Students will watch a PBS CS video and read an article about early computer science heros.  Next, they will take a quick 9 question quiz.  This is the first part of three total lessons in the unit. There is also a fourth part, which is an interactive match-up of all the heros and their inventions compbined from all three parts.  When all three parts and the match-up are complete, my students type one paragraph that is shared in a collaborative presentation we design together in class to highlight how these CS Heros and their inventions have helped Virginia advance and grow in technology commerce as well as contribute to the global economy.  Students make one slide with their paragraph and another with images of Virginia-based companys, technological discoveries, and/or computer scientists.  Once slides are shared to me, I add them to the presentation and we upload the presentation to our Google Classroom and review them over the upcoming weeks, a few slides shared each day, until all students have presented.

Students will watch a PBS CS video and read an article about early computer science heros.  Next, they will take a quick 9 question quiz.  This is the second part of three total lessons in the unit. There is also a fourth part, which is an interactive match-up of all the heros and their inventions combined from all three parts.  When all three parts and the match-ups are complete, my students type one paragraph that is shared in a collaborative presentation we design together in class to highlight how these CS Heros and their inventions have helped Virginia advance and grow in technology commerce as well as contribute to the global economy.  Students make one slide with their paragraph and another with images of Virginia-based companys, technological discoveries, and/or computer scientists.  Once slides are shared to me, I add them to the presentation and we upload the presentation to our Google Classroom and review them over the upcoming weeks, a few slides shared each day, until all students have presented.

Students will watch a PBS CS video and read an article about early computer science heros.  Next, they will take a quick 9 question quiz.  This is the third part of three total lessons in the unit. There is also a fourth part, which is an interactive match-up of all the heros and their inventions combined from all three parts.  When all three parts and the match-up are complete, my students type one paragraph that is shared in a collaborative presentation we design together in class to highlight how these CS Heros and their inventions have helped Virginia advance and grow in technology commerce as well as contribute to the global economy.  Students make one slide with their paragraph and another with images of Virginia-based companys, technological discoveries, and/or computer scientists.  Once slides are shared to me, I add them to the presentation and we upload the presentation to our Google Classroom and review them over the upcoming weeks, a few slides shared each day, until all students have presented.

In this unit students will explore the difficulties of having a learning disability and how a learning disability influences the way a person feels about themselves by reading the core text, The Wild Book. Throughout the unit students will be challenged to think about multiple thematic topics—believing in ourselves, accepting differences, persevering through challenges, and trusting in family during difficult times. Exploring the themes will allow students to develop a deeper appreciation for people's unique differences and struggles and learn to accept everyone for their strengths. It is our goal that this unit, combined with others in the curriculum, will help students see the world as a diverse place, not just in terms of race but also in terms of abilities, and that no matter what, everyone can be successful.

The text, The Wild Book, was chosen not only for its powerful themes but because Margarita Engle, the award-winning Latina author, uses verse to bring to life a difficult historical period in Cuba. The book tells the story of Margarita Engle's grandmother who grew up in Cuba during a time of lawlessness. Margarita Engle tells her grandmother's story in a way that helps readers build empathy and understanding of the hardships our ancestors may have faced. Simultaneously, students also see the power of poetry and its influence on Cuban culture in the early 20th century. Seeing that despite the hardships the country faced, it was also a place of artistic beauty.

This unit builds on previous units in which students have learned the features of poetry; however, in this unit students begin to see poetry as not just stand-alone poems but as an art form in which a poet can express himself or herself freely. When discussing and writing about poetry, students should be able to refer to the specific structural elements of a poem and explain how the elements enrich the text. This unit also challenges students to deeply analyze how authors develop theme within individual poems and also across a longer work. Students will analyze how characters are developed, how word choice and imagery are used to bring power and meaning to different verse, and how the author uses varying experiences to reveal theme. Doing deep text analysis of the poems on an individual level and also on a more broad level will help students understand the power of the various themes and how the author develops them.

Solving practical problems involving perimeter and area Mathematics Instructional Plans (MIPs) help teachers align instruction with the 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.

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.

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. 

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 resource provides a rubric written for middle school students to self-assess their expository writing. Teachers may also use it for assessment. In this remix, the parts of an expository essay are outlined.

Remixed from Clarity Innovations' "Persuasive Writing Rubric--High School" available here: https://www.oercommons.org/authoring/22756-persuasive-writing-rubric-high-school.

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.