Article of the Week
Daily Practice of Basic Skills
Rationale
The Article of the Week (AOW) is a year-long, on-going project patterned after Kelly Gallagher’s “Article of the Week” curriculum. It is designed to provide students with weekly critical reading practice. The reasoning behind the work is simple:
Kelly recognizes that part of the reason his students struggle with reading is because they lack prior knowledge and background. They can decode the words, but the words remain meaningless without a foundation of knowledge. To help build his students’ prior knowledge, he assigns them an Article of the Week every Monday morning.
The PDF version is what I actually provide students with.
Resources
- The instructions are included with the rubric, which is available here.
- List of Latin and Greek stems.
- Examples for teachers wishing to implement this project are here.
- Previous years’ AOWs are here.
Articles for the 2024-2025 School Year
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Sept 09 | Jabberwocky | PDF handout |
| Aug 26 | Telegram Becomes Free Speech Flashpoint After Founder’s Arrest | PDF handout |
| Aug 12 | Rare new pictures show uncontacted Amazon tribe threatened by loggers | PDF handout |
For Teachers
For Teachers
I accompany each article with a screencast in which I explain the words in their context and show students how they could have figured out some of the meaning of the word. Below is an example of one such screencast.
I create my screencasts with Loom. Once you have it configured, you can provide students with a link, download it and store it somewhere else, or embed it in a Google Classroom assignment.
Previous Years
Articles for the 2023-2024 School Year
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 23 | I Have a Dream (English I) | Handout |
| Jan 04 | Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet, defying religion and culture for love (English I) | Handout |
| Nov 06 | Humanoid robot Atlas spreading both excitement and fear (English 8) | Handout |
| Oct 16 | Was Troy a Metropolis? Homer Isn’t Talking (English I) | Handout |
| Sept 25 | If you’ve ever wanted to be in “Hamilton,” you can now do so — on Roblox | Handout |
| Sept 25 | The growth mindset playbook (English 8) | Handout |
| Sept 11 | How the Rorschach Inkblot Test Works (English 8) | Handout |
| Sept 11 | Jabberwocky (English I) | Handout |
| Aug 28 | Russia Invades Ukraine (Repurposed from 2022) (English I) | Handout |
| Aug 15 | Top tech companies sign White House pledge to identify AI-generated images (English I) | Handout |
Articles for the 2022-2023 School Year
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
| May 01 | Allegory of the Cave (English I) | PDF Handout |
| May 01 | Diary of Anne Frank — Tuesday August 1, 1944 (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| April 24 | Diary of Anne Frank — Saturday November 27, 1943 (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| April 11 | “I Have a Dream!” (English I) | PDF Handout |
| April 04 | Diary of Anne Frank — Wednesday September 2, 1942 (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| March 13 | Diary of Anne Frank — Saturday, July 11, 1942 (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| March 06 | What Was Jim Crow? (English I) | PDF Handout |
| During the month of February, all classes took a break from the AOW. | ||
| January 30 | Black women paved the way for Kamala Harris (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| January 09 | Hakeem Jeffries wins historic bid to lead House Democrats after Nancy Pelosi (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| January 03 | Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet, defying religion and culture for love (English I) | PDF Handout |
| November 28 | Analysis: Why Qatar is a controversial venue for 2022 World Cup (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| November 28 | Analysis: Why Qatar is a controversial venue for 2022 World Cup (English I) | PDF Handout |
| November 11 | Text Structure Identification (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| November 11 | Phrase Identification Practice (English I) | PDF Handout |
| October 31 | How to make a tastier chocolate? Use geometry (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| October 24 | Math Scores Fell in Nearly Every State, and Reading Dipped on National Exam (English I) | PDF Handout |
| October 18 | Humanoid robot Atlas spreading both excitement and fear (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| October 13 | The Story Behind DeSantis’s Migrant Flights to Martha’s Vineyard (English I) | PDF Handout |
