In this unit, students explore how plastic pollution is choking the world's oceans. Students learn about the history of plastic, how plastic ends up in the ocean, how plastic in the ocean impacts the ecosystem, and why it's so hard to remove plastic from the ocean once it's there. In the second half of the unit, students explore a variety of solutions for reducing plastic waste and reducing the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean. Students will learn about large policy-based changes that can be made and also explore smaller voluntary actions they can take that will make a difference. Finally, students end the unit doing a research project aimed at educating others about the dangers of plastic and its impact on the environment.

In reading, this unit serves as the foundational informational unit of the year. Students will be challenged to explain the relationship between two or more scientific ideas, determine the meaning of domain-specific words, and understand the reasons and evidence the author uses to support a particular point. Since this is the first informational unit, routines and procedures for active annotation, discussion, and writing about reading should be introduced so that students are able to show understanding of the text and standards in multiple modes.

This vocabulary exercise introduces students to the works of Edgar Allan Poe while also expanding their vocabulary of the words Poe invented. Students will identify meanings, parts of speech, and parts of the word through context clues in the text and using word-reference materials.

In this unit, students explore the power of reading and writing around the world. Over the course of the unit, students will grapple with and explore the power involved with education and reading, and why so many people across the world seek the power to read. Students will also discover that not all people have equal access to education and that in many places receiving a high-quality education is not an easy feat. As a connection to the informational unit on continents, when the setting is clearly defined by the author either in the author's note or directly in the text, make sure to reference it and challenge students to notice features of the culture or country. It is important to note that many of the texts in this unit are fiction; therefore, large generalizations about an entire culture or country should not be made based on the books alone. Students should, however, be challenged to think about the ways in which the author portrays the characters' struggles and desire for education and what we can learn from the characters' experiences. It is our hope that this unit, in connection with other units in the sequence, will begin to open students' eyes to the world around us and the ways in which values are similar and different around the world.

In reading, it is assumed that students are inquisitive consumers of the text and are able to retell stories, including key details, using both the illustrations and words as a guide. Therefore, in this unit students will be pushed further to notice more nuanced central messages, particularly related to the idea of education and reading. Students will also be pushed to notice the words and phrases an author includes to suggest feeling and appeal to the senses. In Unit 3, students were exposed to the skill of compare and contrast by comparing and contrasting similar versions of the same story. In this unit, students will be pushed to the next level by comparing and contrasting more nuanced experiences and messages across multiple stories.

In writing, students will continue to write daily in response to the text. In every piece of writing, students should be expected to correctly answer the question and provide details from the text to support their answer. In this unit, students will begin to learn how to explain their evidence and thinking in a way that shows a deeper understanding of the question or text. By the end of the unit, most students should be able to score a 3 on the Reading Response rubric.

This resource provides an explanation of, sample directions for, and suggested logistics to implement a reflection and revision assignment after students have completed at least one draft of a writing assignment. The assignment requires students to pinpoint problematic issues in the writing and to focus revisions on those. The assignment requires both reflective writing about and actual revision of particular problems in order to develop awareness of their individual struggles with writing and practice solving those problems.

Students will find, evaluate, and select credible sources to create a research product.

Students will understand how to revise and edit their paragraphs, essays, or research papers.

Students will understand how to revise and edit their paragraphs, essays, or research papers.

This unit connects with the third grade Social Studies Unit 1, Ancient Rome. In the Social Studies unit, students study and learn about the values and beliefs of the ancient Roman Empire. In this literature unit, students begin to see the role that myths, gods, and storytelling had in ancient Rome by reading a collection on Roman myths. While reading the myths, students will be challenged to think about how the myths illustrate and show the beliefs and customs of the Roman Empire. Students will also be challenged to think what the myths teach about retaliation and generosity.

In reading and writing, this unit focuses on helping readers solidify their understanding of the connection between recounting stories, determining a central message, and using details to explain how the central message is conveyed. Through multiple readings of the same myths, students will be able to analyze and discover the way in which messages are developed. Students will then be pushed to articulate this understanding both orally and in writing. Rereading the same myth multiple times also supports students fluency and vocabulary development.

This unit is focused on three classic fairy tales: The Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, and Little Red Riding Hood. With each fairy tale, students are first exposed to the classic version, familiarizing themselves with the basic plot and lessons. Then students explore the ways authors change setting, characters, and plot while still maintaining the overall essence of the classic story. Some of the changes the authors make reflect the nuances of different cultures and environments, while others are made for entertainment and humor. Either way, students will explore the idea that different authors can use their own perspective and culture to shape the stories they write or retell. By reading multiple versions of the same classic fairy tale, students will also be able to grapple with the bigger lessons of each tale—the importance of not talking to strangers, how hard work and patience pay off, and the importance of respecting others' property and privacy. Over the course of the unit, students will be challenged to think about how each of these unique themes is portrayed and how in each different version of the fairy tale the characters may learn the lesson in slightly different ways. It is our hope that this unit, in connection with others in the sequence, will help students see the power of storytelling and how simple stories can be changed and improved based on an author's ideas and preferences.

