Filament is Zinc's all-teen literary journal, featuring writing and visual art by students all over the world.

All the hand-wringing about the end of literature majors and even reading in general ignores basic facts.

Zinc Learning Labs grew out of a tutoring and test prep company, and we embed solid test-taking strategies into Zinc Reading programs. Learn more about our “Predictions” strategy.

Zinc is rolling out a new test-prep unit that engages students and teaches skills that are useful for much more than acing tests. Want to give it a try?

In a recent interview on a national news program, Zinc’s founder, Matt Bardin, discussed love-based learning and how it’s the key to student success in school and life.

While a solid phonics foundation is crucial, it’s not enough to advance middle and high schoolers’ reading. In an essay for The 74, Zinc’s founder/CEO and 25+ year veteran educator, Matt Bardin, explains why.

Rebecca suggests staying focused on the most important target: reading growth. “It has to be about the growth,” she says. “If kids are just assigned vocab and/or reading articles for points with no follow-up, then it feels like busy work. Kids are smart enough to see this.”

Two-thirds of students who scored at least 85% on our “Show What You Know” assessments of Zinc-ing and Tracking skills went up at least one Zinc reading level from the start of the Ignition Unit to the end. In just a few hours of work over two or three weeks, that’s growth of about 150 Lexiles, which typically takes months!

Most 6th-12th grade kids have mastered phonics enough to read fluently and sound like proficient readers. Major gaps, however, remain before comprehension. Use close reading to bridge the chasm between sounding like a proficient reader and being one.

Zinc now has the B.E.S.T. Standards live on our site. This means that when you assign Zinc texts and our accompanying comprehension quizzes, you can see how students’ practice and performance fit into the new standards.

With just a few weeks of use, our advanced-literacy instruction and personalized practice was having such a big impact. But we wanted it even to be even better. Enter Ignition 2.0.

Why we should stop telling middle and high schoolers to make movies in their minds while they read.

We have a great article set for teaching about Juneteenth, an important holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States.

The New York Times’ article on Lucy Calkins brings up an old debate: how do we get all students to be successful readers?

May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Let Zinc help you celebrate.

Filament is a place for teen writers and artists to connect and get their voices heard. The journal promotes literacy by sharing exceptional student writing on the topics you want to read about, from the voices you want to hear. Issues also feature outstanding visual art by teens.

Happy International Women’s Day! And please join us in celebrating Women’s History Month. To support your teaching about women’s rights, accomplishment, and voices, we’ve compiled a new article set.

Middle and high school readers can be a tough crowd. And since many students in this age group say that they “hate” reading, choosing the right content for them is even more crucial.

Despite our great love of books, we don’t think they’re always the best assignment for middle and high school students. Sometimes, articles are a much better choice.

Drumroll, please! We’re thrilled to share the winning submissions from Zinc’s first Teen Writing Contest.