, and references to the underworld. It can also open conversations about learning differences, disability, and belonging, so it may help to set discussion norms before students begin.

Newsela ELA resources for “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
Myths and legends	Video	2:39	Introduce students to the purpose of myths and legends before they meet the Greek figures and heroic quests that shape Percy’s world.
The Titans and the Gods of Olympus: Greek Origin Story	Myth	570L–1210L	Builds background knowledge about the Greek gods, Titans, and origin stories students will see referenced throughout the novel.	✓ Yes
Myths and Legends: Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea	Myth	530L–1480L	Gives students context for Poseidon’s role in Greek mythology and helps them better understand Percy’s identity and family story.	✓ Yes
Myths and Legends: Perseus, renowned hero of ancient Greece	Myth	540L–1390L	Helps students compare Percy to a classic Greek hero and discuss how heroic traits change across stories and time periods.	✓ Yes
Myths and Legends: Hades, the Greek god of the underworld	Myth	580L–1530L	Supports students as they unpack the novel’s underworld references and examine how myths portray power, fear, and misunderstanding.
Myths and Legends: Zeus, supreme god of the ancient Greeks	Myth	450L–1490L	Provides context for Zeus’s importance in Greek mythology and helps students follow the conflict that drives Percy’s quest.	✓ Yes
What causes lightning and thunder?	Article	440L–970L	Pairs mythology with science by helping students compare ancient explanations for lightning with what we know about weather today.	✓ Yes
Opinion: Inclusive classrooms benefit all children	Article	570L–1150L	Connects to Percy’s school experiences and gives students language for discussing how classrooms can support different learning needs.	✓ Yes
The college sophomore wants to change how we talk about disabilities	Article	560L–1130L	Helps students connect Percy’s story to real-world conversations about disability, identity, and respectful language.	✓ Yes
Reframing our idea of disability	Article	600L–1030L	Supports discussion about how perceived challenges can also be sources of strength, perspective, and community.	✓ Yes
What makes a hero?	Video	4:29	Gives students a clear entry point for debating whether heroism is defined by bravery, choices, sacrifice, or growth.
Teen activist-turned-author Marley Dias talks inclusion, making change	Article	550L–1310L	Extends the heroism conversation by showing students a real-world example of a young person using their voice to create change.	✓ Yes
Earth Day: Kid heroes for the planet	Article	490L–990L	Helps students see heroism beyond mythology by studying young people taking action in their own communities.
On a big night for “Black Panther,” Boseman honors real-life hero	Article	610L–1280L	Connects fictional heroes to real-life courage and gives students another way to discuss what makes someone worthy of admiration.
Literary Analysis Long Form: Creating Inclusive Environments in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that brings together the novel’s inclusion themes and asks them to support their ideas with evidence.

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2. “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio

In Palacio’s novel, 10-year-old Auggie faces bullying and other challenges at school due to his facial differences, but his kindness and courage help him earn friends and acceptance as the year goes on. 

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “Wonder”

Use these resources to help students explore kindness, empathy, bullying, friendship, disability, and how differences can strengthen a classroom community.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes bullying, social exclusion, and conversations about facial differences and disability. Before teaching it, set clear discussion norms so students can talk about identity, kindness, and belonging with care and respect.

Newsela ELA resources for “Wonder”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
RJ Palacio: What is kindness?	Essay	540L–1140L	Connects directly to one of the novel’s central themes and helps students discuss how small choices can affect a school community.	✓ Yes
When words hurt	Article	400L–1050L	Helps students connect Auggie’s experiences to the real impact of hurtful language and think about how words shape belonging.	✓ Yes
New inclusive approach helps schools fight bullying	Article	690L–1380L	Gives students a real-world example of how schools can respond to bullying by building more supportive and inclusive communities.
D.C. author was bullied as a kid—now he urges others to be king	Article	380L–990L	Shows how a person can respond to bullying with courage, kindness, and a message that helps others feel seen.	✓ Yes
What’s empathy? Do I have it?	Video	12:13	Gives students language for understanding empathy before they analyze how characters respond to Auggie and one another.
He held crying classmate’s hand on first day of school; it went viral	Article	420L–990L	Offers a concrete example of kindness at school that students can compare to the choices characters make in the novel.	✓ Yes
FSU player eats lunch with autistic student sitting alone	Article	440L–830L	Supports discussion about friendship, inclusion, and what it means to notice when someone is being left out.	✓ Yes
Judy Heumann: The Mother of ADA	Video	2:43	Introduces students to disability rights and helps them connect individual experiences to broader conversations about access and respect.
Autistic kids with math abilities show different brain patterns	Article	720L–1250L	Encourages students to think about differences as strengths and challenge narrow assumptions about how people learn and think.
At Born Dancing, different abilities—and all in harmony	Article	610L–1060L	Shows students how inclusive spaces can help people share their talents and feel like full members of a community.	✓ Yes
“Wonder” movie gives two Kansas girls hope	Article	360L–910L	Helps students see how the story’s themes connect to real readers and viewers with personal experiences related to the novel.	✓ Yes
For this girl, the pages of “Wonder” got personal	Article	360L–980L	Gives students another real-world connection to the novel and invites discussion about why representation matters to readers.	✓ Yes
“Wonder” is emotional, but it’s also complex, funny and probing	Article	540L–1210L	Supports deeper discussion of the novel’s tone, character development, and why the story works as more than a simple kindness lesson.	✓ Yes
Writing well: The elements of explanatory writing	Article	550L–1090L	Helps students prepare to explain how the novel develops ideas about kindness, empathy, and character using clear evidence.	✓ Yes
Literary Analysis Long Form: Differences as Super Powers in Wonder	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that brings together the novel’s themes about identity, difference, strength, and belonging.

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3. “Fever 1793” by Laurie Halse Anderson

In Anderson’s historical fiction novel, 14-year-old Mattie struggles to survive the Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic in 1793 while caring for others and enduring personal losses and hardships along the way.

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “Fever 1793”

Use these resources to help students build background knowledge about historical fiction, epidemics, public health, grief, hope, and how global events can change individual lives.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes illness, death, grief, fear, and survival during an epidemic. Students may connect the topic to recent public health experiences, so it may help to preview resources and create space for thoughtful discussion.