| September 28 | Serena Williams sheds cape, finds form once again at U.S. Open (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| September 19 | Why the monarchy matters (English I) | PDF Handout |
| September14 | Thanks to a woman mathematician and the military, we now have GPS (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| September 12 | Jabberwocky (English I) | PDF Handout |
| August 30 | Deceptive data and charts that cheat (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| August 28 | Climate change is turning the cradle of civilization into a grave (English I) | PDF Handout |
| August 22 | Georgia teen’s love of “herping” gains him a following on TikTok (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| August 22 | President Biden signs massive climate and health care legislation (English I) | PDF Handout |
Articles for the 2021-2022 School Year
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
NoteFor the remainder of the 2021/2022 school year, English 8 students used selections from Diary of a Young Girl and English I students used selections from the Lord of the Flies unit for their articles of the week. |
||
| Feb 28 | Russia Invades Ukraine | PDF Handout |
| Feb 14 | Jabberwocky | PDF Handout |
| Feb 01 | Thanks to a Woman Mathematician and the Military, We Now Have GPS (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| Jan 10 | Humanoid Robot Atlas Spreading Both Excitement and Fear (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| Jan 10 | “I Have a Dream” (English I) | PDF Handout |
| Jan 03 | The History of New Year’s Resolutions | PDF Handout |
| Dec 06 | Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet, Defying Religion and Culture for Love (English I) | PDF Handout |
| Nov 29 | Taking Out the Rivers’ Trash, One Piece at a Time (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| Nov 08 | Climate Change Is Turning the Cradle of Civilization into a Grave | PDF Handout |
| Oct 25 | The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (English I) | PDF Handout |
| Oct 25 | Hudson Haunted House Marks 50 Years of Scaring the Bejeebers Out of Folks (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| Oct 04 | Deceptive data and charts that cheat | PDF Handout |
| Sept 27 | At an extraordinary Olympics, acts of kindness abound (English I) | PDF Handout |
| Sept 20 | Eighth-graders lead effort to pardon wrongly convicted “witch” (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| Sept 13 | The Jan. 6 insurrection shows why the Robert E. Lee statue had to go (English I) | PDF Handout |
| Sept 07 | Vaccine conversations can be messy; here’s how to talk about the shots (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| Aug 30 | Vaccine conversations can be messy; here’s how to talk about the shots (English I) | PDF Handout |
| Aug 23 | What Is An Act of Kindness? | PDF Handout |
Articles for the 2020-2021 School Year
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
| March 01 | The Haunted House of Soviets Gets a New Life | PDF Handout |
| February 01 | Prison inmates helped high school student with tuition; he’s now in college | PDF Handout |
| January 19 | “Low and slow”: Latino lowriders artfully cruise for community | PDF Handout |
| January 11 | Study suggests video games can help mental health | PDF Handout |
| January 04 | ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes’: In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor | PDF Handout |
| October 28 | How to break the hold of conspiracy theories | PDF Handout |
| Oct 12 | Coronavirus again dominates campaign as Trump struggles to regain political ground | PDF Handout |
Articles for the 2019-2020 School Year
Note: Due to South Carolina schools’ coronavirus shut down, March 02 is the last article of the week for the 2019-20 school year.
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
| March 02 | Nike’s Vaporfly shoes changed running, track world sifts through the fallout (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| March 02 | Nike’s Vaporfly shoes changed running, track world sifts through the fallout (English I) | PDF Handout |
| February 18 | In an angry America, a new remedy emerges: compassion | PDF Handout |
| February 03 | Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech | PDF Handout |
| January 27 | Kobe’s Death Prompts Worldwide Mourning | PDF Handout |
| January 13 | Boy Scout gives Douglass Memorial Cemetery in Virginia a Makeover (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| January 13 | Shakespeare: An Overview (English I) | PDF Handout |
| January 06 | Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet, defying religion and culture for love | PDF Handout |
