ELA Unit 1

UNIT 1 WEEK 1

Week 1

• Essential Question:  How do we get the things we need?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "A Fresh Idea"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Reread

• Comprehension Skill:  Character, Setting, Plot: Sequence

  • McGraw Hill Sequence Wolf Example

• Genre:  Realistic Fiction

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Context Clues: Sentence Clues

  • McGraw Hill Context Clues

  • Context Clues Practice

  • Rags to Riches

• Close Reading:  One Hen

• Grammar: Sentences (types, fragments, interjections)

  • Fixing Sentences Sentence Fragment

  • Grammaropolis Interjections

  • Which kind of sentence game

  • Quizlet: 4 types of sentences

  • Sentence vs. Fragment game

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

UNIT 1 WEEK 2

Week 2

• Essential Question:  What can lead us to rethink an idea?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "Whitewater Adventure"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Reread

• Comprehension Skill:  Character, Setting, Plot: Problem and Solution

  • McGraw Hill Problem Solution

• Genre:  Realistic Fiction

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Idioms

• Close Reading:  Second Day, First Impression or The Chief's Blanket

• Grammar: Subjects, Predicates, Appositives

  • Mr. Morton School House Rocks

  • Compound Subjects and Verbs Video

  • Khan Academy Appositives

  • Rags to Riches Simple Subject and Predicate Practice

  • Rags to Riches Subject and Predicate game

  • Subjects and Predicate Quiz

  • Compound Subjects and Predicates game

  • Appositives Phrase Game

  • Commas in a series game

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

UNIT 1 WEEK 3

Week 3

• Essential Question:  How can experiencing nature change the way you think about it?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "A Life in the Woods"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Ask and Answer Questions

• Comprehension Skill: Cause and Effect

• Genre:  Narrative Nonfiction

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Homographs

• Close Reading:  Camping with the President

• Grammar: Compound Sentences, Conjunctions, Run-on Sentences

  • The Compound Sentence

  • School House Rocks Conjunction Junction

  • Run-on Sentence (correct punctuation)

  • Simple and Compound Sentences Practice

  • Rags to Riches Conjunctions Game

  • Run-on Sentences Practice

  • Run-ons and Fragments Practice

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

UNIT 1 WEEK 4

Week 4

• Essential Question:  How does technology lead to creative ideas?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "Fantasy Becomes Fact"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Ask and Answer Questions

• Comprehension Skill: Text Structure: Sequence (time order words)

• Genre:  Informational Text: Biography

  • What to look for in a biography

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Greek Roots

  • Prefixes

  • Suffixes

• Close Reading:  The Boy Who Invented TV; A Boy Called Slow; Crazy Horse's Vision

• Grammar: Complex Sentences, Coordinating Conjunctions, Subordinating Conjunctions; Dependent Clause

  • Khan Academy Complex Sentences

  • Grammaropolis Conjunctions

  • Rags to Riches Commas

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

• A Boy Called Slow

  • vocabulary and word find

UNIT 1 WEEK 5

Week 5

• Essential Question:  What are to positive and negative effects of technology?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "Are Electronic Devices Good for Us"

• Comprehension Strategy: Reread

• Comprehension Skill: Author's Point of View

• Genre:  Persuasive Article

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Greek and Latin Prefixes

• Close Reading:  The Future of Transportation

• Grammar: Run-on Sentences and Fragments

  • Run-on Sentence (correct punctuation)

  • Run-on Sentences Practice

  • Fixing Sentences Sentence Fragment

  • Run-ons and Fragments Practice

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

UNIT 1 WEEK 6

Week 6 (Weekly Overview)

• Reader's Theater: "It Couldn't Be Done"

• Reading Digitally: "Take It From Nature"

ELA Unit 2

UNIT 2 WEEK 1

Week 1

• Essential Question:  What do good problem solvers do?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: Creating a Nation 

• Comprehension Strategy:  Reread

• Comprehension Skill:  Text Structure: Problem and Solution

• Genre:  Expository (Informational) Text

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Context Clues: Definitions and Restatements

  • Millionaire Context Clues Game

• Close Reading:  Who Wrote the U.S. Constitution?

