Education Commons^™

How Can I Be A Good Reader? Lessons In Understanding Books (1st-2nd Grade), Tara Vaughan

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This is a first/second grade unit titled How Can I Be a Good Reader? Lessons in Understanding Books. We want our students and children to be great readers, but we only teach them how to read words, not to think about what they're reading. This unit explicitly teaches children how to think while reading, just like good readers need to do. Good readers do specific things to monitor their comprehension before they read, while they read and after they read. Reading is fun! There are specific steps good readers take to unlock meaning and comprehend a text. Your student or …

Picking Apart Plot (6th Grade), Amanda Aird

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This is an examination of plot, first as a reader, and then as a writer. There are both reading and writing components in the activities. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of the plot elements (exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, turning point, falling action, and denouement) from their definitions to their functions in a story. Additionally, students will learn how to map a plot line, how a reader's mood is tied to the plot line, and how other fictional concepts (character, setting, conflict, theme, point-of-view, sensory language) flesh out the plot. Students will then transition into designing their own …

Top Secret: Understanding Characters! [3rd Grade], Renee E. Ulrich

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In this novel based unit on Top Secret, students will discover how plot, conflict and relationships affect change in a character. (3rd Grade)

Personal Narrative Genre Study [4th Grade], Emily B. Delgado

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This unit is intended to be a beginning of year introduction to the genre of personal narrative, with the purpose of equipping students with a solid understanding and strong examples of personal narrative writing in preparation for writing their own. Students will begin by identifying the purpose for writing a personal narrative and then uncover the components of a quality personal narrative through discussion and dissection of six mentor texts. After determining the elements of a personal narrative, students will then use those elements as guidelines for identifying and improving upon the personal narratives of others. This unit culminates with …

Microbe Hunters: Pioneers Of The Microscopic World [7th Grade], Joy Brush, Jaime Jaen

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This unit integrates reading and science as students follow the contributions of Leeuwenhoek, Spallanzani, and other influential scientists depicted in Paul de Kruif’s Microbe Hunters. Students first read and discuss the investigations conducted by these scientists in reading class. In science class, students design and implement their own versions of these experiments to build on their understanding of the microscopic world and the importance of problem solving and perseverance.

Study Of Identity Formation Through The Light In The Forest By Conrad Richter [6th Grade], Anna Clark

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The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter is an historical fiction Young Adult novel about a teenage boy, True Son, who was captured by American Indians as a young child, grew up as an adopted member of the tribe, and is then forcibly returned to his white family at age fifteen. The central theme of the book is True Son’s conflict with his identity and the questions of who his true family is and where his allegiance should lie.

During this unit, students will complete most of the reading assignments outside of class. Spread throughout different stages of the …

Culture And Identity In Your Community And The World [6th Grade], Stephany Weaver, Anne Daly

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“Culture and Identity in your Community and the World” is an interdisciplinary unit designed to stimulate questions about identity and culture and how those two things relate. This unit is meant to be taught at the end of the first semester and the beginning of the second semester. Students have already established an understanding of literary elements in fiction and will now be searching for those same engaging elements in non-fiction.

As the students read the memoir Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang in Reading, they will be studying the effects of culture and community on a single person’s identity …

Debating The Truth, Lisa Shay

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Students will spend six weeks discovering the value of opposing viewpoints on different current event topics. Students will learn to conduct a debate following the Middle School Public Debate Program model. Students will first research a variety of topics in teams of three, finding both the pros and cons of the topic. Students must be able to form arguments, find fallacies in both research and arguments refute and eventually debate their peers. The unit guides students through the debate process allowing for practice on each of the process stages. As the performance assessment pieces, students will conduct a debate using …

Artists As Storytellers: Designing A Personal Comic Book [6th-8th Grade], Elizabeth Bendele

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In this unit, students will examine and interpret past examples of storytelling, and will tell their own story by designing a comic book panel illustrating a momentous event or experience in their lives. As this unit encourages personal expression and imparts the significance of individuality and creativity, it was written to be the first unit of the term; it will give students a structured roadmap for the year, and will also give the teacher insight on where each student stands not only as an artist— but as a writer, reader, thinker, and class participant as well.

