In this lesson students continue their study of the important natural (physical) characteristics of Michigan by exploring vegetation and climate. They begin by analyzing special purpose maps of forests and orchards. Next they are introduced to the concept of climate, connecting to science topics of weather and seasons from previous grades. In addition, they briefly explore the impact of the Great Lakes on climate. The lesson also includes a chart reading activity dealing with Michigan state symbols.

The Roadmap is a remix of the Michigan Open Book, MC3 and GIANTS all in one place. In this lesson students continue their study of the geographic theme of ‘place’ by exploring significant human characteristics of Michigan including bridges, cities, highways and lighthouses. In addition, students explore how people interact with natural (physical) characteristics by creating human characteristics (e.g. bridges are built over rivers, towns are built along bays.)

The Roadmap is a remix of the Michigan Open Book, MC3 and GIANTS all in one place. This lesson expands upon the concept of region by having students invent ways to divide Michigan into regions. Students compare the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula of Michigan and then explore other ways in which Michigan can be divided into regions based on common characteristics (e.g., the Thumb, the Fruit Belt). Finally students examine regions to which Michigan belongs. (e.g., Great Lakes Region, Midwest).

In this lesson, students expand their understanding of solid waste management to include the idea of 3RC (reduce, reuse, recycle and compost). They will look at the effects of packaging decisions (reducing) and learn about engineering advancements in packaging materials and solid waste management. Also, they will observe biodegradation in a model landfill (composting).

This unit on American Indians: By studying the regions of the United States and the cultures that live in each region, students are able to compare/contrast within regions and across regions how tribes used their environments, and their cultural and other contributions to American life.

Note that the emphasis here is on broader groups of tribes for each region with some instruction on specific tribes representing each region. In no way is this case study approach to learning about one tribe meant to be generalized to all tribes of that region. We understand that each tribe was and continues to be unique in its culture, practices, lifeways, and traditions.

In this unit, students read the core texts The Hundred Dresses and Garvey’s Choice as a way of exploring what it means to be accepting and tolerant of themselves and others. The Hundred Dresses challenges students to think about the different roles associated with bullying through the eyes of the narrator, who struggles with her own involvement with a classmate who is bullied. Garvey’s Choice illustrates the way others influence the way we see ourselves, both positively and negatively, and the power of accepting ourselves by tracing Garvey’s path to self-discovery and acceptance. Both texts are full of moments and messages that are easily relatable for students at this grade level. Therefore, it is our hope that the experiences of the characters in both texts will serve as a neutral launching point for deeper discussions about bullying, tolerance, acceptance, and forgiveness.

In reading, the main focus of the unit is on identifying and tracing the central message across a longer text. Over the course of the text, students will develop a deep understanding of each character’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations, which will help them identify and explain how the central message is developed and conveyed through the characters. Students will also begin to understand how successive parts of a text build on each other to push the plot forward. Particularly with Garvey’s Choice, students will analyze the genre features of novels written in verse and how each part helps build and develop the central message. This unit also focused on point of view. Students will begin to notice the point of view in which a story is told and compare that with their own point of view.

Groups of students read and discuss American folklore stories, each group reading a different story. Using a jigsaw strategy, the groups compare character traits and main plot points of the stories. A diverse selection of American folk tales is used for this lesson, which is adaptable to any text set.

Representatives from 10 sovereign Native American nations in Michigan, five State of Michigan agencies, two universities, and three private organizations collaborated to develop two short curriculum units, one for 3rd grade and one for 5th grade. Each grade level unit includes five lesson plans and support materials for teachers using information from two archaeological sites provided by MDOT and cultural, historical, environmental, and indigenous knowledge provided and vetted by Michigan Native American tribal partners participating in the project. The lesson plans use the Inquiry Arc of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework and focus on specific Michigan Social Studies Standards. The lesson plans also provide links to Michigan English Language Arts (ELA) literacy standards, as well as science and math applications.

