Teaching Guide
Animal Rights
Skills
Primary Skill
Point of View / Author’s Purpose
Secondary Skills
What the Text Says, and People, Events & Ideas
Reading Behaviors
Nonfiction
● Cite evidence while summarizing
● Make inferences about non fiction from text evidence
● Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic
● Determine and note the similarities and differences between points of view
within a text or across texts
● Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to make a point
● Identify reasons and evidence that substantiate claims
● Analyze how an author distinguishes his or her point of view
● Make comparisons between two or more authors’ points of view on the same
topic
Newsela Articles
This section is organized by nonfiction skills necessary for students to become strong
readers. These articles can help you target student understanding for skill. We’ve included at
least three
​ articles for each subskill. We suggest that you use one for guided instruction,
one for independent practice,
​ and one for re-teaching.
Identify Point of
View / Author’s
Purpose
Determine reasons
and evidence that
support point of
view
Analyze the validity of
the point of view /
author’s purpose
Make comparisons
between different
points of view on
the same topic
Humane treatment
not just for humans:
Website tries to
save animals
Western states try
to control wolf
attacks on livestock
Opinion: Kenya burns
ivory, sends world a
strong message
Issue Overview:
Animal testing
Bullfighting is legal
Are sea pens or
Issue Overview:
Should people
U.S. government is
planning to farm fish
in the Pacific Ocean
We must save the
Amazon's water
before it's too late,
scientists say
again in an area of
Spain
Africa’s lions are
disappearing, but
hunters say "don't
blame us"
SeaWorld tanks better
for captive killer
whales?
become
vegetarians?
Veterinarians may be
prevented from
declawing cats in New
Jersey
PRO/CON: Will
eating fewer
hamburgers help
save the planet?
Formative Tasks
The tasks provide teachers with relevant resources for classroom implementation. Teachers can use
these activities and assessments to determine student learning.
Debating the future
of fish​ - Debate
Close Reading:
Evaluate the
Evidence [with
scaffolds​]​ Reading Strategy
Writing for a cause:
Ranchers vs.
Environmentalists​ Persuasive Writing
Should bullfighting
remain illegal?​ Debate
Animal ethics case
study ​- Group work
Should declawing be
prohibited?​ ​Discussion
PRO / CON: Eat
Less Meat to Protect
Our Environment​ Opinion writing
Lesson Plan
How can analyzing
multiples texts better
our understanding of
a topic?​ - Paired Text
While reading,
highlight words that
repeat in the article.
Reread those
words and phrases
to reflect on the
author’s purpose.
While reading,
highlight reasons in
yellow. Highlight
evidence (statistics,
facts) in red.
While reading, highlight
in purple places in the
text that share author’s
tone.
While reading,
highlight in green
evidence of the
author’s bias. Make
text to text and text
to world connections
to analyze the
author’s bias.
Humane treatment
not just for humans:
Website tries to
save animals
Western states try to
control wolf attacks
on livestock
Veterinarians may be
prevented from
declawing cats in New
Jersey
What does the
author focus on and
continue to repeat?
What does the
author focus on and
continue to repeat?
What tone does the
author use?
What did the author
think you already
knew?
Why was this person
quoted or cited and
what did this add?
What reasons does
the the author use
to share his or her
point of view?
What can you infer
from the evidence
the author cites?
Quiz
Students should
take quizzes for all
articles.
Quiz
Students should take
quizzes for all
articles.
Quiz
Students should take
quizzes for all articles.
Quiz
Students should take
quizzes for all
articles.
Write
Have students
respond to at least
one write prompt
from the articles
listed above.
Write
Have students
respond to at least
one write prompt
from the articles
listed above.
Write
Have students respond
to at least one write
prompt from the articles
listed above.
Write
Have students
respond to at least
one write prompt
from the articles
listed above.
Annotations
Respond to at least
one annotation for
each student. Be
sure to give specific
feedback.
Annotations
Respond to at least
one annotation for
each student. Be
sure to give specific
feedback.
Annotations
Respond to at least one
annotation for each
student. Be sure to give
specific feedback.
How does the tone
support the point of
view of the author?
What language do
the author or authors
use that may show
bias?
Why was this person
quoted or cited and
what did this add?
Annotations
Respond to at least
one annotation for
each student. Be
sure to give specific.
feedback.