In reading, this unit builds directly onto the reading strategies from unit 2. Students will continue to be pushed to be inquisitive consumers of text, asking and answering questions about characters, setting, and plot as they listen to and engage with a text. Students will also continue to work on retelling stories and including key details. Similar to units 1 and 2, students will continue to think deeply about characters and setting and how the details an author includes in the illustration and text help a reader better understand both. Because most of the focuses for this unit are a repeat of similar focuses from units 1 and 2, students should be pushed to a much higher level of rigor and understanding than in previous units. One new focus of this unit, however, is on comparing and contrasting the adventures and experiences of characters in stories. Students will be asked at multiple points to use information they have learned about key events, characters, and setting to compare and contrast different versions of the classic fairy tale. Students should be pushed beyond just superficial comparisons across the different stories. At the end of the unit, students will also have a chance to retell and act out the different fairy tales, putting their own'artistic' spin on the fairy tale.

In writing, students will continue to write daily in response to the text. In unit 2, students began to write answers that correctly answered the questions using facts. In this unit, students will be pushed to continue to focus on correct answers that may show some level of inferential or critical thinking. Students will also begin to learn how to include details from the text in their answers. At this point in the year, it is not important that students have the best evidence but rather that they are including some details that support the answer to the question in one way or another. Structure and grammar feedback during this unit should be based on assessment data from units 1 and 2.

This resource presents ideas for a senior scrapbook that students can build throughout the year as they complete various assignments, most of which are writing assignments. The resource presents language designed to be given to students that teachers can adjust as they pick and choose from the various assignments they would like to do.

 The lesson is designed to build a classroom transformation theme while integrating computer science SOLs into the core curriculum.  These lessons introduce students to basic algorithms and programming vocabulary they would use every day.  The lessons show how easy it is to integrate computer science with a multidisciplinary approach.  The engaging theme of a snow day allows the students to use real-world situations to learn the necessary standards.  “Snow Day!” is a one-day classroom transformation that integrates all of the content areas with computer science.  Students learn new vocabulary from interaction with prior experiences.  By the middle of first grade, they already know how to retell a story in the correct sequence, plan and write sentences, add and subtract, and cut shapes.  They also already know that snow melts.  They will learn simple computer science vocabulary such as algorithm, loop, and debug. 

This video is part of the Learn and Grow with WHRO TV series. Watch Meghan Dmytriw teach about organizing writing around a central idea with a beginning, middle, and end.

This lesson idea is about storytelling and the African Griots who have done so since ancient times.  Students watch two videos showing Griots telling stories and then are challenged to create their own Griot-style story based on the own experiences. Students incorporate writing and oral speaking skills  with History and Social Sciences, and practice Creativity (5Cs).

This resource is intended as a Summative Extension activity to the resource created by Samantha Gibson entitled "The Fire Next Time." The original source contains a detailed lesson plan that incorporates primary source documents in order to compare and contrast leading figures of the Civil Rights movement. This extension activity is intended to provide a synthesis activity that asks students to consider and explore a modern-day example of social protest and evaluate various approaches to the same issue.
Optional extension activities include a collaborative persuasive presentation that requires research and rhetoric skills to be successful and/or an individual written research paper.

This resource is designed as an end-of-unit choice assessment board for students. Although students are permitted to select from a variety of response options, the teacher can still control what each option includes, thus ensuring that the responses students generate meet the unit objectives.

As-is, this resource focuses on literary elements, compare/contrast, cause-and-effect, literary arguments, and rhetoric/persuasion using Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera" as the paired text. However, this resource is easily adaptable to suit any text and/or instructional focus.

This resource is designed as an end-of-unit choice assessment board for students. Although students are permitted to select from a variety of response options, the teacher can still control what each option includes, thus ensuring that the responses students generate meet the unit objectives.

As-is, this resource focuses on literary elements, compare/contrast, cause-and-effect, literary arguments, and rhetoric/persuasion using Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera" as the paired text. However, this resource is easily adaptable to suit any text and/or instructional focus.

This resource is designed as an end-of-unit choice assessment board for students. Although students are permitted to select from a variety of response options, the teacher can still control what each option includes, thus ensuring that the responses students generate meet the unit objectives.