Foundational Skills
Print Awareness: Demonstrate understanding of print concepts (right/left, top/bottom, return sweep, etc.); Recognize features of a sentence; Recognize that sentences are made up of words, separate by spaces; Recognize spoken words are represented by written language; Recognize and name ending punctuation marks.
Phonological Awareness: Phoneme Isolation; Distinguish syllables in spoken words.
Phonics: Short /e/, /g/, /d/
Fluency: Read text with appropriate expression and rate by grouping words together.
Language: Print uppercase and lowercase letters; Write and draw about the text; Use context and illustrations to determine word meaning; Relate words to their opposites
Reader's Workshop
Unit 3: Readers Use Superpowers
Students will return from break and wrap up or revisit lessons learned in this unit. Students should be reminded to focus on the print on the page and to look at each letter/sound to blend as they read. Teachers should encourage students to reread their decodable books to build fluency. Students will also check their understanding by asking and answering questions as they read independently and as they listen during interactive read aloud.
Unit 4: Reading for Information
Topic 1 - Readers Ask Questions and Look Closely to Learn
Students will learn that as they read nonfiction, it is important to always be asking questions and paying close attention to the details in the book (words, pictures, and text features). Students should help create an "Asking Questions" anchor chart with question stems to help them ask questions to solidify new learning about the book's topic in whole group, partnerships, and while reading on their own. Teachers should model pausing and retelling important information and interesting facts they find about the topic and ask students to share the important and interesting facts they notice as well.
Writer's Workshop
Unit 3: Writing for Readers
As students wrap up this unit, they will work on preparing their writing for publication. Students can reread pieces and make sure their stories are clear. They might add or change parts to make it easier to follow. Students can also add to their pictures, use color, or even check that they used all they know about sound symbol relationships while spelling.Unit 4: How-To Books
Topic 1 - Writing How-To Books, Step by Step
Students will begin this unit by choosing something they want to teach others. One suggestion is to make an anchor chart with things the students know how to "do," "make," or "play." Students should be introduced to a variety of How-To books and should understand that they will be writing these new books using similar writing techniques as they did their narrative stories - pick a topic, tell your story across pages, sketch your pictures, and then add your words.
Foundational Skills
Print Awareness: Recognize punctuation and its meaning; Recognize distinguishing features of a sentence; Identify stanzas and line breaks.
Phonological Awareness: phoneme categorization, phoneme blending, and phoneme substitution
Phonics: long i (final -e), long e (final -e), long u (final -e), long a (vowel teams)
Fluency: Read orally to build fluency; Read with speed and good pacing; Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Language: Read and understand contractions; Identify and explain words used in poem; Read words with inflectional endings.
Reader's Workshop
Unit 4: Readers Get to Know Characters
Topic 1: First Things First - Getting to Know Characters
Students will get to know characters by paying close attention to their actions, words, thoughts, and feelings. They will use precise words to describe their characters. Students will also notice changes in a character's feelings, as well as unpredictable actions from the characters. They will reread to make sure they didn't miss any details and to figure out why these changes occurred.
Topic 2: Rereading to Learn Even More About Characters and the Lesson They Learned
Students will read closely to help infer character traits. Students will also learn how to determine lessons that characters learn. They might compare and contrast lessons a character learns in one book with lessons characters learn in other books. Note: Identifying lessons learned is introduced in first grade, but not assessed.
Writer's Workshop
Unit 4: Nonfiction Chapter Books
Topic 1: Writing Teaching Books with Independence
Students will brainstorm nonfiction topics they know a lot about and will plan a teaching book. They will imagine questions their readers might have and write to answer them. Students will study pictures in mentor texts to be able to add more information into their own illustrations. Finally, students will use topic specific vocabulary in their teaching books.
Topic 2: Nonfiction Writers Can Write Chapter Books
Students will learn how authors use a Table of Contents and headings to build an infrastructure for a nonfiction "chapter" book to plan their own "chapters" or subtopics. They will write a chapter by sharing lots of facts about that subtopic. Students will write with great detail, helping their readers learn more about the topic and to understand why the facts written are important.
Foundational Skills
Phonological Awareness: Blend and Segment; Phoneme Substitution
Phonics: Complex Vowel Teams Long /OO/ as in "spoon", Short /oo/ as in "book", and complex vowel /o/ (aw, au, al)
Fluency: Build Automaticity; Read Texts with Fluency
and Purpose
Language:
- Benchmark: Add prefixes and suffixes, Homophones, Contractions with "not"
- Mentor Sentences: Adverbs
Reader's Workshop
Unit 4: Recommitting to Reading
The reading unit is a chance for teachers to reflect on and respond to the needs of students. Teachers will design lessons on a variety of topics in order to refocus and recommit students to the rigorous reading work that will take place second semester. Teachers should reference the curriculum documents for ideas on skills to revisit.
