• Background Information:  

    Article of the Week (AoW) is an assignment that is meant to build skills in reading and responding to complex informational texts.  It is also a way to build background knowledge about worldly topics; doing so lowers the hurdle for understanding other, more complex texts as students move further along in school. Through consistent practice and with a growth mindset, students will become more confident in their ability to read informational texts and in their ability to organize their thoughts into coherent, well-structured writing. 

     
    Details and Scoring:

    These assignments are handed out biweekly on yellow paper on Mondays, and are due Friday. [Occasionally, we will skip the AoW if it is a short week or if we need the time for other more pressing lessons.] Ample time is given in class to closely read and begin responding to the article.  Each month we will focus on a specific reading skill and a specific writing skill.
     
    They are worth 20 points. 10 points are awarded for the Reading portion and 10 for Writing. 

     Here are the checklists and rubrics for the argumentative writing unit. 

     

    ***NEW 2nd Semester*** Biweekly AoW Revision Assignment 

    Every other week, instead of reading and responding to a new article, students will now focus on revising their written paragraph from the previous week's assignment, based on feedback provided. These revisions can mostly be completed in class on Mondays, but in case more time is needed, they can be done at home and should be turned in by Wednesday. See list below to find out which assignment falls on which week. 

     Here is the revision assignment for the argumentative writing unit. 

     

     

     

    Articles:  
     
    Below is a list of the articles and link to a PDF that you can view and print at home. In the event that an online version is available, I've included a link.

    AoW 1: Week of 9/18 Hurricanes

    AoW 2: Week of 9/25 DACA

    AoW 3: Week of 10/2 Dinosaur-Bird Connection

    Week of 10/9 - No AoW assignment (short week)

    AoW 4: Week of 10/16 - Common Cold

    Week of 10/23 - No AoW assignment (conference week)

    AoW 5: Week of 10/30 - Catalonia 

    Week of 11/6 - No AoW assignment (short week)

    AoW 6: Week of 11/13 - Biomimicry

    Week of 11/20 - No AoW assignment (Thanksgiving break)

    AoW 7: Week of 11/27 - Grow Your Intelligence + Instructions page

    AoW 8: Week of 12/4 - Caffeine 

    AoW 9: Week of 12/11 - Where do new words come from? (TED Ed Video) **

                     ** Because this is a video, the Reading Skills practice is done using a graphic organizer. Here is the assignment.

    Week of 1/3 - No AoW assignment (short week)

    AoW 10: Week of 1/8 - The Myth of Prometheus (TED Ed Video - see assignment page in link for AoW 9)

    Week of 1/16 - No AoW assignment (short week) 

    AoW 11: Week of 1/22 - Empathy (TED Ed Video - see assignment page in link for AoW 9 above) 

    AoW 12: Week of 2/5 - School Start Times (no digital copy available)

    Week of 2/12 - AoW Revision assignment

    Week of 2/19 - No AoW assignment (short week)

    AoW 13: Week of 2/26 - Self-Driving Cars

    Week of 3/5 - AoW Revision assignment

    AoW 14: Week of 3/13 - Laptops and Learning

    Week of 3/19 - AoW Revision assignment

    Week of 3/26 - No AoW assignment 

    Week of 4/9 - Cats (TED Ed Video - watch it here) Writing prompt: Taking the perspective of a house cat, describe some of the things you do each day. Include descriptive details of your surroundings. **EXTENDED TO BE DUE ON 4/20**