Newsela ELA resources for “Fever 1793”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
Historical fiction	Video	2:46	Introduces students to the genre so they can see how Anderson uses real historical events to shape Mattie’s fictional story.
Great Cities: Philadelphia grid marks birth of America’s urban dream	Article	680L–1500L	Builds setting context by helping students understand Philadelphia’s importance and city design around the time of the novel.	✓ Yes
Epidemics	Video	2:05	Gives students a clear overview of epidemics before they examine how yellow fever affects Mattie, her family, and Philadelphia.
Explainer: What is a virus?	Explainer	590L–1270L	Supports science background knowledge students can use when discussing illness, public health, and what people understand during outbreaks.
Global wave of measles cases fed by misinformation worries officials	Article	530L–1510L	Connects the novel’s epidemic themes to modern public health challenges, including misinformation and community responsibility.
Ebola outbreak in Congo declared a global health emergency	Article	570L–1380L	Helps students compare historical and modern outbreak responses and consider how crises affect communities.
How will COVID-19 end? Experts look to past epidemics for clues	Article	580L–1270L	Invites students to connect past and present epidemics and think about why historical fiction can help readers understand current events.	✓ Yes
Tick, mosquito, flea illnesses tripled, CDC says U.S. isn’t fully prepared	Article	580L–1340L	Extends discussion of disease spread and helps students connect yellow fever to broader conversations about preparedness and prevention.
Opinion: Children and grieving the loss of a loved one	Article	560L–1030L	Supports sensitive discussion of grief and loss as students follow Mattie’s emotional response to crisis and hardship.	✓ Yes
COVID-19 memorial gives Americans a place to reconcile their loss	Article	500L–1110L	Helps students explore how communities remember loss and find meaning after public health tragedies.	✓ Yes
“A Toast”: A poem by Tammi J. Truax	Poem		Gives students a literary text for discussing resilience, remembrance, and how writers process difficult moments.
“Covid-19, a poem of hope”: A poem by Audrey Chuang	Poem		Connects the novel’s theme of hope during fear and uncertainty to a contemporary poem about living through a public health crisis.
“a brief meditation on breath”: A poem by Yesenia Montilla	Poem		Supports discussion about fear, survival, and the emotional weight of illness through a short, reflective literary text.
Laurie Halse Anderson	Video	2:49	Introduces students to the author and gives them context for Anderson’s choices as a historical fiction writer.
Literary Analysis Long Form: Reactions to Epidemics Past and Present in Fever 1793	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to compare epidemic responses and support their analysis with evidence.

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4. “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse

In Hesse’s historical fiction novel, teenager Billie Jo must reconcile with her father and overcome loss and injury during Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl.

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “Out of the Dust”

Use these resources to help students explore historical fiction, novels in verse, the Dust Bowl, grief, storytelling, hope, and forgiveness.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes family loss, grief, injury, poverty, environmental disaster, and strained family relationships. Preview the resources and consider discussion norms before students explore the book’s harder moments.

Newsela ELA resources for “Out of the Dust”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
What makes a poem a poem	Video	5:19	Introduces students to poetic structure and craft before they read a novel told through verse.
Farming and the Dust Bowl During the Great Depression	Article	570L–1080L	Builds historical context for the Dust Bowl and helps students understand the environmental and economic forces shaping Billie Jo’s life.	✓ Yes
The Depression and The Dust Bowl	Video	2:26	Gives students a quick overview of the historical events that shape the novel’s setting and conflict.
Narrative poetry: Telling stories through verse	Article	610L–1250L	Helps students understand how poetry can carry plot, character development, and emotion across a longer story.	✓ Yes
Novel in verse	Video	2:40	Prepares students to read the book’s format and notice how verse can make a character’s voice feel immediate and personal.
Primary Sources: Interview on the Dust Bowl Storms of Oklahoma in 1934	Interview	520L–1270L	Lets students compare Billie Jo’s fictional experience with a firsthand account of Dust Bowl storms in Oklahoma.	✓ Yes
Memories still vivid of 1930s Dust Bowl	Article	570L–1340L	Shows students how people remember and make meaning from major hardships years after they happen.	✓ Yes
Opinion: Children and grieving the loss of a loved one	Article	560L–1030L	Supports sensitive discussion of how young people experience grief and how loss affects Billie Jo’s choices and relationships.	✓ Yes
Before the Week’s Through	Fiction	740L–780L	Gives students a short fiction pairing for discussing hardship, resilience, and how characters respond when life changes quickly.	✓ Yes
A message in a bottle that traveled over 3,000 miles helped Maryland boy cope with his grief	Article	510L–1070L	Connects to the novel’s grief themes and shows students one way a young person found comfort after loss.	✓ Yes
In an angry America, a new remedy emerges: compassion	Article	400L–1170L	Helps students discuss compassion and forgiveness as Billie Jo works through pain, anger, and strained relationships.	✓ Yes
How Nipsey Hussle’s death inspired peace talks among L.A. gangs	Article	560L–1140L	Extends the conversation about grief, community healing, and what can happen when people respond to loss with action.	✓ Yes
Opinion: Music and art is a natural medicine to the “mind and soul” of teen	Article	440L–970L	Connects to Billie Jo’s relationship with music and helps students discuss how art can support healing and self-expression.	✓ Yes
Kids are using their poetry in new ways to make their voices heard	Article	400L–970L	Shows students how poetry can be a tool for voice, identity, and sharing difficult experiences.	✓ Yes
Literary Analysis Long Form: The Impact of Loss and Grief in Out of the Dust	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to analyze how loss and grief shape characters, conflict, and theme.

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5. “I Am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai

Yousafzai’s memoir tells the story of a young girl who stood up for women’s rights to education under Taliban oppression. She survived an assassination attempt and became a global symbol for the fight for education and women’s rights. 

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “I Am Malala”

Use these resources to help students build context about Malala Yousafzai’s activism, Pakistan, education rights, gender equality, and what it means to take a stand against injustice.

Full Book Study

Open the complete Newsela Book Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the book’s essential questions.

Open Book Study

Teacher note

This memoir includes Taliban oppression, gender discrimination, terrorism-related context, and an assassination attempt. Preview resources before teaching and set discussion norms for conversations about religion, culture, violence, and education rights.

