Free for Teachers · A reading series
Read & Think
One real article from a trusted public-domain source — then everything to teach it: comprehension, a crossword, and critical thinking with a teacher key.
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17 live · more as we build
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The Mountain Lets Go
Nine out of ten avalanches are triggered by the victim or someone in their own group. What happens in the seconds after the slab breaks — and why the first fifteen minutes decide everything. SurvivalSequenceTwo reading versionsCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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The Marks You Leave
Identical twins share DNA but not fingerprints. How the ridges form, how a print you cannot see is made to appear, and what that evidence can and cannot prove. ForensicsInferenceTwo reading versionsCrosswordTeacher key Open it LiveThe Number That Follows You
A three-digit number nobody asked your permission to keep — and one day it decides what a car costs you. What builds it, and what it quietly changes. MoneyMain idea & detailsTwo reading versionsCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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The Bruise You Cannot See
You do not have to be knocked out, and most of the time nobody is. What a hit actually does inside the skull, and why coaches now say sit them out. The bodyCause & effectTwo reading versionsCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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It Started on a Lab Bench
The first video game was never sold. A physicist built it so lab visitors would not be bored, then took it apart for the parts. Then and now, side by side. TechCompare & contrastTwo reading versionsCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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Ocean Light
Most of the ocean lives in permanent night — so its animals make their own light. Three ocean zones, bioluminescence, and the creatures of the deep. Marine scienceArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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The Cold Red Desert
A rusty, freezing world where the wind never quits — two moons, a canyon over 2,000 miles long, and the robot rovers we send in our place. Space scienceArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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When the Ground Blows Up
What's really happening when the ground blows up — melting rock, hidden pressure, and why some volcanoes ooze while others explode. Earth scienceArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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Three Hearts, Blue Blood
An animal with three hearts, blue blood, and nine brains — plus a vanishing act like nothing else in nature. Marine biologyArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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The Boy Who Dreamed Up TV
A 14-year-old farm boy imagined a picture made of light while plowing a field — and grew up to build the machine that became television. InventorsArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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Brave Bessie Takes Flight
Turned away by every U.S. flight school, she learned French, sailed to France, and flew straight into history. AviatorsArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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The Scientist They Couldn't Stop
A poor student who studied in secret became the first person ever to win two Nobel Prizes — in two different sciences. ScientistArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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She Walked Back Into Danger
She escaped slavery — then walked back into danger again and again to lead about seventy others to freedom. LiberatorArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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The First Programmer
She wrote what many call the world's first computer program — a hundred years before there was a computer to run it. MathematicianArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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The Peanut Genius
Born into slavery, he became an inventor so curious he found hundreds of uses for the peanut and taught farmers to heal the soil. ScientistArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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The Boy Who Read by Firelight
Born in a one-room log cabin with almost no schooling, he taught himself by firelight — and grew up to help end slavery. PresidentArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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The Boy Who Built 2,500 Libraries
A poor immigrant boy who couldn't afford books grew rich — then gave it away building about 2,500 free public libraries. PhilanthropistArticle + photoCrosswordTeacher key Open it
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