Read Works
Read Works: Watch Out for Ticks
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage shares nonfiction information about ticks. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding for vocabulary...
Read Works
Read Works: Primary Source Texts About Slavery
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage provides two stories about slaves in America with question sets. This passage uses primary source documents to teach reading skills including comparing and contrasting.
Read Works
Read Works: The British Are Coming!
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage gives a historical fiction depiction of a family's perspective of the Revolutionary War. This passage is intended for guided practice and is designed to reinforce essential...
Read Works
Read Works: Forms of Art Photography
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction text discusses cameras act like the human eye. The article discusses how photography makes our lives richer in many ways.This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces...
Read Works
Read Works: Focus on Scientists
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction article shares information about different types of scientists. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Classify and Summarize Information [Pdf]
This learning module contains a link to graphic organizers that will help students categorize content and comprehend short and extended texts. The graphic organizers are designed to be applied to reading nonfiction passages in science...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: What Is a Fable? [Pdf]
"What is a Fable?" is a one page, nonfiction passage about what a fable is including animals that talk and a lesson learned. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence from the story; it includes...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Working at the Hospital [Pdf]
"Working at the Hospital" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the various jobs of people who work in a hospital. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Chicago High Schools [Pdf]
"Chicago High Schools" is a one page, nonfiction passage about Chicago high schools, including a variety of specialty high schools and the basic requirments met by all of their high schools. It is followed by an open-ended question which...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Space Food [Pdf]
"Space Food" is a one page, nonfiction passage about how astronauts prepare and eat food and clean up afterward to stay healthy. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence from the story; it...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Transportation Workers [Pdf]
"Transportation Workers" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the various jobs of transportation workers. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes determining the main...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Working at the Television Station [Pdf]
"Working at the Television Station" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the various jobs of workers at a television station. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Public Transportation [Pdf]
"Public Transportation" is a one page, nonfiction passage about public transportation in Chicago helps people get where they want to go and provides jobs for many people. It is followed by questions which requires students to provide...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Reversing the Chicago River [Pdf]
"Reversing the Chicago River" is a one page, nonfiction passage about how the leaders of Chicago reversed the polluted Chicago River so that it emptied into the Mississippi River instead of the lake. It is followed by questions which...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Recycle Center [Pdf]
"The Recycle Center" is a one page, nonfiction passage about students who, with the help of a nearby church, started a monthly recycling center for the community. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Prairie Keepers [Pdf]
"Prairie Keepers" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the history of prairies and the Department of Agriculture's efforts to restore the prairie. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story;...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learn About Physical Therapists [Pdf]
"Learn about Physical Therapists" is a one page, nonfiction passage about what it takes to be a physical therapist. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Prairie Keepers [Pdf]
"Prairie Keepers" is a one-page, nonfiction passage about how the prairie was saved from total destruction and the efforts of the Department of Agriculture to rebuild the prairie. It is followed by questions which require students to...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Letter to the Mayor [Pdf]
"Letter to the Mayor" is a one page, nonfiction letter written to the mayor by 2000 school children in Chicago. In the letters, the children addressed issues such as trash, gangs, computers, playgrounds, and safer streets. After reading...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Chicago Fire [Pdf]
"Chicago Fire" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the great Chicago Fire of 1871, which burned the city constructed of wood, and its rebuilding using brick. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Early Chicago Environment & People [Pdf]
"Early Chicago Environment & People" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the Native Americans who lived in what is now Chicago. It explains how they lived and how Chicago got its name. It is followed by constructed-response...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Community Progress? [Pdf]
"Community Progress?" is a one page, nonfiction passage about three community projects in Chicago; each group saw a problem, decided on a solution, and implemented it. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Early Chicago Environment and People [Pdf]
"Early Chicago Environment and People" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the early Native Americans who settled in what is now Chicago. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Chicago Legacy: Du Sable [Pdf]
"Chicago Legacy: DuSable" is a one page, biographical passage about Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, the first non-native American to settle in Chicago. He started a trading post around which the city grew. It is followed by questions which...