Newsela ELA resources for “I Am Malala”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
Malala Yousafzai: Education activist for girls	Video	1:57	Introduces students to Malala’s activism and gives them a clear starting point for understanding her fight for girls’ education.
Malala Yousafzai: “There’s still a lot of work to be done” in the West	Article	540L–1280L	Helps students connect Malala’s story to ongoing conversations about education, opportunity, and gender equality around the world.	✓ Yes
Pakistan’s once-posh ski resort awaits a post-Taliban lift	Article	600L–1290L	Builds background knowledge about Pakistan’s Swat Valley and helps students understand the setting and historical context of Malala’s story.
A History of the 9/11 Attacks	Article	610L–1390L	Provides historical context students may need to better understand the global events and political tensions referenced in the memoir.	✓ Yes
An Introduction to Muhammad and the Faith of Islam	Article	560L–1110L	Helps students build respectful background knowledge about Islam so they can better understand cultural and religious references in the book.	✓ Yes
Opinion: Why children have such powerful moral authority	Article	570L–1400L	Supports discussion about why young people’s voices can be powerful in movements for justice and social change.	✓ Yes
Pakistan nabs militants linked to attack on Malala	Article	710L–1350L	Gives students news context for the attack on Malala and helps them discuss justice, accountability, and public response.
8 of 10 tried in shooting of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai freed	Article	710L–1370L	Extends discussion about justice and helps students consider how legal outcomes can affect public trust and survivor stories.
Afghanistan’s first female orchestra set to take Davos	Article	560L–1190L	Connects to the book’s gender equity themes by showing another example of young women challenging limits placed on their education and expression.
Saudi Arabia to allow women to drive for the first time	Article	580L–1410L	Broadens the conversation about gender rights and helps students compare different forms of advocacy and social change.
Pakistani teen seeks release of Nigerian girls	Article	700L–1440L	Shows Malala continuing to use her platform for education rights and helps students discuss what it means to stand up for others.
Literary Analysis Long Form: Cultural Context of Pakistan in I Am Malala	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to connect the memoir to Pakistan’s cultural, historical, and social context using evidence.

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Middle school novel and book Studies for National Book Lovers Day

Middle schoolers are ready for stories with coming-of-age themes, relatable characters, and engaging plots. These Newsela ELA novel and book studies can help you connect student-favorite titles to resources about identity, family, culture, sports, and belonging.

1. “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton

Hinton’s novel follows teenager Ponyboy Curtis and his friend group, the Greasers, as they deal with violence and the struggle for identity when compared to their rivalry with the elite Socs. 

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “The Outsiders”

Use these resources to help students build background knowledge about the 1960s, social class, stereotypes, group boundaries, conflict, violence prevention, and the style choices S.E. Hinton uses in the novel.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes violence, death, class conflict, stereotyping, family loss, and group rivalry. It may help to set discussion norms before students explore how identity, belonging, and social boundaries shape the characters’ choices.

Newsela ELA resources for “The Outsiders”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
1945 to the Present: The Sixties	Article	620L–1460L	Builds historical context for the decade in which the novel is set and helps students connect characters’ experiences to broader social changes.	✓ Yes
Why it’s hard to be a poor boy with richer neighbors	Article	570L–1300L	Helps students explore how class differences can shape identity, opportunity, and relationships between groups.	✓ Yes
Scramble to flee Irma underscores rich, poor divide	Article	540L–1220L	Extends the class divide conversation by showing how wealth and access can affect people’s choices during a crisis.
Why stereotypes should be avoided	Article	600L–1240L	Supports discussion about how labels like “Greasers” and “Socs” shape how characters see one another and themselves.	✓ Yes
Study: Teachers’ implicit bias against black students starts in preschool	Article	600L–1270L	Helps students connect the novel’s themes about bias and assumptions to real-world examples of how prejudice can affect young people.
The barrier-breaking power of learning someone else’s story	Article	580L–1140L	Connects to the novel’s empathy themes and helps students consider how hearing another person’s story can challenge group boundaries.	✓ Yes
How and why does conflict occur?	Article	560L–1240L	Gives students a framework for analyzing why conflict begins, escalates, and affects individuals and communities.	✓ Yes
Using brain science to teach Chicago teens how to stop violence	Article	550L–1230L	Connects to the novel’s violence and conflict themes while giving students a real-world example of intervention and prevention.	✓ Yes
How Nipsey Hussle’s death inspired peace talks among L.A. gangs	Article	560L–1140L	Helps students discuss how communities can respond to violence and work toward breaking cycles of conflict.	✓ Yes
“Nothing Gold Can Stay”: A poem by Robert Frost	Poem	800L	Supports close reading of a poem that is central to the novel’s ideas about innocence, change, and loss.
“Stopping By Woods On Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost	Poem		Gives students another Frost poem for comparing imagery, mood, and the way style choices can carry meaning.
Literary Analysis Long Form: Physical and Invisible Boundaries in The Outsiders	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to analyze how visible and invisible boundaries shape characters, conflict, and theme.

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2. “Esperanza Rising” by Pam Muñoz Ryan

In Muñoz Ryan’s novel, Esperanza is forced to flee her privileged life in 1930s Mexico after her father’s murder and the loss of her family’s wealth. She must adapt to life as a migrant worker in California during the Great Depression and reset what her idea of family looks like.

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “Esperanza Rising”

Use these resources to help students explore family history, culture, migration, grief, hope, the Great Depression, labor rights, protest, and the ways people fight against injustice.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes a parent’s death, grief, displacement, deportation, discrimination, and unfair labor conditions. Preview resources before teaching and set discussion norms for conversations about immigration, economic hardship, cultural identity, and family loss.

