The curriculum map is the single-best source to understand the year’s work in the module lessons for each grade level: a detailed view of the scope and sequence of the modules showing module titles, topics, targets, and standards explicitly taught and formally assessed in each module.

In this unit students meet Joey Pigza, a loving boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in the core text Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. The novel, written in Joey’s point of view, gives readers a glimpse into Joey’s mind and shows what the life of a child with ADHD can be like. The novel is heartbreaking at times and vividly shows how much of a struggle it is for someone with ADHD to behave and do the right thing when they cannot get their body to listen. Over the course of the novel, students see firsthand how having ADHD not only influences the way Joey feels about himself but also the way that others interact with him, both positively and negatively. It is our hope that this unit will begin to raise awareness and understanding of ADHD and how to cope with it, both in and out of the classroom. It is also our hope that this unit will begin to humanize things that are hurtful and help in continuing to strengthen our students’ understanding of empathy and the importance of being empathetic towards others. It is important to note that this book is fictional and told by an often-unreliable narrator. Therefore, in order to ensure that students get the correct impression and understanding of ADHD, special education, and the role of medication, discussions will need to be included throughout the entire unit that challenge and elaborate on what Joey shares in the text. Without these conversations, students could leave the unit with misunderstandings that could potentially reinforce the stereotypes and stigma assigned to people with ADHD and other disorders.

This novel allows students to genuinely connect with a character and fully immerse themselves in the mind of a character. Therefore, the main focus of this unit is on deeply understanding character, character relationships, and how relationships can both positively and negatively impact the way a character views himself or herself. The author, Jack Gantos, includes a lot of incredibly powerful descriptive and figurative language to help readers connect with Joey. Therefore, another focus of this unit is on analyzing the author’s use of figurative language and description, and noticing how it deepens a reader’s understanding of characters and plot.

Do your students struggle with prepositions? Ask them to complete this project to sharpen their skills. 

For this assignment, students will review prepositions through an activity, a video, and a website. They will have an opportunity to prove their knowledge through a Quiz game and a worksheet. Once they understand how to write prepositions, they will end the lesson by using prepositions to describe a room in their house. They can share their assignment through Voicethread or a Padlet.

Week 27, Day 4---Week 32, Day 5
Alabama Moon, by Watt Key
Develop or Activate Background Knowledge:
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Meaning Vocabulary
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
You will find a few curse words scattered throughout this book. Remember, while you read, you can easily omit or replace them with synonyms.
In 2009, a PG-rated movie of Alabama Moon was released, starring John Goodman. Consider playing portions for your class so that together you can contrast the director’s view with the reader’s. (These comparisons are not built into the lesson plans.) This is a great opportunity to engage your students in multiple texts, and it is a proven way to stimulate visualization. Various clips are available on YouTube, but if you acquire the entire movie you can use portions of it flexibly. You may also wish to play the entire movie after you complete the read-aloud. View the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300155/

Week 21, Day 1 - Week 22, Day 3
Around the World in a Hundred Years (pages 9-13)
Introduce Book and Preview Technical Vocabulary
The book we will begin today is called Around the World in a Hundred Years. Now, that may sound a little strange because these days you can go around the world in a very short time. But this book is not about the present day. It’s about the age of exploration, centuries ago, when Europeans ventured out into the Atlantic Ocean. They traveled in ships.The book was written by Jean Fritz and illustrated by Anthony Bacon Venti.
Teach Text Structure
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
Some state Social Studies Standards list several explorers specifically. This read aloud doesn’t replace social studies instruction, but it may provide background knowledge.
A world map and a globe will be essential.

Week 8, Day 1 - Day 5
Earthquakes by Seymour Simon
Introduce Book and Preview Technical Vocabulary
Teach Text Structure
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
Planning Notes
Have a rubber band handy for a quick demonstration on Day 1.
Maps on display of North America will be helpful to quickly point out the places mentioned, such as Mexico City and California.
The book is partially paginated. Number the pages of the book in advance, with page 5 being the first page with text. This lesson plan will refer to those numbers.
Bring two square dinner plates if possible to illustrate the action of one “plate” against another.

