Article-A-Day

Why Do Article-A-Day?

Students struggle with reading comprehension when they don't have enough background knowledge, vocabulary, and reading stamina. Article-A-Day systematically builds all three in just 10-15 minutes each day when done consistently. Early research shows the impact of Article-A-Day:

In a pilot study of nine schools in New York, students who routinely did Article-A-Day showed a 4.7 point (15%) year-over-year gain in ELA test scores.
In a 4-week pilot study in two schools (one in North Carolina and one in New York), students increased both the length of their written Book of Knowledge entries and their use of Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary.

“Students were more engaged and motivated to read due to the high-interest articles.
I began to see excitement about reading." Ramona, NC Pilot Study Teacher

How to Do Article-A-Day

Article-A-Day is a 10-minute routine designed to be done every day to build background knowledge, vocabulary, and reading stamina. Article-A-Day complements a broad range of curricula and is recommended for kindergarteners to eighth-graders. Students will gain the most from the Article-A-Day routine by reading four or more articles from an Article-A-Day set each week and doing the routine for 15 or more weeks in the school year. If you'd like to learn more, read about the research behind building background knowledge and vocabulary and creating consistent routines for students.

Teachers can introduce their students to a new topic every week of the school year with our Scope & Sequences. The Article-A-Day sets are grouped topically or to systematically build vocabulary. Find sets that gradually become more challenging as the school year progresses and are coordinated by topics across grade levels. The Article-A-Day routine can also be added to our Book Studies to bring more writing and speaking into your classroom!

THE DAILY ROUTINE
*See how you can adapt the routine for hybrid or remote learning

STEP 1: Set the purpose for the routine. "Words are where humans store knowledge. So we will build our knowledge by reading these articles. We will also increase our vocabulary, improve our reading stamina, and enjoy reading every day."

STEP 2: Students read or listen to an article. ReadWorks has curated weekly sets of nonfiction articles. All of the articles for the week are related by topic. If students cannot read independently, they can listen to the audio or you can read the article aloud.

STEP 3: The Book of Knowledge. Students write or type two or three things that they learned from the article and would like to remember in their Books of Knowledge. If students cannot write yet, they can draw their responses.

STEP 4: Share knowledge! Simply ask a few students to share what they learned from reading. Record this info in your Class Book of Knowledge.