Newsela ELA resources for “Esperanza Rising”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
Pam Muñoz Ryan	Video	2:35	Introduces students to the author and gives context for the choices Ryan makes when writing about family, culture, history, and hope.
History of the Mexican Revolution	Article	580L–1230L	Builds historical context for Esperanza’s life in Mexico and helps students understand the social changes that shape the story’s opening.	✓ Yes
How to deal with the death of a loved one	Article	430L–1010L	Supports sensitive discussion of grief as students follow Esperanza’s response to loss and major changes in her family.	✓ Yes
The Depression and The Dust Bowl	Video	2:26	Gives students a quick overview of the economic and environmental conditions that shape life in California during the novel.
Farming and the Dust Bowl During the Great Depression	Article	570L–1080L	Helps students connect Esperanza’s new life as a farmworker to the broader history of farming, poverty, and the Great Depression.	✓ Yes
When Hoover deported 1 million Mexican Americans for supposedly stealing U.S. jobs	Article	570L–1340L	Provides historical context for deportation and anti-Mexican discrimination during the period Esperanza’s story explores.
When Labor Laws Left Farmworkers Behind—and Vulnerable to Abuse	Article	600L–1320L	Helps students understand unfair labor conditions and why workers in the novel push for better treatment.	✓ Yes
“We’re not animals”: U.S. farmworkers labor in deadly heat with few protections	Article	550L–1390L	Connects the novel’s farmworker themes to current labor issues and helps students discuss dignity, safety, and worker protections.	✓ Yes
Dolores Huerta: “Yes we can!”	Video	2:36	Introduces students to a major labor rights leader and gives them a real-world example of organizing for justice.
Civil rights icon Huerta has advice for a new generation of activists	Article	500L–1330L	Extends the protest and labor rights conversation by showing how activism can continue across generations.	✓ Yes
“Protest”: A poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox	Poem		Gives students a literary text for discussing protest, voice, and why people speak out against injustice.
Symbolism	Video	2:06	Prepares students to analyze symbols in the novel, including how objects, places, and images carry deeper meaning.
The Sun Stands Still	Fiction	620L–720L	Offers a fiction pairing for discussing cultural traditions, family relationships, and how young people navigate change.	✓ Yes
“Peaches”: A poem by Adrienne Su	Poem	710L	Connects to the novel’s harvest imagery and gives students a poetic pairing for discussing memory, food, family, and culture.
“Walnuts in Nangarhar”: A poem by Zohra Saed	Poem	670L	Helps students compare how poems can use food, place, and memory to explore identity and connection to home.
Basket weavers plant the seeds of Gullah culture in the next generation	Article	610L–1260L	Supports discussion about how traditions are passed down and how family history and culture shape identity.
How kiddie pools of kimchi bind Korean families together	Article	460L–1240L	Gives students another real-world example of how food, family, and tradition can preserve culture across generations.	✓ Yes
Literary Analysis Long Form: Analyzing Protest in Esperanza Rising	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to analyze protest in the novel and support their ideas with evidence.

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3. “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander

In Alexander’s novel in verse, preteen Josh Bell experiences sibling rivalry and family loss. He must figure out how to balance his love for basketball with these and other challenges of growing up. 

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “The Crossover”

Use these resources to help students explore novels in verse, poetic devices, basketball, sibling bonds, family loss, identity, appearance, and the ways sports lessons can connect to life beyond the court.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes family loss, grief, a parent’s health crisis, sibling conflict, and conversations about appearance, hair, and identity. It may help to set discussion norms before students connect Josh’s personal experiences to broader conversations about self-expression and belonging.

Newsela ELA resources for “The Crossover”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
Poet writes slam-dunking kids’ novel	Video	4:26	Introduces students to Kwame Alexander and gives them context for how poetry, basketball, and storytelling come together in the novel.
To excel at basketball, it’s mind over matter	Article	360L–920L	Connects to Josh’s athletic mindset and helps students discuss how focus, confidence, and pressure affect performance on and off the court.	✓ Yes
Novel in verse	Video	2:40	Prepares students to read the book’s format and notice how verse can reveal character, emotion, rhythm, and theme.
What are free verse poems?	Video	0:40	Gives students a quick introduction to free verse before they analyze Alexander’s structure and line breaks.
Figures of speech	Explainer	590L–1210L	Supports close reading of the novel’s figurative language and helps students name the craft moves they notice in Josh’s narration.	✓ Yes
“blessing the boats”: A poem by Lucille Clifton	Poem		Gives students another poem to study for imagery, voice, and movement through challenge or uncertainty.
Curious: Basketball	Video	3:00	Builds background knowledge about basketball so students can better understand the sport-specific language and action in the novel.
Indigenous players from across the U.S. head to Northern California for basketball tourney	Article	670L–1170L	Shows students how basketball can build community, identity, and pride beyond the world of professional sports.
Two Somali teens turn to basketball for expression	Article	580L–1270L	Connects basketball to self-expression and helps students discuss how sports can give young people a way to process identity and experience.
What’s in a hairstyle? A lot. New York City bans bias against Black hair	Article	600L–1490L	Connects to Josh’s hair and identity by helping students explore how appearance can carry personal, cultural, and social meaning.	✓ Yes
Massachusetts just banned hair discrimination; these twins paved the way	Article	570L–1370L	Extends the conversation about hair, bias, and identity by showing students how young people helped change a state law.
Prince Fire Flash and Prince Fire Fade: a Japanese story	Fiction	910L–940L	Gives students a sibling-story pairing for discussing rivalry, loyalty, difference, and how family bonds shape identity.	✓ Yes
For the first time, twins to compete together at National Spelling Bee	Article	550L–1150L	Supports discussion about sibling relationships, shared goals, competition, and what it means to grow alongside someone close to you.
How to deal with the death of a loved one	Article	430L–1010L	Supports sensitive discussion of grief and helps students process how loss affects Josh, his family, and the novel’s themes.	✓ Yes
“On Friendship”: A poem by Kahlil Gibran	Poem		Offers a poetic pairing for discussing friendship, brotherhood, support, and the relationships that shape a person’s sense of self.
“O Captain! My Captain”: A poem by Walt Whitman	Poem	650L	Gives students a classic poem for discussing admiration, leadership, grief, and how poets use form to express loss.
Literary Analysis Long Form: The Importance of Hair in The Crossover	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to analyze how hair connects to identity, self-expression, conflict, and theme in the novel.

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4. “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park

Park’s novel tells parallel stories of fictional Nya, a girl who deals with a water crisis in her village, and the real-life experiences of Salva Dut, one of Sudan’s Lost Boys who brings clean water to his homeland.

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “A Long Walk to Water”

Use these resources to help students build background knowledge about Sudan and South Sudan, civil war, refugees, empathy, water access, resource distribution, and the real-world effects of unequal opportunities.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes war, violence, displacement, refugee experiences, hunger, child soldier context, genocide references, and water insecurity. Preview resources before teaching and set discussion norms for conversations about conflict, survival, empathy, and unequal access to basic needs.

