Implementing an Article of the Week program is a great way to get students engaged in reading authentic nonfiction texts. Here, I've compiled a growing list of my favorite articles to read with students organized by general topic. As always, it is essential to preread articles to make sure they're a good fit for your students.
Some tips for choosing articles:
Find articles that connect to settings, themes, topics, or time periods your students are studying in class. You'll notice several articles below that focus on Sudan and Southern Sudan. I use those articles when my students read the novel A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.
Keep the length resonable. When you print, you can use the Google Chorme extension from printfriendly.com to remove ads and unnecessary headers. For really long articles, consider splitting the article over the course of two weeks (label the articles as Part One and Part Two).
Show multiple perspectives. One advantage of reading lots of nonfiction is that students will begin to recognize bias. Show them multiple articles on the same topic and look for emphasis or exclusion of certain facts and details.
Find current events articles from NPR. I love using NPR with my students because it is the least biased and least sensational of the news sources.
Give students choice. You do not need to assign articles all school year. Give your students some freedom to choose articles at different points in the school year. Once my students are comfortable with our Article of the Week routines, I like giving them freedom to choose articles that interest them.
The articles you find here were chosen because they are high interest, reasonable in length, current, and relevant to students.
Articles by topic:
1. Science and Animals
Astronomers probably just saw a black hole swallow a dead star
Marium, The Dugong Who Charmed Thailand, Dies After Ingesting Plastic
New plastic pollution formed by fire looks like rocks
Hundreds of zoos and aquariums accused of mistreating animals
Sloths, Manatee, and other wildlife rescued from Amazon tourism trade
Humans, not glaciers, likely doomed Ice Age cave bears
Saber-tooth surprise: Fossils redraw pictures of fearsome big cat
Bizarre fossils reveal Asia’s oldest known forest
This toddler-size parrot was a prehistoric oddity
2. Places
How To Handle A Massive Seaweed Invasion? Yucatán Towns Get Creative
How Bad Is Pakistan's Plastic Bag Problem? See For Yourself
Why South Sudan may face the worst famine is quarter century
Sudan crisis: What you need to know
What’s going on in Sudan and What the US is doing about it
South Sudan: What is the Fighting About
South Sudan: Post civil war instability
3. National News
Washington Wheat Farmers Could Be Toast If Dams Are Removed To Help Hungry Orcas
Judge Says Georgia Must Scrap Outdated Electronic Voting Machines After 2019
Offers Pour In To Cover Pa. Students' Meal Debt, But School Officials Not Interested
A Tennessee Farm Grows A New Generation Of Social Justice Activists
Bringing Together Young And Old To Ease The Isolation Of Rural Life
4. Inspiring Teens
These Teens Started Podcasting As A Hobby, Then It Turned Into Serious Journalism
Five young people creating a better world
Two teens water-skied 62 miles across Lake Michigan from Wisconsin to Michigan
5. Health
Fresh Starts, Guilty Pleasures And Other Pro Tips For Sticking To Good Habits
Newark's Drinking Water Problem: Lead And Unreliable Filters
Kids And Adults With Autism Flying Easier In Pittsburgh, With Airport's Help
Social Media Hurts Girls More Than Boys
Hooked On The Internet, South Korean Teens Go Into Digital Detox
6. Sports
Danger on the football field: Many states are still failing high school athletes
The US team’s dispute over pay is a fight for women all over the world
Have any awesome articles that you enjoy reading with students? Share in the comments below. Need a meaningful, easy-to-implement article of the week activity? Click here.
