English Language Arts

Reading

• Practice choosing “just right” independent books
• Set reading goals
• Identify strategies to support inferencing

• Revisit and extend on critical literacy framework
• Complete iReady fall Diagnostic assessment

Writing

• Set up reading response journals
• Compose student letters of introduction to teachers
• Compose response to summer reading
• Complete Common Writing Assessment
• Vocabulary: Review vocabulary strategies
• Grammar: Review parts of speech

Speaking & Listening

• Establish roles and responsibilities for whole group discussions and self-evaluate

Examples of Texts

• Independent reading books from library

Reading

• Review Notice and Note strategies for text annotation
• Gather and cite textual evidence to support interpretation of a text
• Determine the main idea by weighing important story events
• Analyze how the story’s setting contributes to the conflict

Writing

• Develop character through description or dialogue or write a story from a different character’s point of view
• Vocabulary: Use context clues to find word meaning
• Grammar: Review parts of a sentence

Speaking & Listening

• Pose effective discussion questions

Examples of Texts

• “The Low Cuts Strike Again” by Jason Reynolds
• “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut
• “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl
• “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker

Reading

• Look for repetitions and patterns
• Gather and cite textual evidence to support interpretation of a text
• Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters

Writing

• Develop an effective claim/thesis statement
• Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence from the text
• Compose analytical essay on point of view
• Vocabulary: Identify figurative language
• Grammar: Identify phrases and clauses

Speaking & Listening

• Create focus questions about literary elements (e.g. point of view)
• Elaborate and reflect on the comments and ideas of others

Examples of Texts

• Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
• When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
• The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
• Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt
• Related nonfiction (short print and digital texts)

Reading

• Identify audience and purpose
• Look for repetitions and patterns
• Gather and cite textual evidence to support interpretation of a text
• Determine theme by analyzing how particular elements of a text interact (e.g. plot, setting, theme)
• Complete iReady winter Diagnostic assessment

Writing

• Develop an effective claim/thesis statement
• Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence from the text
• Compose analytical paragraph on theme
• Complete One-Pager project for selected text
• Vocabulary: Identify academic power verbs
• Grammar: Identify simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences

Speaking & Listening

• Establish roles and responsibilities for book club groups and self-evaluate participation in groups

Examples of Texts

• The Brave by James Bird
• Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
• We Were Liars by E. Lockheart
• Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine

• Related fiction and nonfiction (short print and digital texts)

Reading

• Identify and understand the purpose of various poetic devices (e.g. alliteration, simile/metaphor, hyperbole)
• Gather and cite textual evidence to support interpretation of a poem
• Determine how the structure of a poem relates to its meaning

Writing

• Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant textual evidence
• Participate in slam poetry presentation
• Compose analytical essay on poetic devices or poetic structure
• Vocabulary: Identify prefixes/suffixes, Greek and Latin roots
• Grammar: Practice with phrases and clauses (appropriate placement, avoiding misplaced and dangling modifiers)

Speaking & Listening

• Create and respond to  focus questions about literary elements (e.g. point of view)
• Elaborate on ideas in discussion using multiple sources of textual evidence

Examples of Texts

• “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gordon
• “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
• “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes
• “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
• Various video examples of slam poetry

Reading

• Determine the theme or central idea of a text
• Analyze the development of a theme over the course of a text
• Use secondary historical sources to support understanding of a text’s theme
• Summarize key ideas and details from a text

Writing

• Develop an effective claim/thesis statement
• Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence from multiple sources
• Compose analytical essay on theme

• Vocabulary: Identify cognates and multidisciplinary tier 2 vocabulary
• Grammar: Practice with punctuation (use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives, clauses, and items in a series)

Speaking & Listening

• Present an oral argument incorporating textual evidence and/or information
• Engage in class discussion using academic language
• Respectfully disagree with a peer

Examples of Texts

• The Land by Mildred Taylor
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
• Leon’s Story by Leon Walter Tillage
• Various supplemental nonfiction texts

Reading

• Evaluate progress towards reading goals and identify strengths/future areas for growth
• Gather and cite textual evidence from multiple sources to support interpretation of a text
• Apply strategies for making inferences about texts
• iReady spring Diagnostic assessment

Writing

• Evaluate progress towards writing goals and identify strengths/future areas for growth
• Complete multimodal Year-in-Review project
• Vocabulary: Review vocabulary strategies
• Grammar: Practice with sentence fluency

Speaking & Listening

• Elaborate and reflect on the comments and ideas of others
• Acknowledge and respond to multiple perspectives

Examples of Texts

• Independent reading books from library
• Related fiction and nonfiction (short print and digital texts)