To make your planning simple, use our Scope & Sequences to assign up to a full year of Article-A-Day. Whether you're building background knowledge or reinforcing phonics instruction with nonfiction decodables aligned to UFLI or Fundations, it’s easy to support consistent knowledge-building literacy routines (and you can become a ReadWorks Super User by meeting the research-based goal of at least 15 weeks of the school year!).
How to Use the UFLI- and Fundations-Aligned Scope & Sequences:
Our nonfiction decodables are aligned to UFLI Foundations and Wilson’s Fundations lessons, supporting easy integration of knowledge-building into your ELA block or small group instruction.
Before you get started, learn more about the Article-A-Day and Decodables routine and the research behind them! Click here to find and assign decodables right away!
- Listen to and talk about Article-A-Day’s knowledge-building listening-level nonfiction passages to grow your students’ background knowledge.
- Next, use the content-aligned decodable texts to reinforce phonics patterns through connected text while continuing to build background knowledge.
- These texts reinforce phonics patterns students are currently learning while introducing rich, grade-appropriate content.
- The UFLI-aligned decodables can also be used with readers in upper elementary who are building foundational skills.
Before you get started, learn more about the Article-A-Day and Decodables routine and the research behind them! Click here to find and assign decodables right away!
How to Use the Topical Article-A-Day Scope & Sequence:
- The Topical Scope & Sequence aligns with special events across the school year, such as Black History Month. Feel free to skip and move weeks to align with the breaks in your school’s calendar.
- Share information across the grades and build in special activities for your whole school with shared topics across grade levels.
- Don't worry about starting late! You can pick up the Topical Scope & Sequence at any point throughout the school year.
How to Use the Vocabulary Article-A-Day Scope & Sequence:
- The Vocabulary Scope & Sequence begins the year with Meaning Mappers, which are daily, teacher-led activities to help students build connections among words in an Article-A-Day set. Then in the second half of the year, Word Detectives are introduced, which are teacher-led word part activities on the last day of the Article-A-Day routine.
- Learn more here.
- Before January, feel free to skip and move weeks to align with the breaks in your school’s calendar. You can pick up the Vocabulary Scope & Sequence any time in the first half of the year!
- After January, when Word Detectives appear, it is important to stick to the sequence because the activities have been carefully designed to introduce affixes in a specific order and build on each other.
Before you get started, review or learn about the Article-A-Day routine. Click here to go back to the Scope & Sequence Assigner.
Scope & Sequence FAQs
I’d like to try the Article-A-Day routine with my phonics instruction, but I can’t find time. How can I fit it in?
The Article-A-Day + Decodables routine is designed to fit into your existing schedule without adding extra planning time! The Article-A-Day routine is flexible and can be done whole- or small-group, and even independently once students are familiar with it. Use intervention blocks, do Article-A-Day as your bell ringer or as a transition activity after recess, or assign the passages as homework (no internet required if you print the articles). Once students have read or listened to the article, reading the topically-connected decodable in your regular instructional time, whether in small groups or during interventions, will lead to great discussions alongside your students’ decoding practice.
I teach 3rd grade or higher, but I have students who would benefit from using these decodables. Which decodables should I try with them?
All of ReadWorks nonfiction decodables can be used with older elementary students and beyond. While they’re aligned to foundational phonics skills that are typically covered in K-2, the content of these passages is high-interest, knowledge-building, and does not assume the age of the reader, which makes them a strong fit for struggling readers in upper grades.
If you’re not sure where to start, consider the UFLI-aligned decodables. These have slightly higher word counts, which make for even more engaging and appropriately challenging reading. Choose the set that aligns with your students’ current needs, whether it’s short vowels, digraphs, or multisyllabic words.
All of our decodables work well in small groups, intervention time, or as independent reading. Increase student knowledge and vocabulary by pairing them with topically-connected Article-A-Day passages.
I teach 5th grade (or 4th grade, etc.). Why is there a set that is marked for 3rd grade/a lower grade in the beginning of the Topical Scope & Sequence?
The Scope & Sequences are designed to be one grade level lower through September (except kindergarten, since we do not have text levels lower than kindergarten!). At the beginning of the year, in order to establish the routine, it can be helpful to start with sets that all (or almost all) of your students can read or listen to without difficulty. Each grade has on-grade-level sets starting in October (with the exception being 8th grade -- see below).