| December 02 | Lawmaker gives heckler “OK, boomer” dressing-down at meeting | PDF Handout |
| November 18 | Insect zombies are the stuff of nightmares (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| November 11 | 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall (English I) | PDF Handout |
| November 11 | 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| November 04 | Wild Fires Ravage California (English I) | PDF Handout |
| November 04 | Wild Fires Ravage California (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| October 21 | Montgomery, Alabama, elects its first African-American mayor (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| October 21 | Montgomery, Alabama, elects its first African-American mayor (English I Honors) | PDF Handout |
| October 14 | Simone Biles leads U.S. women gymnasts to another world gold (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| October 14 | Simone Biles leads U.S. women gymnasts to another world gold (English 1) | PDF Handout |
| October 07 | Humanoid robot Atlas spreading both excitement and fear (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| October 07 | Atlas the humanoid robot is now doing gymnastics (English I) | PDF Handout |
| September 30 | Impeachment investigation begins (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| September 30 | Impeachment investigation begins (English I) | PDF Handout |
| September 23 | Youth on every continent united in strikes to demand climate action (English 8) |
PDF Handout |
| September 23 | Youth on every continent united in strikes to demand climate action (English I) |
PDF Handout |
| September 16 | 18 years later, America vows to “never forget” 9/11 | PDF Handout |
| September 09 | Schools look for ways to stop students from tossing their lunches (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| September 03 | Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies face court challenges (English I) (Two-week article) | PDF Handout |
| August 26 | What is an act of kindness? (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| August 26 | 80 Years Ago This Week, Hitler and Stalin Cut the Deal That Triggered WWII (English I) | PDF Handout |
Articles for the 2018-2019 School Year
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
| May 13 | The Temptation of Jesus | PDF Handout |
| May 06 | from “Taboos and Identity: Considering the Unthinkable” in American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 3 (May 2011): 139–164 | PDF Handout |
| April 29 | from “A Cognitive-Systemic Reconstruction of Maslow’s Theory of Self-Actualization” in Behavioral Science, Volume 37, 1992 | PDF Handout |
| April 22 | Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” | PDF Handout |
| April 01 | Harvard’s top astronomer says an alien ship may be among us | PDF Handout |
| March 11 | What’s going on in Venezuela? | PDF Handout |
| February 25 | Unvaccinated teens trying to get shots on their own | PDF Handout |
| February 11 | Beyoncé and Jay-Z help Louvre break visitor record in 2018 | PDF Handout |
| January 28 | Roger Stone is arrested (English I) | PDF Handout |
| January 14 | Trump administration climate report says damages “intensifying across the country” (English I) | PDF Handout |
| January 14 | Trump administration climate report says damages “intensifying across the country” (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| December 10 | Revelations about Manafort’s 2016 interactions with Russian associate show special counsel’s intense focus on Russia contacts (English I) | PDF Handout |
| November 26 | House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos | PDF Handout |
| November 12 | Veterans Day 2018 – Bells to ring 100 years after the end of WWI | PDF Handout |
| October 29 | Pittsburgh mass shooting among deadliest attacks on Jews in U.S. history | PDF Handout |
| October 23 | A face — or 5,000 — in the crowd | PDF Handout |
| October 15 | Sears, the store that changed America, declares bankruptcy | PDF Handout |
| October 08 | Hey fellow kids, this is how you flip a water bottle | PDF Handout |
| October 01 | Opinion: It’s time to end football in high school (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| October 01 | Opinion: It’s time to end football in high school (English I) | PDF Handout |
| September 24 | The swampy business of lobbying for foreign governments (English I) | PDF Handout |
| September 24 | U.S. again cuts refugee numbers, sparking widespread criticism (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| September 17 | Hurricane Florence: Powerful and relentless storm batters the Carolinas (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| September 17 | Hurricane Florence: Powerful and relentless storm batters the Carolinas (English I) | PDF Handout |
