Articles of the Week

Rationale: test scores

• “A student who reads 15 minutes a day will increase 2 points on an achievement test.”

• “You must instill the love for reading by example and by seeing that your students read.”

• MNEA, Raising Test Scores, What Teachers Can Do

Rationale: building background

• “Part of the reason my students have such a hard time reading is because they bring little prior knowledge and background to the written page…To help build my students’ prior knowledge, I assign them an “Article of the Week” every Monday morning. By the end of the school year I want them to have read 35-40 articles about what is going on in the world…if my students are to become literate, they must broaden their reading experiences.”

• Kelly Gallagher

Our articles....

• Will be assigned on Monday and will be due on Friday.

• Will always be CURRENT and about something going on in the world, but will not necessarily relate to the current topic we are discussing in class.

• Outside of a small discussion on Friday when they are turned in, we will not spend class time to read these articles or complete this assignment.

3 Things

1. Show evidence of a close read-mark up the text with your questions and comments.

2. Write a 1-page reflection on your own sheet of paper.

3. Write a “window quote” for the article.

Annotating

• Reactions• Connections• Questions• Comments• Notes for further research

Reflection

• Pick a line from the article and respond to it• Discuss how/if the author’s view on the topic

relates to your own personal view• Make predictions about the follow-up that

may happen with this topic in the future

Window Quote

• Choose one quote from the article that “sums up” the essence of the author’s view