Remember that the Scope & Sequence is just a starting point. If your students need more challenging texts, don’t hesitate to start a grade level above! There are also extra weeks built in, so you can start further along in the Scope & Sequence if that is best for your students -- you may just want to align the thematic/topical weeks (such as Women’s History Month) accordingly.
The Topical Scope & Sequence doesn’t have a topic I’m looking to cover using Article-A-Day. What should I do?
Article-A-Day is designed to be flexible, so feel free to pick and choose which sets to assign or select your own! There are plenty of interesting Article-A-Day sets that didn’t make it into this Topical Scope & Sequence, so you can explore other topics and options to assign using the Article-A-Day filter on the ReadWorks site.
How do I lead a Meaning Mapper or Word Detective with my class?
We have a guide that walks you through how to introduce Meaning Mapper and also Word Detective with your students. They are meant to be interactive and playful, so try to keep it fun!
Why is the 8th grade Scope & Sequences the same as 7th grade for the first semester?
We do not have as many 8th-grade Article-A-Day sets as we have for other grades. Therefore, 8th grade follows 7th grade until January, and then from January to June, all sets are at an 8th-grade level. We have a goal to create more 8th-grade sets to remedy this.
The Article-A-Day + Decodables routine is designed to fit into your existing schedule without adding extra planning time! The Article-A-Day routine is flexible and can be done whole- or small-group, and even independently once students are familiar with it. Use intervention blocks, do Article-A-Day as your bell ringer or as a transition activity after recess, or assign the passages as homework (no internet required if you print the articles). Once students have read or listened to the article, reading the topically-connected decodable in your regular instructional time, whether in small groups or during interventions, will lead to great discussions alongside your students’ decoding practice.
I teach 3rd grade or higher, but I have students who would benefit from using these decodables. Which decodables should I try with them?
All of ReadWorks nonfiction decodables can be used with older elementary students and beyond. While they’re aligned to foundational phonics skills that are typically covered in K-2, the content of these passages is high-interest, knowledge-building, and does not assume the age of the reader, which makes them a strong fit for struggling readers in upper grades.
If you’re not sure where to start, consider the UFLI-aligned decodables. These have slightly higher word counts, which make for even more engaging and appropriately challenging reading. Choose the set that aligns with your students’ current needs, whether it’s short vowels, digraphs, or multisyllabic words.
All of our decodables work well in small groups, intervention time, or as independent reading. Increase student knowledge and vocabulary by pairing them with topically-connected Article-A-Day passages.
I teach 5th grade (or 4th grade, etc.). Why is there a set that is marked for 3rd grade/a lower grade in the beginning of the Topical Scope & Sequence?
The Scope & Sequences are designed to be one grade level lower through September (except kindergarten, since we do not have text levels lower than kindergarten!). At the beginning of the year, in order to establish the routine, it can be helpful to start with sets that all (or almost all) of your students can read or listen to without difficulty. Each grade has on-grade-level sets starting in October (with the exception being 8th grade -- see below).
Remember that the Scope & Sequence is just a starting point. If your students need more challenging texts, don’t hesitate to start a grade level above! There are also extra weeks built in, so you can start further along in the Scope & Sequence if that is best for your students -- you may just want to align the thematic/topical weeks (such as Women’s History Month) accordingly.
The Topical Scope & Sequence doesn’t have a topic I’m looking to cover using Article-A-Day. What should I do?
Article-A-Day is designed to be flexible, so feel free to pick and choose which sets to assign or select your own! There are plenty of interesting Article-A-Day sets that didn’t make it into this Topical Scope & Sequence, so you can explore other topics and options to assign using the Article-A-Day filter on the ReadWorks site.
How do I lead a Meaning Mapper or Word Detective with my class?
We have a guide that walks you through how to introduce Meaning Mapper and also Word Detective with your students. They are meant to be interactive and playful, so try to keep it fun!
Why is the 8th grade Scope & Sequences the same as 7th grade for the first semester?
We do not have as many 8th-grade Article-A-Day sets as we have for other grades. Therefore, 8th grade follows 7th grade until January, and then from January to June, all sets are at an 8th-grade level. We have a goal to create more 8th-grade sets to remedy this.
