Unit 1 Rationale:

Our first unit focuses on personal narratives. The students will be reading 5 different personal narratives and they will be writing everyday to develop their writing skills.  They will be writing a personal narrative of their own. 

Unit 2 Rationale:

Our second unit focuses on the Empires in the Middle Ages and covers the history of the Middle Ages in Europe. The Reader for this unit includes complex text rich in vocabulary.  The writing lessons will review the stages of the writing process and engage in an extended writing project. In this unit they will also  paraphrase information from a text; assess information to form an opinion; and draft a persuasive paragraph.  

Unit 3 Rationale:

Our third unit focuses on poetry. A key aspect of the Poetry unit is encouraging and equipping students to write original poems. The Poet’s Journal has been designed to reinforce the unit’s integration of reading and writing poetry. The journal resembles a writer’s notebook. By synthesizing reading materials, comprehension activities, and writing components, the Poet’s Journal indicates the extent to which reading, writing, and understanding poems are inherently connected. 

Unit 4 Rationale:

Our fourth unit is a 10-day ELA Quest. Quests are narrative-driven units that immerse students in close reading adventures. Through them, students read complex literary and informational texts and consistently demonstrate their ability to find evidence and use it appropriately. Over the course of the Quest, students write routinely in opinion, informational, and narrative modes, adjusting style for the task and audience indicated. 

Unit 5 Rationale:

Our fifth unit focuses on the composition of the earth and the forces that change Earth’s surface. The Reader for this unit includes complex text rich in vocabulary. In the writing lessons, students will review the stages of the writing process and engage in several short writing projects. 

Unit 6 Rationale:

Our sixth unit focuses on various vignettes from House on Mango Street. Each Writer’s Journal has been designed to serves as both student reader and activity pages in one place. A key objective of the unit is teaching students to write narrative prose. Students will see that reading, writing, and understanding literature are inherently connected. 

Unit 7 Rationale:

Our seventh unit focuses on important events and people that led to the colonists’ decision to declare independence from the British government. In the writing lessons, students will review the stages of the writing process and engage in an extended writing project. In this unit, students will develop of a five-paragraph cause and effect essay. 

Unit 8 Rationale:

Our eighth unit focuses on the abridged version of the original novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Treasure Island chronicles the adventures of the young narrator, Jim Hawkins, who discovers a treasure map when an old pirate stays at his family’s inn. In the writing lessons, students will engage in an extended writing project. They will begin by drafting a character sketch and then will write, publish, and share an original adventure story.