This video is part of the Learn and Grow with WHRO TV series. Watch Caroline Doughty teach about long and short vowel sounds.

In this culminating unit of fifth grade, students read the classic text A Wrinkle in Time. Over the course of the novel, students explore the nuances of good versus evil and how ultimately unconditional love can overpower darkness and hate. Students will also experience the power of believing in oneself and trusting those around you, by watching the main character's self-confidence evolve over the course of the novel. This novel is the first science fiction novel that students are exposed to over the course of the curriculum. Exposing students to science fiction is important for not only building engagement and reaching a variety of readers, but also for exploring common themes across multiple genres. It is our hope that this novel, in connection with others in the sequence, empowers students to believe in themselves and the power of love and kindness. It is also our hope that this unit inspires students to read and engage with books from a wide range of genres.

As noted above, A Wrinkle in Time is the first science fiction novel that students read and analyze together. Therefore, over the course of the novel, students will be pushed to notice and analyze different genre features. In particular, the multiple settings are integral for both the development of plot and the suspense and intrigue common in science fiction. As a result, students will have multiple opportunities to compare and contrast the different settings. In this unit, students will also spend a lot of time analyzing and noticing author's craft, particularly the use of sentence structure and syntax as a way to develop tone and emotion. Paired with the graphic novel version of the text, students will also compare and contrast the way Madeleine L'Engle uses description and voice to develop a scene versus how the graphic novel develops a scene. Since this is the culminating unit of the year, students will also review characterization, theme, using context clues to figure out the meaning of words, and plot.

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You are an expert at many aspects of your life. Maybe you bake the best chocolate chip cookies, or know how to hit a homerun in baseball. Perhaps you wrap beautiful presents or do amazing cartwheels or front flips. You will choose a task that you are very familiar with and write step-by-step instructions for someone who has never performed that task. ** This performance assessment was developed by a collaborative team of teachers and division staff from Middlesex, Poquoson, and West Point school divisions.

This assessment fulfills the requirements for a VAAP local alternative assessment for writing 5, reporting category editing. 

This writing graphic organizer is a tool that will assist students to organize their thoughts and ideas in a visual way as they create an expository essay.   It can be used to structure any writing prompt activity by helping the student to break the writing activity into smaller manageable parts.  The graphic organizer is designed to focus attention on what to write in an expository essay and assists with developing brainstorming, creative thinking, critical thinking, reflection, and planning skills.

Writing Website: Becoming Your Own Best Writing Critic. One year I was given a classroom of 180 learners. I couldn't fathom how I would give meaningful feedback in a timely fashion for these learners about their writing. In frustration I asked them how to solve the problem. My learners solved the problem and helped me craft this process I am sharing with you. Feel free to modernize and make it better but always share as you never know that one staff or student learner you may help in providing your solution.

Writing Website: Becoming Your Own Best Writing Critic. One year I was given a classroom of 180 learners. I couldn't fathom how I would give meaningful feedback in a timely fashion for these learners about their writing. In frustration I asked them how to solve the problem. My learners solved the problem and helped me craft this process I am sharing with you. Feel free to modernize and make it better but always share as you never know that one staff or student learner you may help in providing your solution.

This is a writing prompt choice board intended to be used in a writing center or station. In my classroom we typically use one choice board per week. Students choose up to 4 items to complete for the week. I do 4 items to give students time to finish incomplete work on Fridays or to work on final drafts. You can make the rules for your classroom to best suit your teaching style and your student's needs.

The choice board includes 8 prompts and one Student Choice square based on Computing Systems for first grade.

Please feel free to make a copy of the choice board and edit it to meet your specifications.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Andrew Sytsma teach about how to write a thesis statement and organize supporting details.

English Instructional Plan – Writing and Revising a Response to Literature.  The student will write in a variety of forms, to include narrative, expository, persuasive, and reflective, with an emphasis on narrative and reflective writing.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Andrew Sytsma teach about methods for comparing and contrasting.

In this unit, students continue to explore the characteristics of chapter books by reading and engaging with the beginning chapter book series Zapato Power. Building off of what students learned in Unit 2, Pinky and Rex, students will explore what it means for two people to be friends and how friends are able to help each other by examining the somewhat unusual friendship between Freddie and Mr. Vaslov, an older man who lives and works in Freddie's apartment building. Over the course of the unit students will also be challenged to think about what it means to be a superhero, and the differences between using'super' powers and brain power to solve problems. It is important to note that these books are part of a beginning chapter book series; therefore, there are aspects of the plot that are less developed or not as powerful as other books that students read in the progression. The chapter book series does, however, introduce students to a male Hispanic protagonist, something that is often missing from children's literature, and helps students explore similar themes and topics from other units with texts that are accessible. It is our hope that this unit, in connection with other units from the sequence, will set students up for success in reading and understanding longer chapter books.

This unit should be done predominately as shared or independent reading; therefore, this unit gives students a chance to practice the reading skills they have developed in previous units. Similar to with Pinky and Rex, students will be challenged to think about how authors develop characters over the course of a single text and how that understanding builds as they read more books in a series about the same characters. Particularly, students will focus on character motivation and what motivates both of the main characters, Freddie and Mr. Vaslov. Students will also begin to notice the different types of descriptive language authors include, specifically figurative language, and how figurative language helps a reader better understand characters and how they are feeling. Finally, students will begin to notice how chapter titles are a clue for what is important in a chapter and can be used to guide retells and summaries of the key events within a chapter.