Student Texts
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Our searchable library of short texts offers a diverse mix of stories and perspectives. This multigenre, multimedia collection aligns with the Common Core's recommendations for text complexity and the Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards.

Choose from informational and literary nonfiction texts, literature, photographs, political cartoons, interviews, infographics and more. You can also filter by text type, grade level, subject and topic.

“The leveled texts have really helped me engage students and introduce them to complex topics in a way they can understand.”

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343 Texts

Informational

Can I See Some ID?

Are voter ID laws meant to prevent voter fraud or suppress voter turnout among eligible minority groups? Prior to the 2012 presidential election, a majority of states considered such laws. In this article, Patricia Smith explores the two viewpoints.
by
Patricia Smith
Grade Level
Subject
Civics
History
Social Justice Domain
July 7, 2014
Informational

“We Lived in a Bubble”

Elizabeth MacQueen is the sculptor of Four Spirits, a monument built to memorialize the four girls killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. In her memoir, she discusses how the project revealed to her how sheltered she had been as a child growing up in Birmingham.
by
Elizabeth MacQueen
Grade Level
Subject
History
Social Justice Domain
November 18, 2014
Informational

Proclamation: To the Great White Father (November, 1969)

The announcement on November 20, 1969 from 89 American Indians – mostly students from colleges and universities – that they were taking over Alcatraz Island, set in motion what would become the longest occupation of a federal facility by Native Americans to date. This report aired a year later on NBC News, in December 1970, six months before the occupation ended.
by
American Indian Movement (AIM)
Grade Level
Subject
Civics
History
Economics
Geography
Social Justice Domain
July 2, 2014
Informational

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion for Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, a groundbreaking case that overturned the "separate but equal" standard set forth in Plessy v. Ferguson. The Supreme Court decided this case unanimously on May 17, 1954.
by
Earl Warren
Grade Level
Subject
Civics
History
Social Justice Domain
July 2, 2014
Informational

‘Hope, Despair and Memory’

"Hope, Despair and Memory" is an address given by Elie Wiesel on December 11, 1986, the date Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Wiesel is an author and humanitarian and is known for writing about his experience as a survivor of the Holocaust.
by
Elie Wiesel
Grade Level
Topic
Subject
History
Social Justice Domain
July 5, 2014