Student Texts
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Our searchable library of short texts offers a diverse mix of stories and perspectives. This multigenre, multimedia collection aligns with the Common Core's recommendations for text complexity and the Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards.

Choose from informational and literary nonfiction texts, literature, photographs, political cartoons, interviews, infographics and more. You can also filter by text type, grade level, subject and topic.

“The leveled texts have really helped me engage students and introduce them to complex topics in a way they can understand.”

Text Type
Grade Level
Social Justice Domain
Subject
Topic

621 Texts

Multimedia

Hawaiians Live in Aloha

This animation sequence explains traditional Hawaiian gender roles and their conception of māhū, or the middle. Kumu Hina, a teacher at Hālau Lōkahi— a public charter school in Hawaii—also discusses the history of colonization and its impact on Hawaiian culture.
by
Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson
Grade Level
Subject
History
Geography
Social Justice Domain
March 20, 2015
Informational

President Obama's Address on the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Obama's 2015 speech on the Edmund Pettus Bridge honors the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when hundreds of voting-rights activists were brutally attacked by state troopers as they began a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. President Obama reminds us of the spirit and struggle associated with the marchers in Selma, or any group of people meeting injustice.
by
Barack Obama
Grade Level
Subject
Civics
History
Economics
Geography
Social Justice Domain
March 11, 2015
Literature

The First Coconut Tree

In this pourquoi tale, a mother living on one of the islands in the Pacific Islands, is mystified when she bears a round child with no arms and no legs, but she tenderly raises the child until one day he asks to be buried in the sand, where he can grow (into the first coconut tree) and every part of him can be useful.
by
Nancy Bo Flood
Grade Level
3-5
Subject
Geography
Social Justice Domain
January 5, 2015
Informational

The Communist Manifesto

This excerpt from the first chapter of The Communist Manifesto establishes the dichotomy between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, which is merely a new relationship of oppressor vs. oppressed in the history of class struggles, as Marx and Engels argue that all societies have had these kinds of contending classes.
by
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Grade Level
Topic
Subject
History
Economics
Social Justice Domain
January 5, 2015
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A map of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi with overlaid images of key state symbols and of people in community

Learning for Justice in the South

When it comes to investing in racial justice in education, we believe that the South is the best place to start. If you’re an educator, parent or caregiver, or community member living and working in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana or Mississippi, we’ll mail you a free introductory package of our resources when you join our community and subscribe to our magazine.

Learn More