In this science-based unit, students begin their exploration of animals and animal adaptations. Using next generation science standards as a guide, students explore three main topics: how different animals use their body parts and senses in different ways in order to survive, the ways in which the behavior of different animal parents and offspring help the offspring survive, and the similarities and differences among individual animals of the same kind. This unit is part of a larger progression on understanding animals and the animal kingdom. In kindergarten, students learn about how animals meet their basic needs for survival and how that varies depending on the season. In second grade, students learn about different habitats and how animals in the habitat rely on the environment for survival. Then in third grade, students study animal adaptations and the different ways animals adapt in order to survive, especially when threatened by environmental changes. It is our hope that this unit, in combination with others in the sequence, will help students develop a deeper understanding of the animal kingdom and life science.

This unit includes a mix of read-aloud texts and shared-reading texts. Students will focus on different skills depending on the method in which the text is consumed. During read aloud, students will refine their skills in describing the connection between ideas and pieces of information, figuring out the meaning of unknown words, distinguishing between information provided by the pictures and information in the text, and identifying the reasons an author gives to support points in a text. During shared reading, students will predominately focus on identifying the main topic of a section of a text, retelling key details that match the main topic, and using text features to locate key facts and information. Because the shared reading days are meant to be student driven, not teacher driven, the target tasks are at a more accessible, independent level for students. There are also not a lot of key questions already planned for shared reading days. Questions should be written and spiraled in based on student needs and student reading levels.

In writing, this unit builds on the work students did in unit one. Students will continue to write daily in response to the text, with a focus on correctly answering questions and adding an inference or critical thinking.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of attributes of animals by sorting into sets. The teacher will introduce the vocabulary term, attribute, and encourage students to utilize the vocabulary term when explaining how they classified animals into groups.

Writing and algorithms are a set of words (program in CS terms) that are meant to “accomplish a task as a means of creative expression or scientific exploration.” In this lesson, the student will utilize a block based programming platform (scratch) to animate a story that they have created in previous lessons. While this is a unit with steps to this point, you can also use this as a stand alone. The first 2 lessons are character building and plot building. The third is also a character builder, but is more abstract.

This instructional program prepares students to use artistic and technological foundations to create animated presentations for industry and entertainment. Students will develop basic drawing and design skills, learn the fundamentals and physics movement, the concept of communication to a given audience, and techniques for self-expression through a variety of animated formats. They will explore the careers and requisite skills required by animators in both entertainment and the business world.

This guided reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee” (1849) focuses on developing student understanding of imagery and other figurative language, strengthening reading comprehension, and strengthening expository and persuasive writing skills.

This text is a free resource by Thomas Payne. It provides basic information to first year students. Visit: http://faculty.wartburg.edu/payne/

In this lesson, students explore the importance of albedo (or reflectivity) to penguins and the surfaces they inhabit and learn how penguin colonies may be mapped using satellites.

 This inquiry focuses on the question of whether Antebellum technology made life better overall for people and how certain inventions impacted groups of people differently. Four innovations—the cotton gin, mechanical reaper, steamboat, and steam locomotive—were particularly impactful in the 19th century. These inventions came about quickly as part of the First Industrial Revolution, which was marked by the movement from hand production to machine work. Many scholars view James Hargreaves’ 1760s invention of yarn-spinning machine, the spinning jenny, as the start of the Industrial Revolution. From that point forward, new technologies came along quickly. Beginning in in the 1790s, four inventions, the cotton gin, the mechanical reaper, the steamboat, and the steam locomotive, provided the impetus for rapid economic development for some, while at the same time increasing inequality and suffering for many.   

A Presentational Group Writing in which level 3 students work individually, in pairs or groups to create a digital advertisement for a product of their choice using formal commands and impersonal subjunctive expressions

NASA presents this gallery of images from the Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969.

Participants will receive an overview of strategies and resources aligned to media content created by Blue Ridge Public Media for Appalachian music. The resources developed demonstrate instructional strategies related to music, musicians, instruments, styles, and playing techniques paired with the content created. Instructional resources were developed in collaboration with educators.

This is a quick book that can be used to introduce fractions or be used as a practice tool.  Students will place the correct apple on the page to go with the fraction written on the page.  I usually read the book Apple Fractions, by Jerry Pallotta before doing this actiivity.

Dan Meyer has created many mathematics lessons centered around storytelling, along with a methodology for using these with students. Before you do any of his lessons, please see the explanation at his blog: https://blog.mrmeyer.com/2011/the-three-acts-of-a-mathematical-story/ To see all the lessons in a Google Docs spreadsheet, go to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jXSt_CoDzyDFeJimZxnhgwOVsWkTQEsfqouLWNN
C6Z4/edit#gid=0

The lessons are all CC BY, and you may edit these to fit your own students’ needs. The links from #GoOpenVA go to his own website because the structure of the lessons (including pertinent videos) is integral to the delivery of the lessons. Some lessons are stored as downloadable zip files, and these are noted as part of the link.

Students will use their five senses to describe the three different types of apples using the words from the word bank. Afterwards students will conduct a short survey to find out which apple was liked by most students. The results will be shown by drawing a pictograph.

Solving practical problems involving operations with integers  Mathematics Instructional Plans (MIPs) help teachers align instruction with the 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) by providing examples of how the knowledge, skills and processes found in the SOL and curriculum framework can be presented to students in the classroom. 

Students will be using an algorithm that their peers have created to round numbers. There are three lessons that go together to allow students to create a sequence, have a peer follow the sequence and apply it to rounding a number, then troubleshoot the sequence if steps fail. This is the second lesson to take the algorithm and apply it to see if the sequence correctly helps you round a number to the nearest ten.

This resource provides additional context to the Creative Process strand of the 2020 Music Standards of Learning including sample lesson strategies to adapt components of creative processes to the music classroom. Components of creative processes may include inquiry and questioning, researching, interpreting, generating, testing, discussing ideas and solutions, refining work, and reflecting on the process, product, and performance.