• Grammar: Kinds of Nouns (common, proper, concrete, abstract)

  • Grammaropolis Noun Town Video

  • Schoolhouse Rock What is a Noun video

  • Grammaropolis Common/Proper Nouns Quizzes

  • Grammaropolis  Concrete/Abstract Nouns Quizzes

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

UNIT 2 WEEK 2

Week 2

• Essential Question:  What can you do to get the information you need?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "Modern Cinderella" or The Rough-Faced Girl (Native American Cinderella)

• Comprehension Strategy:  Make Predictions (what will happen using text evidence)

• Comprehension Skill:  Character, Setting, Plot: Compare and Contrast

  • McGraw Hill Story Compare and Contrast

  • McGraw Hill Character, Setting, Events

• Genre:  Fairy Tale

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Simile and Metaphor

  • Similes and Metaphors by Bazillions Video

  • What does the metaphor/simile mean practice

  • Rags to Riches Metaphor/Simile game

• Close Reading:  Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

• Grammar: Singular and Plural Nouns

  • Singular/Plural Nouns Games

  • Find the Nouns in the Sentence (choose nouns)

  • Grammaropolis Singular/Plural Noun Quizzes

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

UNIT 2 WEEK 3

Week 3

• Essential Question:  How do we investigate questions about nature?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: Growing in Place

• Comprehension Strategy:  Reread

• Comprehension Skill:  Text Structure: Sequence

  • Chronological Order

• Genre:  Biography

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Greek and Latin Suffixes

• Close Reading:  The Boy Who Drew Birds

• Grammar: More Plural Nouns

  • Plural Nouns worksheet (f to ves)

  • Nouns ending in O examples

  • Collective Nouns worksheet

  • Collective Nouns Animals worksheet

  • Irregular Plural Nouns Worksheet

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

UNIT 2 WEEK 4

Week 4

• Essential Question:  When has a plan helped you accomplish a goal?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: The Magical Lost Brocade

• Comprehension Strategy:  Make Predictions (what will happen using text evidence)

• Comprehension Skill:  Theme (what is the message, lesson, or moral of the story)

• Genre:  Folktale

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Personification

  • Bazillions Personification video

  • Personification Grammar Monster

• Close Reading:  Blancaflor

• Grammar:  Possessive Nouns-video

  • Possessive Nouns Games-Rags to Riches; Which is it?

  • Possessive Nouns printable packet of practice worksheets; answer key

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

UNIT 2 WEEK 5

Week 5

• Essential Question:  What motivates you to accomplish a goal?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: A Simple Plan

• Comprehension Skill:  Theme

• Genre:  Poetry

• Literary Elements: Repetition and Rhyme

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Homographs

  • Homographs printable worksheet

  • Homographs printable packet

• Close Reading:  Stage Frights

• Grammar:  Prepositional Phrases

  • School House Rock video

  • Prepositional Phrase games:  Find the Phrase; Quizlet

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet practice

UNIT 2 WEEK 6

Week 6 (Weekly Overview)

ELA Unit 3

UNIT 3 WEEK 1

Week 1

• Essential Question:  What can learning about different cultures teach us?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "A Reluctant Traveler"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Summarize

  • Summarize: how video

• Comprehension Skill:  Theme

• Genre:  Realistic Fiction

• Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues:  Cause and Effect

• Close Reading:  They Don't Mean It!