In this unit students explore the rise and fall of the ancient Roman Empire. Over the course of the unit, students learn about different characteristics of the Roman Empire, what lead to the Empire’s growth and success, and what eventually lead to the Empire’s demise. Through learning about the daily routines, structures, and rituals of the Roman Empire, students will be challenged to draw conclusions about what the civilization valued and how those values compare to societal values today. This unit builds onto the 2nd grade nonfiction unit on ancient Greece, in which students began to think about how the daily routines, structures, and rituals of a civilization show what they value. This unit, in conjunction with the second grade unit on ancient Greece, will help students understand early influences in the world and the first republics.

The mentor texts for this unit, Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House and Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome, allow students to practice multiple informational reading strategies in two very different text structures. In both texts, but predominately in Eye Wonder, students will practice using a multitude of text features and illustrations as a way of learning new information about a topic. Over the course of this unit, students will constantly be thinking about how the information from one text builds on and connects to the information in the other text. Then at the end of the unit, students will be asked to critically analyze the similarities and differences between the two texts.

Learn about the structure and function of living organisms by drawing an imaginary animal in the Take the Stage game show, ANIMAL SURVIVAL! Viewers become contestants on a game show and are challenged to draw an imaginary animal that could live and survive in either the desert, ocean, or the arctic tundra. When drawing the imaginary animal, the contestants write out two distinct structures and a function for each of the structures that help it survive. Learning Objective: Compare the structures and functions of different species that help them live and survive in a specific environment.

Students will work with a partner to write, solve, check, and animate a division story problem based on a division expression using a sharing model.

Bloxels is an innovative video game development platform that allows you to create your own video games. It’s a free app that helps you and your students create games. It’s also plastic board that fits a collection of plastic pegs of multiple colors.

This lesson serves as a bridge between Unit 1 and Unit 2. Students work with texts and images leading to the idea that we must act now to protect our water supply. In the Opening, students activate their background knowledge around issues related to water by discussing a quote using the Say Something protocol (SL.3.1). They then read a new page from One Well for the gist and think about why we need to conserve water (RI.3.4, L.3.4). Students build on this understanding through the Poster Walk protocol in Work Time B, discussing the challenges related to clean water represented in the images on the posters (RI.3.1, SL.3.1). Finally, they connect their thinking to the module guiding questions and are introduced to the writing prompt that they will work toward throughout the unit.
Students practice their fluency by following along and reading silently as the teacher reads One Well aloud during Work Time A.
In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners by collaborating as they work in groups to discuss the images on the Poster Walk posters.
The research reading that students complete for homework helps build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to water. By participating in this volume of reading over time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it.

Students animate an ocean wave, then tell a story that takes place on the high seas.

Adventure on the High Seas is a one-hour activity designed to be completed within 45-75 minutes. Students will watch a series of videos and create one coding project with opportunities to personalize their work using “Add-Ons,” which are mini-coding challenges that build on top of the core project.

Students program a conversation between two characters to explore the role of dialogue in storytelling.

In collaboration with Common Sense Media, this lesson helps students learn that many websites ask for information that is private and discusses how to responsibly handle such requests. Students also find out that they can go to exciting places online, but they need to follow certain rules to remain safe.

This lesson will give students an idea of what to expect when they head to the computer lab. It begins with a brief discussion introducing them to computer lab manners, then they will progress into using a computer to complete online puzzles.

This lesson has students recognize that computer science can help people in real life. First, students empathize with several fictional smartphone users in order to help them find the “right app” that addresses their needs. Then, students exercise empathy and creativity to sketch their own smartphone app that addresses the needs of one additional user.

Events are a great way to add variety to a pre-written algorithm. Sometimes you want your program to be able to respond to the user exactly when the user wants it to. That is what events are for.

This lesson will work to prepare students mentally for the coding exercises that they will encounter over the length of this course. In small teams, students will use physical activity to program their classmates to step carefully from place to place until a goal is achieved.