High Interest Reading Topics and Written Expression for Students of All Levels

I’m always hunting for high-interest reading topics for reading comprehension, written expression, and academic writing. I work with grades 3- university, so I go for current, deep themes I come across in school curricula.

Sourcing High-Interest Reading Materials

My primary methodology is used by New York City public schools and Teacher’s College at Columbia University. The emphasis is on using primary sources and not textbook-anthologies. So- it’s up to me to source the readings and videos, both online and in hard copy.

Teacher’s College Data Bases of Materials, Assessments, Rubrics — You might have to sign up or join to access them. Several existing reading and writing assessments are here by grade level.

Fountas and Pinnell– Databases and more. If you do this type of literacy work often, the yearly fee is well worth it. Hundreds of books are classified by lexical or reading level. You could have reading materials by grade level at your fingertips as opposed to hunting for them and reading them yourself.

Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Workshop Facebook Groups. Fantastic recs by teachers for ages, themes, and levels. EX: fantasy, sci fi, comic con, adventure.

Here are some high-interest themes with a good amount of resources:

1. Then Environment: Climate Change, Global Warming, Ecologies in danger

2. Animals: Endangered Species, Heroic Service Animals

3. Natural Disasters: Volcanoes, Hurricanes, Tsunami, Storms

4. Sports: Sports Figures, Championships. The New York Times has extensive reading and writing materials for educators

5. Technology: AI, robots, Virtual Reality

6. Music: Young artists- take care here. 🙂

7. Fashion: Sneaker Trends, Jeans

My Process for Sourcing Reading-Writing Materials and Assessments:

1. Find out the interests/passions of the student. In a group, each can do his or her own.

2. Examine the student’s reading assessments from school, or do a quick student-read aloud and comprehension check. Determine fluency and lexical/reading level. *For written expression, give a quick, personal narrative prompt.

3. Research articles, books, and videos that are 95% comprehensible and age-appropriate for the student.

4. Secure them, read them, and create pre- and post-reading activities that include one essay prompt.

5. Use an evaluating rubric used or relevant to the student’s school or setting.

Questions? Email me directly; I love connecting with folks. catherine@catherinefortin.org