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ELA Curriculum

Sixth Grade ELA Modules of Study

Module 1: Greek Mythology

Why do Greek myths continue to be relevant and popular today? In this module, students meet figures from ancient Greek mythology who are placed in a contemporary setting and evaluate how stories from a different time and place continue to resonate.

Module 2: Critical Problems and Design Solutions

Design thinking makes clear the systematic process that allows innovators to learn and apply techniques to solve critical problems in a creative way. In Module 2, students read the true story of William Kamkwamba in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Readers edition) and how he used design thinking to confront the devastating effects of famine in his country, Malawi.

Module 3: American Indian Boarding Schools

Despite their painful and long-lasting impact, American Indian boarding schools are an often neglected topic of study. In Module 3, students are introduced to this topic, with the goal of amplifying long unheard voices and better understanding this critical time in North American history.

Module 4: Remarkable Accomplishments in Space Science

In Module 4, students learn about remarkable accomplishments in space science, paying special attention to accomplishments and people that may have been overlooked until recently. After reading supplemental texts to learn about key events and well-known figures of the Space Race, students begin their anchor text, Hidden Figures (Young Readers’ Edition) by Margot Lee Shetterly.

Seventh Grade ELA Modules of Study

Module 1: The Lost Children of Sudan

What can we learn from those who have survived the greatest tragedies and become even more determined to help others? How can we share these kinds of stories to inspire and educate? In this module, students develop their ability to analyze narratives and create their own stories as they learn about the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan and the lessons revealed through their journeys.

Module 2: Epidemics

How do epidemics begin and spread? How do human responses help or hinder during trying times? Can the way we think about medical outbreaks tell us anything about how we should think about human behavior? In this module, students explore epidemics in many forms: historical and current, medical and social.

Module 3: Analyzing, Interpreting, and Evaluating Text: The Harlem Renaissance

Can we "find fuel for the future in the past"? Poet Nikki Grimes asks this question in her poem "Emergency Measures," the first in her collection One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance. As Grimes does in her book, students will spend the module pondering the wisdom from works created during the Harlem Renaissance.

Module 4: Researching to Write and Present Arguments: Plastic Pollution

Students spend the module learning about how plastic pollution has become a widespread problem, particularly in our oceans, and what can be done to reduce pollution. Students will gather background knowledge about the problem, as well as explore possible solutions to reducing plastic pollution at different points in the plastic life cycle.

Eighth Grade ELA Modules of Study

Module 1: Reading, Writing, and Speaking Grounded in Evidence: Folklore of Latin America

Why do we see evidence of myths and traditional stories in modern narratives? How and why can we modernize myths and traditional stories to be meaningful to today's audiences? In this module, students develop their ability to analyze narratives and create their own stories and to analyze informational essays and create their own as they learn about Latin American folklore.

Module 2: Researching to Build and Present Knowledge: Food Choices

Where does our food come from? How do we analyze arguments about how food should be grown and processed? What factors influence our access to healthy food? How do we research this? In this module, students develop their ability to research, weigh different aspects of complex dilemmas, and formulate opinions supported by evidence and reasoning as they explore the topic Food Choices.

Module 3: Analyzing, Interpreting, and Evaluating Text: Voices of the Holocaust

In this module, students learn about a terrible time period in history, remember the voices of victims, survivors, and upstanders, and at the same time, they develop their ability to determine and track themes, understand the development of characters, identify and track the development of central ideas, and write narratives to honor the memories of those who served as upstanders during the Holocaust.

Module 4: Researching to Write and Present Arguments: Lessons from Japanese American Internment

In Module 4, students learn about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. They study the experiences of survivors of internment, focusing most centrally on the experiences conveyed in the anchor text, Farewell to Manzanar.

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