• Grammar: Action Verbs

  • Grammaropolis Verb Song Video

  • Lay vs. Lie video

  • Sit vs. Set image

  • Rise vs. Raise video

    • Balloon Verb Game

    • Later Gator

    • Subject Verb Agreement Quiz

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet

UNIT 3 WEEK 2

Week 2

• Essential Question:  How can learning about nature be useful?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book:  "Survivaland"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Summarize

• Comprehension Skill:  Theme

• Genre:  Fantasy

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Context Clues

• Close Reading:  Weslandia

• Grammar: Verb Tenses

  • Verb Viper

  • Ice Cream Talk (choose verbs)

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet

UNIT 3 WEEK 3

Week 3

• Essential Question:  Where can you find patterns in nature?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book:  "Patterns of Change"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Ask and Answer Questions

• Comprehension Skill:  Main Idea and Key Details

• Genre:  Expository Text

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Greek Roots

• Close Reading:  The Story of Snow

• Grammar: Main Verb (action) and Helping Verbs

  • Helping Verbs Song

  • Complete Verb (Verb Phrase) Rags to Riches Game

  • Complete Verb (Verb Phrase) Worksheet

  • Helping Verbs Online Practice

  • Progressive and Perfect Tense definitions with examples

  • Perfect Tense Online practice

  • Progressive Tense worksheets

  • List of Contractions

  • Pronoun/Verb Contraction Online Practice

  • Verb Contractions with NOT Online Practice

• Vocabulary:

  • Quizlet

UNIT 3 WEEK 4

Week 4

• Essential Question:  What benefits come from people working as a group?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book:  "Gulf Spill Superheroes"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Ask and Answer Questions

• Comprehension Skill:  Main Idea and Key Details

• Genre:  Expository Text

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Latin Roots

• Close Reading:  Winter's Tail

• Grammar: Linking Verbs

  • Linking Verb definition and examples

  • Linking Verb or Action Verb game

  • Linking Verb Rags to Riches

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet

UNIT 3 WEEK 5

Week 5

• Essential Question:  How do we explain what happened in the past?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book:  "What was the purpose of the Inca's Strange Strings?"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Summarize (how to write)

• Comprehension Skill:  Author's Point of View (the quiz mentioned at end doesn't work)

• Genre:  Persuasive Article

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Context Clues

• Close Reading:  Machu Picchu: Ancient City

• Grammar: Irregular Verbs

  • Irregular Verbs Online Practice

  • Irregular Verbs Practice Quiz

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet

UNIT 3 WEEK 6

Review

ELA Unit 4

WEEK 1

Week 1

• Essential Question:  What kinds of stories do we tell? Why do we tell them?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "How Mighty Kate Stopped the Train"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Visualize

• Comprehension Skill:  Point of View

  • point of view McGraw Hill

• Genre:  Tall Tales

  • Paul Bunyan

  • Pecos Bill

  • Casey Jones

  • Johnny Appleseed

  • Tom Thumb

• Vocabulary Strategy: Synonyms and Antonyms

  • Synonym Games

    • Concentration

    • Concentration  (challenging)

    • Matching

    • Matching (challenging)

    • Rhyme Time (make sure to read the directions at the top; this one will make you think)

  • Antonym Games

    • Hangman

    • Jeopardy

    • Opposite Match

    • Matching

    • Rags to Riches

• Close Reading:  Davy Crockett Saves the World

  • Author reading beginning of story

• Grammar: Pronouns and Antecedents

• Vocabulary:

  • Quizlet

WEEK 2

WEEK 3

Week 3

• Essential Question:  What can people do to bring about a positive change?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book:  "Frederick  Douglass Freedom's Voice"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Summarize (how to write)

• Comprehension Skill:  Author's Point of View (the quiz mentioned at end doesn't work)

• Genre:  Biography

• Vocabulary Strategy:  Prefixes and Suffixes

• Close Reading:  Rosa

• Grammar: Pronoun-Verb Agreement

  • What are pronouns?

  • Verb Song Grammaropolis 

  • Pronoun-Verb Agreement explanation video

• Vocabulary

  • Quizlet

ELA Unit 5

WEEK 1

Week 1

• Essential Question:  What experiences can change the way you see yourself and the world around you?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "Miguel in the Middle"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Make Predictions

• Comprehension Skill:  Character, Setting, Plot: Compare and Contrast Settings

• Genre:  Realistic Fiction

• Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Comparison

• Close Reading:  Ida B

• Grammar: Clauses (independent and dependent)

  • Compare and Contrast Settings example

  • Independent and dependent clause video

  • Clauses worksheets (print and practice)

  • Clauses worksheet

WEEK 2

Week 2

• Essential Question:  How do shared experiences help people adapt to change?

