So you just purchased this massive set of articles from your favorite Teachers Pay Teachers author. You have a ton of great material to help engage students at any point in the school year. But are you using articles correctly? IS there a correct way to use them? What best practices of using articles in the classroom should you implement? What pitfalls should you avoid?
Using Articles in the Middle School Classroom – DON’T #1
Don’t hand out the articles and activities without previewing them first! Do you know the cultural and historical context? Do you know all of the vocabulary words in the article? Do you know if there is controversial information in the article that will require carefully monitored class discussion?
I know we all buy from Teachers Pay Teachers because it’s supposed to help save time, but DO NOT forget to preview someone else’s work.
DON’T #2
Don’t use a generic worksheet or graphic organizer that doesn’t fit with the article! There are a TON of free “article of the week” graphic organizers out there. But that doesn’t mean they’re right for your assignments. Hopefully, the TPT author from whom you purchased created materials that work well with the articles. (I certainly did! I created 8 unique graphic organizers for 8 history articles!) But if they didn’t include well-thought-out activities (or no activities at all), then be sure your students have an activity that makes their learning meaningful.
Okay, enough of the negativity! Let’s move on to the “Dos!”
Using Articles in the Middle School Classroom – DO #1
Do have a clear idea of your expected outcomes for the class. Not all articles will provide you with the lesson you’re looking for. For example, do you want students to learn more about a specific historical person or event? Then focus on the CONTENT and CONTEXT of the article. Do you want students to note bias or fact vs. opinion writing? Then, focus on language and specific words and phrases used in the article.
But most importantly, make sure both YOU and the STUDENTS understand what you want them to take away from the day’s lesson.
DO #2
Do provide a mini-lesson reviewing any context needed for the article. Using an article on Dr. Ronald E. McNair, NASA astronaut? It would help to provide a mini-lesson on Jim Crow laws and how they affected Black Americans during that time period. Without that understanding, students won’t grasp the full significance of McNair’s obstacles.
DO #3
Do allow students to write all over the articles! I know making enough copies can be a hassle, but being able to annotate on a history article is incredibly important for the reading and learning process. Middle school students are still learning how to learn!
If a copy for every student isn’t possible, allow students to work in pairs or groups and use different colored pens or highlighters to demonstrate their annotation contributions.
DO #4
Do provide scaffolded learning opportunities for students who struggle with reading content-heavy texts like articles.
Some suggestions: (a) chunk the article into sections and just give students one section at a time; (b) provide a glossary for any tricky words used in the text; (c) use read-alouds to ensure students understand the tone of the article; (d) offer a “help desk” while students are working on the lesson so students feel comfortable asking questions throughout the process. This desk can be occupied by you or other students!
Do you use articles in your classroom? What are your favorite ways to use them? Leave me a comment below!
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Looking for middle school history articles? I have a set of 8 articles with unique graphic organizers for U.S. history topics, written for middle school students! You can find them here!
Want more teaching strategies? Read this post on gallery walks!