Exploring Personal Responses To Reading: A Wwii Book Study [4th Grade], Jennifer Wray

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This unit arose out of students reading passively and not responding to their texts. In order to inspire a response in students, these picture books set in the WWII era are particularly powerful and typically evoke passionate responses. The unit focuses on understanding different perspectives in history and an author’s purpose for writing. The other main focus is teaching students how to have a personal response to a text. Authors of these books specifically wrote their stories to learn from the past and create peace for the future. Therefore, the performance task at the end invites the students to use …

Patricia Polacco Author Study [2nd Grade], Catherine Brackett

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Through the study of Thank You, Mr. Falker, Firetalking, The Thinking Quilt, Thundercake, Ginger and Petunia, My Ol’ Man, and The Limonade Club, this unit will allow students to grow as writers by studying an Patricia Polacco. The students will also learn to apply lessons addressed in literature to their own lives. Most importantly, the students will learn how their words and actions can either build a person up or tear them down. In the end, they will be asked to apply what they have learned to create a story or play that will help a bullying situation in a …

Sarah Plain And Tall Book Study [3rd Grade], Karen Morrison

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In this unit, students will be doing a chapter book study using the novel, Sarah Plain and Tall. At the end of the unit, the students will deeply understand that there are always things to miss no matter where you are, a sense of belonging happens when someone accepts where they are, and that we carry symbols and artifacts that represent the people and places that matter the most to us. Students will be engaged using the 6 Reading Comprehension Strategies: Phonics/Decoding, Predict/Infer, Monitor/Clarify, Question, Summarize, Evaluate. Other skills such as analytical thinking, predicting outcomes and connecting text to self …

What Section Do I Go To In Barnes And Noble? [7th Grade], Carol Cagnoni

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The following unit is based upon the 7th grade reading TEKS and College and Career Readiness Standards for TEXAS. In this unit, students will explore a variety of genres. Through group discussion, lectures, and self-discovery, students will be able to better understand how to choose a book in a genre that interests them. The unit ends with students reading a self-selected book based on criteria tailored to them. Finally, after reading a book, the students will create a brochure advertising the book they completed as well as share their opinion with their peers.

Seedfolks: Individual And Community [7th Grade], Vanessa Sanchez

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Students will focus on the impact an individual can have on a community. The unit will then move on to a study of individuals who have affected their communities and the affect a community has on the behavior and understanding of an individual. Students will also read and discuss the novel Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman as a connection to the focus of the unit. Students will use their knowledge of community and individual influence to make a difference within their own community and reflect on the experience.

Tell Me A Story! Tales From Africa & Other Cultures [4th Grade], Carrie Susong

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No abstract provided.

Discovery Through Nonfiction [6th Grade], Allison Grant

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In this unit students will read a variety of informative and literary nonfiction texts focusing on the tragedy and discovery of the Titanic. The readings will provide them with the opportunity to uncover the understandings that discovery is the illumination of information, discovery leads us to understand the truth, and discovering types and features of nonfiction makes us more effective readers. Through discussion with their classmates and creation of several graphic organizers, students will answer the question “what is discovery and what is it not?” As students read the nonfiction books 882 ½ Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the …

Discovering Our World [6th Grade], Vanessa Sanchez

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In this unit for 6th graders, students will bridge their understanding between reading for information and reading solely for entertainment. Students will develop an understanding of the connection between discovery and reading as well as understanding that they are discoverers in their own right. Students will construct a fact book that includes information from various sources on the areas we have covered as well as constructing an analysis and explanation of their decisions. The assessments will provide students the framework to adjust perceptions and utilization of resources to match the purpose of their actions. In the end, students will understand …