• Reading/Writing Workshop book: "The Day the Rollets Got Their Moxie Back"

• Comprehension Strategy:  Make Predictions

• Comprehension Skill:  Character, Setting, Plot: Compare and Contrast Characters

  • Compare and Contrast Characters practice

• Genre:  Historical Fiction

  • John, Paul, George, and Ben by Lane Smith

  • Scarlet Stockings Spy by Trinka Hakes Noble

  • Katie's Trunk by Ann Turner

  • What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin by Jean Fritz

  • Friends for Freedom: The Story of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass by Susan Slade

• Vocabulary Strategy: Idioms

  • Idiom song

  • Idioms game

  • Idioms practice worksheets

• Close Reading:  Bud, Not Buddy

• Grammar: Complex Sentences

  • Complex Sentences video

  • Examples of Essential and Nonessential Clauses

• Vocabulary:

  • Quizlet

READING

Smarter Balance English Language Arts/Literacy sample items

Reading Comprehension Student Center Activities (parent’s guide)

5th grade reading passages

One page Nonfiction reading (5th grade)

One page Nonfiction reading (4th grade)

North Carolina end of 5th grade reading test (practices reading passages and answering questions)

DECODING

First School Years

• Word Level (decoding and phonics resources, word lists, long vowels, letter patterns, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, compound words, etc.)

• Sentence Level (nouns, verbs, adjectives, punctuation practice)

• Text Level (printable worksheets for practicing reading skills, parent information)

Tips for Teaching Word Recognition (parent information)

Syllabication Activities (activities to do at home using books your child is reading)

Syllable Lessons and Games (video tells you how to divide words and games for you to practice)

Dividing Syllables (phonics word lists)

Poem Pack (poems that focus on a vowel pattern where you can Hear It, Read It, Sound Search, Find the Word, or Print It)

Long Vowels Sounds (printable activities)

Which Word Has the Same Vowel Sound? 

YEAR OF THE BOAR AND JACKIE ROBINSON

Chinese New Year Information

Read About Chinese New Year

All About Chinese New Year

Daily Celebrations

Zodiac Chart

Zodiac Bookmarks 1

Zodiac Bookmarks 2

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY

Read Alouds (various levels)

King, Jr.

• Love Will See You Through (written by his niece)

• Martin Luther King III intro

  • My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King III

• My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Martin Luther King, Jr.: My First Biography

• Happy Birthday Martin Luther King

• Coretta Scott (King) Civil Rights Pioneer

• Martin and Mahalia: His Words, Her Song

Rosa Parks

• Back of the Bus (Rosa Parks Story)

• Rosa's Bus

• National Geographic Kids Rosa Parks

Ruby Bridges

• The Story of Ruby Bridges

• Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges (shorted version)

• Ruby Bridges Goes to School My True Story by Ruby Bridges

Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez

• Dolores Huerta A Hero to Migrant Workers

• Dolores Huerta Labor Activist

• Side by Side Lado a Lado The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez

• Harvesting Hope The Story of Cesar Chavez

Other Activists

• As Fast as Words Could Fly Mason Steele, 13 year-old typist

• A Ride to Remember: A Civil Rights Story (Sharon Langley was the first African-American child to ride a carousel in Baltimore with support of black and white protesters.)

• Malala's Magic Pencil  (Pakistani education activist girl)

• Marching with Aunt Susan: Susan Anthony and the Fight for Women's Suffrage (right to vote)

• Elizabeth Leads the Way Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote

• Brave Girl Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike (Ukrainian Clara Lemlich fought for better working conditions)

How to Draw: MLK, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Washington, DC