English Language Arts

In A Great Heart, students will discover how people have a literal great heart and a figurative great heart. Students will read The Circulatory Story where we learn how the heart pumps blood through out your body. Students also read biographies of famous North Carolinians and discover what chracteristics they have that show they have a figurative great heart. Then we study poetry by reading Love that Dog, a novel writen in poetry form. We also study many other poems, including some by Carl Sandburg. We will also take a field trip to the Carl Sandburg house! During this module we write about those who have a great heart both literally and figuratively, as well as many poems.

In Extreme Settings, students will read Mountains by Seymour Simon and learn about how Mountain Ecosystems can affect those who live there. We will also study "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury, an extreme setting because it takes place on the planet Venus. Next we will read the novel Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. We will learn about plot and character development over the course of the novel, as well as how the setting is just as important as a character.

In The Redcoats are Coming, students will study different perspectives (or points of view) by learning about the two sides of the American Revolution. Students will learn more about these two sides by reading: The Scarlet Stockings Spy, Trinka Hakes Noble; Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak, Kay Winters; and George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen from Both Sides, Rosalyn Schanzer. One of the many writing activities students will complete is a newspaper article sharing the both sides of the Revolutionary War. Students will also read Woods Runner, by Gary Paulsen, where they will take what we learn about the American Revolution and make inferences during the novel.