Nonfiction is Underrepresented in K-12 Education; XTRA Weekly is the Solution

THE PROBLEM: NONFICTION IS UNDERREPRESENTED IN K-12 EDUCATION Students are missing the opportunity to learn critical thinking skills from real-world content. The problem of nonfiction literature being underrepresented in K-12 education is addressed in the article titled “The Role of Nonfiction Literature in K-12 Education” published by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). … Read more

Watch How a Teacher Uses XTRA Weekly Activities for Social Engagement

XTRA Weekly video

To overcome the challenge of keeping students engaged in ELA lessons, XTRA Weekly—powered by Exploros—uses interactive activities to give each student a voice. Watch this demonstration video of how a teacher can use XTRA Weekly to get students more involved in a critical reading lesson based on articles from Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers. In this example … Read more

XTRA Weekly is now Interactive and Collaborative—Powered by Exploros

XW on Exploros

In our 18th year, the traditional PDF version of XTRA Weekly has evolved to an interactive and collaborative product, powered by Exploros. What this means for ELA teachers is that our proven curriculum is enhanced with a better online learning experience for your students. In the past, teachers would receive a set of PDFs with … Read more

Discover our Critical Reading Lessons from Weeks 1-8 about Friendship, Space Travel, and Buzzards

Preview Weeks 1-8

The objective for our lessons from Weeks 1-8 is to teach critical reading and thinking skills using current news about “Seven Reasons to Have Friends” plus “Many Americans really want to travel into space” and finally “Buzzards are besieging an NC town”.    GET STARTED If you’d like to get started using XTRA Weekly … Read more

Top Critical Reading Lessons of 2020-21: Food Themes

XW Food Themes

Upper elementary and middle school students—now more than ever—need to develop strong critical reading skills and understand current events in this age of distance learning, fake news, and misinformation. But, educators find it challenging and time consuming to review newspaper articles then create a lesson plan with exercises that are interactive and challenging for students. … Read more

Top Critical Reading Lessons of 2020-21: Health / COVID-19 Themes

XW BestOf Health Themes

Upper elementary and middle school students—now more than ever—need to develop strong critical reading skills and understand current events in this age of distance learning, fake news, and misinformation. But, educators find it challenging and time consuming to review newspaper articles then create a lesson plan with exercises that are interactive and challenging for students. … Read more

Top Critical Reading Lessons of 2020-21: Travel Themes

XW BestOf Travel - Disney World

Upper elementary and middle school students—now more than ever—need to develop strong critical reading skills and understand current events in this age of distance learning, fake news, and misinformation. But, educators find it challenging and time consuming to review newspaper articles then create a lesson plan with exercises that are interactive and challenging for students. … Read more

Top Critical Reading Lessons of 2020-21: Animal Themes

XW Animal Themes

Upper elementary and middle school students—now more than ever—need to develop strong critical reading skills and understand current events in this age of distance learning, fake news, and misinformation. But, educators find it challenging and time consuming to review newspaper articles then create a lesson plan with exercises that are interactive and challenging for students. … Read more

Top Critical Reading Lessons of 2020-21: People Themes

XW Best Of Series 2020-21 People Theme

Upper elementary and middle school students—now more than ever—need to develop strong critical reading skills and understand current events in this age of distance learning, fake news, and misinformation. But, educators find it challenging and time consuming to review newspaper articles then create a lesson plan with exercises that are interactive and challenging for students. … Read more