Unit 5: Getting to Know Characters in Series Book Clubs
Topic 1: Understanding Characters and Their Traits
In this first topic, students will study the characters in their series books. Students will pay close attention to what their characters say, do, think, and feel. They will also think about the character's motives or the WHY behind their actions or words. Students will then use all these observations to describe their characters' physical and personality traits.
Writer's Workshop
Unit 4: Recommitting to Writing & Cursive Handwriting
The writing unit is a chance for teachers to reflect on and respond to the writing needs of students. Teachers will design lessons on a variety of topics in order to refocus and recommit students to the writing that will take place second semester. Teachers should reference the curriculum documents for ideas on skills to revisit.
Students will also learn basic cursive letter formation.
Unit 5: Writing About Reading
Topic 1: Letter Writing - A Glorious Tradition
In this first topic of the opinion letter writing unit, students will plan and write a short letter to a friend or family member sharing their opinions about a favorite picture book. Students will share opinions about favorite characters, events, and even pictures in the book using reasons to support those opinions. They will write an introduction with their audience in mind and a conclusion to wrap up this shorter letter. Students are not expected to use examples and evidence in this first piece.
Each reading and writing unit has both a pre and post assessment.
Reading
The new Option B pre-assessment for Unit 3 is now available, and the post-assessment will be soon. Option B takes the questions from an all long-answer format to formats used in NWEA and MAP testing. Option B also allows for an electronic function that self-grades and gives students immediate feedback. You can find the Option B pre and post-tests:
- On Schoology in Coaches Corner→in the grade level folder→in the ELA folder→in the Reading Units of Study folder→in the Unit 3 folder.
The original pre and post-tests are also an option. Our curriculum teams have revised the TCRWP (spirals) pre and post assessments to match our Missouri Priority Standards. Do not use the pre and post assessments on Heinemann. You can find our revised assessments in two places:
- On Schoology in Coaches Corner→in the grade level folder→in the ELA folder→in the Reading Units of Study folder→in the Unit 3 folder.
- Linked in the curriculum by unit
Writing
On-Demands and student materials can be found on Schoology in Coaches Corner→in the grade level folder→in the ELA folder→in the Writing Units of Study folder.
MO LEAP Blocks is a resource from the state that also has assessments created for ELA
Reader's Workshop
Unit 3: Character Studies. In this quarter-long unit, students start Topic One by Getting to Know Characters as a Friend. Students learn to think about getting to know their characters as they would a new friend, empathizing with and relating to them as they read. They will begin to keep a close eye on what the character says and does, noticing patterns, determining traits, and using their understanding of a character to make informed predictions. In Topic Two Following a Character’s Journey students will continue to focus on characters but will do the rest of this unit's work in book clubs. In this topic students learn the habits and work of book clubs. Students will come to see their book clubs as a source of added support--developing and refining ideas in the company of others.
The priority standards in this Literature unit focus on:
- Reading, inferring, and drawing conclusions using fiction texts including poetry and drama to
- Summarize and sequence the events/plot and explain how past events impact future events
- Describe the personality traits of characters from their thoughts, words, and actions
- Describe the interaction of characters, including relationships and how they change
- Explain cause and effect relationships
- Distinguish your own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters
Writer's Workshop
Unit 3: Changing the World. This quarter-long unit focuses on using students' opinions to persuade others for good. In this unit, students learn to introduce topics, support these by listing reasons, using transition words to connect the various parts of their pieces and to conclude. This unit moves writers from writing opinion speeches to forming cause groups to support various causes. Across the unit, there is a focus on considering the audience and considering word choice in light of the audience. In Topic 1 Launching Work on Persuasive Speeches, students will first work together on a shared topic, writing a persuasive speech and then write many more speeches in their notebooks. Allowing the class time to write and revise together through shared writing is a wonderful way to rally students around the idea of writing to make change.
The priority standards in this Opinion Writing unit focus on:
- Writing opinion texts that
- Introduce a topic or text being studied, using connected sentences.
- State an opinion or establish a position and provide reasons for the opinion/position
- Use specific and accurate words that are related to the topic, audience, and purpose.
- Use transitions to connect opinion and reason.
- Provide clear evidence of a beginning, middle, and concluding statement or paragraph.
