Using the theme of identity, students will work through various activities to learn the characteristics of a Narrative Essay. This particular unit will/should take place prior to writing the Narrative Essay. Many of the lessons address how to identify, create, apply and analyzeheme, dialogue punctuation, figurative language and citing direct and indirect evidence.

Using the topic of Mythology, students will work through various activities to learn the characteristics of a Narrative Essay. This particular unit will/should take place prior to writing the Narrative Essay. Many of the lessons address how to identify, create, apply and analyze point of view, theme, dialogue punctuation, argumenative qualities and citing direct and indirect evidence.

Week 20, Day 1---Day 5
Narrative Writing Unit
"This week we will be writing personal narratives using Judy Moody Saves the World to help us get ideas. Think about the narrative checklist to guide your discussion."
Narrative Checklist Sample
Narrative Graphic Organizer
Ways to establish the situation in a Narrative
Direct statement
Question
Description of snapshot in time
Words and phrases
Dialogue

Introduction to Narrative Writing
WEEK 1, DAY 1
Introduction to Narrative Writing (Initial Assessment of Students’ Independent Writing)
Students will write their narratives with minimal guidance and support from the teacher.
Students will share their writing piece with a partner before they turn it in.
WEEK 1, DAY 2
Learning About Personal Narratives
Students will work in partners or small groups to determine whether texts are narrative or not narrative. Students should be prepared to share why they labeled one text narrative or not narrative.
WEEK 1, DAY 3
Learning to Evaluate Narratives
Chart: Grade 4 Narrative Checklist Sample
WEEK 1, DAY 4
Learning to Write Narratives
Today I am going to show you how to use a graphic organizer to plan a narrative.
WEEK 1, DAY 5
Learning to Write Narratives
Group students in four groups. Two groups will write paragraph 2 and the other two groups will write paragraph 3. It might be helpful, this early in the year, to assign roles (recorder, task manager, time keeper, motivator, etc).

Learning to Write Narratives:
For the next two weeks, we are going to write a narrative fiction piece using some or all of the characters in Pinduli, but your story will need to be different from Janell Cannon’s story. You will need to decide how you will make it different. You will use the story of Pinduli as a guide, but you will need to change the story in some way to make your story different from the author’s. Will you solve the problem in a different way? Create a different problem with a different solution? Add a new character? You may be creative and decide how to change the story to make it your own.
Ways to Establish the Situation in a Narrative:
Direct statement
Dialogue
Question
Informative/Explanatory of snapshot in time
Lesson Plan Includes:
Narrative Checklist Sample
Instead of SAID (and other Word Replacements given)

Students will be able to follow the roadmap to understand what a Native American legend is and be able to identify the story elements of a Legend.

Natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires happen all over the world. Understanding how natural disasters happen and why helps children feel less anxious and more prepared. Therefore, this unit focuses on teaching students the science behind each natural disaster while also explaining what to do if they live in an area prone to a particular natural disaster. Over the course of the unit, students hear about many famous natural disasters, but the unit places more of an emphasis on how the disasters happen rather than exploring the devastation or destruction caused by previous natural disasters. The unit provides many opportunities for students to learn more about recent natural disasters, including a culminating research project.

The texts in this unit were chosen because of their wide variety of text features, content, and accessibility. Over the course of the unit, students will read texts that are very technical and rely heavily on text features, diagrams, and illustrations, as well as texts that are written as informational narratives. Students will be challenged to think about the structures the authors use to help the reader interact with and learn the content. Additionally, students will learn the importance of referring to specific details from the text and using those details to explain and teach back the newly learned material. This unit serves as the foundation for building strong reading habits and routines and setting high expectations for text consumption. Clear models should be included in the unit to help students build a deeper understanding of how to actively read and annotate informational texts for key ideas, text features, and vocabulary. This unit also serves as a launching point for strong discussions. Students will frequently be challenged to debate questions from the text; therefore, strong habits of discussion need to be introduced over the course of the unit.

WEEK 10, DAYS 1-5
Natural Disasters Research Project
We just finished reading about one type of natural disaster, earthquakes, and today we will discuss other types of natural disasters.
You will choose the one that interests you the most and conduct research to learn more information. To help you learn a little bit about the different types of natural disasters we are going to view a video. You will use a graphic organizer to jot notes about each natural disaster to help you decide which one you want to research and learn more about.
Today you are going to choose one natural disaster to begin researching.
Now that you have chosen your natural disaster you are going to start researching. We are going to use the same graphic organizer we always do, but we are going to use it to help make a plan and organize our notes. Students will work on researching their natural disaster.
Students will work on either finishing up gathering information OR choosing which information to share.
Students will work around the room on either their graphic organizer or their draft. completed their graphic organizer and add new details, facts, and definitions to their graphic organizer.

These essential outcomes are based on the AASL, ISTE Standards for Students, and the NE ELA Standards. Use this document in conjunction with the Nebraska Library Purpose Template.

Students will learn how to use information presented in various types of non-fiction reading material to develop the strategies and skills necessary for comprehending them.  The 10 lessons will include the following non-fiction text features: table of contents, index, glossary, headings and sub-headings,  types of print (bold, italics), maps, labels and captions, diagrams and cutaways, graphs and charts, and sidebar and hyperlinks.  This will prepare them to navigate the many expository texts they will encounter in life including newspapers, brochures, magazines, instruction manuals, maps, etc.

