nonfiction articles 5th grade

One-Page NONFICTION Readings: Grade 5 Center for Urban Education

Resources to Guide and Assess Nonfiction Reading/Thinking\Writing Aligned with Common Core Standards

One-Page Readings

These passages are listed at their readability level according to the Fry formula. However, you may want to use a reading from an earlier grade level because the formula does not factor in conceptual difficulty of a text.

American Explorers infer and support the main idea of a passage

Animal Studies infer and support the main idea of a passage

Better Living in Chicago: Jane Addams restate a situation presented in text; write to communicate about a situation

Chicago Changes infer and support the main idea of a passage

Chicago Fire infer and support the main idea of a passage

Chicago Legacy: Burnham's Plan locate and use information to analyze a situation, write about a topic English / Spanish

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I can infer the author's purpose

Election Choices infer and support the main idea of a passage

From Many Places evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea

Learn about Ethiopia   infer and support the main idea of a passage

George Washington Carver

Gwendolyn Brooks, An African American Poet

How Did People Solve a Problem?

How Have Students Made Community Progress? analyze a problem and solution in a text, identify and support the main idea  

Prairie Keepers analyze information in a nonfiction text

Prairie Keepers with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities

Public Transportation evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea

Read to Learn about City Systems evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea

Read to Learn about Elections evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea

The Recycle Center evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea

Reversing the Chicago River identify cause-effect relations and infer predictions

Seasons on the Prairie analyze information in a nonfiction text

Seasons on the Prairie with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities

Settlement infer and support the main idea of a passage

Settlement with Multiple Choice Questions

Valley Forge infer and support the main idea of a passage

Who Am I sequence events, infer  motive, and write about nonfiction

Reading Resources Click Here for graphic organizers to guide and assess reading competence.

Click here for additional grade levels.

More resources.

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A Whale of an Ocean

This nonfiction article is written for use with upper-elementary students (grades 4-5). Modified versions are available for students in grades K-1 and grades 2-3, or any student needing a simplified version. As always, consider the reading level and needs of your students when selecting a version for classroom use.

At each grade level, the article is available in three forms. Printable pdf files allow you to print this story in either text or a foldable book format. Your students can listen to the story while they read our   electronic book  version. Related activities provide suggestions for integrating this story with your science instruction. Finally, literacy templates help you integrate this story into your literacy instruction.

Interested in other nonfiction articles for your students? Browse all twenty sets from the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears collection on our Stories for Students page!

Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level = 4.7

In the warm waters off the coast of Africa, a blue whale has just given birth. The baby is already twenty-six feet long and weighs six thousand pounds. She grows around eight pounds every hour. The mother weighs as much as twenty elephants. Yet she is starving.

Why doesn’t the mother blue whale grab a quick snack? Quite simply, there is no food for her here. She will survive on her thick coat of blubber. In a few months, she will take her calf to their feeding grounds at the bottom of the world, the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica.

Before whale hunting nearly wiped them out, there were well over two hundred thousand blue whales living off Antarctica. By the time the slaughter stopped, there were fewer than a thousand left.

Why would any animal seek out the cold waters at the bottom of the world? The answer is simple: food. Blue whales are the largest animals on Earth. Yet they are adapted to eat just one kind of prey. That prey is a two-inch long animal called krill .

Krill eat tiny living things called phytoplankton . Phytoplankton float at the surface of the Southern Ocean. They use the energy of sunlight to make food. The krill eat the phytoplankton, and the blue whales eat the krill. It’s one of the simplest food chains on Earth.

Blue whales are known as baleen whales. Instead of teeth, baleen whales have flexible bristles (called baleen) in their mouths. They use these bristles like a spaghetti strainer. When blue whales find a large school of krill, they gulp enormous mouthfuls of krill and water, then push the water back out with their tongues. The baleen traps the krill inside, just as a spaghetti strainer traps noodles. The whale then swallows the krill. Yum!

But what makes these waters in the Antarctic so special that they were once home to such a huge concentration of the largest animals on Earth? There are two explanations. One is that the Earth is tilted, and the other is that cold water sinks.

Most places on Earth have regular cycles of day and night all year. At the North and South Poles, however, the tilt of the Earth means that each pole has both days and nights that last for months. In the Antarctic summer there is plenty of sunlight for the phytoplankton to make their food. But there is sunlight elsewhere, too. What else makes the Southern Ocean special? The answer is cold water.

Water is a little like air. Just as warmer air will rise above cooler air (think of a hot air balloon), warmer water rises above cooler water. In the tropics, where the Sun heats the water by day, warm water stays at the surface, while the colder water remains below.

In that deep water are nutrients that could help phytoplankton grow. But there is no sunlight there. The phytoplankton cannot grow. At the surface, there’s plenty of sunlight, but few nutrients. What’s a phytoplankton to do?

The Southern Ocean is different. It doesn’t get as hot as the tropics. So even though there’s a lot of sunlight, the water doesn’t get warm. The cold water from the surface sinks down, pushing the deeper, nutrient-rich water back up. This means there are both lots of sunlight and lots of nutrients in the same place. With plentiful sunlight and plentiful nutrients, the phytoplankton grow like crazy! The krill population explodes. The whales come to feast.

Or they once did. In the days before whaling, the Southern Ocean was alive with great whales. Some approached one hundred feet in length. In a single generation, human beings hunted these giant animals to the very edge of extinction. Today, while the blue whale is protected from hunters, its numbers remain low. A blue whale mother has just one calf every two to three years. At that rate, it will take many years for the blue whales to recover. But in time, perhaps, the whales in their thousands will again dine on krill in their millions at the bottom of the world.

baleen – stiff, flexible bristles inside a whale’s mouth

krill – small, shrimplike animals that live in the ocean

phytoplankton – small floating plants

Modified versions of this text are available for grades K-1 (Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level = 1.9) and grades 2-3 (Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level = 2.6). See below for links to all three versions in text, book, and electronic book forms.

Printable Files

Notes for assembling the books:

You can put this book together a couple of different ways. You can print out the pages, cut them in half and then order the pages back to front. Fold the stack in half and then staple the spine of the book. Pairs of pages can then be stapled or glued along the right edge.

You can also assemble the book as a foldable book.

To assemble the book this way, print the four pages and align the document pages so that the following book page numbers are in the lower right-hand corner: front page, page 6, page 2, and page 4. (The cover page should be on top and page 4 on the bottom.) Set your copier to copy single pages into double pages and run the four document pages in the order specified. Cut along the dotted line in the center of the double-sided page, place the book pages in order, fold, and staple along the spine.

Electronic Books

Grades K-1 Electronic Book Articulate Version Flash Version

Grades 2-3 Electronic Book Articulate Version Flash Version

Grades 4-5 Electronic Book Articulate Version Flash Version

In the Articulate version, click on the small arrow at the top of each page for the narration. The large arrow at the right will take you to the next page.

In the Flash version, the  play  button (in the top right hand corner) will play an audio file of the text on that page, while the  pawprint  (bottom right hand corner) will turn to the next page. Please note that the audio files take a moment to load on each page. Once the file has been loaded, a  play  button will appear in the top right hand corner of the page. To minimize the delay on each page, you can open the file and read through the article first. Once each page’s audio has loaded, it remains loaded until you close the browser window. By preparing the article ahead of time, you can have students start at the beginning of the book and read without delays. If you don’t have Flash, you can download it for free from the Adobe  web site .

Related Activities

Reading and Writing About Whales Using Fiction and Nonfiction Texts The lesson uses the nonfiction picture book Big Blue Whale by Nicola Davies to present factual information about blue whales and the fiction picture book Dear Mr. Blueberry by Simon James to demonstrate how a letter can be used to ask questions and foster inquiry about blue whales.

Planet Ocean: Blue Whale Background information about the blue whale. Suitable for independent reading by upper elementary students; useful for teachers of primary students.

Why Do Whales Make Sounds? Students will learn about the vocalizations of several whale species and the special calls of different populations of blue whales. They’ll be asked to learn snippets of whale calls and to simulate whales trying to locate each other in the ocean. The students will conclude by drawing pictures of whales vocalizing and by writing captions explaining what their pictures show.

Whale Lesson This short description combines two separate activities – simulations of whale blubber (using plastic bags and shortening) and the difference between baleen and toothed whales (using combs, toothbrushes, and pepper).

Whales Unit (Grades K-3)

Whales Unit (Grades 4-8) Interdisciplinary units focusing on whales’ characteristics and adaptations.

Literacy Templates

Use these templates to engage your students as they develop comprehension and recall skills. For more information, please see “ Active Participation: Ensuring Student Engagement .”

Find the Question for “A Whale of an Ocean” (Grades 2-3)

Find the Question for “A Whale of an Ocean” (Grades 4-5)

Literacy Set Download everything you need to use this activity in your class: a pdf version of this article, “A Whale of an Ocean” illustrated books, and the Find the Question templates.

This article was written by Stephen Whitt. For more information, see the Contributors page. Email Kimberly Lightle , Principal Investigator, with any questions about the content of this site. The content of this page was updated in July 2020.

Copyright May 2009 – The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0733024. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This work is licensed under an  Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons license .

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5th grade nonfiction writing samples

by: Jessica Kelmon | Updated: July 23, 2016

Print article

When it comes to writing, fifth grade is a red-letter year. To prepare for the demands of middle school and high school writing, fifth graders should be mastering skills required for strong nonfiction writing . Learn more about your fifth grader’s writing under Common Core . All students should be learning three styles of writing:

Informative/explanatory writing

Reports that convey information accurately with facts, details, and supporting information.

Narrative writing

Stories, poems, plays, and other types of fiction that convey a plot, character development, and/or personal stories.

Opinion writing

Writing in which students try to convince readers to accept their opinion about something using reasons and examples.

Fifth grade writing sample #1

Bipolar Children

This student’s report starts with a decorative cover and a table of contents. The report has eight sections, each clearly labeled with a bold subhead, and includes a bibliography. At the end, this student adds three visuals, two images from the internet with handwritten captions and a related, hand-drawn cartoon.

Type of writing: Informative/explanatory writing

Fifth grade writing sample #2

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Dylan’s report is thorough and well organized. There’s a cover page, an opening statement, and four clear sections with subheads, including a conclusion. You’ll see from the teacher’s note at the end that the assignment is for an opinion piece, but Dylan clearly writes a strong informational/explanatory piece, which is why it’s included here.

Fifth grade writing sample #3

The Harmful Ways of By-Catch and Overfishing

This student includes facts and examples to inform the reader about by-catch and overfishing. Then, at the end, the student tries to convince the reader to take a personal interest in these topics and gives example of how the reader can take action, too.

Type of writing: Opinion writing

See more examples of real kids’ writing in different grades: Kindergarten , first grade , second grade , third grade , fourth grade .

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Teaching with Nonfiction Articles

Using nonfiction articles in my teaching has been extremely important for student motivation. They are a great way to improve both reading comprehension and fluency. When I find students are becoming bored with the content, I love to introduce a nonfiction article to get them interested. More often than not, quick articles with interesting facts tend to lead to thoughtful and interesting conversations. I have also found that my English Language Learners choose nonfiction over other genres. I’ve often linked this to the fact that it is relatable and they can feel comfortable participating in academic conversations with us!

Two free nonfiction article samples

Nonfiction Article Topics

Undoubtedly, there are many different nonfiction topics to choose from. However, I tend to gravitate towards common topics that interest students. My favorites are; interesting animals, extreme weather, and the human body. Although interesting animals always make their way to the top of that list! The article below is about saving the sea turtles and what we can do to help protect sea turtles in their natural habitats! Recently, I was able to use this article as part of our weekly story on saving endangered animals. It was the perfect addition!

Saving the Sea Turtles nonfiction article

Free Nonfiction Articles

I put together this set of FREE nonfiction articles for you to try with your students. I have created and shared over a dozen of these with my students, and these are definitely a fan favorite. They are tried, true, and student approved! Teaching with nonfiction articles is a great way to introduce a variety of topics. They can be tied to current events, or supplement any curriculum. In this free packet you will receive the following titles:

Saving the Sea Turtles

Our Amazing Eyes

The Diving Bell Spider (Water Spider) and

…..and a bonus graphic organizer!

Click here to join my email list and grab your FREE nonfiction articles. Plus, receive an exclusive freebie of the month each month!

Looking for more ways to integrate nonfiction into your day? Check out this blog post!

Teaching Current Events to Students

Happy Teaching!

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Books for Kids and Grown Ups

The Best 5th Grade Nonfiction Books

Recommending nonfiction books for 5th graders may not be a natural response for many teachers and parents who love to read fiction. But as an elementary school teacher and librarian, I’ve noticed that students who say, “Oh, I’m not a reader,” or, “I don’t really like reading,” might resist the siren songs of the latest fantasy series but, more often than not, will willingly dip in and out of the latest Guinness Book of World Records or Who Was… book. 

Fifth graders on the cusp of middle school are often fascinated by not just learning about the world around them but questioning what they see and hear while forming their own identities.  Nonfiction books provide intriguing windows to the complex layers of our physical and emotional world. 

This list of nonfiction books for 5th graders will either amaze, inspire, or simply gross them out!

Get a printable of this list  to take to your library. Just pop your email in the box below and it’ll come right to you!

20 Fantastic NonFiction Books for 5th Graders

For the emerging scientist.

Hand the picks in this section to the science-curious kids in your life:

Monstrous: The Lore, Gore, and Science Behind Your Favorite Monsters

Published Sept 3, 2019

Perfect for the spooky season (or all year round), this book explores the history behind monster lore while explaining the science of fear. Whether it is discussing different kinds of electricity behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein machine, or the biology of the best location of a vampire bite, this book will answer so many questions fifth graders will be dying to ask (pun intended)! With darkly funny illustrations and a humorous yet informative tone, this book strikes the perfect balance for fifth graders who want something just a little creepy but not too scary.

The Kitchen Pantry Scientist: Chemistry for Kids

Published May 5, 2020

This nonfiction book will appeal to historians, chemists, and crafters alike. Moving chronologically through history, from 1200 BCE to 1975, each chapter presents a brief biography of a lesser-known scientist and the scientific explorations and discoveries they made. Each brief yet informative chapter then moves into a lab/craft that kids can replicate on their own. Clear directions and bright photographs make this a maker book that is easy to follow – with adult supervision!

For Those Who Love Myths and Fables 

For the story-loving magic fans, this is the best gateway books into nonfiction!

Folktales for Fearless Girls: Stories We Were Never Told

Published February 25, 2020

First published in Spain in 2018 and then in the US in 2020, this collection of folktales from around the world, such as Armenia, Russia, China, India, and Spain, is perfectly designed for readers who love the Rebel Girls series. What all these stories have in common are the fearless female protagonists – shooting arrows, defending castles, and demonstrating honor. Even more impressive – these stories are traditional folktales from various world traditions, reminding us that sometimes we can dig hard enough into our collective history to retell our stories from different perspectives.

Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods

Published Feb 23, 2016

This anthology is so much fun because it is written from the perspective of the character Percy Jackson from Rick Riordan’s best-selling series! With Percy’s signature snarky tone, this retelling of the Greek gods provides all the right information but reads just like a tween diary, which will appeal to so many of our middle-grade readers.

For the Budding Historian

For the readers who always want to know: “Is this a real person? Did this really happen?”

Fred Korematsu Speaks Up

Published Jan 30, 2017

Told through poetry, illustrations, primary source photographs, and multiple nonfiction text features like timelines and sidebars, this book is part of a series called Fighting for Justice. This edition follows the life of Fred Korematsu, a Japanese American who fights against the US government’s orders to send all Japanese Americans to internment camps during World War 2. This powerful book will introduce fifth graders, especially those studying the three branches of American government in their curriculum, to lesser-known heroes of American history.

History Comics: The Roanoke Colony: America’s First Mystery

June 30, 2020,

Even the most fantasy-obsessed reader will be amazed by this true historical mystery! This nonfiction narrative, told in a graphic novel style, provides nuanced historical context and shares the many clues behind the mysterious vanishing of the Roanoke colony settlers in the 1600s. It’s always a popular read in my classroom, and kids will love to theorize about all the different possibilities of the settlers’ fates based on historical evidence.

History Smashers: The American Revolution

Published July 20, 2021

This book is an accessible, engaging history of the American Revolution. Told in a straightforward, linear style, with some entertaining sidebars, this is a history book that focuses on the key facts of this important era while also addressing some of the layers of complexity, such as why Paul Revere became famous (and not always for the reasons we think!). Whether it is enriching our understanding by adding layers to well-known figures or introducing us to lesser-known Revolutionary figures like Sybil Luddington and Lydia Darragh, this book provides the history while “smashing” some misconceptions.

A Quick History of Politics: From Pharaohs to Fair Votes

Published July 6, 2021

Hand this book to young readers who are becoming more and more curious about the way the world works and why. Told with entertaining subheadings, funny yet informative comics (think Dilbert-style), this gives a concise yet relevant history of how a seemingly simple idea of how people govern themselves has gone through so many variations.

For the Sports Fan

Athletes and other sports-loving readers will see themselves reflected in these pages.

Rebel Girls Champions: 25 Tales of Unstoppable Athletes

Published September 21, 2021

An easy-to-read, intriguing installment in the Rebel Girls series! This book features fascinating female athletes who are familiar household names now, such as World Cup champion and activist Rapinoe, snowboarder Chloe Kim, and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. It also introduces readers to lesser-known athletic champions who helped pave the way, such as the French rower Alice Miliat, who fought to get women into the Olympic games.

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

Published Jan 17, 2017

Steve Sheinkin, a three-time National Book Award finalist, writes a compelling history of one of the most impressive athletes in American history, as well as one of its most disturbing instances: the creation of Indian boarding schools in the late 1800s to early 1900s. This book highlights one athlete’s story, from his humble beginnings to his athletic triumphs over adversity on the football field to the larger contributions of Native Americans to the field of football. This is an intriguing and important must-read for many sports fans.

If They’re Biography Buffs

Hand these books to readers who tend to love realistic fiction or other character-driven stories. These characters have such compelling stories and readers will be excited to find out more after the last page has been turned.

Almost American Girl: A Memoir

Published January 28, 2020

Fifth-graders who loved Raina Telgemeier’s Smile will be immersed in Robin Ha’s memoir. She came to Kansas on what she thought was a vacation with her single mother. However, once she landed in the United States, a teenage Robin was astounded to learn that they were no longer returning to Seoul, Korea, but living in the Southern US with a Korean-American man whom her mother had just met and planned to marry. Empathetic tween readers will shudder with sympathy as they follow Robin’s years through an American education, not speaking the language or being able to read her beloved comics. Artistic readers will relish the solace she ends up finding in drawing. 

Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace

Published October 15, 2019

For future artists, war historians, and those looking for stories of perseverance and inspiration, this is a detailed biography of Ashley Bryan, an art school student who was attending college at Cooper Union in New York City when he got called up to serve in the army as one of the few Black GIs during World War II. With concise, methodical word choices, this book follows his journey through wartime and, piecing his story together, a collage of his artwork, letters, photographs, and diary entries. It is a visual feast as well as a compelling true narrative.

50 Trailblazers of the 50 States

Published November 5, 2019

This beautifully illustrated biography book is a treasure trove for those looking for important or intriguing figures from American history with a geographic bent. Unlike other biography compendiums often compiled around time periods, specific themes, or interests, this book spans the 50 states. This geographic diversity results in a diversity of interesting figures as well – from environmentalist Rachel Carson (Pennsylvania) to Colin Kaepernick (California). With bold graphic prints and a full-page spread for each trailblazer, this is the perfect book for readers to dip in and out and be inspired.

If They Love Encyclopedias

Hand these to the kids who love to dip in and out of a good compendium.

Listified! Britannica’s 300 Lists That Will Blow Your Mind

Published September 7, 2021

Is the Encyclopedia Britannica too stuffy for you? This book, also from Britannica, has all the useful facts but packaged in fun and quirky lists that explain cool concepts from a unique perspective (for example — planet sizes, if they were vegetables), accompanied by hilarious illustrations that will keep all kids engaged and excited to share with others.

Guinness Book of World Records 2024

Published September 12, 2023

It’s hard to go wrong with the tried and true Guinness Book of World Records. If you can assess a book’s popularity by how well-worn a cover is, the GWR always wins hands down in any library. The latest edition, published September 2023, features a few new sections, updated for new audiences. There’s a Gaming section for the biggest buildings in Minecraft, a Young Achievers section recognizing record-holders under 16, and also an Environmental section.

An Atlas of Countries that Don’t Exist: A Compendium of Fifty Unrecognized and Largely Unnoticed States

Published October 29, 2015

This is a serious-looking tome that will appeal to advanced fifth-grade readers who love obscure political facts. This is not a fantasy atlas – so no Lilliputs or Narnias here. Instead, these are actual countries that aren’t internationally recognized for some reason. It’s sure to leave readers wondering about what makes a nation. Published in 2017, it might not include some more recently recognized states, but that very absence might make it intriguing for the reader to guess whether a more recent country in the news would have moved off (or onto) this list.

If Animals Are Their Thing

These are the perfect nonfiction books for fifth graders who love animals.

History Comics: The American Mustang: Wild Horses of the American West

Published February 23, 2021

Equine fans (of which there are MANY in the tween years) will rejoice! This is a rollicking history of the most famous breed of wild horses in the US. This comic-book history has a strong narrative voice, incredibly detailed and rich drawings on par with the most sophisticated graphic novels, and is packed with facts. Whether it is exploring the origins of wild mustangs with the Spanish arrival in the New World, the relationship between Native Americans and horses, or how present-day mustang aficionados can help preserve the species, this book has it all.

Pink is for Blobfish: Discovering the World’s Perfectly Pink Animals

Published February 2, 2016

Just when you thought pink was just for Barbie… fifth graders love this book in the series, The World of Weird Animals. Written by Jess Keating, a scientist-turned-author, this book features gloriously disgusting pictures and an unabashed love for these strange animals. No domesticated dogs or cats here! Fifth graders who love animals and who love novelty will love this book and never think of pink as being a placid color ever again.

For the Foodie

These books are a delight to any true foodie.

Chinese Menu: The History, Myths and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods

Author Grace Lin has put together a comprehensive, delicious, and delightful feast for the eyes, mind, and soul. From the questions you’ve always asked when reading an American Chinese restaurant menu (Who exactly is General Tso? Why did Buddha jump over the wall?) to the questions you might not have thought to ask (what are chopstick taboos?), this beautiful, bestselling book will provide foodie readers with all the answers. Just note: one side effect of reading this book is that it will make you VERY hungry!

Would you Rather? Food Edition

Game books are not the gorgeous coffee table books you see on Bookstagram, but the well-thumbed copies that might live in the backseat of the car on long car rides. This one is no exception and will provide the glue for any family gathering to kick-start conversation when needed. Even better when these books are about food! Keep it light-hearted, fun, and oh-so-scrumptious with these would you rather questions. Because some days, these are the toughest decisions we want to make – whether we would rather take a big bite out of a raw onion OR eat a whole orange, skin, pith, and all.

Nonfiction books–from the highly engaging narrative “real” stories about “real people” to the intriguing lists for those who love their trivia–can often be overlooked but are ideal for reluctant readers who want to read shorter snippets of highly engaging text or for eager readers looking to expand their book horizons. 

I’ve shared some of my favorite nonfiction books for 5th graders. Which of these have you read and loved? What did I miss?

More Non-Fiction & 5th Grade Books

• The best middle grade non-fiction books
• Historical fiction for 5th graders
• The best books for 5th graders

Don't Forget to Share!

About Evelyn Schwartz

Evelyn is a school librarian/fifth grade teacher who loves board games, bird watching and most of all, being buried in a good book! Preferably while sipping hot cocoa on a slouchy couch with her family.

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Hi, would love to have you link up with Literacy Musing Mondays at : http://www.maryanderingcreatively.com/literacy-musing-mondays-2/ Hope you will stop by and check out our linkup! We are growing every week.

I'm not familiar with it. I'll check it out. Thanks!

Thank you for writing this book

I don't under stand shaish

Thanks so much, Mandy! This is a super list of resources for non fiction articles and info for kids and parents and teachers...you did a ton of work putting this together. ;)

Thanks! Glad you found it helpful!

Mandy, Thanks for sharing your insight and links. About half the links are new to me. I like to write sprinkle information into my fictional worlds for young readers.

No problem Manju!

Mandy, you are the queen of amazing resources!

Thanks Maria!

What a great list, Mandy! Thanks so much!

You're welcome Jane!

This is an outstanding resource, Mandy. Thank you bunches.

You're so welcome Suzy!

This is really helpful, Mandy. Thank you for posting all these sources.

Glad you find it helpful Virginia!

Thank you for these terrific resources, Mandy :)

You're welcome Charlotte!

fuck you mandy

What a great list of sources! I've used some of these and know that they are really useful, and I'm looking forward to checking out some of the others!

Plagiarism is theft of another person's writings or ideas. Placing one's own name on someone else's work is the simplest and yet the most extreme form of Plagiarism. Imitation, adaptation, or pastiche is not always easily separable from Plagiarism. However, it is usually distinguished by its dishonest intention.

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Hi: I would love if you could include my nonfiction ezine for kids. Thanks :D

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Making children read books as early as possible is the best move ever parent can make. If you are a parent, you want to make sure that your kids will flourish as they grow. Check this out <p><a href="https://nellyplaza.com/captivating-kids-to-read-step-by-step-guide/">Captivating Kids to Read: Step-By-Step Guide</a></p> Thanks, Cheers Nelibeth

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Nonfiction/Informational

Standards require that students have experiences with a variety of nonfiction texts—informational, historical, biographical—and their text features. Most texts are paired with worksheets, response pages, or projects that will help build knowledge and comprehension of nonfiction texts.

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The Brown Bag Teacher

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March 9, 2014

Finding Nonfiction Articles for Middle Grades

Today I am sharing with you one of my great frustrations about 5th grade…the lack of resources. We are a curriculum-free school for reading and writing, so in August I walked into a resource-empty classroom. It has taken me months to find my ‘go-to’ websites, apps, and databases that are rigorous enough (i.e. long enough, with a 800-1000 Lexile Level) and interesting for my students. Without further ado, here are my 3 favorite websites for finding nonfiction articles that are (1) appropriate (2) rigorous and (3) interesting.

• Every article is available in 4-5 different Lexile Levels that you choose using the blue menu to the right on each article!!!!  Regardless of the level, the students are reading the same article just at their just-right reading level! Talk about differentiating!
• Articles marked with an anchor have Common Core aligned quizzes . Each quiz is aligned to a certain ‘anchor standard’. As students take the quizzes, your Teacher Binder automatically updates with the level of quiz students took and their score on the Common Core standard assessed.
• On a computer, students have the option to highlight portions of the text! On their second read of an article, I ask students to highlight the main ideas in one color and the supporting details in a second color. As a teacher, I can see what they highlight on my dashboard. Since main idea is something we always need more practice with, this is a great informal assessment!
• An audio feature that reads each article aloud to students. This is such a luxury and a perfect feature for students who receive a reader. Plus, it allows students access to an article they might not be comfortable reading independently during literacy centers (when there is no reader available)!
• Teachers also have the option to input their own “ Extended Response/Short Answer” questions . These constructed response questions appear on students’ screens (iPad, moblie device, or computer), and students are given a space to respond. Student responses then appear on your Teacher Dashboard.
• Additionally,  ThinkCERCA  has an embedded dictionary within each article. This dictionary allows students to click on a highlighted word, hear it read aloud, and see a definition for the word. Nonfiction articles are more likely to contain content-specific vocabulary that many students struggle with, and this feature helps students gain independence and confidence while reading!
• ReadWorks trusts the teacher and allows the searcher to hone their survey to a specific reading skills . Point of view, cause and effect, inference, plot, main idea, vocabulary in context – these are just a few of the dozens of skills they have articles to target!
• Each article is between 3/4’s of a page and 2ish pages in length making the articles readable, analyzable-able, and discuss-able (sure, it’s a word ;)) within my 55 minute reading block!
• ReadWorks does not stop by providing single reading passages, they have also created Common Core aligned skills units that include novels to reference, teaching sequences, lesson plans, and assessments….all for FREE {no strings attached}. My favorite units are the paired text units for 5th and 6th grade. Pairing texts helps me meet with “comparing” verbage of the Common Core and teaches students they have to analyze and integrate the information their reading! Love. It.

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Reader Interactions

March 9, 2014 at 3:11 pm

Hi! Great post. Some really good resources here! Thank you! Do you think there are sites like that for the lower grades (first??) I will need to do some research on that. Thanks so much for the information 🙂 Em Curious Firsties

March 9, 2014 at 11:35 pm

Hey Em! Off hand I cannot not think of any, but if I come across some I'll definitely pass them along to you. ThinkCERCA and NewsELA would definitel not work for you, but ReadWorks should. They are awesome resources for ALL grades and skills. 🙂

March 9, 2014 at 3:27 pm

Oh my goodness Catherine!!! We are still so into Newsela in our class, thanks to you, and now you share two other incredible sites! I can't thank you enough–I'm signing up for both right now!!

March 9, 2014 at 11:34 pm

That's awesome, Kristen! My kids love NewsELA, too. Plus, we've be testing out some new features, and they are AWESOME. I personally like the articles on NewsELA better (they are more current events based and a little more appeal to my kids), but ThinkCERA has some awesome bells and whistles (audio, dictionary, extended response). 🙂

March 9, 2014 at 4:12 pm

I LOVE NewsELA.com and ReadWorks.org, but I have never heard of ThinkCera. Thank you for a new resource! I am on the curriculum team for my district, and we are starting to rework curriculum maps for next year, so this was perfect timing!

March 9, 2014 at 11:32 pm

Yay! I am so glad to hear that Karen. I am ALWAYS look for new ELA websites. 🙂 I hope the planning goes well!

March 9, 2014 at 4:46 pm

ThinkCERCA was a new one to me and is now bookmarked. Thanks for sharing!!

March 9, 2014 at 7:38 pm

This is awesome – thanks so much! ReadWorks was the only one that I had heard of. I can't wait to look at the other websites more closely. 🙂 ~Heather Loose Shoelaces

March 9, 2014 at 8:45 pm

I am always looking for really good non-fiction articles. Thank you for finding and compiling these for us. Kristy @

March 9, 2014 at 9:04 pm

I love using NewsELA in my classroom! I also use ReadWorks quite a bit, but I've never heard of Thinkcerca before. I'll have to check it out! It can be difficult to find non-fiction articles that meet all of the requirements.

Sara 🙂 The Colorful Apple

March 9, 2014 at 10:01 pm

I always learn something new every time I visit your blog! Thanks for sharing the sites… I have been using NewsELA, but the other two are new to me. Thanks for your Bright Ideas, and for being such a helpful stop on the Hop! 🙂

Kim Finding JOY in 6th Grade

March 9, 2014 at 11:31 pm

You've made my day, Kim! It makes my heart happy that you found a new resource. I hope they making planning just a little bit easier! 🙂

March 9, 2014 at 11:00 pm

These are GREAT resources! I've been using ReadWorks, but I've never used the other two. I'm so excited to share them with my teachers!

Buzzing with Ms. B

March 9, 2014 at 11:09 pm

This is a great resource. Thanks!

March 10, 2014 at 12:38 am

I have use ReadWorks weekly but have never used the others. I am so excited to find some great resources! Thanks so much for sharing!!! Wendy One Happy Teacher

March 10, 2014 at 3:17 am

Heard about your blog from Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files. AMAZING resource 🙂 I love readworks. Definitely following you now!

Your new follower, Leanna

A Little of LiLi lilismilee.blogspot.com

April 5, 2014 at 10:06 pm

Hi Leanna! That's awesome. Thank you so much for stopping by. 🙂 -Catherine

April 6, 2014 at 9:00 pm

This post is awesome! I was just struggling with exactly this issue on Friday. Thanks so much for posting 🙂

April 7, 2014 at 12:07 am

Love your blog. I want to pass along some great info for teachers. Please shop at http://www.ShopForStudents.com especially for ink and toner. We discount it up to 75%, we pay for the shipping, so its FREE! No coupon needed and the best part, we donate 15% of EVERY sale to the teacher or school, etc. of your choice, even you. Just tell us at checkout. We LOVE teachers!!! Laura Shifrin, Founder 954-394-0679

April 8, 2014 at 1:45 am

Thanks for sharing! As a teacher librarian I am always looking for reliable sites to use with my students and share with my teachers. Another site I really enjoy is http://wonderopolis.org/ User vote on all types of things that people are wondering about and then they answer the questions through articles, videos and images. All sorts of topics with tons of high interest for students. The Educator Sandbox also has resources for teachers as well! Check it out!

June 13, 2014 at 7:46 pm

I love dogonews.com for current events nonfiction news! My students beg me to read them! They can use the ipad to read the article and I sometimes have them do context clues work with them, also. They can read the article and then there are blue words they can determine the meaning and then click on the word to check. I also have a bulletin board of these articles and I update them so my students can grab them for our nonfiction silent reading time!!

June 13, 2014 at 7:48 pm

June 21, 2014 at 4:52 am

Thanks for the information. I use k12reader.com sometimes, too. You might find some things you like there as well.

November 25, 2014 at 1:41 am

Read, Write, Think is an awesome resource.

December 31, 2014 at 4:53 pm

Thank you for the amazing FREE resources. Here's another really great one I've used over the years: https://student.societyforscience.org/sciencenews-students

Happy New Year!!

November 9, 2015 at 5:01 am

Here's a great addition to your list! http://www.readtennessee.org/read.aspx

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March 16, 2023 at 10:49 am

This is an amazing piece of writing. There are things I have come to know for the first time, and I want to give them. Thankk you for sharing the information.

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• Nonfiction Passages and Functional Texts

Students need to gain lots of practice working with nonfiction passages. This prepares them for more advanced course work. Here are some nonfiction reading passages, worksheets, and online practice activities to give students practice. I recommend using the online versions of the activities if you have access to technology in your classroom. It will save you some grading and these activities include questions formatted as extended response in addition to multiple choice. Students can print, save, or email their results. I think it's pretty cool. Just make sure you tell students to save their scores and responses for their own records, if you are using email delivery. Then they will always have a backup for record keeping.

These activities are sorted by grade level. I welcome comments and suggestions.

Nonfiction Comprehension Common Core State Standards

62 comments, karen boehmer.

Thank you so much. With shortage of teachers I am now teaching reading and your site has been sooooooo helpful

Stephanie E Gaskin

In order to protect academic integrity, I wish your sight was password protected or a more difficult process to access answer keys.

Yeah, accessibility and security are a trade off! I recommend changing the titles of the worksheets before distributing them if this is a concern. That makes them harder to find. Still not perfect though. Best wishes!

Priscilla Araba Hagan

Love, love, love this site. A veritable collection of the best reading passages on the planet. Keep it up!

Interesting am helpful

basherbash27 omer

Thank you for all this much excellent work it will help me much with my academic work

Sara Simons

After much searching, I finally found you wonderful nonfiction stories. I am teaching a 7th grade student who would benefit greatly from this. I am so grateful to you.

Doumouh Dirani

Thank you soooooo much for your help! You’re a real blessing! Thank you so much no words can express my appreciation for you for publishing such treasure! Thank you

Your passages have enabled me to help students who read and comprehend below grade level! Thanks so much.

So happy to hear it. Best wishes to you both!

I saw this sheet in my tuition exam!!

Love this! Thank you!!!

I wish there were ones on space!

Ibrahim Hotait

It is a great website that helps me in teaching English as a foreign language to my students. Ibrahim

This page has been so helpful with my reading class. I wish new selections were added

Working on it…

I like this website so much, the comprehensions are helping me a lot more than I usually do, please give more comprehensions to practice

I’m glad that you like them and think they are helping. That’s great. I’m always working on updating and improving the site. Come back soon!

Thank you so much for providing and sharing this site, it helps me a lot to support my Reading class activities.

I really love this website , i just checked it today , i even preferred it on my teacher . This is really fantastic . I love that they give the passages free, they give you a copy to edit , they give answers with every passage . Thankyou !!

These passages are really good. Hope that you will post comprehension poems too.

Thanks. Have you seen these?

https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/figurative-language/figurative-language-poems-with-questions/

Thank you so much for your generosity. Interesting and motivating reading texts

Mohammad Mustafah

Wow it is a nice web and my teachers also gave us the comprehension hear! It is really a nice and it also have a answer key for checking the answer, thanks!

Thank you so much. This is grea

Thank you. I’m looking for samples for four types of reading and writing for post basic classes.

I greatly appreciate such useful worksheet materials hoping that you’ll keep on providing more likewise resources

Elma du Toit

Thank you very much for so generously providing these worksheets and lessons for free! I use some even for my teachers in training, as they are all Second Language speakers. The reading texts are also very informational, expanding their general knowledge. I love it!

yinka adegbenle

Thank you for these amazing worksheets. So very useful and of great quality too.

Ms.Viviet D'souza

Every piece of writing makes for interesting reading. Also, thought-provoking. Some definitely cater to an excellent classroom debate. This site is a great discovery. Thanks.

Homeschool Mom

Thank you so much for these. As a homeschool parent it can be difficult to locate interesting worksheets for my middle schoolar. These are great and she will enjoy them!

Marlee is awesome

Hi, I read alot and would like to say ur awesome im awesome and everyone who reads this is awesome! Have a nice day and a fun time learning! l♥

I love the positivity! Best wishes!

Mr. Morton, how can we have access to the authors’ names of articles posted here. They are so well organized work well with summary writing. But must have authors’ names

Hello. I wrote all of these.

https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/e-reading-worksheets/about-mr-morton/

Darrell Deshotel

Thanks for this page. Please don’t ever take it down. As a 7th grade ELA teacher it’s extremely helpful. Thank you again.

thankyou so much for this informative page …..its the perfect page for students i can have alot of info which is obviously gonna help me ….

I love this webpage! So interesting topic for reading activities. I teach English in Argentina, and these texts trigger my students speaking skills, vocabulary skills and of course Reading Skills

Nahomy Villalobos

hey, there i really need help in this question and i want to know if you could help me in this question it is very difficult ad i really need help and can you really help me please

A good lesson to learn here is that you should ask your question in your initial comment, as I cannot respond to these in real time.

ivan beltran

thank you very much, i´m an english teacher in Colombia, and i´m trying to teach to my students the importance of good reading, this material is excelent.

Thank you Mr. Morton for these great passages, I use them for my grandchild and she finds the topics interesting. What a wonderful website and great questions. Thank you for your efforts and for sharing.

It is a good web. It can help my teaching a lot. Would you mind me if I suggest answer key with file PDF?

Ms. Dela Cruz

Thank you for making such worksheets. As a tutor it really helped me. 🙂

Annie Smith

The “PAIN RELIEVER” article/worksheet question 8 – shouldn’t the answer be “C” both medicines, since the question asks “WHICH MEDICINE SHOULD ‘NOT’ BE TAKEN” if consume more than 3 alcoholic beverages per day??

misha jessani

nice website its very informative for me as a student.

very nice website its very informative for me as a student. thank you for making such website. 🙂

Allison Clark

These passages are awesome! I love your site. I can always be sure I will find something challenging and INTERESTING(!!!) for my students. Thank you SOOO much for this website!

I’m so happy to hear it. Best wishes!

You reading passages are very helpful for my 9 year old daughter. I hope you add more passages.

I am committed to improving and developing this site. Thank you for visiting.

I have been using your reading passages to teach my 9 year old kid. They are very helpful! I hope you add more passages to your collections.

Thank you and I am happy to hear it. I hope to add more reading passages this winter.

I am tutoring an adult in English and your reading passages have helped me tremendously. Will you be adding other passages to the site?

Yes, I should be improving the format and adding a bunch of new content this winter. Thank you for visiting!

Do you offer 5th or 6th grade reading level content and tests. Thank you….

I’ve got a bunch in the works. I should have them up sometime in December. Best wishes!

Theresa Fairchild

First of all, you are a life saver. I love your resources, and they have helped my students and me greatly. Another teacher and I would like to know why the answer for the the question listed below is A. With the movement to text dependent questions, C. is the only viable option. Logically, A. makes sense, but we were looking at the question from a text dependent viewpoint. 3. Which best explains why the original castles were first made from earth and timber?

a. It takes a lot more time and energy to build a stone castle.

b. It did not occur to people to build castles out of stone.

c. People did not realize how weak wooden castles would be against fire.

d. Wooden castles were prettier than dirty stone castles.

I think it is fair to require students to draw such an inference.

I believe most state tests will require them to draw similar inferences.

Perhaps the distractor C is unfair as you are suggesting.

When I revisit the content in the next year I will update this question. Thank you for your feedback.

Tina compton

I teach sixth grade. I don’t see where you have a grade or Lexie level for the passages you offer. They look close to what I need, a Lexie around 1,000 or greater. Can you give me an idea about where these passages are level wise? Thank you so very much! It looks like you’ve worked very hard! I appreciate it.

Tina Compton

Lexile is a proprietary term. As an educator you can use their system for free, but as an educational publisher I would need to license it.

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8 Science Articles for 5th Graders

Kids love to discover new things. That’s why we like to give them access to recent scientific research ! In these four adaptations, we have brought peer-reviewed scientific papers down from the kind of language you find in academic journals to plain English that 5 th graders can understand.

Your pre-teen students will get a taste of what’s new in science and why it matters as they follow the researchers through the steps of the scientific method . Most of the articles focus on animals , including issues such as biodiversity, conservation, and human impacts on the world.

For convenience, you can download these 8 articles at once:

We’ve published more than 30 articles suitable for 5th graders. Check out the full list here:

Some articles come in TWO reading levels. Select the LOWER READING LEVEL.

Would beavers make good firefighters?

In this article, scientists found out that beavers ’ activities can protect plants and animals around them during a wildfire . There is an extensive lesson plan with town-hall role-play activity and an audio version of the article available for auditory learners or students with visual disabilities.

Why do bats need more food to call louder?

In this article, scientists wanted to find out if bats needed more energy to echolocate loudly. The students get to follow the researcher into a wind tunnel at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research where bats’ metabolism is tested under various experimental conditions . The results are presented as a scatter plot . There is an audio version of the article available for auditory learners or students with visual disabilities.

How do seabirds share?

In this article, concepts such as niche differentiation and resources partitioning are explained using the example of a joint coloring activity where each student wants to use a color but there are only so many yellow pencils. For this study, the researchers used GPS tracking data and field observations to determine how different species of seabirds can live together by learning how to divide their limited food resources. The results are presented as a bar graph and there is also a map of the study location in Canada.

How can your smartphone make water safe to drink?

In this technology -oriented article, inventors from the Georgia Institute of Technology developed a small device and an app that can be used with a smartphone to kill harmful bacteria in water . The human need for clean water is discussed and students can learn how a cell phone can help disinfect water so that it won’t make people who drink it sick. The article contains a pictogram of the device and an audio version for auditory learners or students with visual disabilities

Are poachers rhinos’ only problem?

In this article, students get to take a close look at Kruger National Park in South Africa, where many rhinoceroses live. The scientists already knew that poaching is a major threat to rhinos, but they were also interested in the impact of drought on the survival of the two different species in the park: white and black rhino. The researchers compared the rates of birth and death (from both natural causes and illegal hunting) for periods before, during, and after the drought. The results are presented in two simple line graphs , but students will need to be careful about the differing y-axis scales. Like the scientists, students will be pleased to learn that the obvious threat of poaching decreased for both species across the four-year period. However, they might be surprised to find out that the two species were affected differently by the drought – which helps illustrate the importance of paying attention to climate factors in preserving endangered species .

Where does Australia’s wildlife hide?

Kids are excited to spot wild animals near their schools and homes. They’ll likely be curious about the same question scientists in Australia asked: how much threatened wildlife lives in our cities? The researchers overlapped maps of species habitats with maps of urban areas and discovered that half of the threatened animals and a quarter of the threatened plants in Australia live in cities! We present a simplified map for students to examine and also include a few statistics from the US and the UK for comparison. Students will consider some ways we can make our cities more wildlife-friendly to help threatened species survive .

Counting the fish catch – why don’t the numbers match?

We actually created two versions of this adaptation, so you’ll need to scroll down the page to find the link to the elementary/middle-school version. Researchers in this article carried out a data collection project to calculate total catches from all marine fisheries in the world from 1950 to 2010. Students will quickly realize how complicated a task it is to track the many different kinds of fisheries. A line graph shows the total reconstructed catch figures peak at a much higher amount in comparison to the officially reported figures – and that they are now declining much faster than people thought. Students will understand how important it is to have accurate data in order for people to make the right decisions to protect global fish stocks .

What happens if we take laboratory mice outside?

This adaptation introduces students to the idea of a mouse model , explaining how scientists use mice as a model organism to learn more about human bodies. However, in this article, scientists wondered how well mice in the laboratory actually model real life. So they decided to test how a realistic environment impacts the ability of mice to fight off intestinal worms. They compared a group of mice who lived only in the lab, a group that lived only outdoors, and a group that moved from the lab to the outdoors. A pictograph helps to illustrate the method and timing. The final worm count and worm biomass are presented in scatter plots and show that the mice that lived outdoors the longest developed fatter and longer worms in their guts. Students will realize how important it is for experimental design to include different environmental conditions .

That’s Not All!

Our site offers hundreds of scientific articles suitable for students of all ages. Check for the latest elementary or middle school level articles. Everything is free to download! Just use the filter to find the ones you need.

• May 27, 2020

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Fifth grade nonfiction articles and questions

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Narrative Nonfiction in Fifth Grade, Part 1

Aimee Buckner

In this lesson from a fifth-grade classroom, Aimee Buckner guides students in a notetaking process to help them understand the qualities of nonfiction narrative writing.      

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Related Articles

Literary Nonfiction: Models for Writing

Literary nonfiction is emerging as a popular genre. In this booklist, Franki Sibberson shares mentor texts for writing literary nonfiction.

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Teachers are adding more nonfiction to their classroom libraries, and looking for ways to promote nonfiction with students in light of the emphasis on nonfiction in the Common Core. Franki Sibberson share tips for previewing nonfiction with students.

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Franki Sibberson explains how she boosted the amount of nonfiction texts her grades 4 and 5 students were choosing for independent reading by focusing more on interest than on content connections.

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Narrative Nonfiction in 5th Grade Part 2

In this lesson from a 5th grade classroom, Aimee Buckner guides students in a note-taking process to help understand the qualities of nonfiction narrative writing. In this second part of the lesson, students share their notes and Aimee makes connections to additional mentor texts.

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Andrea Smith and her 4th grade students use an article from National Geographic for Kids to chart literary nonfiction elements.

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Beth Lawson and Heather Rader meet to plan and share mentor texts for nonfiction writing in Beth’s fourth-grade classroom.

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