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.”

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Grade Level
Social Justice Domain
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117 Texts

Literature

Shoulders

In this poem, the speaker sees a man carrying his son across the street and is struck by the tenderness the man displays for the child. The speaker realizes that humanity must cloak itself in this same caring nature.
by
Naomi Shihab Nye
Grade Level
Subject
Civics
Social Justice Domain
July 2, 2014
Literature

Rose Blanche

During World War II, a young German girl, Rose Blanche, inadvertently discovers a concentration camp not far from her town. She travels there frequently, taking food to the children on the other side of the barbed wire and meets a haunted fate the day she discovers the camp is gone.
by
Roberto Innocenti and Christophe Gallaz
Grade Level
3-5
Subject
Civics
History
Geography
Social Justice Domain
July 2, 2014
Literature

Papalotzin and the Monarchs: A Bilingual Tale of Breaking Down Walls

When a wall is built between the Great North and the Great South, nothing can pass by it, not the clouds or the wind or even the monarch butterflies. When both sides begin to suffer, Papalotzin, Royal Butterfly, breaks down the Great Wall.
by
Rigoberto González
Grade Level
Subject
Civics
History
Economics
Geography
Social Justice Domain
July 2, 2014
Literature

Ninth Ward

The narrative voice belongs to Lanesha, a 12-year-old girl growing up in New Orleans. Lanesha is frequently picked on and teased because she has a special gift—the ability to see ghosts and spirits. Used to being bullied herself, in this scene Lanesha is a witness when someone else is the target.
by
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Grade Level
Social Justice Domain
July 2, 2014
Literature

10,000 Dresses

Every night Bailey dreams about dresses, but each day his mother, father, and brother remind him that he is a boy and dresses aren't for him. Finally, he finds a friend who embraces both his love for dresses and the individual he feels he is inside.
by
Marcus Ewert
Grade Level
Social Justice Domain
July 2, 2014
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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.

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