Have you ever wondered about the first people who lived on our continent? How did they get here? It is believed by many historians that thousands of years ago, hunters following herds of animals like woolly mammoths and bison migrated (or moved) to the Americas on foot from Asia. This belief assumes that they crossed over a frozen land bridge caused by the Ice Age.

You, your classmates, and your community are diverse whether you realize it or not. You probably come from different heritages, have differing religious beliefs, and have different family backgrounds. This is no different than both the American Indians already living in America, as well as the first colonists who came here. How did so many nationalities, cultural backgrounds, ethnic origins, and religious beliefs all end up in one country? This unit will guide you to understand how European, American Indian, Asian, and African people all came to live together in the Western Hemisphere.

EL Education created these K-5 rubrics based on an analysis of the grade-level demands of the CCSS, rubrics used by PARCC and Smarter Balanced, and EL Education's own professional expertise (including attention to the Writing for Understanding framework). The downloads for grades 3-5 includes Writing Rubrics, Informal Checklists, and the Phonics and Word Recognition Checklist.

In this lesson, students independently write a paragraph about Esperanza's reaction to Miguel losing his job (RL.5.1, RL.5.3, W.5.2, W.5.4).
Students then participate in their first peer critique during Work Time B. Consider any additional guidelines to establish for this routine, as it will be returned to throughout the year. Following this peer critique, students revise their literary essays based on peer feedback (W.5.5). Peer feedback is focused on the criteria on the Character Reaction Paragraph anchor chart.
If time permits, consider allowing more time for peer review focused on common issues students may need more support with.
Because the content of "Los Duraznos" is centered around discrimination, students revisit Article 2 of the UDHR at the end of the lesson.
In this lesson, the habit of character focus is on working to become an ethical person. The characteristics that students are reminded of specifically are respect, empathy, and compassion as they critique one another's work and share stories/reflections about discrimination.
The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to human rights. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it.

In this lesson, students plan and write the conclusion paragraph of their literary essays (RL.5.3, W.5.2a, W.5.2e, W.5.4, W.5.9a).
In the Closing, students are guided through a research reading share. Consider using the Independent Reading: Sample Plans if you do not have your own independent reading review routines. This review is designed to hold students accountable for their research reading completed for homework. This volume of reading promotes students' growing ability to read a variety of literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. (RI.5.10, RL.5.10, SL.5.1)
In this unit, the habit of character focus is on working to become an effective learner. The characteristic that students collect in this lesson is perseverance, because this is their first time writing a full essay this school year.
The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to human rights. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it.

In this lesson, students plan and write the introductory paragraph for their literary essays (W.5.2a, W.5.4, W.5.9a).
Before writing their introductions, students participate in a mini lesson about producing complete sentences.
In this unit, the habit of character focus is on working to become an effective learner. The characteristic that students collect in this lesson is collaboration, because they will be working in pairs to write an essay about the event/situation they have chosen.
In the Closing, students practice reading their two-voice poems aloud to another pair. This is in preparation for reading monologues aloud in Unit 3 (RF.5.4).
The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to poetry and what inspires people to write. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it.

In this lesson, students write Proof Paragraphs 1 and 2 of their essays. This is written in pieces with students saying each part aloud before writing (RL.5.1, RL.5.3, W.5.2a, W.5.2b, W.5.4, W.5.9a).
Students have already written at least one, and possibly both, of the paragraphs either themselves or as a group write in the first half of unit lessons, and for homework. As a result, in this lesson, some students will only need to check their paragraphs against the criteria on the Literary Essay anchor chart and copy them onto their essay.
Students who require an extension can write their own new proof paragraphs rather than using the ones already written as a group in previous lessons.
In this unit, the habit of character focus is on working to become an effective learner. The characteristic that students collect in this lesson is perseverance, because this is their first time writing a full essay this school year. They also practice collaboration, as they continue to work in pairs to write their literary essay.
At the end of the lesson, students practice reading their two-voice poems aloud to another pair. This is in preparation for reading monologues aloud in Unit 3 (RF.5.4).
The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to human rights. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it.

For this lesson, students will review what adjectives are, learn how to identify them in writing, and write with them to describe a picture. They will share their writing with their classmates through a wiki or a forum.

Students will play a game to review pronouns. Then they will learn how to write a friendly letter. With their knowledge of the kinds of pronouns, they will write a friendly letter to an author or favorite book character using pronouns from every pronoun category.