As you may know, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) place significant emphasis on the incorporation of informational texts into the curriculum. These texts might include freshly published articles and essays, foundational U.S. documents, and historic speeches. I hope the following resources will help take the guesswork out of finding these resources and save you some time along the way. This list is far from comprehensive, but I tried to ensure that each publication listed below has at least some free long-form content available. Remember that some publications will eventually restrict access to their articles and essays behind a paywall, but to avoid possible loss of access, please consider "clipping" the article with a tool like Evernote, Instapaper, or Pocket. Last, I have linked the Text Complexity Grade Bands and Lexile Bands to help you get started using appropriate CCSS-related Lexile levels.

Are you looking for a way to introduce a discussion about the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights into your planning? Looking for a way to teach "Constitution Day" in your Social Studies curriculum? This assignment will do the trick. Students are introduced to some basic facts about the Bill of Rights in the first page of the assignment. The remaining pages ask students to read, analyze, and explain each of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights. They must also imagine a nation without these rights to protect its citizens. They will then explain how they believe life in America would differ without these protections. I have used it successfully in middle school Social Studies classrooms in the past as either an individual assignment or as a team project. What I find especially helpful about this document is that you do not have to teach with all ten amendments. You can pick and choose only a few of them if you wish.