Unit 2: My Senses and Me

Unit Overview: Each unit overview provides a description of the content knowledge students will gain through learning and applying literacy skills while engaging with texts. Additional information in the Resources section. 

          In Kindergarten Unit 2, students will gain an understanding of the five senses and how those senses help them understand and navigate their world. Students will engage with texts by identifying the main topic and key details. Pre-K students, with support, were provided a main topic and then asked to identify the key details in a text in order to support comprehension. In planning, teachers should select the most high leverage words for their students. In Kindergarten, students will identify both the main idea and key details of a text with continued support. Students can develop an understanding of their five senses through analysis of and engagement with a variety of texts. In Unit 2, all foundational skills are prioritized as students develop phonological and phonemic awareness, as well as engage in decoding, fluency, and phonics in order to develop letter/sound correspondence. 

  In order to promote learning for all students, practices have been incorporated into the day to day lesson design. For English Language Learners, sentence frames will promote and support language acquisition. Graphic organizers and vocabulary cards will provide access to grade level texts in order to support students with Individualized Education Plans. As part of the district’s initiative to promote equity, we will cultivate students who understand themselves and those around them through a critical examination of the five senses, focusing on people’s differing access to and experiences with their senses. Through writing and illustration, students work independently to create explanatory texts about their “super sense” and what that sense allows them to do. This unit may include texts from Wit and Wisdom and/or ReadyGen that are aligned with the content and priority standards.

As designed the unit is paced for 40-45 days. Teachers will use additional time in the quarter for reteaching, reviewing or enrichment activities aligned to the unit’s goals. Additional times may be used to develop the performance tasks and allow for district based assessments.

• Big Idea: My senses help me navigate my world.

• Essential Questions: 

• How do my senses help me experience the world around me? 

• How do you experience the world when you are differently-abled? 

• *Be reminded that some members of our student population do not have access to all five of the senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell.)