Set 1: Take Action
Essential Question: How do people respond to natural disasters?
Texts & Genre: A World of Change (Expository Text)
Earthquakes (Expository Text)
Weathering the Storm (Personal Narrative)
Text Structure: compare & contrast; chronological
Skill & Strategies: compare & contrast; text evidence and sources; author's perspective
Text Features: diagrams & headings
Set 2: Think of Others
Essential Question: How do your actions affect others?
Texts & Genre: The Talent Show (Realistic Fiction)
Experts Incorporated (Realistic Fiction)
Speaking Out to Stop Bullying (Expository Text)
Text Structure: literature with plot & conflict
Skill & Strategies: literary elements (plot, conflict); predictions; figurative language; author's claim
Text Features: dialogue
Set 3: Time for Kids
Essential Question: How do your actions affect others?
Texts & Genre: Dollars & Sense (Argumentative Text)
Kids in Business (Argumentative Text)
Starting a Successful Business (Argumentative Text)
Text Structure: problem & solution; sequence
Skill & Strategies: summarize; central idea & supporting details; author's craft; sequence
Text Features: graphs and headings
Unit 2: Amazing Animals
Big Question: How do people & animals use their senses to navigate the world?
Big Idea Vocabulary: perception, aroma, distinguish, tactile
Week 1:
Text: The Science Behind Sight
Skill & Strategies: central idea; summarize; text
features
Week 2:
Text: Animal Senses; Blind Ambition
Skill & Strategies: text structure; figurative language
Week 3:
Text: The Game of Silence
Skill & Strategies: visualization; authors craft
Unit 3: That's the Spirit!
Big Question: What does it take to meet a challenge?
Big Idea Vocabulary: confront, dauntless, endurance, dedication
Week 1:
Text: Rent Party Jazz
Skill & Strategies: identify the argumentative claim,
synthesize
Week 2:
Text: The Galveston Hurricane; Catch me if you Can
Skill & Strategies: visualize, point of view, elements
of drama
Week 3:
Text: My Diary from Here to There
Skill & Strategies: literary elements, point of view,
author's craft
Unit 4: Fact or Fiction?
Big Question: What makes someone a hero?
Big Idea Vocabulary: aspire, confidence, endeavor, fearlessness
Week 1:
Text: Prince Charming Misplaces His Bride
Skill & Strategies: visualize, point of view, theme;
text features
Week 2:
Text: Smokejumpers; Perseus & the Fall of Medusa
Skill & Strategies: text structure, elements of drama
Week 3:
Text: The Battle of the Alamo
Skill & Strategies: inferences, central idea, text
structure
Unit 5: Figure It Out
Big Question: How far can your talents take you?
Big Idea Vocabulary: sculpture, creativity, inspiration, expressive
Week 1:
Text: The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny)
Skill & Strategies: ask & answer questions, monitor
& clarify
Week 2:
Text: Let's Dance Around the World
Skill & Strategies: monitor & clarify, central idea, text
structure
Week 3:
Text: The Art of Poetry
Skill & Strategies: elements poetry, figurative
language, theme
Unit 6: Pas, Present, and Future
Big Question: What makes Earth’s natural wonders exciting and unique?
Big Idea Vocabulary: scenic, landscape, canyon, landform
Week 1:
Text: Mariana Trench
Skill & Strategies: text structure and features,
central idea
Week 2:
Text: Nature's Wonders; Weird & Wondrous Rocks
Skill & Strategies: text structure, ask & answer
questions; elements of poetry
Week 3:
Text: Grand Canyon
Skill & Strategies: making inferences, author’s craft,
figurative language
Module 7
Big Question: What lessons can you learn from characters in tales?
Big Idea Vocabulary: trickster, shrewd, exaggeration, legendary
Week 1:
Text: A Tale of Traditional Tales; Thunder Rose
Skill & Strategies: central idea, figurative language,
adages/proverbs
Week 2:
Text: In the Days of King Adobe; A Pair of Tricksters
Skill & Strategies: figurative language, predictions,
characters
Week 3:
Text: Ten Suns
Skill & Strategies: literary elements, text & graphic
features
Module 8
Big Question: What can we do to make more healthful food choices?
Big Idea Vocabulary: digest, sustainable, nutrition, compost
Week 1:
Text: To Your Health; Eco-Friendly Food
Skill & Strategies: author’s purpose; text & graphic
features
Week 2:
Text: Kids Rocks Nutrition in the Kitchen; Bug Bites
Skill & Strategies: central idea, ask & answer
questions
Week 3:
Text: Now You're Cooking
Skill & Strategies: predictions, point of view, text &
graphic features
Module 9
Big Question: What can people do to care for our planet?
Big Idea Vocabulary: ecology, recycle, conservation, sanctuary
Week 1:
Text: Luz Sees the Light
Skill & Strategies: ideas & support, inferences,
graphic features
Week 2:
Text: On Sea Turtle Patrol; How Can We Reduce Waste
Skill & Strategies: retell, summarize, graphic
features
Week 3:
Text: Seeds of Change
Skill & Strategies: ask & answer questions, author’s
craft, literary elements
Module 10
Big Question: What forms can communication take?
Big Idea Vocabulary: broadcast, publication, blog, correspond
Week 1:
Text: The History of Communication
Skill & Strategies: text features and structure,
monitor & clarify, main idea
Week 2:
Text: A New Language Invented by Kids; Dolphin Dinner
Skill & Strategies: text structure, questioning, central
idea
Week 3:
Text: Cooper's Lesson
Skill & Strategies: inferences, plot, point of view,
author’s craft