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

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

Note

For 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

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