Week 5 (4 days)
The book we will begin today is called Freedom on the Menu. It was written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue. This book has a subtitle, The Greensboro Sit-ins. It is based on true events that happened in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960.
Introduce Book and Preview Technical Vocabulary
Teach Text Structure
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
You many want to use primary sources to build your knowledge. Here are two examples:
Preview this New York Times interview with Franklin McCain, one of the Greensboro Four, http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f011810_McCain
This NPR audio story also provides great background information. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18615556

The book is Go Straight to the Source. It was written by Kristin Fontichiaro, and it tells us how to find the facts we need and to make sure they’re right.
Week 9, Days 1-5
WEEK 9, DAY 1
Go Straight to the Source: Chapter 1- "Learning from Primary Sources"
WEEK 9, DAY 2
Go Straight to the Source: Chapter 2- "A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words"
WEEK 9, DAY 3
Go Straight to the Source: Chapter 3- "If These Things Could Talk"
WEEK 9, DAY 4
Go Straight to the Source: Chapter 4- "Words Can Teach"
Week 9, Day 5
Go Straight to the Source: Chapter 5- “Putting It All Together”
Outline:
Introduce Book and Preview Technical Vocabulary
Teach Text Structure
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
It would be helpful to project the photos in the second chapter. A document camera would be useful. In the case of the photo on page 13, a URL is given where you can capture the image. For the writing activity for Day 2, you will need to print a photograph from history related to a topic you are teaching or have already taught. For the writing activity for Day 3, you will need to print a photograph of an artifact, preferably one related to a social studies topic you are studying.
We suggest building two diagrams as you read the first chapter rather than before you read. They will visually organize key terms.

Week 16, Day 1 - Day 4
Develop or Activate Background Knowledge:
Today we’ll begin a new book, and I think you’ll find it exciting. It’s about how one boy, Brian Robeson, survived all alone in the wilderness. The title is Hatchet, which is the only tool he had, and it was written by Gary Paulsen. This is the same author who wrote My Life in Dog Years.
Develop or Activate Background Knowledge:
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Meaning Vocabulary
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
Keep in mind that this 1987 Newbery Medal book is now the first in a series. Students who show an especially keen interest can be directed to these.

Week 12, Day 1 - Day 5
My Life in Dog Years
Gary Paulsen organized his life story in an unusual way. Each chapter is about one of the many dogs he’s owned. So really, the book is not just about him but also about his dogs. It’s a collection of dog biographies. But we’ll learn a lot about the life of Gary Paulsen by reading them.
Introduce Book and Preview Technical Vocabulary
Teach Text Structure
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
Though nonfiction, this book contains no technical terminology. Because of this, for vocabulary, these lessons focus on Tier 2 words instead.

In this unit, students begin to grapple with the overarching question of how a person develops values, identities, and beliefs while reading the novel Shiloh. Marty, the main character in Shiloh, sees someone mistreating a dog and thinks it’s his right and responsibility to step in to save the dog, even if the dog doesn’t belong to him. His action raises a question for readers about when an individual should step in to take a stand against what he/she believes to be an injustice. His action also causes readers to consider how different people, depending on their values, identities and beliefs, may have different opinions on what constitutes an injustice. Students will be challenged to take a stand on both of these ideas, based on the experiences and opinions of the different characters in Shiloh. Students will also be exposed to the idea of courage, and what it means to show courage, especially in situations where you are standing up for what you believe in. It is our hope that this unit will inspire students to grapple with these questions at a deeper level and understand the power of showing courage to fight for the things they believe in, no matter what obstacles they may face.

Shiloh was chosen as the text for this unit not only because of the powerful themes, but because of the way in which Phyllis Reynolds Naylor artfully develops the setting, characters and plot. In this unit, students will be challenged to think deeply about how the details an author includes help a reader better understand a character’s thoughts and actions. The setting of Shiloh in rural West Virginia in the 1970s allows students to deeply analyze how an author develops setting, and how the setting of a text influences the characters. Finally, students will begin to notice how the point of view of a story influences the way a story is told.

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.