This unit serves as a foundation for understanding the way in which the American government was formed and the way it is structured. The unit has three main sections. In the first section, students learn about the functions of government, the three main branches of government, and how the branches work together to meet the ever-changing needs of our country. In this section students will be challenged to think about how government is useful to its citizens and about the key powers of each branch. In the second section, students explore elections and how people become elected officials. Students also explore the women's suffrage movement, why women couldn't vote before 1920, and what changes brought about women's suffrage in the United States. Finally, in the third section, students read biographies of a few courageous individuals who overcame racism, sexism, and hardships to prove that they deserved a spot in government and that they would do whatever it takes to fight for and push for change. During this final section, students will be challenged to think about how the actions of others can inspire us to drive for change, especially in the current political climate.

This unit expands on the work done in units 1 and 2 to build reading skills. Students will continue to develop their skills as critical consumers of a text by annotating for main idea and details that support the main idea of a text, summarizing sections of a text, explaining the connection between ideas and concepts, interpreting information presented through different text features, and describing the structure of different paragraphs. In this unit students will also be challenged to think about how an author uses evidence and reasoning to support particular points or ideas in a text. They will also be challenged to integrate information from one text with information they learn in another text about the same topic.

This is an instructional strategy that has students work in small groups to construct a "honeycomb" that analyzes a text's structure. Students are given a set of ten honeycomb cards connected to their text and then must work together to assemble the honeycomb by ensuring that all connecting cards can be logically connected through careful analysis of the text. If they cannot successfully argue the connection between literary elements, they must reorganize the honeycomb until all the pieces work together seamlessly. This is a learning strategy that works well during a text unit (as opposed to before or after the unit) and is designed to help students understand the intentionality of a text's structure. It can be paired with any text, but I have provided a sample card set for "Frankenstein" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in this resource.

This is an instructional strategy that has students work in small groups to construct a "honeycomb" that analyzes a text's structure. Students are given a set of ten honeycomb cards connected to their text and then must work together to assemble the honeycomb by ensuring that all connecting cards can be logically connected through careful analysis of the text. If they cannot successfully argue the connection between literary elements, they must reorganize the honeycomb until all the pieces work together seamlessly. This is a learning strategy that works well during a text unit (as opposed to before or after the unit) and is designed to help students understand the intentionality of a text's structure. It can be paired with any text, but I have provided a sample card set for "Frankenstein" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in this resource.

This is an instructional strategy that has students work in small groups to construct a "honeycomb" that analyzes a text's structure. Students are given a set of ten honeycomb cards connected to their text and then must work together to assemble the honeycomb by ensuring that all connecting cards can be logically connected through careful analysis of the text. If they cannot successfully argue the connection between literary elements, they must reorganize the honeycomb until all the pieces work together seamlessly. This is a learning strategy that works well during a text unit (as opposed to before or after the unit) and is designed to help students understand the intentionality of a text's structure. It can be paired with any text, but I have provided a sample card set for "Frankenstein" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in this resource.

This unit serves as a launch to fifth grade literature. By reading the core text, Seedfolks, students will explore what it means to be part of a community and how the actions of one person can positively impact an entire community. Students will grapple with how being part of a community can help a person change and evolve as they discover new things about themselves. Students will also wrestle with how prejudice and racism impact the way people treat each other and the ways in which both can influence an entire community. It is our hope that this unit helps establish a strong classroom community and that the characters in Seedfolks can serve as a model for how people from all walks of life can come together to be part of a strong, productive community.

The text Seedfolks was chosen not only because of its portrayal of the power of community, but also because of the unique structure of the text. Each chapter is told from a different character's point of view and shows how as the garden grows, the character's hearts grow bigger and their worldview and compassion grow. The structure of the text allows for students to begin exploring two key fifth grade standards, comparing and contrasting two or more characters and describing how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described. Since this is the first unit of the year, an underlying focus of the unit should also be on establishing expectations for annotation, discussion, and vocabulary.

In this unit, students build a deeper understanding, appreciation, and respect for the wide variety of religions found in the world by reading two core texts: What Is Religion? and One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship. In today's society, illiteracy regarding religion is widespread and fuels prejudice and bullying. The negative impacts of religious illiteracy and intolerance can be minimized by teaching religion in a non-devotional, academic perspective. Therefore, this unit challenges students to build a broader awareness and understanding of religion by exposing students to a diversity of religious views and educating students about some of the most common religions. It is important to note that this unit is not intended to promote the acceptance of one particular religion or serve as a place to practice religion. Instead, it is our goal that this unit will help students better understand the differences and similarities among the religions and cultures of their classmates, and begin to appreciate and respect differences in religion.

As readers, this unit challenges students to synthesize information across two texts to build a deeper understanding of a topic. Students will analyze how authors support points, what structures they include to emphasize key ideas, and how different texts provide different perspectives and information about similar topics.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Jadah Jones teach about cause and effect.