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.”

Text Type
Grade Level
Social Justice Domain
Subject
Topic

622 Texts

Literature

10,000 Dresses

Every night Bailey dreams about dresses, but each day his mother, father, and brother remind him that he is a boy and dresses aren't for him. Finally, he finds a friend who embraces both his love for dresses and the individual he feels he is inside.
by
Marcus Ewert
Grade Level
Social Justice Domain
July 2, 2014
Informational

1947: Jackie Robinson Integrates Baseball

Suzanne Bilyeu details how Jackie Robinson's gift for playing ball eventually united a team of 30 men and gave hope to hundreds of thousands of African Americans. These feats came at a great cost to Robinson physically, mentally and emotionally as he endured hate and hardships on and off the field
by
Suzanne Bilyeu
Grade Level
Subject
History
Social Justice Domain
July 7, 2014
Informational

1960: Sitting Down to Take a Stand

In this article, Suzanne Bilyeu details how the sit-in by the "Greensboro Four" at Woolworth's store in North Carolina created a domino effect which led to sit-ins across the country and galvinized support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
by
Suzanne Bilyeu
Grade Level
Subject
Civics
History
Economics
Geography
Social Justice Domain
July 5, 2014
Multimedia

A Difficult Decision to Join the Military: Tosh Yasutake

“Tosh Yasutake’s father was arrested by the FBI after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and held in internment camps administered by the Department of Justice. The rest of the family was incarcerated in the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. Tosh volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team while still in camp. In this clip, he talks about making that decision.”
by
Densho
Grade Level
3-5
Subject
History
Social Justice Domain
February 5, 2019