What are we learning? 

Students will analyze how an author uses text structure in his/her writing. Students will compare and contrast reading a text to listening to the text. Students will practice pronoun shifts and correcting pronouns that are vague. Students will research their novel's time period and create a Google Site for their presentation.

What to expect in this unit?

In this unit we will be focusing on historical fiction novels. Students will be conducting research about the historical time period of their novel, and then putting together a presentation to share with the class. Students will need to keep up with their nightly reading according to the reading calendar they are given. 

Why does this unit matter? 

This unit matters because students will explore the meaning of families, why they matter and what makes a strong family. Students will investigate how families have changed throughout time. 

What are we learning?

Students will learn how to identify the author's point of view and purpose of point of view. Students will determine the central idea and details that support the central idea, as well as write objective summaries. Students will determine how a part of the text fits into the whole text. In addition, students will identify claims written in informative texts, and evidence that supports that claim. We will also focus on argumentative writing where students will write strong claims of their own, and research evidence that supports that claim. 

What to expect in this unit?

In this unit we will be focusing on informative texts and discussing the theme of sportsmanship. All the novels in this unit are autobiographies or biographies about an athlete. Students will continue to have calendars that state what they need to read on a nightly basis. Students will also be working on an argumentative essay where they will make a claim and research evidence that supports the claim, as well as come up with reasons that connect the evidence to the claim. This will conclude with a multi paragraph argumentative essay.

Why does this unit matter? 

This unit matters because students will get to explore and research an argumentative topic of their choice that is interesting to them. Students will get to challenge themselves with informational texts and explore new text structures. 

What are we learning?

Students will learn how to identify the author's point of view and why the point of view matters to the reader. Students will identify how key details are introduced, illustrated and elaborated in a text. Students will conduct research to answer a question and draw on several sources. Students will write an informative paper using the research. Students will ensure that pronouns are in the proper case; subjective, objective and possessive. Students will use intensive pronouns in their writing.  

What to expect in this unit?

Students will have a unit 3 novel that they should be reading and annotating on a nightly basis. Students will focus on informative writing and working on a summative paper about a hero of their choice. 

Why does this unit matter? 

This unit matters because students will get to explore and research a hero of their choice that is interesting to them. Students will get to think about author's point of view and different perspectives in texts.

What are we learning?

Students will learn how to write an objective summary using the main points (who, what, when, where, why and how) from a story. Students will determine the central theme (lesson) of a story and how details from the story show the theme. We will also be learning how to find repeated words and phrases in an informational text to determine the central idea, and details that support it. Finally, students will be exploring word choice, and the connotation and denotation of words, as well as figurative language found in texts. 

What to expect in this unit?

Students will be expected to annotate their novels daily. These novels are from the mystery genre. Students will be writing objective summaries over chapters in their novels to show their understanding of their novel. 

Why does this unit matter? 

This unit matters because writing objective summaries builds reading comprehension.  

What are we learning?

Students will learn how to annotate texts to think deeper about what they are reading. Students will cite textual evidence from a text to support their responses. Students will identify the plotline events in a story and how a character changes throughout the plotline. Finally, students will work on narrative writing and using sensory details in their writing to help the reader visualize the events. 

What to expect in this unit?

Students will be expected to annotate their novels daily. Students will be expected to use textual evidence to support their reading responses and explain how a character changes throughout a story or novel. Students will be expected to write a narrative using sensory details. Students will analyze the plotline of their novel.

Why does this unit matter? 

This matters because in Unit 1, we build the foundation of skills we will be using all year long in ELA, as well as other classes. Annotating, citing evidence and exploring the plotline will allow students to think deeper about what they are reading and connections they will make during discusssions. 

What are we learning?

Students will get to know their teachers and classmates through classbuilding and teambuilding activities. 

What to expect in this unit?

Students will learn procedures and expectations for ELA. Students will also learn about the expectations through CHAMPS.

Why does this unit matter? 

This matters because in Unit 0, we will build a safe learning community that fosters creativity and productivity.