| September 10 | Towering Voices at 9/11 Flight 93 Memorial | PDF Handout |
| September 04 | Putin opens bridge to Ukranian land seized in “illegal land grab” | PDF Handout |
| August 27 | John McCain Was a Committed Leader. He Was Also Really Fun. | PDF Handout |
| August 20 | What Is an Act of Kindness? | PDF Handout |
Articles for the 2017-2018 School Year
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
| May 29 | A Letter to Students | PDF Handout |
| May 21 | Dairy farmers are turning to Ida, an AI system, to track their cows’ health | PDF Handout |
| May 14 | North Korea to Release Prisoners | PDF Handout |
| May 07 | (See below: it’s a two-week article.) | |
| April 30 | U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel: “Iran supports terrorists” | PDF Handout |
| April 23 | Anne Frank’s Pen Pal | PDF Handout |
| April 16 | Anne Frank May Not Have Been Betrayed | PDF Handout |
| April 09 | Former Auschwitz guard who was on duty when Anne Frank arrived in 1944 is deemed fit enough to face charges of murdering 3,681 people |
PDF Handout |
| March 26 | Flat-Earther’s steam-powered rocket lofts him 1,875 feet up into Mojave Desert sky | PDF Handout |
| March 19 | Navy Medics Get Prepared for Combat—With Tour of Duty in Chicago | PDF Handout |
| March 12 | Linebacker with blazing speed and one hand was NFL combine’s best story | PDF Handout |
| March 05 | Trump trade row: EU considers tax on Levi jean imports | PDF Handout |
| February 26 | U.S. prepares high-seas crackdown on North Korea sanctions evaders – sources | PDF Handout |
| February 20 | Wind, ice and cold are making this Olympics too wintry | PDF Handout |
| February 12 | Teen suspended for “trying to incite violence” with anti-bullying video | PDF Handout |
| February 05 | Deep Dive (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| February 05 | To Counter Russia, U.S. Signals Nuclear Arms Are Back in a Big Way (English I Honors) | PDF Handout |
| January 29 | Women of Nigerian bobsled team get ready for the Winter Olympics (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| January 29 | Women of Nigerian bobsled team get ready for the Winter Olympics (English 1 Honors) | PDF Handout |
| January 22 | Government shutdown begins and lawmakers start finger-pointing (third and fourth period) | PDF Handout |
| January 22 | Government shutdown begins and lawmakers start finger-pointing (fifth and sixth period) | PDF Handout |
| January 09 | Dogs that are being trained help kids’ behavior to improve as well | PDF Handout |
| December 04 | How Contagious is Ebola? | PDF Handout |
| November 20 | FBI says hate crime rate climbs as Jews, Muslims, LGBTs mostly targeted | PDF Handout |
| November 13 | Just in time for Thanksgiving dinner: traceable turkeys (English I Honors) | PDF Handout |
| November 13 | Just in time for Thanksgiving dinner: traceable turkeys (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| November 06 | US deserter Bowe Bergdahl spared prison time | PDF Handout |
| October 23 | McCain hits Trump where it hurts, attacking ‘bone spur’ deferments in Vietnam | PDF Handout |
| October 16 | Top Mathlete | PDF Handout |
| October 09 | Elusive ‘Tree Lobster’ Insect Was Just Officially Brought Back From The Dead | PDF Handout |
| October 02 | Supreme Court kicks off blockbuster term | PDF Handout |
| September 25 | A Highway for Jaguars | PDF Handout |
| September 13 | North Korea sanctions ‘nothing compared to what will have to happen’: Trump | PDF Handout |
| September 05 | Irma Approaches | PDF Handout |
| August 28 | Galaxy Note 8, iPhone 8, and the birth of the $1,000 smartphone | PDF Handout |
| August 22 | What Is An Act of Kindness? | PDF Handout |
Articles for the 2016-2017 School Year
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
| May 22 | UAE to tow iceberg from Antarctica for drinking water | PDF Handout |
| May 15 | Holocaust Survivors in Poland Find Restitution Claims “Like a Carousel” | PDF Handout |
| May 08 | Kids love those fidget spinner toys. But are they too much of a distraction? | PDF Handout |
| May 01 | The Rise and Decline of the Separate System of Prison Discipline (English I Honors) | PDF Handout |
| May 01 | U.S. spy agency abandons controversial surveillance technique (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| April 24 | Yom HaShoah 2017: Remembering those killed in the Nazi Holocaust | PDF Handout |
| April 18 | How to Get Rid of Space Trash | PDF Handout |
| April 03 | Almost half of the students at PA high school given suspension notices | PDF Handout |
