Standard #: LAFS.5.RL.1.2 (Archived Standard)

This lesson is about the importance of self-respect and acceptance of others. A pompous new magistrate from London comes to a fishing village in Newfoundland after the Second World War. He acts as if he is better than everyone. Only John, who has intellectual disabilities, has the courage to stand up to him. In the end, John gains the magistrate's appreciation and respect. This story may be used in conjunction with studies on Canada (Newfoundland). The lesson plan addresses the following literacy skills: quoting accurately from the story when explaining what the story says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the story; determining a theme of a story from details in the text, including how characters in a story respond to challenges; determining the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes; and writing opinion pieces, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

This lesson explores two common issues that students face, feeling different and finding acceptance. In Rules, Catherine tells about her brother, David who has autism. She has always taken care of him and uses rules to teach him what to do. She makes up rules for herself, too. Her rules are challenged when she meets new friends, Jason and Kristi. This lesson addresses the following language arts skills: quoting accurately from text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when making inferences; determining a theme of a story from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges in her life; and writing opinion pieces in response to a text-based question, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

Students will use tall tales to explore figurative language and to summarize important details to identify the theme. Students will create a narrative writing piece of their own using standard conventions and elements of tall tales.

In this lesson students will use different reading strategies such as double-entry journals, text-dependent questions, graphic organizers, and class discussions to examine aspects of societies and determine the themes of the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry. They will use the experience with the novel to create their own utopias and advertise them in a student constructed brochure.

This lesson will engage students in discussions that involve conceptual understanding of vocabulary, theme, and summarizing. After reading a short fable, "The North Wind and the Sun" by Aesop, students will complete activities that require them to think deeply, make inferences based on textual evidence, and defend their interpretation during discussions. Students will use context clues, word relationships, and/or figurative language to determine word meaning and unfamiliar phrasing. Students will participate in a class discussion evaluating conceptual understandings, examining themes, and making inferences. Students will engage in student-to-student discourse and partner work throughout the lesson. For the summative assessment, students will write a summary to convey understandings presented in the text and the discussions with their peers.

In this activity, students will summarize text using a graphic organizer.

In this activity, students will retell or summarize a story.

In this activity, students will identify and sort story elements (character, setting, problem, solution, theme, plot). They will then compare and contrast the elements of different stories.

In this activity, students will answer questions related to story elements (characters, setting, plot, theme) and record their answers on a graphic organizer.

In this activity, students will summarize text (narrative and expository) using a graphic organizer.

In this activity, students will summarize narrative text using a graphic organizer.

In this activity, students will sequence events in a story using a graphic organizer.

This is a fifth grade poetry unit using the book Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art by Belinda Rochelle. This poetry unit addresses genre, main idea, tone, theme, author's purpose, and figurative language. The unit concepts are supported through a student packet, which includes worksheet activities and graphic organizers.

This is a fifth grade unit on the novel The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The unit explores fantasy fiction, setting, effects of character decisions, plot, conflict, and theme. The student packet that accompanies the unit includes graphic organizers and worksheets to assist with reinforcing the unit concepts.

This is a fifth grade unit on the novel The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. Several concepts are explored throughout this lesson, including plot, conflict, prediction, characters, theme, and relationships. The student packet and accompanying materials provide practice with these concepts.

In this novel unit, broken up into seven lessons, students will learn about the genre of realistic fiction, making predictions, identifying plot conflicts, analyzing character relationships, examining gender roles, determining themes, and tracking character changes through reading and discussing the novel Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Lexile 810).