Need nonfiction reading?

Here are some articles and sites to get you started for your nonfiction reading.  Also, ask your family what they tend to read online.


I love to browse around the online magazine Good:

Here is an article about hoodies in response to the death of Trayvon Martin in Florida.


Here is an article about an essay a 13 year old in Rochester wrote in response to The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass that caused quite a stir.


My favorite column they run is called People are Awesome.  Browse some of their stories about everyday heroes.

One of my favorite columnists on The New York Times is Nicholas Kristof:

Browse through his various columns that most often deal with social justice and find one that sounds interesting to you.

NPR (National Public Radio) offers both written and spoken articles.

Here is one about the rise of Young Adult Literature in movies or browse around the site to find something that interests you.

Sports writing your thing? 

Here is an article about how Ohio State beat Syracuse to head into The Final Four.  Or, browse how people analyze your favorite teams.

Blog Post Test Prep Homework: 3/21-4/16

Your homework filled with authentic reading and writing will counteract some of the test-preppy work we will be doing in class in the coming weeks...that way, you can look forward to your homework!  Right??

Your main homework during the weeks leading up to the state test will be reading and responding on your blog to practice the skills that will be required of you on the test.  We are not doing another vocabulary unit until after the test, so this will be your main homework.  You will be writing 6 blog posts over the course of 3.5 weeks.  All posts must be minimally 3 paragraphs.  They must all show that you understand how a focused, organized piece of writing goes: an introduction, specific observations and inferences, interpretation and extension.  Though they do not have to be as formal as your literary essay (meaning you can use first person), they need to be well written and use many of the skills you’ve acquired over the past few weeks. The requirements are described below:

2 posts on a narrative piece of writing

Respond to your independent reading book.  Pick 2 of the following questions to answer: 

Option A: How and why does your character change in the book? What specific evidence supports your ideas? How? What does this change teach you about life?

Option B: What is the theme the author is trying to convey through the story? How does he/she do this? How does it relate to life?

Option C: What kids of conflicts is your character facing? (include both internal and external). How is he or she handling them? What is your response to that? Can you relate at all?

Option D: Collect a few sentences that you think speak into life beyond the text.  Unpack them.  What do you think the author is saying to you as a reader through them?

2 posts on informational/nonfiction writing

Read an online news article (and include a link to it in your post) well.  All articles must be at least 6 paragraphs.  Follow the directions below when crafting your response:

Paragraph 1: Introduce the article by first providing a summary.

Paragraph 2: Explain the main idea that the author is trying to convey.  How do you know this? (hint: use actual quotes to back up your idea)

Paragraph 3: What is your personal response to what has been presented in the article? Why? Be sure to use elaboration and extend your ideas!

2 posts on poetry and/or song lyrics

Choose a poem or song that you would like to think more deeply about.  Use the following questions to formulate your post:

Paragraph 1: Introduce the poem with a brief summary.  Introduce what your thesis/theory is for the poem.

Paragraph 2: Support your theory/thesis with observations, inferences and interpretations

Paragraph 3: Extend your ideas into life

Extra Credit Post

Choose a genre that you have read yet and craft a thoughtful response that follows the same basic guidelines of all blog posts.