1st Grade Literacy

Nonfiction Texts

In this unit of study, students will be actively involved in a variety of literacy activities to help improve their reading of nonfiction texts.  The activities are center/rotation based.  The face-to-face teacher directed learning includes guided reading groups.  Groups are between 2 - 6 students and are based on guided reading levels.  Students not in a guided reading group will be rotating to different literacy centers, including a technology center using RAZ Kids (a reading program with books at specific reading levels).  In addition to the technology reading center, students also have a word work center, a parent led literacy activity center, a reading/listening center, and an art center.  The centers and teacher directed learning aim to improve literacy skills (reading and writing) for nonfiction texts.  The unit will last for 1 week and is one hour long for each day.

In this unit, students build on their foundational understanding of the sun, moon, and stars as they begin to see that there are patterns in the sky that can be observed and predicted. This first lesson is intended to elicit wonder and curiosity, setting the stage for a more in-depth exploration of the scientific concepts to come throughout the remainder of the unit.
As in previous units, in almost all lessons, students hear complex texts read aloud. When possible, display the text while reading aloud. And when doing a first read-aloud of a given text, read fluently, with expression, and without interruption. For additional information, refer to the Module Overview.
In Work Time A, students participate in the Picture Tea Party protocol. Consider how familiar students are with this protocol and reallocate class time spent reviewing it as necessary.
In Work Time C, students revisit the sun time-lapse video embedded in the website PBS Learning Media, focusing on noticing any patterns.
Citation: "Observe Sunrise and Sunset." Video. Teachers Domain. PBS Learning Media, Jan. 2016. Web. 1 June 2016. (For display. Used by permission.)
Purpose: Revisit a previously watched video, focusing on noticing and sharing patterns with a partner. Prompt students to use sentence frames to support building on others' ideas and furthering a conversation, a skill they will practice throughout this unit.
This lesson introduces the use of equity sticks (a stick or card for each student in the class) as a total participation technique for quick response questions. Some other common total participation techniques include cold calling and selecting volunteers.
This lesson is the first in a series of three that include built-out instruction for the use of Goal 3 Conversation Cues. Conversation Cues are questions teachers can ask students to promote productive and equitable conversation (adapted from Michaels, Sarah and O'Connor, Cathy. Talk Science Primer. Cambridge, MA: TERC, 2012. Based on Chapin, S., O'Connor, C., and Anderson, N. [2009]. Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn, Grades K-6. Second Edition. Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions Publications). Goal 3 Conversation Cues encourage students to deepen their thinking. Continue drawing on Goal 1 and 2 Conversation Cues, introduced in Module 1, and add Goal 3 Conversation Cues to more strategically promote productive and equitable conversation. In Module 3, Goal 4 Conversation Cues are introduced. Refer to the Tools page for additional information on Conversation Cues. Consider providing students with a thinking journal or scrap paper. Examples of the Goal 3 Conversation Cues you will see in the next two units are (with expected responses):
To encourage students to provide reasoning or evidence:
"Why do you think that?"

"Because _____."

"What, in the _____ (sentence/text), makes you think so?"

"If you look at _____, it says _____, which means _____."

To challenge students:
"What if _____ (that word were removed/the main character had done something different/we didn't write an introduction)? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner."

"If we did that, then _____."

"Can you figure out why _____ (the author used this phrase/we used that strategy/there's an -ly added to that word)? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner."

"I think it's because _____."

To encourage students to think about their thinking (metacognition):
"What strategies/habits helped you succeed? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner."

"_____ helped me a lot."

"How does our discussion add to your understanding of _____ (previously discussed topic/text/language)? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner."

"I used to think that _____, and now I think that _____.

John Locke’s treatise “An Essay Concerning the True Original, Extent, and End of Civil Government,” often called simply the Second Treatise of Government is probably the most influential work of political theory in the English language. Locke’s essay was widely read in the English-speaking world of the eighteenth century, and his arguments about government, consent, and property rights (just to name three of its main topics) became fundamental to the way that western people have conceived of these ideas ever since. Locke (1632-1704) provided some of the intellectual underpinning for the American revolution of the 1770s and 80s; many of the writers who supported the revolt against Parliament and the British Crown, such as Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine, had read Locke, and you can see his emphasis on the need for government to have the consent of the governed reflected in their works.

In this unit, students explore the meaning of family, community, and identity by reading the core text One Crazy Summer. Through the eyes of eleven-year-old Delphine, readers experience life in Oakland, California, in 1968, the height of the Black Panther movement. Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, spend a summer in Oakland visiting their estranged mother who sends them to spend their days at a camp run by the Black Panthers. Over the course of the summer, the girls learn about what it means to be part of a revolution, what the Black Panther Party was fighting for, and why the Black Panther Party was important during this time period. Through it all, they build confidence in themselves and their relationships with others as they learn to challenge and respond to social issues in the community. It is our hope that this unit, in conjunction with others in the series, will help students understand the way experiences shape our identities and beliefs, and how children can help bring about change in the community.

In reading, this unit continues to build on reading strategies and skills covered in previous units. It is assumed that students are able to quote or paraphrase accurately from the text, interpret figurative language, and summarize sections of the text. These skills should continue to be spiraled throughout the unit; however, the main focuses for this unit are determining theme and analyzing how it is developed over the course of the novel or poem, analyzing point of view and the impact it has on the way events are portrayed, and comparing characters and their responses to situations.

Isatou Ceesay observed a growing problem in her community where people increasingly disposed of unwanted plastic bags, which accumulated into ugly heaps of trash. She found a way to be the agent of change by recycling the bags and transforming her community. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Use plastic bags to develop a new product (i.e. jump rope).

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

Opinion Writing - This Roadmap begins with looking at the difference between fact and opinion. Then explains what opinion writing is and gives students the opportunity to list opinions. Lastly, they look over their opinions, decide on one and create a concepts map planning their opinion writing.