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September

October

November

December/January

In the News

Featured Skill:�Summarizing

The Future of Football�Inside the debate over one of our country’s favorite sports.

Kindness for Clicks

Explore the pros and cons of stunt philanthropy.

Where Does This Mummy Mask Belong?

Learn all about Egypt’s quest to retrieve stolen artifacts.

The Plastic Problem

Find out why plastic is trashing the planet—and what you can� do about it.

Nonfiction Feature

Featured Skill:�Text Evidence

Into the Choking Smoke

A moving story of bravery and resilience to commemorate the �25th anniversary of 9/11

The Mystery of Roanoke�How could an entire village of people just disappear?

I Survived a Shark Attack

The incredible story of a teen girl who turned a personal tragedy into a higher purpose

Wall of Water

Meet a teen who lived through the Johnstown Flood of 1889—the deadliest flood in U.S. history.

Play/Fiction

Featured Skill:�Inference

The Choice�A short work of contemporary fiction by Nan Marino

I’m Not Martin

A graphic novel-style update of a spooky short story by R.L. Stine

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Into the Underworld

A thrilling play based on a story from Maya mythology

The Race Against Death

A riveting play based on the 1925 dogsled race to save the children of Nome, Alaska

True Teen Story

Featured Skill:�Text Structure

She Beat Cancer

Now Ayana brings joy and comfort to other sick kids who are stuck in the hospital.

“Finding My Voice”

Read the winning entry from last year’s Tell Us Your True Teen Story Contest—and find out how your students can enter!

Zacky’s Mission

He almost died because of a food allergy. Now this teen is fighting to make schools safer for kids like him.

Laughing Through �the Pain

Channing shares what it’s like to live with sickle cell disease.

Paired Texts

Featured Skills:�Compare and Contrast,�Synthesis

The Loudest Place in the World vs. The Quietest Place in the World

Compare and contrast what it’s like to live in these remarkable places.

Broadway’s Rap Genius vs.

Theater’s O.G. Poet

Consider the surprising similarities (and differences) between Lin-Manuel Miranda and William Shakespeare.

Can You Trust This Chatbot?

Synthesize an informational text and a poem that explore the implications of outsourcing work to A.I.

Stolen from �the Wild

Read a nonfiction text and a infographic about wildlife trafficking and the illegal pet trade.

Mini Read

Where in the World

Word Play

Debate

Infographic

Poem

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In these super-short, career-focused Q&As, students practice key ELA skills while learning about the hard and soft skills needed for� exciting jobs.

These quick, compelling nonfiction articles build geographical awareness and cultural knowledge—and culminate with a scaffolded paragraph-writing activity.

Teach morphology, unlock word meaning, and build vocabulary with our new interactive feature focusing on prefixes, suffixes, word roots, and word families.

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Our engaging debates spark lively class discussion, provide social-emotional learning, and help your students build their argument-reading and -writing skills.

Visual texts like graphs, pie charts, and timelines are made just for striving readers—clear, simple, and accessible!

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Poems are carefully scaffolded to help you unlock poetry and poetry analysis for your students.

Videos

Knowledge-Building Slideshows

Vocabulary Slideshows

Lesson Plans

Skills Activities

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Many of our delightful videos build background knowledge and get students excited to read. Others introduce and reinforce key ELA and �grammar skills.

Consider this a starter level—it pairs simple bullets with engaging visuals to introduce the background needed to set up the story and aid in comprehension.

An article’s most important words are pronounced, defined, used in a sentence, and accompanied by an image that reinforces its meaning.

Follow them as-is, or pull out whatever you need. Many teachers find that our lesson plans are a great guiding resource to share with substitute teachers.

Many of Action’s activities come on two levels. Use them to help students progress with skills such as writing, sequencing, and central idea and details.

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February

March

April

May

In the News

Featured Skill:�Summarizing

Is This the Future of Friendship?�The truth about AI companions

Should Snacks Have Warning Labels?�Inside the debate over junk food

Can You Spot the Bias?

How to make sure the news you’re getting is fair and reliable

Welcome to the �World Cup!

What you need to know about this summer’s biggest sporting event

Nonfiction Feature

Featured Skill:�Text Evidence

Heroes From the Hill

The forgotten story of America’s first paramedics: the Freedom House Ambulance Service

The Bone Hunter�How a 12-year-old girl named Mary Anning pioneered the field of paleontology

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Riding to Survive

The incredible true story of the boxcar children during the Great Depression

Keeping Hope Afloat

How one man has fought to bring floating schools to flood-ravaged communities in Bangladesh

Play/Fiction

Featured Skill:�Inference

Beware the Thunder�A humorous play based on Washington Irving’s classic short story “Rip Van Winkle.”

The Glowing Girls

A historical fiction play about the young female factory workers who fought back against radium poisoning

The New Girl

A graphic novel-style story about a mysterious visitor from the future

Swimming with Sharks

An inspiring play based on the life of Japanese American scientist Eugenie Clark

True Teen Story

Featured Skill:�Text Structure

My Life With Learning Differences

How art has helped Kai-li, 16, cope with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia

Finding His Focus

Samuel, 13, has learned to manage his anger—with a little help from tennis, his favorite sport

“I Have Tourette Syndrome”

What Penny, 13, wants you to know about her condition

Sweet Success

Meet Jeremiah, 15, who started his own successful business selling frozen treats

Paired Texts

Featured Skills:�Compare and Contrast,�Synthesis

The Flight of the Monarchs

Two texts explore why these beautiful butterflies are in danger—and how you can help

The Real Cleopatra

A short, playful biography of Cleopatra—paired with the story of the incredible woman determined to find her tomb

The Zero-Waste Challenge

What does it take to create less trash? Synthesize texts that explore how three teens—and one town—tried to do it.

The K-Pop Craze

Dive into two texts about the origins of idol culture—and how it’s shaping our lives today.