| March 27 | Lockheed Martin facility in Greenville ‘ideal’ for F-16 shift | PDF Handout |
| March 20 | U.S. Soldiers Must Battle On—Without Burger King | PDF Handout |
| March 13 | Trump Budget Expected to Seek Historic Contraction of Federal Workforce | PDF Handout |
| March 06 | UTA Professor Invents Breath Monitor To Detect Flu | PDF Handout |
| February 27 | The best picture twist ending was embarrassing for the academy but may be good for the Oscars | PDF Handout |
| February 21 | Belarussian “Social Parasite” Law | PDF Handout |
| February 13 | Saudi prince buys his 80 falcons a plane seat apiece (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| February 13 | British-Punjabi film blames Churchill for Partition (English 1) | PDF Handout |
| February 06 | Dino Battles | PDF Handout |
| January 30 | Fredrick Douglass’s Fourth of July Speech | PDF Handout |
| January 23 | NASA study in Hawaii paving way for human travel to Mars | PDF Handout |
| January 09 | Spending more on coffee than investing? You’re not alone | PDF Handout |
| January 02 | Forget a New Year’s resolution — ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ author Tim Ferriss explains the right way to set goals | PDF Handout |
| December 12 | Polish Christmas Wafer: A Flavorless Tradition That’s Oh So Sweet | PDF Handout |
| December 05 | Bill of Rights (for Social Studies) | PDF Handout |
| November 28 | Cuban exiles pour onto Miami streets to celebrate Fidel Castro’s death | PDF Handout |
| November 21 | Shapes in the Sand | PDF Handout |
| November 14 | Four Americans Killed in Unprecedented Suicide Attack at U.S. Base | PDF Handout |
| November 07 | Social Control in Victorian England (English I Honors) | PDF Handout |
| November 07 | The Science Behind Daylight Savings Time (English 8) | PDF Handout |
| October 31 | Speed of Light Not so Constant After All | PDF Handout |
| October 24 | Olympic Skater Scott Hamilton Facing Third Brain Tumor Diagnosis | PDF Handout |
| October 17 | Ebola | PDF Handout |
| October 10 | A Sentence | PDF Handout |
| October 3 | Mathematician | PDF Handout |
| September 26 | Arnold Palmer dies at 87 of complications from heart problems | PDF Handout |
| September 19 | She’s an App Builder | PDF Handout |
| September 12 | The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano | PDF Handout |
| September 06 | A Highway for Jaguars | PDF Handout |
| August 22 | They were strangers at the starting line. | PDF Handout |
Articles for the 2015-2016 School Year
This was the first year I implemented this assignment, and I began only in the second semester, which is why there are fewer articles.
| Date | Article | Access |
|---|---|---|
| January 4 | Former Auschwitz guard who was on duty when Anne Frank arrived in 1944 is deemed fit enough to face charges of murdering 3,681 people | PDF Handout Online original version |
| January 11 | Anne Frank Fund threatens legal action over plans to publish her diary online | PDF Handout |
| January 19 | As Germany Welcomes Migrants, Sexual Attacks in Cologne Point to a New Reality | PDF Handout Online original version |
| February 1 | United States eases trade restrictions with Cuba | PDF Handout Original online version |
| February 8 | Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet | PDF Handout Original online version |
| February 15 | 2016 Slam Dunk Contest preview: Can Zach LaVine repeat? | PDF Handout Original online version |
| February 22 | Apple refuses to unlock phone of San Bernardino terrorist | PDF Handout Original online version |
| February 29 | U.S. test-fires ICBMs to stress its power to Russia, North Korea | PDF Handout Original online version |
| March 7 | After a year in space, Scott Kelly returns 2 inches taller | PDF Handout Original online version |
| March 14 | Portrait of a 6-year-old artist with autism and her therapy cat | PDF Handout |
| March 21 | Belgium: Europe’s front line in the war on terror | PDF Handout |
| April 04 | Wave of Suicide Attacks Kill at Least 29 People Across Iraq | PDF Handout |
| April 11 | Brussels bombers had planned to attack France again: prosecutors | PDF Handout |
| April 18 | Kobe Bryant’s finale is well done: 60 points and a Lakers win | PDF Handout Original Online Version |
| April 25 | Prince songs set to dominate charts | PDF Handout |
| May 02 | Why SpaceX’s New Mission is the Gateway to Colonizing Mars | PDF Handout |
| May 09 | N. Korean leader gets new title; 3 BBC journalists get boot | PDF Handout |
| May 16 | Philippine President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte to Crack Down on Smoking, Drinking, Staying Up Late | PDF Handout |
A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots”
— Marcus Garvey
