What are Reading Skills Checks?
Newsela’s Reading Skills Checks provide grade-level content to help your students establish a recommended Article Level in Newsela more quickly. When students take these eight-question quizzes, they are exposed to more reading skills at once, giving Newsela the ability to determine their recommended Article Level with fewer articles.
Use the Reading Skills Checks with Newsela Essentials
For teachers with Newsela legacy Essentials subscriptions, you can find Reading Skills Checks by taking the following steps:
Type “Reading Skills” into the search bar at the top of the page
Click the “Reading Skills Check” collection.
Select the grade level of your class.
Create one assignment with the articles you’d like your students to read to help establish their level. We recommend assigning at least three articles, and as many as 7, to get your students’ recommended article level jumpstarted.
Use the Reading Skills Checks with Newsela ELA
For teachers with Newsela ELA subscriptions, you can find Reading Skills Checks by taking the following steps:
At the top of the screen click on 'ELA'.
Select 'ELA Standards and Skills' from the left-hand menu.
Click the “Reading Skills Check” collection, the first piece of content in that row.
Select your class’s grade level.
Create one assignment with the articles you’d like your students to read to help establish their level. We recommend assigning at least three articles, and as many as 7, to get your students’ recommended article level jumpstarted.
Reading Skills Checks Implementation
If you choose to use Reading Skills Checks, we recommend having students read three articles at the beginning of the school year, three in the middle of the year, and three at the end of the year to help keep their score up to date.
Students do not need to take the Reading Skills Checks in order to establish a recommended Article Level in Newsela. You can learn more about Newsela's recommended Article Levels here.