Article of the Week
Your Solution For Teaching All Of The Reading Informational Text Standards For Your Grade Level
Can you really teach all the standards? YES!
I created the Article of the Week Club to help you teach ALL of the reading informational text standards for your grade level. The grade level bundles cover all the Reading Informational Text Standards for that grade level.
Every article unit covers more than one skill or standard – you’ll find text evidence activities for every article – but each individual article unit focuses on one specific Reading Informational Text standard. Some article units are a spiral review of two to three standards. Common Core and TEKS alignments are included for every activity.
What comes in a Grade Level Bundle?
Each grade level bundle includes 25 individual article units:
– 17 Standard Focused Units
– 3 Spiral Reviews
– Test Prep Practice
– Pre-Test
– Midterm
– Final Exam
– End of the Year Escape Room Review
What does an individual article unit look like?
All of the article units are structured in the same way, and they all contain the same elements. You’ll find the same elements in each article unit throughout all the grade levels. This makes it so easy to implement!
Let’s take a look at the elements you’ll find in each article unit.
1. An original high interest article and a modified version.
I’ve included a modified version of each text that uses a dyslexia-friendly font. Note that the articles are only slightly modified. This example was modified from a 6th-ish grade level to a 4th/5th-ish grade level. All of the activities and assessments can be completed with either article. Take a closer look below.
2. High-Quality Audio Recordings
Every article – even the modified articles – will include a .mp3 audio file for you to play for or share with your students. Use them with your whole class, small groups, upload them to devices or to Google classroom. Use as a standard component, with your ELL/ESL students, or as a testing accommodation. Take a listen inside one of the free downloads above.
3. Digital Classroom Options
All activities are offered in a Google Slides version that can be completed digitally. All assessments are included as self-grading Google Forms.
*A How-To-Guide for using Google Forms is also included*
4. Basic Comprehension Check
Activities 1 & 2 are always basic comprehension checks.
You can choose between the multiple-choice quiz format (Activity 1) and the open answer format (Activity 2). I always like to use one of these to make sure my students actually read and comprehend the article. And it’s an easy A for them.
5. Text Evidence Activities
Activities 3 & 4 are always text evidence activities. Yes, that’s right. TEXT EVIDENCE IS SO IMPORTANT that I have included it in every single unit. You can choose to have your students annotate right in the article or use the multiple choice option. You should definitely mix and match so that your students can complete both types proficiently.
6. Skill Focus Activity
Activity 5 is always specific to the skill/standard addressed in each article. The first 12 or so articles in the grade level bundle will each focus on one skill. For example, RI. 5.2 Main Idea & Key Details. The skill focus activity includes graphic organizers wherever appropriate to help students visualize the skill. Article 13 is a midterm assessment. Then, there will be additional one skill focus articles, some spiral review articles focusing on more than one skill, a test prep article, and the final assessment article.
7. Integrate Sources/Multimedia
Activity 6 will always extend the topic to an outside video clip, article, opinion essay, or something similar. For example, 5.1 The Great Pacific Garbage Patch includes a link to this 2-minute NBC News video clip about the same topic. (Click here to see the video clip.)
Because the skill focus is Main Idea & Key Details, students will make a list of some details included in the video but not the article and identify other details that were found in both the video clip and article. Then, they’ll have to do some critical thinking about what they can do about this issue.
8. CCSS Style Assessment Regular and Modified
What’s the best way to make sure your students are prepared for the state assessment? Assess them regularly with that format. I always let my students practice for the first few before I start counting them for a grade, and I always use the basic comprehension assessment (Activity 1 or 2) as an easy grade so it levels the playing field.
The modified assessments offer students only two answer choices instead of four for the multiple choice questions.
Only the multiple choice portion of the modified test is different from the original. Simply put, only page one is different.
9. Completely Editable PowerPoint Included For Activities and Assessments
I always strive to provide you with multiple options to make my units ready to teach without any extra work for you! However, I do realize that there are some times when the ability to edit an activity or test question is necessary. So, all activities and assessments in these units are editable so that you can customize them when necessary. I have included my editable versions in PPT as a convenience for you, the teacher, but I cannot guarantee your ability to be able to edit them. This is completely dependent on your computer, operating system, settings, and/or tech skills.
10. BONUS: Just For Fun
Whenever possible, I’ll add a BONUS activity to use as a fun way to introduce the topic, wrap up the unit, or just give your students a much-needed brain break in the middle of activities. They’re always related, rigorous, and FUN! These activities are not available in every unit, but you can see two examples in the free 6th Grade “Toys R Us” unit and the free 7th Grade “How Gross is Your Bathroom” Units below.
Unique, rigorous, and FUN resources to teach
reading informational text standards across 5 grade levels.
The first unit of each grade level is FREE.
Click any grade level below and get started with the article of the week today.
