High School Reading Comprehension Passages - High Interest Nonfiction Bundle

Your students will love these high-interest nonfiction reading passages and activities geared towards reluctant readers in 8th and 9th grade. Perfect for whole-class use or high school reading intervention, each article has a different activity to keep students engaged in their learning.

• 10 passages and questions or activities
• Different topics to engage readers
• Scaffolded tasks and activities

It can be very challenging to find high school reading comprehension passages with age-appropriate content at the right skill level for students who read below grade level. 

These high-interest nonfiction passages and questions help push those students toward grade-level reading, and engage them in activities more interesting than the same old comprehension questions they’re used to with a wide variety of activities for close reading, vocabulary, creative writing, research, discussion, and test prep.

These readings were originally created as part of Burnbridge Breakouts, a series of reading intervention escape games, but can be used as stand-alone activities in any order. 

What You Get:

✅ 10 Nonfiction reading passages on a range of topics (approx. 750-1000 words each), written for 8th & 9th graders

✅ Accompanying activities: vocabulary in context, creative writing, multiple-choice questions for test prep, discussion and research prompts, and more. The activities vary for each reading.

✅ Scaffolded brainstorming and ideas for differentiation

✅ TAG feedback forms

✅ Teacher's Guides

✅ Google Drive links and digital versions of these materials.

High-Interest Nonfiction Reading Passages in this bundle:

• "Abandoned Places" - vocabulary, creative writing from nonfiction
• "Double Trouble: The Fascination with Twins" - multiple-choice questions
• "Off-Track: Train Heists and Outlaws" - creative writing from nonfiction
• "Demystifying Fear" - vocabulary
• "Lizard Make-up Tutorial" - procedural writing
• "Dying Around the World" - multiple-choice questions, critical thinking prompts
• "Codes and Codebreakers" - creative writing from nonfiction, procedural text
• "The Rise of Skateboarding" - includes QR codes for further research & discussion
• "Dr. Daniel Hale Williams" - biography
• "Careers in Video Games" - nonfiction passage with inference practice

What other teachers are saying…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This is especially good for students who don't enjoy nonfiction reading. The topics are interesting and so far, the majority of the students enjoyed the activities. Thank you :) - Heather K.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I was hooked when I saw the text titles and skills that would assess students in this bundle. My students are engaged because they're not the norm of what we read. I will definitely continue to use this resource in the time to come." - Amber B.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I love these creative writing ideas and my students do too! It has something for everyone so sometimes I assign different ones within the bundle based on student interest." - Thuha B.

Looking for an 8th-grade nonfiction bundle? Check it out here!

About Your Resource:

Your resource contains PDFs of all materials so that you can print-and-go. This resource is not editable. Please email me if you have any questions! :)

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-Danielle @ Nouvelle ELA