Students launch the year by building their close reading skills; they hear stories read aloud, read works in their entirety, and read more challenging excerpts closely. Through stories they consider the challenges students face with access to books and education around the world, and how geography and where one lives in the world affect how one accesses books. 

In Unit 3, students focus more on what it means to be a proficient and independent reader. They continue to read literature about characters who are motivated to learn to read and overcome struggles to do so. Students assess their challenges as readers and identify strategies to overcome those challenges. They write a reading contract in the form of a three-paragraph informative essay, in which they describe two of their learning challenges and some strategies to overcome those challenges, and then create a bookmark outlining the strategies for quick reference when reading.

In this module, students use literacy skills to become experts—people who use reading, writing, listening, and speaking to build and share deep knowledge about a topic. Students begin the module by reading and writing pourquoi narratives to attempt to answer some of their “why” questions about frogs. 

In Unit 2, students research to find out the real answers to their frog questions and write paragraphs to communicate their research. 

In Unit 3, students research “freaky” frogs—frogs that have unusual adaptations that help them to survive in extreme environments throughout the world, in expert groups. They demonstrate their expertise through a Freaky Frog book and trading card to educate students in Grades 2 and 3.

What can we learn from reading literary classics? In this module, students consider the answer to this question through a case study of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. At the beginning of the module, students read an informational text about the author and historical context. As students read chapters of Peter Pan, they consider how each new chapter builds on the events in previous chapters, and make connections between what they have read in Peter Pan and the issues presented in the informational text. They analyze character traits and actions, and compare their point of view to the point of view of the characters. 

Once students have finished reading Peter Pan, they write a book review explaining whether or not they would recommend the story to a friend, and participate in a discussion about their opinions of the book. 

Students finish the module by revising a scene from Peter Pan and creating a presentation explaining why and how they have revised that scene.

This module focuses on the importance of clean freshwater around the world. Students read the text One Well: The Story of Water on Earth and additional informational texts to build background knowledge about freshwater around the world and three water issues: access to water, demands on water, and water pollution. They gather evidence as they research in order to write an opinion essay about the importance of water conservation. 

At the end of the module, students plan and create a video public service announcement to educate people about their chosen water issue and to encourage people to take action with specific recommendations to solve the problem. 

For the performance task, students present a live “launch” of the PSA (public service announcement), which includes a personal reflection on why this issue is important and a brief description of the process of creating a public service announcement.