Newsela ELA resources for “A Long Walk to Water”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
The people of Sudan and South Sudan	Video	3:14	Builds background knowledge about the people and region at the center of Salva and Nya’s stories.
Hunger and war	Article	570L–1380L	Helps students understand how war can disrupt food access, safety, and daily life for individuals and communities.	✓ Yes
The plight of refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs around the globe	Article	590L–1130L	Gives students context for Salva’s refugee experience and helps them distinguish between refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people.	✓ Yes
Sudan, Part 1	Article	1320L	Provides deeper historical and geographic context for the conflict and conditions that shape the novel.
Sudan, Part 2	Article	1300L	Continues the background-building students need to understand Sudan, South Sudan, and the events surrounding Salva’s journey.
From a child soldier in Sudan to a hip-hop star	Video	5:03	Gives students a real-world example of survival, trauma, and resilience connected to child soldier experiences.
Refugees thank adoptive North Dakota city by feeding the hungry	Article	540L–1290L	Shows how refugee communities can contribute to and build connections with the places where they resettle.
Michigan family who survived the Darfur genocide helps other Sudanese refugees	Article	550L–1010L	Connects the novel’s refugee and Sudanese history themes to a family’s real-world story of survival and support.
The refugee who ran at the Olympics: “You can change the world”	Article	380L–980L	Helps students discuss resilience, opportunity, and how personal stories can inspire action beyond one person’s experience.	✓ Yes
Two million Americans still don’t have running water, new report says	Article	610L–1400L	Connects Nya’s water crisis to water access issues in the United States and helps students see resource inequality as a global and local issue.
Stories from around the world showcase the problem of water inequality	Article	570L–1460L	Broadens the water access conversation and helps students compare how unequal resource distribution affects communities worldwide.
Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation	Video	2:26	Introduces the global goal of clean water and sanitation so students can connect the novel to international development efforts.
How can rain create conflict? Precipitation and water use	Video	9:38	Helps students understand how water availability, climate, and resource use can create tension between people and communities.
Years into a climate disaster, these people are eating the unthinkable	Article	610L–1310L	Extends discussion of climate, hunger, and survival when environmental conditions make daily life harder.
“Behold the Water of Waters”: A poem by Rumi	Poem		Gives students a poetic pairing for discussing water as a symbol of life, movement, and meaning.
“Earth”: A poem by Avery Fisher	Poem	1090L	Offers a literary text for exploring how writers describe the natural world and people’s relationship to it.
“Rain Music”: A poem by Neal Levin	Poem		Supports discussion about water imagery, sound, and mood through a short poetic text.
Literary Analysis Long Form: Resource Distribution in A Long Walk to Water	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to analyze unequal resource distribution and support their ideas with evidence from the novel and related texts.

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5. “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros

In Cisneros’ novel, readers follow a year in the life of Esperanza Cordero, a Chicana girl living in a poor Latino neighborhood in Chicago. 

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “The House on Mango Street”

Use these resources to help students explore language, identity, home, poverty, immigration, gender roles, coming of age, personal narrative, and how relationships and experiences shape perspective.

Full Book Study

Open the complete Newsela Book Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the book’s essential questions.

Open Book Study

Teacher note

This novella includes poverty, gender roles, harassment, implied sexual violence, domestic violence, identity, and coming-of-age experiences. Preview vignettes before teaching and set discussion norms for conversations about home, language, gender, power, and belonging.

Newsela ELA resources for “The House on Mango Street”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
Writers: Sandra Cisneros	Video	2:32	Introduces students to Sandra Cisneros and gives them context for the author’s voice, perspective, and approach to storytelling.
Author Sandra Cisneros explains how writing is a therapy	Interview	500L–1050L	Helps students connect writing, memory, and identity as they study how Esperanza uses language to understand herself and her world.	✓ Yes
The importance of an unhappy adolescence	Video	6:01	Supports discussion about coming of age and how difficult experiences can shape a young person’s voice, choices, and self-understanding.
Gender stereotypes are firmly rooted by age 10: global study	Article	600L–1600L	Connects to the novella’s gender-role themes and helps students discuss how expectations can shape childhood and adolescence.	✓ Yes
Want to raise an empowered girl? Then let her be funny	Article	580L–1150L	Extends the conversation about gender, voice, and confidence as students think about Esperanza’s growth and self-expression.	✓ Yes
“Platform for Action” provides a road map to gender equality	Article	740L–1360L	Gives students a broader context for discussing gender equality and the societal expectations that affect girls and women.	✓ Yes
Poet Amanda Gorman has a way with words	Article	420L–700L	Shows students how a young writer can use language, story, and performance to express identity and speak to a larger community.
National Youth Poet Laureate says, “Your story is always going to be important”	Article	550L–1180L	Reinforces the idea that students’ own stories matter and connects to Esperanza’s search for voice and self-definition.
Salvadoran poet writes to humanize the immigrant story	Article	540L–1280L	Connects poetry, identity, and immigration as students explore how writers use personal stories to challenge stereotypes and build empathy.	✓ Yes
“The U.S. of Us”: A poem by Richard Blanco	Poem	1230L	Offers a poetic pairing for discussing language, place, identity, and what it means to belong in a community.
Opinion: Half of the world is bilingual, and America is behind	Article	590L–1240L	Supports discussion about bilingualism and helps students connect language to identity, opportunity, and school experiences.	✓ Yes
Fewer Latinos are speaking only Spanish at home	Article	560L–1150L	Gives students data-based context for discussing language, culture, home, and identity across generations.	✓ Yes
Someone to lean on arrives just as you need a friend	Article	370L–950L	Connects to the novella’s relationship themes and helps students discuss friendship, support, and the people who shape a young person’s perspective.	✓ Yes
Coming of age	Video	2:42	Introduces students to the coming-of-age genre so they can track how Esperanza changes across the novella’s vignettes.
How to write a personal narrative	Explainer	570L–1070L	Prepares students to write about personal experiences while thinking about voice, structure, reflection, and meaning.	✓ Yes
Writing well: The elements of narrative writing	Explainer	570L–1080L	Supports students as they study and practice the narrative techniques Cisneros uses to create vivid, meaningful vignettes.	✓ Yes
Opinion Long Form: Bilingualism in Schools in The House on Mango Street	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to connect the novella’s language and identity themes to a broader conversation about bilingualism in schools.