3rd Grade Word and Language Study
Word and Language Study Scope and Sequence
Word and Language Study Standards and Resources
Word and Language Study Daily/Weekly Routines
Reader's Workshop
Unit 3: Reading History. This quarter-long unit continues the study of events leading up to the American Revolution that students focused on in social studies second quarter. This unit also complements the Bringing History to Life writing unit. The expectation is that teachers will start this unit a few days before starting the corresponding writing unit, in order to immerse students in research during the reading workshop. Throughout this unit of study, students will read and engage in quick forms of research about topics and make connections between historical events. Furthermore, students will expand their note taking skills to generate their own thinking in the content area by learning how to summarize, compare and contrast, and analyze quotations
The priority standards in this Informational Nonfiction unit are:
- Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about persuasive text
- Use evidence from the text to explain the author’s purpose; and support the analysis.
- Explain how an author uses language to present information to influence what the reader thinks or does.
- Use multiple text features to locate information and gain an overview of the contents of the text
- Read, infer and draw conclusions using text structures.
- Explain explicit and implicit relationships among ideas in texts
Writer's Workshop
Unit 3: Bringing History to Life. In this quarter-long informational writing unit, students will review what they know about writing a basic, boxes-and-bullets information text, and then they’ll draw on this to write two information chapters, starting with one on the more accessible and general topic, “All About the American Revolution” and then progressing to one on a more focused topic. In Topic One Information Books, students will focus on their Overview of the American Revolution. As they write these overviews, students will learn more sophisticated ways to organize their writing, such as including headings and subheadings, and including information that is rich, detailed, and concrete.
The priority standards in this Information Writing unit focus on:
- Writing information texts that:
- Introduce a topic in an introductory paragraph
- Develop the topic into supporting paragraphs from sources, using topic sentences with facts, details, examples, and quotations
- Use specific, relevant, and accurate words that are suited to the topic, audience, and purpose
- Contain information using student’s original language except when using direct quotations from a source
- Use transitions to connect categories of information
- Use text structures when useful
- Create a concluding paragraph related to the information
- Applying a research process is also a priority standard.
4th Grade Word and Language Study
Don't forget about the Word and Language Study documents available to use for planning and instruction. These are linked here and also in Schoology in Coaches Corner→in the 4th grade folder→in the Curriculum Planning Documents folder→in the ELA Documents folder.
Word and Language Study Scope and Sequence
Word and Language Study Standards and Resources
Word and Language Study Daily/Weekly Routines
Reader's Workshop
Unit 3: Argument and Advocacy: Researching Debatable Issues. In this quarter-long unit students continue to do ambitious reading work across multiple points of view on issues, comparing ideas, information, and perspectives. Students analyze each of these positions and ultimately form their own thoughtful viewpoint on an issue.
In Topic One Launching into Investigating Issues students begin with a one-day argument intensive in which they read and analyze a variety of arguments. With this experience in mind, students will then work in research clubs, each club studying a debatable, current issue. (Should we ban or support zoos? Are extreme sports worth the risks?)
The priority standards in this Informational Nonfiction unit are:
- Read, infer and draw conclusions using literary techniques
- Evaluate if the author’s purpose was achieved, identify reasons for the decision, and provide evidence to support the claim
- Using reasoning to determine the logic of an author's conclusion, providing text evidence
- Read, infer and draw conclusions using text structures
- Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
Writer's Workshop
Unit 3: The Research-Based Argument Essay. Before diving into this quarter-long Opinion Writing unit, teachers can spend the first week re-activating students as writers by doing quick writes and focusing on writing stamina. In Topic One Establishing and Supporting Positions students will explore the issue of whether chocolate milk should be served in schools or not. Students will work to develop a solid argument, learning how to research both sides of the issue rather than making a snap judgment. Students will study both print and digital texts to understand differing perspectives. They will then draft letters to the principal, based on evidence and data from sources that are both paraphrased and quoted.
The priority standards in this Opinion Writing unit focus on:
- Writing opinion texts that
- introduce a topic, using an introductory paragraph that clearly supports the writer's purpose
- State an opinion and provide relevant reasons for the opinion supported by multiple facts and details
- Use specific and accurate words that are related to the topic, audience, and purpose
- Contain information using student’s original language except when using direct quotations from a source
- Reference the name of the author(s) or name of the source used for details or facts included in the text
- Use transition to connect opinion and reason
- Organize the supporting details/reasons into introductory, supporting and concluding paragraph
5th Grade Word and Language Study
Don't forget about the Word and Language Study documents available to use for planning and instruction. These are linked here and also in Schoology in Coaches Corner→in the 5th grade folder→in the Curriculum Planning Documents folder→in the ELA Documents folder.
Word and Language Study Scope and Sequence
Word and Language Study Standards and Resources
Word and Language Study Daily/Weekly Routines