In this pre-reading lesson, lesson #1 of the text unit A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin, students will be introduced to the academic vocabulary word “Timeline” as well as vocabulary words that will be learned throughout the unit. Students' will use background knowledge of our class schedule to build a timeline of our day. Students are connecting the timeline of our day to a timeline of historical events, dating back to the 1700's, that focused on the life of Benjamin Franklin. This will help students understand the concept that Benjamin Franklin, an individual who represents the United States, is a person in history from another time long ago.

This unit is focused on identifying Benjamin Franklin as the topic of the text. Civics is integrated through understanding that Benjamin Franklin represents the United States. Students will explore life in the 1700’s to gain background knowledge. Teacher will create an ongoing timeline to document the major events in Ben’s life as key details. Students will solve a real world problem through invention, create a newspaper article to spread news, write both an expository and opinion piece. The assessment for the unit will be a kite that is a graphic organizer for students to identify the topic and relevant details in a text.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.