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High school novel and book studies for National Book Lovers Day

High schoolers are ready for books that examine complex choices, historical tensions, social issues, and identity. These Newsela ELA novel and book studies can help you connect student-favorite titles to resources that push them to question the world they live in.

1. “Dear Martin” by Nic Stone

In Stone’s novel, high schooler Justyce McAllister confronts racism and brutality after a wrongful arrest. He writes letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he tries to find his own identity and navigate a divided society. 

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “Dear Martin”

Use these resources to help students explore Martin Luther King Jr.’s teachings, racism, stereotypes, racial profiling, privilege, bias, opportunity, media, activism, and what it means to build supportive and inclusive communities.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes racism, racial profiling, police violence, physical violence, grief, biased language, and discussions of privilege and institutional inequity. Preview resources before teaching and set discussion norms for conversations about identity, justice, activism, and lived experiences with bias.

Newsela ELA resources for “Dear Martin”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
Nic Stone	Video	2:47	Introduces students to the author and gives context for Stone’s choices around identity, justice, and writing for young adult readers.
Civil Rights Leaders: Martin Luther King Jr.	Biography	500L–1210L	Builds historical context for Justyce’s letters to Dr. King and helps students understand the ideas he is trying to apply to his own life.	✓ Yes
Did you know? Martin Luther King Jr.	Video	2:19	Gives students a quick overview of Dr. King’s life and legacy before they examine how his teachings influence Justyce.
Primary Sources: Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”	Letter	480L–1220L	Lets students read a key primary source connected to the novel’s letter-writing structure, moral questions, and justice themes.	✓ Yes
Issue Overview: Racial profiling	Article	550L–1310L	Connects directly to Justyce’s wrongful arrest and helps students discuss how racial profiling affects individuals and communities.	✓ Yes
Why stereotypes should be avoided	Article	600L–1240L	Supports discussion about the harm of assumptions and how stereotypes shape the way characters are seen and treated.	✓ Yes
PRO/CON: Affirmative action at colleges and universities	Article	770L–1480L	Helps students examine opportunity, access, and college admissions as they discuss privilege and institutional barriers.
Opinion: What science has to say about affirmative action	Article	710L–1470L	Gives students another perspective on affirmative action and helps them support claims about opportunity and bias with evidence.	✓ Yes
Opinion: College admissions scandal reopens old wounds	Article	600L–1220L	Connects privilege and college access to a current-events example students can compare with the novel’s questions about fairness and opportunity.
How “Black Lives Matter” became a U.S. protest cry	Article	610L–1400L	Supports discussion about activism, protest, police violence, and the ways communities respond to injustice.	✓ Yes
American Government: The impact of the media	Article	610L–1280L	Helps students analyze how media can shape public perception of events, people, and social issues.
King’s granddaughter, 10, is finding her own way as an activist	Article	420L–1050L	Connects Dr. King’s legacy to a younger generation and helps students discuss how young people can continue work for justice.	✓ Yes
Indigenous superhero comics leap stereotypes in a single bound	Article	620L–1060L	Expands the stereotype conversation by showing how representation can challenge limited or harmful portrayals of communities.
“Dearborn Girl” podcasters “reclaim the mic” for community	Article	530L–1250L	Shows students how young people can use media and storytelling to challenge stereotypes and represent their communities.
This college sophomore wants to change how we talk about disabilities	Article	560L–1130L	Supports broader discussion about bias, inclusive language, identity, and how people can challenge assumptions through advocacy.	✓ Yes
Opinion Long Form: Affirmative Action in Dear Martin	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to connect the novel’s questions about opportunity, bias, and education to an argument about affirmative action.

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2. “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury

In Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Guy Montag questions society’s ban on books and goes against his job to preserve knowledge and free thought. 

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “Fahrenheit 451”

Use these resources to help students explore dystopian fiction, censorship, free speech, book banning, the value of knowledge, conformity, media influence, propaganda, disinformation, and the pros and cons of modern technology.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novel includes censorship, book burning, state violence, war, death, references to attempted suicide, and intense conversations about media, conformity, and government control. Preview resources before teaching and set discussion norms for conversations about banned books, technology use, propaganda, and the role of knowledge in society.

Newsela ELA resources for “Fahrenheit 451”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
How to recognize a dystopia	Video	5:50	Introduces students to dystopian fiction so they can identify how Bradbury uses setting, control, fear, and social critique in the novel.
Writers: Ray Bradbury	Video	2:33	Gives students a quick introduction to Bradbury and helps them connect the author’s interests to the novel’s ideas about books, society, and technology.
Powering through prose: Ray Bradbury	Video	12:14	Supports discussion about Bradbury’s style, language, and craft choices before students analyze how his prose builds mood and meaning.
Lev Grossman discusses Ray Bradbury’s life, work and legacy	Video	4:51	Helps students understand Bradbury’s broader literary legacy and why his warnings about technology and culture still resonate.
Authors: Ray Bradbury	Biography	530L–1090L	Builds author background students can use when discussing Bradbury’s influences, recurring themes, and role in science fiction.	✓ Yes
Essay: Why “Fahrenheit 451” will always be terrifying	Essay	590L–1490L	Connects directly to the novel’s lasting impact and helps students discuss why censorship, distraction, and conformity remain relevant concerns.	✓ Yes
What the First Amendment protects—and what it doesn’t	Explainer	600L–1300L	Gives students civic context for discussing censorship, free expression, and the limits of speech protections.	✓ Yes
Opinion: What it’s like to top banned-book lists around the world	Article	560L–1220L	Connects the novel’s book banning themes to a real author’s experience and helps students consider the effects of censorship on writers and readers.
Banning books like “13 Reasons Why” is never the answer, author says	Article	560L–1120L	Helps students debate when, if ever, limiting access to books is appropriate and what schools should consider when books raise difficult topics.
Opinion: The death of reading is threatening the soul	Article	580L–1050L	Supports discussion about the value of reading, knowledge, reflection, and sustained attention in a society shaped by screens and speed.	✓ Yes
PRO/CON: Is binge-watching a harmless pleasure or a harmful addiction?	Article	580L–1290L	Connects to the novel’s concerns about passive entertainment and helps students weigh the benefits and drawbacks of screen-based habits.	✓ Yes
The global rise of social media and the changed world	Article	560L–1250L	Helps students compare Bradbury’s imagined media culture with today’s social media landscape and its effects on communication and society.	✓ Yes
Healthy screen time is one challenge of distance learning	Article	400L–980L	Gives students a practical connection to the novel’s technology themes by inviting discussion about healthy digital habits.	✓ Yes
Student Opinion: Limit your use of technology	Article	580L–1210L	Helps students consider the costs of constant technology use and connect the novel’s warnings to their own daily lives.	✓ Yes
American Government: The impact of the media	Article	610L–1280L	Supports analysis of how media can shape public understanding, political ideas, and people’s willingness to question authority.
Four ways to protect yourself from disinformation	Article	600L–1190L	Connects to the novel’s media and truth themes by helping students practice evaluating information and resisting manipulation.
Malcolm X’s former prison cell becomes first of 1,000 planned “freedom libraries”	Article	560L–1280L	Extends discussion about access to books and shows students a real-world example of libraries as tools for knowledge, dignity, and change.
Poet Reginald Dwayne Betts talks about his groundbreaking prison library project	Article	560L–1370L	Shows how access to books can shape identity, opportunity, and community, reinforcing the novel’s argument about the value of reading.
Propaganda	Video	2:33	Introduces students to propaganda so they can analyze how governments and media systems influence thought and behavior.
Propaganda today	Video	2:16	Helps students connect propaganda to modern media environments and discuss how persuasive messages shape public perception.
Literary Analysis Long Form: Pros and Cons of Modern Technology in Fahrenheit 451	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to analyze the novel’s technology themes and support their ideas with evidence.

