Module 1 Overview: Poetry, Poets, and Becoming Writers

Guiding Questions and Big Ideas

What makes a poem a poem?

Poetry has characteristics that are unique and distinct from prose.

What inspires writers to write poetry?

Writers draw inspiration from many places, including the work of other writers and their own lives.

Unit 1: Reading and Analyzing Poetry: Love That Dog and Famous Poems

Instructional Focus:

Launch independent reading, vocabulary logs, and collaborative discussion norms.
Read the literary text Love That Dog to analyze what happened and how the main character felt about it.
Closely read famous poems in the back of Love That Dog to determine a theme, to identify the characteristics of poetry, and write a summary of the poem.
Compare poetry to prose using the characteristics of poetry.
Continue reading Love That Dog and analyzing the famous poems for characteristics of poetry.
Prepare for and practice a text-based discussion about where you can see evidence of Jack being inspired by other poetry in his work.
Prepare for and participate in a text-based discussion about how Jack’s feelings toward poetry have changed since the beginning of Love That Dog.

Unit 2: Writing to Inform: What Inspires Writers to Write Poetry?

Instructional Focus:

Finish reading Love That Dog.
Take notes to answer the question: What inspires Jack to write poetry, and where can you see evidence of this in his poetry?
Read biographies about famous poets thinking about what inspired these writers to write poetry, and where you can see evidence of this in their poetry.
Analyze model essay.
Write an informative essay about what inspired a poet to write poetry and where you can see evidence of this in his or her poetry.
Revise and edit work.

Unit 3: Writing to Inform: Overcoming Learning Challenges -Reading

Instructional Focus:

Write original poems.
Revise poems for word and phrase choice, and punctuation for effect.
Analyze model presentation.
Create a poetry presentation.
Choose visuals to support their presentations.
Reading fluency practice.

Module 2 Overview: Animal Defense Mechanisms

Guiding Questions and Big Ideas

How do animals’ bodies and behaviors help them survive?

To protect themselves from predators, animals use different defense mechanisms.

How can writers use knowledge from their research to inform and entertain?

Writers use scientific knowledge and research to inform and entertain.

Unit 1: Building Background Knowledge: Animal Defenses and the Research Process

Instructional Focus:

Building Background Knowledge: What Are Defense Mechanisms, and How Do They Help Animals Survive?
Building Background Knowledge: What Do Researchers Do?
Listening Closely to Paraphrase Information about Animal Defenses
Reading Closely about Animals and Their Defenses
Science Talk: Synthesizing What We Know about the Animal Defense Mechanisms
Listening Closely: Learning about Millipedes and Their Defenses
Reading Closely about Millipedes
Science Talk: Synthesizing What We Know about the Millipede
Setting the Purpose for a Deeper Study of Animal Defense Mechanisms

Unit 2: Using Writing to Inform

Instructional Focus

Reading Scientific Text: Reading Closely about a Chosen Animal
Science Talk: Synthesizing What We Know about Our Researched Animal
Setting a Purpose for Writing: Creating a Rubric for Informative Paragraphs
Writing Informative Texts: Sequencing Ideas and Using Research Notes
Writing Informative Texts: Revising Paragraphs for Organization, Concrete Details

Unit 3: Using Writing to Entertain

Instructional Focus:

Writing Informative Texts: Revising Paragraphs Based on Peer Critique
Introducing the Format: Choose-Your-Own-Adventure
Setting a Purpose for Writing: Understanding the Performance Task
Setting a Purpose for Writing: Creating a Rubric for Narrative Writing
Writing Narrative Texts: Creating a Character Profile
Writing Narrative Texts: Orienting the Reader and Introducing the Characters
Writing Narrative Texts: Including Dialogue and Description
Writing Narrative Texts: Using Transition Words
Writing Narrative Texts: Using Concrete Words and Phrases and Sensory Details
Publishing the Performance Task: Citing Sources and Authors’ Celebration

Module 3 Overview: The American Revolution

Guiding Questions and Big Ideas

How did the American Revolution and the events leading up to it affect the people in the colonies?

-The American Revolution resulted in the United States of America becoming a new country with independence from Britain.

-The American Revolution, like many wars, divided people: brother against brother, mother against daughter, neighbor against neighbor.

-American colonists had different perspectives on fighting for independence from Britain.

Unit 1: Perspectives on the American Revolution: Building Background

Knowledge

Instructional Focus

Read Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak.
Closely read informational texts about the American Revolution to build background knowledge about what happened and the reasons people became either Loyalists or Patriots.
Closely read informational texts about other perspectives on the American Revolution to determine the main idea, analyze the overall structure, and summarize the text.

Unit 2: Perspectives on the American Revolution: Perspectives in

Literature

Instructional Focus

Begin reading Divided Loyalties.
Analyze for character thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Write character analysis paragraphs.
Closely read excerpts of the Declaration of Independence and make connections to the characters in Divided Loyalties.
Prepare for and participate in text-based discussions.
Analyze character thoughts, feelings, and actions to write a first-person narrative.
Correctly use progressive tenses.

Unit 3: Using Writing to Share an Opinion

Instructional Focus:

Read opinion texts, determine the author’s opinion, and explain how the author uses reasons and evidence to support his or her opinion.
Analyze model broadside.
Write and revise broadsides from the Patriot and Loyalist perspectives about whether to support the American Revolution.
Prepare for and participate in a discussion about whether to support the American Revolution.

Module 4 Overview: Responding to Inequality: Ratifying the 19th Amendment

Guiding Questions and Big Ideas

What can we learn from the process of ratifying the 19th Amendment?

In 1920, the U.S. Constitution was amended to give women the right to vote; however, this did not allow African American women to vote. When people take action against inequality, they can cause social change.

How can stories inspire us to take action to contribute to a better world?

Stories can build our awareness, empathy, and understanding of injustice and other problems in the world.

How and why can we encourage and support others to contribute to a better world?

We can encourage others to create a better world by raising awareness, offering ideas, and providing opportunities for them to help.

Unit 1: Building Background Knowledge: Reading about and Analyzing Events in The Hope Chest

Instructional Focus:

Practice reading The Hope Chest fluently and accurately.
Compare artwork inspired by The Hope Chest with details in the text.
Comparing and contrasting firsthand and secondhand accounts of events

Unit 2: Analyzing Characters and How Their Actions Contribute to Theme: Reading and Analyzing The Hope Chest

Instructional Focus:

Determining the meaning of similes, metaphors, and common idioms, adages, and proverbs
Summarizing events in The Hope Chest that show evidence of a theme
Using relative pronouns and relative adverbs
Writing a literary essay about a theme in The Hope Chest.

Unit 3: Call to Action: How Can We Make a Difference?

Instructional Focus:

Researching how children around the world have made a difference
Identifying the reasons and evidence a speaker in a video provides to support particular points
Planning and writing a PSA
Planning and writing a press release