Nonfiction news stories about young children or topics that children can relate to. Differentiated reading levels and vocab and comprehension questions.
This site is a great way for anyone to expand their vocab. It allows teachers and students to create lists and has thousands of already made lists from literature, speeches, history, current news, plus more.
This article gives a good description of the tool Project Writer. Teachers can assign collaborative projects and also provide required vocab that must be included in the project.