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3. “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck

In Steinbeck’s Depression-era novel, two migrant workers, George and Lennie, travel to California for work but find themselves caught up in difficult situations that force them to make hard choices.

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “Of Mice and Men”

Use these resources to help students explore the Great Depression, migrant labor, the American Dream, marginalized groups, loneliness, dreams, disability representation, gender, race, and Steinbeck’s writing style.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novella includes violence, death, mercy killing, racism, racial slurs, sexism, disability representation, dehumanizing language, loneliness, and economic hardship. Preview resources before teaching and set discussion norms for conversations about power, identity, marginalization, and how language reflects historical context.

Newsela ELA resources for “Of Mice and Men”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
Farming and the Dust Bowl During the Great Depression	Article	570L–1080L	Builds historical context for the environmental and economic conditions that shaped life for workers during the Depression era.	✓ Yes
The Great Depression	Explainer	660L–1490L	Gives students a clear overview of the economic crisis that frames George and Lennie’s search for work, stability, and hope.	✓ Yes
What is the American Dream?	Article	590L–1480L	Helps students analyze George and Lennie’s dream and question whether the American Dream is equally accessible to everyone.
A Brief History of American Farm Labor	Article	570L–1420L	Provides background on farm labor so students can better understand the work, instability, and exploitation present in the novella.	✓ Yes
When Labor Laws Left Farmworkers Behind—and Vulnerable to Abuse	Article	600L–1320L	Helps students discuss how poor labor protections can make workers vulnerable and connect historical conditions to broader questions about justice.	✓ Yes
Dorothea Lange used photography to make an ugly world beautiful	Article	580L–1320L	Gives students visual and historical context for Depression-era hardship and shows how art can document poverty, dignity, and survival.	✓ Yes
“Calling Dreams”: A poem by Georgia Douglas Johnson	Poem	1050L	Offers a literary pairing for discussing dreams, longing, and the emotional risks of hoping for a different future.
Jim Crow and the Great Migration	Article	550L–1420L	Builds context for the racism and limited opportunities that shaped life for Black Americans during the era of the novella.	✓ Yes
African-Americans and the CCC	Article	410L–1240L	Helps students examine how New Deal programs affected Black Americans and connect historical policy to unequal treatment and opportunity.	✓ Yes
Famous Speeches: Cady Stanton’s Address on “The Destructive Male”	Speech	580L–1490L	Supports discussion about gender, power, and how marginalized voices challenge social expectations and unequal treatment.	✓ Yes
“Of Mice and Men”: Steinbeck’s writing style	Video	5:35	Helps students analyze Steinbeck’s style, including how dialogue, description, symbolism, and structure develop character and theme.
“Of Mice and Men”: Context and background	Video	4:16	Gives students a concise overview of the novella’s historical and literary context before they begin close reading.
Literary Analysis Long Form: Character Dreams in Of Mice and Men	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to analyze how characters’ dreams shape their choices, relationships, and understanding of the American Dream.

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4. “Animal Farm” by George Orwell

In Orwell’s allegorical novella, farm animals overthrow their human counterparts and establish their own society, but the pigs eventually stage a takeover and illustrate the corruption and ideas of totalitarianism. 

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “Animal Farm”

Use these resources to help students explore allegory, paradox, the Russian Revolution, totalitarianism, economic systems, government power, propaganda, political messaging, and how Orwell uses animal characters to convey complex political ideas.

Full Novel Study

Open the complete Newsela Novel Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the novel’s essential questions.

Open Novel Study

Teacher note

This novella includes political violence, intimidation, executions, propaganda, manipulation, class hierarchy, and authoritarian control. Preview resources before teaching and set discussion norms for conversations about power, revolution, economic systems, and how governments can influence public perception.

