Do your students glaze over during reading time?
Struggling with vocabulary retention?
Noticing shorter and shorter attention spans year after year?
If you’re nodding “yes” to any of these, this plate tectonics reading is here to save the day!
Reading comprehension doesn’t have to be boring or overwhelming—and it doesn’t belong only in the ELA classroom! Every teacher can support literacy with the right tools (and a little bit of fun!). Just model, read together, annotate, and let those meaningful discussions begin!
I created this line of reading resources to make your life easier and your students more confident readers.
Each passage is:
- ✔️ Clear and engaging
- ✔️ Written at a grade 6–8 reading level
- ✔️ Paired with thoughtful, rigorous questions that ask students to predict, reflect, connect, and think critically
Whether you’re using it for pre-reading, homework, review, or to support absent students—this resource has the flexibility you need to fit your teaching style.
Let’s get those students reading, writing, and building vocabulary—without all the prep stress!
Topics covered in this plate tectonics reading include:
- Alfred Wegener & continental drift
- lithosphere vs. asthenosphere
- convection currents
- convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries
- landforms found at each boundary
- Ring of Fire
Who is this resource for?
This resource can be used by classroom teachers, tutors, and parents of students in grades 6-9. It comprehensively covers the mentioned topics, and includes several comprehension and extension questions that will lock in learning.
How Can I Use this Plate Tectonics Worksheet?
- Emergency sub plans
- Flipped classroom pre-reading
- Whole/small group modeling of close reading
- Independent workstations or homework
- Extension activities for early finishers
- Choice boards
- Interactive notebooks (mini-booklet or annotation style)
- Reteaching for students needing extra support
- Make-up work for absent students
What’s Included?
- PDF File
- Google Slides Digital Version (for assigning through your learning management system)
- Audio Version
- Plain Text Google Doc (for translation purposes)
- Link to editable PPT/Keynote version of file (for making edits)
- Answer Key
Everything you need is just a click away. After purchase, download the main PDF and access all linked digital resources on page 2.
Please look at the preview file to see more of this resource.
What’s Next?
If you enjoy this resource, consider checking out some of my other guided readings! Or submit a request for a topic you’d like to see in a future product.
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Check out our Frequently Asked Questions or email me at laneyleeteaches@gmail.com.
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My store features 3 full-year middle school science curriculums comprised of over 22 units of study.
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NGSS Standards covered by this Plate Tectonics Worksheet:
HS-ESS2-1 Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features. Emphasis is on how the appearance of land features (such as mountains, valleys, and plateaus) and sea-floor features (such as trenches, ridges, and seamounts) are a result of both constructive forces (such as volcanism, tectonic uplift, and orogeny) and destructive mechanisms (such as weathering, mass wasting, and coastal erosion). Assessment does not include memorization of the details of the formation of specific geographic features of Earth’s surface.
HS-ESS2-3 Develop a model based on evidence of Earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection. Emphasis is on both a one-dimensional model of Earth, with radial layers determined by density, and a three-dimensional model, which is controlled by mantle convection and the resulting plate tectonics. Examples of evidence include maps of Earth’s three-dimensional structure obtained from seismic waves, records of the rate of change of Earth’s magnetic field (as constraints on convection in the outer core), and identification of the composition of Earth’s layers from high-pressure laboratory experiments.
MS-ESS2-3 Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. Examples of data include similarities of rock and fossil types on different continents, the shapes of the continents (including continental shelves), and the locations of ocean structures (such as ridges, fracture zones, and trenches). Paleomagnetic anomalies in oceanic and continental crust are not assessed.