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Teach and learn with The Times: Resources for bringing the world into your classroom

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Is Ecotourism Helping or Hurting Our National Parks?

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This post is part of KQED's Do Now U project. Do Now U is a biweekly activity for students and the public to engage and respond to current issues using social media. Do Now U aims to build civic engagement and digital literacy for learners of all ages.

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The Week - All you need to know about everything that matters

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Official site of The Week Magazine, offering commentary and analysis of the day's breaking news and current events as well as arts, entertainment, people and gossip, and political cartoons.

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As of Monday, October 24, content that was on TweenTribune.com will now be available here on our new educational resources page and on our learning pages. While much of the content that you enjoyed will still exist, educators will unfortunately no longer be able to assign content to students. Tween Tribune has been a valued educational brand of Smithsonian magazine, and we appreciate your continued support.

Though the Girl Scouts of the USA initially declared itself a space for all girls, the reality was different for girls of color

Erin Blakemore

Get Smithsonian Educational Resources

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As of Monday, October 24, content that was on TweenTribune.com will now be available here on our new educational resources page and on our learning pages. While much of the content that you enjoyed will still exist, educators will unfortunately no longer be able to assign content to students.

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Kelly recognizes that part of the reason students struggle with reading is because they lack prior knowledge and background. They can decode the words, but the words remain meaningless without a foundation of knowledge. To help build his students' prior knowledge, he assigns them an Article of the Week every Monday morning.

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Please note that, as I explain in-depth in this blog post, I take no credit for coming up with the article of the week (AoW) assignment. Kelly Gallagher came up with the idea, and I first came across it in . Thus, anything I share about my classroom's experiences with AoWs, any theories or experiments I try out with the assignment, and any success my students or I have with it thoroughly and ultimately traces back to Kelly's work. If I ever come across as the progenitor of this idea, please either drive to Michigan and egg my house OR contact me here so I can fix attribution mistakes.

Articles of the Week for 2024-2025

Is this some kind of joke? A school facing shortages starts teaching standup comedy (pdf; Drive)

Feeling Artsy? Here's How Making Art Helps Your Brain (pdf; Drive)

Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning (pdf; Drive)

Characters in the public domain, explained (pdf; Drive)

Articles of the Week for Summer 2022

(Video) "I Read 2,216 Resumes. Here's How You Stand Out 🚀," by Ali Abdaal (Youtube)

Scientists Working to Resurrect the Wooly Mammoth (pdf; Drive)

The US May Give Ukraine More Missiles. Should It? (pdf; Drive)

The Rise of Legal Cannabis (pdf; Drive)

Would Curbing Gun Usage in Movies Help Prevent Mass Shootings? (pdf; Drive)

Is COVID Over in the Minds of Americans? (pdf; Drive)

Articles of the Week for 2021-2022

Psst... I've updated my approach to articles of the week. Read about that here.

(Organized by question)

What should I do w/ my life?

What's up w/ my being?

What's happening in the world?

What's the future like?

Just for fun

Articles of the Week for 2020-2021

These days, I am experimenting with a topic immersion approach to AoW that allows students to read deeply about a single topic over several weeks, thus expanding their background knowledge more coherently and purposefully. If you're looking to add a layer of complexity, join me here.

That stated, I'm a big fan of keeping things simple. A less calculated, more varied approach to article selection is more than good enough and served me well for years. Below is the smorgasbord of articles that I collected this year just in case you or I might need them.

Articles of the Week for 2019-2020

These days, I am experimenting with a topic immersion approach to AoW that allows students to read deeply about a single topic over several weeks, thus expanding their background knowledge more coherently and purposefully. If you're looking to add a layer of complexity, join me here.

That stated, I'm a big fan of keeping things simple. A less calculated, more varied approach to article selection is more than good enough and served me well for years. Below is the smorgasbord of articles that I collected this year just in case you or I might need them.

Articles of the Week for 2018-2019

Articles of the Week for 2017-2018

The primary purpose of Kelly Gallagher's article of the week assignment is to help his students gain knowledge about the world. Knowledge, after all, begets literacy, critical thinking, and more knowledge. With that said, I sometimes bring secondary purposes to the assignment, such as helping my students read for bias or argumentation.

With that said, below you'll find a list of articles I'll be pulling from during the 2017-2018 school year. Some are from years past (see the "Timeless" column), while others are as fresh as possible.

Time-sensitive Articles

Timeless Articles

These are articles that I've used in the past and that I could, in a pinch, use again this year.

Articles of the Week for 2016-2017

I carried some of the "timeless" articles from last year into this year. I'm a collector, so not every article below will be used with my students. I hope you find an article that's useful to you and your purposes with your students. Please keep in mind the context within which you introduce article of the week and the way in which you frame each week's articles. I choose some articles that are arguing for one side of an issue. Bias is real! I teach my students to read for these things, as my goal is never indoctrination and is always clearer thinking and a greater knowledge of the world.

With these things said, please use discretion when choosing articles for your kids, keeping in mind the context you teach within and the sensitivities of your students and families.

Time-sensitive Articles

Timeless Articles

These are articles that I've used in the past and that I could, in a pinch, use again this year.

Curricular Articles - these are used in direct connection with my world history curriculum

Articles of the Week for 2015-2016

I'm being a bit more proactive with my AoW approach this year, organizing articles that I plan to use by time-sensitive - it's best to use these near their publication date - and timeless - these touch upon themes and ideas likely to be relevant for at least a few years.

Time-sensitive Articles

Timeless Articles

The list of articles of the week for 2014-2015

Here's the list for this school year:

"President Obama says he doesn't believe Cuba is supporting terrorism," from Newsela & the Washington Post. (pdf)

"Too Many Tests? More Parents Opt Out; Congress May Rewrite Law," from Newsela & the Washington Bureau. (pdf)
Dear Readers: Please note that this is a controversial issue, and that you should use this article thoughtfully. I chose this article because of what I feel is a balanced reporting of an issue that many of my students have been hearing about. The aim of these articles is not to sway students one way or another, but rather to provide them background knowledge so that they might better understand the world they live in and be better able to read its texts.

California Water Shortage, from Newsela & the LA Times. (pdf)
Kelly's AoW this week takes an argumentative approach to this topic - click here.

"The End of Coal?" from The Week.
This is one of Kelly's AoWs.

"Two Articles about Net Neutrality," from CBS News and The Washington Post.
This is one of Kelly's AoWs.

"Warren Buffet's Two List Strategy," by James Clear. (pdf)

"Two Children's Activists Win Nobel Peace Prize," by Los Angeles Times and Newsela staff.

"Why the Government Should Pay Every American Child an Allowance," by Matt Bruenig for The Week.

"Eight Things the Happiest People Do Every Day," by Eric Barker of Barking up the Wrong Tree.

"Six Ways to Strengthen Your Self-Control Muscle," by Laura Entis for Entrepreneur.

"Colorado Students Protest a Conservative Call to Change Their Curriculum," by Matt Ferner for The Huffington Post.

"Why I'll Never Tell My Son He's Smart," by Sal Kahn for The Huffington Post.
Thank you to Erica Beaton and her husband Matt for this one!

"Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: The Man Who Would be Caliph," by TheWeek.com.

"Here's how much your high school grades predict your future salary," by Jonnelle Marte for the WaPo.

If you have an AoW you've used this year that you'd like to share, contact me - I'd love to post it for the good of the community.

The list of articles of the week for 2013-2014

Here's the list for this school year:

"American Prisoner in North Korea Requests Rescue," by Choe Sang-Hun for the New York Times.

"Why 'Stop and Frisk' is Worse than NSA Surveillance," by Marc Ambinder for The Week.

"The Writing is on the Wall," by Esther Cepeda for the Washington Post.

"Monsanto Doesn't Want You to Know What You're Eating," by Zack Kaldveer and Ronnie Cummins for AlterNet.org

"Can the Postal Service by Saved?" by The Week.

"Seeing Narcissists Everywhere," by Douglas QuenQua for the New York Times.

"Nazi War Crimes Suspect, 98, Dies Awaiting Trial," by Alan Cowell for the New York Times.

"Why Are Chemical Weapons Worse Than Conventional Weapons?" by Keith Wagstaff for The Week.

"Dying Well," by Katy Butler. Note that this article includes my first attempt at an AoW rubric and also the Reading for Meaning strategy. We'll see how it goes!

"Miss America and Social Media's Ignorant Bigotry," by Leonard Pitts Jr. for The Miami Herald. Once again, the format I'm using is tweaking the AoW 2.0 I started playing with in AoW #9.

"Rest of the World Thinks Congress is a 'Laughing Stock' for Government Shutdown," by Shadee Ashtari for The Huffington Post.

"E-Smoking Among Teenagers" and "Everything You Need to Know about E-Cigarettes," by NYT and ABC News, respectively.

"Forget Cursive. Teach Kids to Code," by Keith Wagstaff for The Week.

"Pro/Con: Fast Food Minimum Wage Debate," by Mark Weisbrot and James Sherk for McClatchy-Tribune News Services; adapted by NewsELA.

"End Adolescence," by Newt Gingrich for Business Week. Thanks to Chad Walden for putting this one together!

"Five Arguments For and Against Capital Punishment," by Flame Horse for

"How to Raise a Kid Who Isn't Whiny and Annoying," by Lyz Lenz for LyzLenz.com. Thank you to colleague and friend Heidi Bonnema for putting this one together!

"Richard Sherman: Evil, or Genius?" by Keith Sharon. Thank you to Jennifer Villalpando and the fine teachers of Oceanside Unified School District for sharing this!

"Eating Food that's Better for You, Organic or Not," by Mark Bittman for The Times. Thank you again to Heidi Bonnema for this great article!

"Less Sleep, More Time Online Raise Risk of Teen Depression," by Maanvi Singh for NPR.org. Heidi once again provided this one. Thank you!

"Teen to government: Change your typeface, save millions," by Jay Dillon. Once again, Heidi Bonnema created this one!

"A Startlingly Simple Theory about the Missing Malaysia Airlines Jet," by Chris Goodfellow for Wired Magazine. Thank you again to Jennifer Villalpando and her colleagues at Oceanside Unified School District for sharing this one!

"How to get a job at Google," by Thomas Friedman. Thanks again, Jennifer and Co!

"Study: You Really Can 'Work Smarter, Not Harder," by Nanette Fondas. Thank-you, Heidi for creating this one!

"Read, Kids, Read," by Frank Bruni for the New York Times. This one isn't in the AoW format, but it's a great read for kids prior to summer break - we need them to read!

"Should Drone Attacks Continue ," by ____ for USA Today. Thank you to Chad Walden for sharing this one - like Chad says, it's an older article, but the issue is current and it's a nice format with an opposing view included. Thank you, Chad!

The Coding Debate: A point-counterpoint pair of articles featuring "Teach It As Early As Possible," by Hadi Partovi, and "Other Skills Should Come First" by Beverly Amico; for the New York Times.
Thank you to Jay Dennis of Gautier HS in the Pascagoula School District for contacting me and offering to share your articles of the week! This one was from Jay, as well as the next one

The Coding Debate: A point-counterpoint pair of articles featuring "Teach It As Early As Possible," by Hadi Partovi, and "Other Skills Should Come First" by Beverly Amico; for the New York Times.

The list of articles of the week from 2012-2013

Below is a list of articles I prepared for the 2012-2013 school year. Some were read as part of the AoW assignment; others were read for different lessons or units (which I note parenthetically).

"Best. Decade. Ever.", by Charles Kenny for Foreign Policy.

"Saudi Arabia's Judoka Strikes Blow for Women's Rights in Olympics," by Esther Addley for The Guardian.

"Teen Hospitalized after 4-day Video Game Binge," by TheWeek.com.

"The Media's Obsession with Political Gaffes: Four Downsides," by TheWeek.com.

"Justin Bieber Disses Prince William on Thinning Hair," by Lisa Suhay for The Christian Science Monitor.

"Sikhism and Gun Control," by TheWeek.com.

"The Quietly Heroic Life of Ambassador Chris Stevens," by TheWeek.com.
My colleague Erica Beaton created this one - thanks Erica!

"The Writing is on the Wall," (pdf) by Esther Cepeda for The Washington Post Writer's Group, 9/20/12.

"State Dept Never Believed what Hilary Clinton Said," by Daniel Halper for The Weekly Standard.

"The World's Silliest Territorial Dispute," by TheWeek.com.

"The Cases for Obama and Romney," by TheWeek.com.

Articles related to marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado; I've also created an ACT-style writing prompt and debate for this issue:

"Did Big Labor Kill the Twinkie?" and "Ding Dongs - Big Labor Strikes Again," by TheWeek.com and by Jennifer Rubin for The Washington Post, respectively.

"Is the 500 million Powerball Lottery a Tax on the Poor?", by TheWeek.comand Natasha Lennard at Salon.

"10 Things You Need to Know Today: December 9, 2012," by TheWeek.com.

"Why the World is Preparing for War in Mali," by D. B. Grady for TheWeek.com.

"North Korea's Rocket Launch: 3 Consequences," by Harold Maass for TheWeek.com.

"What Gun Control Can and Can't Do," by Marc Ambinder for TheWeek.com.

"4 Disturbing Trends You Should Pay Attention to in 2013," by Paul Brandus for TheWeek.com.

"Is Bashar al-Assad Nearly Finished?", by Harold Maass for TheWeek.com.

"Bride-burning in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh is Acceptable Murder," by Nancy Koerner for The Examiner.

"Urine the Army Now: Arguments against Women in Combat," by William Saletan for Slate.

"8 Ridiculous Vladimir Putin Publicity Stunts" and "Did Iran Fake its Space Monkey Mission?", by Samantha Rollins and TheWeek.com.

"The Early Bird Gets the Bad Grade," by Nancy Kalish for the New York Times.
My colleague Becky Kooi created this one - thanks so much, Becky!

"Struggling Back from War's Once-Deadly Wounds," by Denise Grady for the New York Times.
This article serves as an excellent segue into All Quiet on the Western Front, as well as into any discussion about the human costs of war.

"Sleep Deprivation has Genetic Consequences, Study Finds," by Erin Brown for the LA Times.

"Bystander Psychology: Why Some Witnesses to Crime Do Nothing," by Maia Szalavitz for Time.com.
We'll be connecting this case to our study of WWI and WWII in world history.

"Secrets of the Most Successful College Students," by Annie Murphy Paul for Time.com.

3 articles on escalating tensions in Korea (pdf), by various authors for TheWeek.com.
In world history, we are beginning our study of 1950-2000, and, as part of that, we're reading Blaine Harden's Escape from Camp 14.

"He has Millions and a New Job at Yahoo. Soon, he'll be 18," by Brian Stelter for the New York Times.

"Inside the World of Kim Jong Un," for The Week.
This is another North Korea tie in to our reading of Escape from Camp 14. Thanks to Kelly Gallagher for providing this article of the week.

"Should college grads do what they love?", by Carmel Lobello for The Week.

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Dave Stuart Jr. has been using Kelly Gallagher's article of the week assignment for years. Here are Dave's resources.

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The latest Cartoons breaking news, comment, reviews and features from the experts at The Week

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association of american editorial cartoonists

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Cartoons for the Classroom :: AAEC - Association of American Editorial Cartoonists

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Cartoons for the Classroom. Cartoons and lesson plans based on cartoons by members of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC). The site also includes editorial cartoon archives, cartoonist profiles and articles about cartoon news & history.

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National Writing Project: Creating a Text Set

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National Writing Project: Creating a Text Set

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Creating a Text Set - NWP College, Career, and Community Writers Program

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National Writing Project: Text Set Design Principles

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National Writing Project: Text Set Design Principles

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Wisconsin Department of Education Instructional  Text Set Pointers

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Wisconsin Department of Education Instructional  Text Set Pointers

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Wisconsin Department of Education Independent  Text Set Pointers

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Wisconsin Department of Education Independent  Text Set Pointers

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Actively Learn: Tips for Creating a Text Set

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Actively Learn: Tips for Creating a Text Set

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The American Psychological Association (APA) is a scientific and professional organization that represents psychologists in the United States. APA educates the public about psychology, behavioral science and mental health; promotes psychological science and practice; fosters the education and training of psychological scientists, practitioners and educators; advocates for psychological knowledge and practice to inform public policy; and champions the application of psychology to promote human rights, health, well-being and dignity.

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Out In The Field: Employee Experience Insights From Field Workers-Infographic Field workers are often faced with critical or threatening situations while on the job, so employers need to ensure that new hires receive initial and ongoing training in workplace safety for employees to feel well-equipped. This infographic features insights from 600 U.S. field workers in [...]

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e-Learning Infographics - The No.1 Source for the Best Education Infographics

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Out In The Field: Employee Experience Insights From Field Workers-Infographic Field workers are often faced with critical or threatening situations while on the job, so employers need to ensure that new hires receive initial and ongoing training in workplace safety for employees to feel well-equipped. This infographic features insights from 600 U.S.