Newsela ELA resources for “Animal Farm”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
Allegory	Video	2:52	Introduces students to allegory so they can analyze how Orwell uses animals, characters, and events to represent political ideas.
“Animal Farm” context and background	Video	6:48	Builds background knowledge about the novel’s historical and political context before students begin close reading.
Authors: George Orwell	Biography	540L–1080L	Gives students author context for Orwell’s political concerns, writing choices, and use of fiction to critique power.	✓ Yes
What is a paradox?	Explainer	830L–1030L	Prepares students to analyze Orwell’s paradoxes and discuss how contradictions reveal hypocrisy, inequality, and corruption.	✓ Yes
The Russian Revolution, the Short Version	Article	590L–1420L	Provides essential historical context for the revolution that influenced the novel’s plot, characters, and political critique.	✓ Yes
World Leaders: Vladimir Lenin	Biography	540L–1260L	Helps students connect historical leaders to the novel’s allegorical figures and understand the origins of the Soviet state.	✓ Yes
Lenin versus Stalin: Their showdowns and the birth of the Soviet Union	Article	530L–1350L	Supports comparison of leadership, rivalry, and power struggles that echo the novel’s conflicts after the animals take over the farm.	✓ Yes
World Leaders: Joseph Stalin	Biography	650L–1250L	Builds context for students analyzing dictatorship, intimidation, propaganda, and the concentration of power in the novel.	✓ Yes
The Three Great Thinkers Who Changed Economics	Article	650L–1340L	Gives students background on economic ideas they can use when discussing labor, ownership, inequality, and political systems in the novel.	✓ Yes
Comparing economic systems: capitalism, communism, and socialism	Article	600L–1220L	Helps students define and compare economic systems before analyzing the farm’s changing rules, labor structure, and power dynamics.	✓ Yes
Comparing governments: democracy vs. authoritarianism	Article	570L–1270L	Supports discussion about how the animals’ original ideals shift as the pigs consolidate power and limit participation.	✓ Yes
Propaganda	Video	2:33	Introduces students to propaganda so they can analyze how slogans, speeches, and repeated messages influence the animals.
How propaganda works	Explainer	600L–1320L	Gives students a framework for identifying propaganda techniques and explaining how political messaging shapes public perception.	✓ Yes
These Soviet propaganda posters once evoked heroism, pride and anxiety	Photos	990L–1000L	Uses visual primary-source-style material to help students examine how governments can use images to create emotion, loyalty, and fear.	✓ Yes
Opinion: Democrats run from socialism but embrace socialist policies	Article	570L–1440L	Extends discussion about political labels and helps students think critically about how terms like socialism are used in public debate.	✓ Yes
The power of ordinary people facing totalitarianism	Article	590L–1290L	Connects to the novel’s totalitarianism themes and helps students discuss what ordinary people can do when leaders abuse power.	✓ Yes
“Animal Farm”: Writing style	Video	5:04	Helps students analyze Orwell’s style, including how simplicity, satire, allegory, and repetition make the novel’s political critique accessible and sharp.
Literary Analysis Long Form: Government and Economy’s Relationship in Animal Farm	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to analyze how government power and economic systems interact in the novel.

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5. “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller

In Miller’s dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials, readers become immersed in the hysteria of false accusations, mass paranoia, and the execution of innocent people that happened in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692.

Newsela ELA resources

Resources for teaching “The Crucible”

Use these resources to help students explore allegory, the Salem Witch Trials, McCarthyism, public panic, conspiracy theories, fake news, gender and power, forgiveness, and how fear can shape public perception.

Full Book Study

Open the complete Newsela Book Study for texts, videos, and student tasks connected to the play’s essential questions.

Open Book Study

Teacher note

This play includes false accusations, executions, religious persecution, mass panic, coercion, gendered power dynamics, and references to adultery. Preview resources before teaching and set discussion norms for conversations about fear, public blame, power, gender, and accountability.

Newsela ELA resources for “The Crucible”

Resource name	Resource type	Reading level / runtime	Why this resource?	Spanish?
The Salem Witch Trials: What really happened?	Video	1:48	Introduces students to the historical event that inspired the play and helps them begin separating fact, fear, and public myth.
A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials	Article	500L–1240L	Builds historical background about accusations, trials, and executions so students can better understand the play’s setting and stakes.	✓ Yes
The site where Salem’s “witches” were executed is now next to a Walgreens	Article	480L–1240L	Helps students connect the history of Salem to public memory, place, and how communities reckon with difficult past events.
Why Europe’s wars of religion put 40,000 “witches” to a terrible death	Article	590L–1320L	Expands the historical context beyond Salem and helps students discuss how religion, fear, and social pressure fueled witch hunts.
The 1950s Part One: McCarthy and the Red Scare	Article	560L–1340L	Builds context for Miller’s allegory by helping students understand the Red Scare and the political climate that shaped the play.	✓ Yes
Famous Speeches: Joseph McCarthy’s “Enemies from Within”	Speech	590L–1350L	Lets students examine a primary-source-style text connected to accusation, fear, and public persuasion during the McCarthy era.	✓ Yes
Don’t fall for a conspiracy theory; here’s how to protect yourself	Article	560L–1140L	Connects the play’s panic and rumor themes to modern information literacy and helps students discuss why people believe unproven claims.	✓ Yes
The real consequences of fake news and why your brain can’t ignore it	Article	540L–1350L	Helps students analyze how misinformation spreads and why public perception can shift quickly when fear is involved.	✓ Yes
Opinion: The caravan is coming! And it’s high time to calm the rising media frenzy	Article	630L–1190L	Gives students a current-events connection for discussing public panic, media framing, and the consequences of fear-based narratives.
Misguided virus fears said to be hitting Asian American businesses	Article	600L–1310L	Connects the play’s scapegoating themes to a modern example of how fear can harm communities and fuel unfair blame.
Famous Speeches: Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” (1863 account)	Speech	540L–1280L	Supports discussion about gender, power, and who gets believed or dismissed in public spaces.	✓ Yes
Famous Speeches: Cady Stanton’s Address on “The Destructive Male”	Speech	580L–1490L	Helps students examine arguments about gender and power as they analyze the relationships and social structures in the play.	✓ Yes
Famous Speeches: Gloria Steinem’s Testimony on Equal Rights Amendment	Speech	590L–1160L	Extends the gender and power conversation by giving students another argument about rights, equality, and public decision-making.	✓ Yes
Allegory	Video	2:52	Introduces students to allegory so they can analyze how Miller uses Salem to comment on fear, accusation, and political power in another era.
Forgiveness	Video	2:19	Supports discussion about guilt, confession, redemption, and whether genuine forgiveness is possible after harm.
Literary Analysis Long Form: Gender and Power in The Crucible	Newsela Writing Activity		Gives students a writing task that asks them to analyze how gender and power shape conflict, accusation, and authority in the play.

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Turn the page on dull lessons with Newsela ELA

Tapping into students' interests that align with your curriculum and state mandates is one of the best ways to keep them engaged and excited to learn while meeting your educator goals. 

‍Newsela ELA’s Novel and Book Studies collection can help your students build background knowledge, practice in-context literacy skills, and explore diverse perspectives when you’re reading a whole-class novel or when they’re exploring books for fun.

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