Sometimes, organizations such as ReadWorks reach out to let us know about their programs. We are always happy to help spread the word about programs that benefit teachers and students for FREE. Many thanks to them for providing this post.

ReadWorks was founded in 2010 to help teachers solve the nationwide crisis in reading comprehension. This national nonprofit provides teachers with open-access, research-based, and State Standard-aligned reading comprehension curriculum for grades K-12. ReadWorks has the largest digital library of authentic nonfiction and literary articles in the country curated to teach reading and is used by more than one million teachers in all 50 states.

As ELA teachers, we know that it can be an enormous challenge to get struggling readers to where they need to be. Too often we are given resources that just aren’t that effective, or we are told to use the “newest thing” which can mean being asked to experiment on our students with the latest unproven academic theory. Even when there is something new worth trying, we might have to sacrifice what had previously been working to “make room” for the new approach.

That’s why ReadWorks has taken a very different approach with our new ReadWorks Article-A-Day. Covering topics like art, music, and technology, in addition to core academic subjects, Article-A-Day gives students a well-rounded body of content and vocabulary knowledge. AND, it is designed to fit easily into a teacher’s routine, without sacrificing existing ELA time.

Developed in collaboration with renowned reading expert Elfrieda Hiebert, Ph.D., Article-a-Day is a free, researched-based offering that uses sets of high-quality, non-fiction articles to help students build essential background knowledge and vocabulary, increase reading automaticity, and enhance reading stamina — all keys to improving reading comprehension.

It requires only 10 to 15 minutes as part of a student’s daily routine – to start off the morning or transition to a special. Students choose and read one of the articles from that week’s topic. Article-A-Day uses content and research from some of the country’s most respected institutions, a result of ReadWorks’ partnerships with the Audubon Society, the American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the New York Historical Society, and others. Each partner provides authentic, nonfiction texts and multimedia for various disciplines, from art and music to history and science.

Article-A-Day is completely free for teachers and easy to use, available for both digital and print-only classrooms. Set up a FREE account at ReadWorks to get started or preview the lesson below.

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