Cluster 1: Key Ideas and DetailsArchived

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

The Tiger Rising, written by the award winning author Kate DiCamillo, is an engaging story of two children whose lives are thrown together in a small town in Florida. Even though their personalities are in sharp contrast, they become friends who support each other through life's challenges of grief, pain, acceptance and their adventures with the tiger. Kate DiCamillo works her magic through her skilled use of figurative language to develop the characters in a way that engages readers in her character's adventures. Short chapters make this a perfect choice for literature circles. In this lesson, students will answer text-dependent questions as they analyze the two main characters in the story.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

This close reading lesson will engage students in discussions that involve how two authors in different genres describe the same event. These short texts, the poem "The Great Chicago Fire" and the informational text "Chicago," will require students to analyze text, make inferences based on text evidence, and defend their understandings through discussion and close reads. Students will use context clues to determine word meaning and unfamiliar phrasing in both texts. Students will participate in partner and small group work throughout the lesson. For the summative assessment, students will write an explanatory essay about the main ideas and key details of each text, as well as analyze the similarities in how each author describes the Chicago fire. 

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will begin to learn about discrimination by analyzing how a narrator's or speaker's point of view can influence the way events are described in a story. Students will create a KWL chart, Venn diagram, and Character web, and then write an essay, all while working collaboratively to explore this important cultural issue.

Type: Lesson Plan

After reading the novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, students will analyze the perspective of Esperanza while looking at important characterization features and other parts of the plot development. Students will create a narrative writing piece from the perspective of Esperanza based on the characterization features discussed.

Type: Lesson Plan

Using the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, students will complete a graphic organizer and identify the theme of a chapter. Once students have identified the theme they will create a new title for the chapter.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will listen to several versions of the same song. They will read a poem, and make an illustration to identify how the author develops a character's perspective and how that perspective influences the story. Students will write a narrative using dialogue and description to develop a character’s perspective throughout their story.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read, analyze and determine the lesson learned in the Aesop fable "The Four Oxen and the Lion" to set the focus for two subsequent lessons on the importance of teamwork. Students will discuss their findings in whole-and small-groups using a K-W-L chart, concept of meaning maps, marginal notes, making personal connections to the text, writing in a reading response journal, and illustrating the lesson learned. Close-reading will culminate in a position paper in which students answer the question: "Why didn't the oxen work together and how could they have changed their behavior in order to do so?"

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will compare and contrast literary elements of two literary texts "The Enchanted Sticks" and "The Story of Wang Li." They will use the literary elements of each text to determine the development of each theme. Students will then research stories that have similar themes to the ones they’ve discussed in the lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

Reading Chapter 3 from Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, students will learn about thirteen year old Esperanza and her newly widowed mother as they are forced to leave their fairy tale existence at a ranch in Mexico, to live and work in a migrant worker camp during the Great Depression. Students will practice answering text dependent questions.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson focuses on reading Chapters 1 and 2 of the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. Students will analyze how the literary elements contribute to the story’s plot and describe how Esperanza’s perspective is developed throughout the story’s beginning. Students will summarize the important parts of the beginning of the story to show their understanding of the plot.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this activity, students will use multiple reading strategies to answer questions and comprehend text.

Type: Student Center Activity

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

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify similarities and differences between characters. As an extension activity, students will compare the perspectives of two characters. Graphic organizers are provided for character analysis and comparisons.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will describe characters using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify similarities and differences between characters' traits (as determined by actions, thoughts, and feelings).

Type: Student Center Activity

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

Type: Student Center Activity

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.

Type: Student Center Activity

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

Type: Student Center Activity

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

Type: Student Center Activity

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

Type: Student Center Activity

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

Type: Student Center Activity

The article describes a new kind of solar energy which concentrates light waves from the sun.

Type: Text Resource

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

This is a fifth grade novel unit on Dogs Don't Tell Jokes by Louis Sachar. A variety of concepts are explored throughout the unit, including genre, characters, relationships, prediction, textual evidence, plot conflict, and theme. The student packet provides graphic organizers and worksheets that can assist with implementing the unit concepts.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

This is a fifth grade unit on the historical fiction novel Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan. Several concepts regarding the novel are explored, including genre, setting, real-world connections, and effects of a character's past. The student packet and accompanying materials provide ample opportunities for practice.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

This is a fifth grade novel unit on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. The unit incorporates instruction relating to the novel's setting, characters, plot, and theme - as well as the basic elements of fantasy fiction. The student packet that accompanies the unit provides some additional structure for the lesson content.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

This is a fifth grade unit on the novel Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. Graphic organizers, charts, comprehension and vocabulary worksheets, and authentic collaborative activities are used to enhance interaction with the novel. Several concepts are pursued, including theme, conflict, relationships, plot, and characters.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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).

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence