Newsela Social Studies

Newsela Social Studies helps teachers build connections, promote inquiry, and get students thinking like historians, political scientists, or geographers with content that is relevant and accessible to students and aligned to standards.

Newsela Social Studies Features

  • A social studies specific homepage makes it easier to find content and inspiration for instruction. 

  • Expanded collections help you find curated and sequenced content that supports your core Social Studies instruction, complete with instructional resources. 

  • Alignment to state social studies standards, and a selection includes a subject-specific quiz and Write Prompt. 

  • An extensive library of authentic content, including: primary sources, famous speeches, biographies, recent current events, historical fiction, multimedia, and more.

  • Differentiated nonfiction texts allow students to access content at their just-right reading level.

Find individual texts across social studies categories like primary sources, historical news, opinion pieces, and commonly taught topics. To use the Explore Articles section, follow these steps:

  1. From the Newsela Social Studies homepage, locate the left-hand navigation bar. 

  2. Under Explore Articles, click the carrot next to a collection title to preview the contents. 

  3. Click the title of any category to be taken to that section. Here you can browse content selections that are ready for the social-studies classroom. 

Multimedia Find content to engage students across significant multimedia categories, including maps, art, cartoons, and photos. 

Primary Sources Use the Primary Sources category to browse by type of document, including Landmark Documents, Speeches, Supreme Court Cases, and Historic News. 

Geography Build students’ Geography skills and understanding with content organized by global regions, as well as texts to target Map Skills and Geographic Tools.

Collections are curated and organized content aligned with national social studies frameworks, and complete with instructional strategies to provide ideas for how to use the content to teach the standards. To use the Explore Collections section, follow these steps:

  1. From the Social Studies homepage, locate the left-hand navigation bar. 

  2. Under Explore Collections, click the carrot next to a collection title to preview the contents. 

  3. Click the title of any collection to be taken to the collection landing page. Here you can read the overview, preview the sections or units, and locate instructional resources. 

AP U.S. Government and Politics In collaboration with the College Board, Newsela offers differentiated, authentic texts that complement the AP U.S. Government and Politics curriculum.

C3 Inquiries: U.S. History Supports inquiry in the classroom via C3’s Inquiry Design Model and published Inquiries supported by Newsela’s differentiated, leveled content.

Complex Topics Collection of current events to open discussions and debates around complex topics including: School Safety; Race and Ethnicity; Immigration;  National Politics; Climate Change. 

Cornerstone Activities Curated set of activities designed as unit capstone projects, for units on: The United States; The Modern World; The Ancient & Medieval World; Civics; Religion; Career Fields.

Exploring World History Teach the Fall of Rome through the Age of Exploration and including unique materials like resources on medieval Japan. The Collection uses primary sources, current events, unheard perspectives, and geography content.

History Comes to Life Paired current events and primary source or historical documents with Lesson Spark recommendations for making connections between the two.

iCivics Content to align and provide context to iCivics resources, including units on Citizenship and Participation, State and Local Government, Politics and Public Policy, Foundations of Government, Road to the U.S. Constitution, and A Growing Nation. 

Rediscovering U.S.History Teach events from Native American heritage through the Cold War using primary sources, current events, unheard perspectives, and historical fiction.

Unearthing Ancient Civilizations Teach the legacies of familiar and lesser-known societies from around the world using primary sources, current events, unheard perspectives, and STEAM connections. 

Find articles across Newsela Social Studies categories by searching for keywords or subjects. To search, follow these steps:

  1. Click Search on the Search and Navigation bar.

  2. Enter a keyword or subject. As you type, Newsela displays articles, Text Sets, and standards that match your search term(s).

  3. Click ‘Go’. You will be directed to the results page.

  4. Use the filters shown to refine your search for other aspects of articles.

From the article page, click the Activities carrot to expand the panel and locate the article Quiz and Write prompt. 

Multiple choice quizzes​ address and enhance standards and assess student understanding of significant Social Studies concepts and skills. 

As we work to develop these further, social studies quizzes can be found in America’s Founding Documents, and Rediscovering U.S. History core content.

Customizable Writing prompts​ drive standards-based social studies skills, like argumentation, evaluation, and analysis.Find Social Studies Write Prompts in: All America’s Founding Documents; Rediscovering U.S. History; Exploring World HIstory; Unearthing Ancient Civilizations core content.

Find your saved texts, original text sets, and text sets created at your school in the Your Content section.