Pairing WWS with short nonfiction selections

[caffeineandbooks]

I'm hoping to do WWS at half speed with a sixth grader.  My plan is that he would do a week of WWS, then write 1-2 compositions similar to the "day 4" exercise the following week to practice the same skill.  Obviously it would be ideal if these were true integrated pieces coming from our science/history/lit work, but I'm looking for a "back up" source of short articles at a 4th-6th grade reading level that could be used for those times when there's nothing suitable arising directly from his other reading.  I suspect science will be harder to get from his normal work than history.  The lower reading level is so that the challenge is in the writing, not the reading.

What could I use for source material?  @PeterPan mentioned the Nat Geo "Reach" student anthologies on another thread this morning, but I can't see samples - would these likely work for my purpose?  Do I want a science magazine?  An encyclopedia?  Something else?

[madteaparty]

I don’t know, I have a hard time finding non fiction passages myself but personally I like but always hesitate to post here the Teacher Created Resources reading comprehension books. They have them up to grade 6 in science and social science. 

[PeterPan]

3 hours ago, caffeineandbooks said:

he Nat Geo "Reach" student anthologies on another thread this morning, but I can't see samples - would these likely work for my purpose? 

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that. What grade level? I have the gr3-5 and just ordered the gr 6. I don't think I'd use them for that, but maybe I wasn't imaginative enough.

We used Muse Magazine when my dd was that age/stage. Your library should have a variety of magazines for this age to give you a wide range of nonfiction options.

I saw a mention on another list of people using CBS Sunday Morning as nonfiction source. (for Notice and Note nonfiction signposts, there you go, lol)  https://www.youtube.com/user/CBSSundayMorning  Your source doesn't have to be print to write about it, and it might be a nice extension.

Have you thought about using a lexile search engine to find books at the right level? https://hub.lexile.com/find-a-book/search  This is how I find stuff for my ds. I put in a lexile that is working well for him and the engine converts it to a range and allows me to filter. It's the BOMB. I get SO much great stuff with this.

Edited March 29, 2021 by PeterPan

[PeterPan]

2 hours ago, madteaparty said:

I don’t know, I have a hard time finding non fiction passages myself but personally I like but always hesitate to post here the Teacher Created Resources reading comprehension books. They have them up to grade 6 in science and social science. 

There's an interesting idea! Just to give op a sense 

https://www.teachercreated.com/products/nonfiction-reading-comprehension-social-studies-grade-5-8030

https://www.teachercreated.com/products/nonfiction-reading-comprehension-science-grade-5-8028

We've used these in the past, and yes my ds enjoyed them! You can see almost the whole book in the sample, so you'll know if it works for you or not.

[Lori D.]

If online articles work, here are a few free sources, with the science page of articles linked::
News For Kids
Kids News, Australia
Science Journal for Kids and Teens
Smithsonian Tween Tribune
Science News for Kids
DoGo News

If needing print, maybe something like one of these (NO personal experience with any):
Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World (Ignotofsky)
African American Women Scientists and Inventors (Sullivan)
Teacher Created: Nonfiction Reading Comprehension: Science - gr. 6 -- listed above by @madteaparty

Or if Christian is okay, possibly one of the John Titer books. However, the articles tend to run 6-10 pages (but big type/widely spaced and illustrations reduce the actual length a bit), and some are at a higher reading level than you are looking for:
Exploring Planet Earth -- gr. 5-6 reading level
Exploring the History of Medicine -- gr. 5-7 reading level
World of Chemistry -- gr. 6-8 *content* level
World of Physics -- gr. 7-9 *content* level

Edited March 29, 2021 by Lori D.

[Haanz]

Have you checked out Kids Discover Online? They have a variety of units and subtopics for both science and history. You can sign up for a free one month trial to see if it would work for you.