It is important to know and understand what events are taking place in our world.

As we
delve into informational and expository text, we will learn that current events are a great
way to analyze how key individuals, ideas, and events are introduced, illustrated, and
elaborated.
Each week, we will read and analyze an article that relates to one of the six aspects of
adolescence: education, family life, economics, adolescent life, recreation, and culture.

Directions For Article of The

Week
Shared Classes

Sixth Grade

McDonnell

AOW

1. Choose one Internet link

1. www.newsela.com
2. www.youngzine.org
3. www.tweentribune.com
4. www.dogonews.com

OR
Choose an article from TIME FOR KIDS magazine.
2. Review the news articles and choose one that relates to at least one of the six
aspects of
adolescence (education, family life, economics, adolescent life, recreation, and
culture).
3. Completely fill out the Article of the Week organizer (AOW) in the Shared Classes
folder.
4. Choose one of the response questions from the list. On a separate sheet of paper,
TYPE a response
to the question.
5. Save the AOW organizer and the chosen response.
6. Use the rubric to check and assess your work.
1

Name _____________________________

Date _____________

Article of the Week Organizer

Title of Article: ________________________
Check Type of Article: Local___

State___

Source: ___________________________
Check All That Apply:

Culture____
Economics____

Who: (Who is the

article about?)

When: (When did

this take place
Date?)

National___ International _____

Date of Article: ________________
Family Life____
Adolescent Life_______

What: (What is the article mainly

about?)

Recreation____
Education ____

Where: (Where is
the article taking
place?)

Why: (Why was the article written? Why is this newsworthy?

Why did the event occur?)

Choose one response question from the list, and write a one paragraph response (typed neatly):
1. What did you find interesting about the selection? How does it relate to culture, economics, family, adolescent life,
recreation, or education? Do you agree or disagree with any of the issues involved in the article? You cannot agree and
disagree. You must take a stance. Be very specific.

2. As you were reading the article, what type of text to self or text to text connections did you make? How does the article
relate to culture, economics, family, adolescent life, recreation, or education? Be very specific.
3. In relation culture, education, economics, adolescent life, recreation, and family life, what makes this article
relevant/important news that middle school students should read? Be very specific.

AOW Rubric
4
Relevancy

Completion of
Assignment

Organization
of Paragraph

Writing
Development

Language &
Conventions

Article clearly
related to three or
more of the unit
subtopics
Everything
accurately completed
& submitted
Logical ideas
Stays on topic
throughout paragraph
Strong introduction &
conclusion
Addresses the prompt
Correctly answers the
question
Uses clear reasoning
Provides 2 or more
examples of text-based
evidence
Is consistently
appropriate to the task,
purpose, and/or audience

Article somewhat
related to at least two
of the unit subtopics

Article vaguely
related to a unit
subtopic

Article not related

to the unit subtopic

One part incomplete

and/or inaccurate

Two parts incomplete

and/or inaccurate

Ideas mostly logical

Stays on topic some of
the time
Includes an introduction
and/or a conclusion
Addresses the prompt
May or may not
correctly answer the
question
Reasoning is unclear
Does not provide textbased evidence
Is somewhat appropriate
to the task, purpose,
and/or audience

Zero or very few errors

in conventions
(capitalization,
punctuation, spelling,
grammar)
Meaning clear
throughout response
Variety in sentence
structure (long, short,
medium sentences &
simple, compound,
complex sentences)
Writing neat and easy to
read

Logical ideas
Mostly stays on topic
throughout paragraph
Includes developed
introduction & conclusion
Addresses the prompt
Correctly answers the
question
Uses clear reasoning
some of the time
Provides at least one
example of text-based
evidence
Is consistently appropriate
to the task and purpose
but is not always
appropriate for the
audience
A few errors in
conventions
Meaning clear throughout
response
Attempts variety of
sentences
Writing mostly neat and
can be easily read

Three or more parts

incomplete and/or
inaccurate
Ideas not logical
Response too limited to
evaluate
Introduction &
conclusion not included
Off topic and/or answer
is incorrect
Reasoning is unclear
Text-based evidence is
not provided

Numerous errors in
conventions
Errors make writing
difficult to understand
Little variety in
sentences
Writing is often sloppy
and somewhat difficult
to read

Lots of errors in
conventions
Same sentence structure
throughout
Errors make writing
extremely difficult to
understand
Sloppy work that is
extremely difficult to
read