ELA
The best way to make yourself a stronger reader is by reading daily! Reading should be a part of your daily routine where you have time set aside to read for enjoyment. It is important to talk with your family, friends, and teachers about what you are reading. This aids our children to become stronger readers who are aware of their learning. It also prepares them to be able to discuss texts in a deeper meaning.
Readers Workshop
Unit 1 - Interpreting Characters In this unit, the students will focus on establishing a reading life, thinking deeply about the characters, and interpreting the text. The students will learn that when readers want to develop a large interpretation of the whole text, they need to think about all of the points within the text.
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Unit 2 - Reading the Weather, Reading the WorldIn this unit, the students will focus on learning from texts, launching a whole-class research project, and tackling a second research project with a deeper meaning. First the students will develop a research project on extreme weather and natural disasters. Then the students will conduct a second research topic in order to compare and contrast what they have learned and explore more conceptual topics.
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Unit 3 - Reading HistoryIn this unit, the students will focus on establishing a reading life, thinking deeply about the characters, and interpreting the text. The students will learn that when readers want to develop a large interpretation of the whole text, they need to think about all of the points within the text.
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Unit 4 - Little Things are Big In this unit, the students will focus on interpreting a poem by analyzing the poet’s life and the poet’s intention of the poem. The students will push their thinking by asking the question “What do these lines mean to me, in my life.”
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Unit 5 - Social Issues Book ClubsIn this unit, the students will focus on identifying social issues with a text and determine how the characters responded to it. Within this unit, the students will become more critical readers by analyzing multiple points of view and perspectives on the topic.
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Writers Workshop
Unit 1 - The Arc of StoryIn this unit, the students will focus on the arc of a story by examining how stories with two or three strong scenes can successful describe the character(s), plot, and the changes throughout the story.
Lastly, the students will use their small moment seed ideas to write a narrative story. Within in their story, the students will develop characters, describe multiple settings, elaborate on their ideas to help the readers picture the story, and write an ending for the story. |
Unit 2 - Boxes and BulletsIn this unit, the students will explore how to introduce their topics clearly through a variety of strategies, support their opinions with facts and details, create pieces that are more cohesive by incorporating more sophisticated transition words, and conclude their pieces.
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Unit 3 - Bringing History to LifeIn this unit, the students will research the topic Westward Expansion and write an informational piece about the topic. The students will learn how to present relevant information through the use of historical details, text features, and quotes.
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Unit 4 - Poetry AnthologiesIn this unit, the students will write poems connected to their lives. The students will identify the structural elements of poems. (verse, rhythm, meter), and analyze the major differences between poems and drama.
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Unit 5 - The Literary EssayIn this unit, the students will learn to use close reading as a way to create meaningful ideas. They will move towards thinking more deeply about texts, analyzing character and plots, determining the moral, and identifying the theme.
Lastly, the students will learn to write a compare and contrast essay by analyzing the similarities and differences within two texts. |