Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:This unit focuses on how authors use fiction to illustrate the struggle to belong in America and the challenges different groups and individuals have faced in their journey to become part of the American Experience. The unit is broken into two parts.  Part 1 helps students define the evolving idea of “The American Dream” and how it can differ based on personal and cultural perspectives. Through nonfiction literary texts, students will grapple with various perspectives and points of view related to the American Dream.  Part 2 explores how authors of historical fiction use factual events and people, as well as fictional events and characters to illustrate the struggle to belong to the American Experience and achieve The American Dream.  Unit Duration:20 days (15 instructional days and 5 reteach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule  

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:  This unit focuses on using reading strategies to analyze key ideas and details in informational texts to strengthen comprehension, critical thinking, and logical reasoning skills. Students will be expected to cite several pieces of textual evidence when analyzing texts.  In literary texts, students will engage in the analysis of how plot and setting affect characters, and how characters struggle with and resolve conflicts throughout the plot. This level of analysis enables students to infer the overall theme of the text. Students will be expected to compose an objective summary of the text including the theme(s) and major points, absent of one’s opinion or judgments. Furthermore, students will practice reading a variety of texts, identifying literary elements, and identifying how literary elements are related or combined for effect (e.g., how the setting influences the development of a plot, and how characters respond to these elements). Students will be expected to use analysis to determine the central ideas of the text and trace their development throughout the course of informational text. An objective summary of the text would include the major points and key details, distinct from personal opinions and judgment.  Analysis of the interactions in a text will provide textual evidence, to help determine the central idea of the passage. By studying text types and purposes, students can work to enhance their skills and abilities to develop complete, multi-paragraph, logically sequenced texts using language appropriate for the topic and the audience. Unit Duration: 20 days (15 instructional and 5 reteach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule 

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:This unit focuses on using reading strategies to analyze key ideas and details in informational texts to strengthen comprehension, critical thinking, and logical reasoning skills. Students will be expected to cite several pieces of textual evidence when analyzing texts.  In literary texts, students will engage in the analysis of how plot and setting affect characters, and how characters struggle with and resolve conflicts throughout the plot. This level of analysis enables students to infer the overall theme of the text. Students will be expected to compose an objective summary of the text including the theme(s) and major points, absent of one’s opinion or judgments. Furthermore, students will practice reading a variety of texts, identifying literary elements, and identifying how literary elements are related or combined for effect (e.g., how the setting influences the development of a plot, and how characters respond to these elements). Students will be expected to use analysis to determine the central ideas of the text and trace their development throughout the course of informational text. An objective summary of the text would include the major points and key details, distinct from personal opinions and judgment.  Analysis of the interactions in a text will provide textual evidence, to help determine the central idea of the passage. By studying text types and purposes, students can work to enhance their skills and abilities to develop complete, multi-paragraph, logically sequenced texts using language appropriate for the topic and the audience. Unit Duration: 20 days (15 instructional and 5 reteach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule 

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:In this unit, students will explore how the author’s organization of the piece, and use of narrative elements, words, sentences, and paragraphs contribute to the meaning of the whole text. Students will analyze how structure can convey an author’s purpose. Students will explore figurative language to understand a text on a deeper level and how the author’s choice of words can impact the meaning and tone of the work. Students will experiment with using punctuation to affect meaning. Teachers might choose to use a core text with corresponding text sets to focus the content of the unit.  Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, and Animal Farm by George Orwell are mentor texts that could meet the criteria of the standards for this unit.   Unit Duration:19 days (15 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule 

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:In this unit, students will explore how the author’s organization of the piece, and use of narrative elements, words, sentences, and paragraphs contribute to the meaning of the whole text. Students will analyze how structure can convey an author’s purpose. Students will explore figurative language to understand a text on a deeper level and how the author’s choice of words can impact the meaning and tone of the work. Students will experiment with using punctuation to affect meaning. Teachers might choose to use a core text with corresponding text sets to focus the content of the unit.  Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, and Animal Farm by George Orwell are mentor texts that could meet the criteria of the standards for this unit.   Unit Duration:19 days (15 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule 

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:Craft and structure emphasize how readers use context as clues to find meanings of words and phrases including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings. Readers extend meaning by analyzing the impact of an author’s word choice, including analogies and allusions. In addition, readers determine how the author’s word choice contributes to the meaning and tone of an informational text. Analysis of informational text requires readers to identify the author’s purpose and perspective to determine how an author acknowledges and responds to a position. Critical readers and thinkers examine the organization of ideas in the text to identify signals for opposing viewpoints. Within text types and purposes, students write informational texts to support thesis statements. The introductory section should provide background knowledge of the topic and include a guiding thesis statement as a single sentence. In the body of the text, students should provide evidence, e.g., facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples that specifically relate to the topic, and explain and elaborate how the topic and evidence support each other. Students must provide a conclusion that restates the thesis, summarizes the main points in the text, and potentially provokes the reader to continue to critically think about the topic, beyond what was presented in the text. Unit Duration:  29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule  

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:Craft and structure emphasize how readers use context as clues to find meanings of words and phrases including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings. Readers extend meaning by analyzing the impact of an author’s word choice, including analogies and allusions. In addition, readers determine how the author’s word choice contributes to the meaning and tone of an informational text. Analysis of informational text requires readers to identify the author’s purpose and perspective to determine how an author acknowledges and responds to a position. Critical readers and thinkers examine the organization of ideas in the text to identify signals for opposing viewpoints. Within text types and purposes, students write informational texts to support thesis statements. The introductory section should provide background knowledge of the topic and include a guiding thesis statement as a single sentence. In the body of the text, students should provide evidence, e.g., facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples that specifically relate to the topic, and explain and elaborate how the topic and evidence support each other. Students must provide a conclusion that restates the thesis, summarizes the main points in the text, and potentially provokes the reader to continue to critically think about the topic, beyond what was presented in the text. Unit Duration:  29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule  

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:Analysis of craft and structure in informational text requires readers to identify the author’s purpose and perspective to determine how an author acknowledges and responds to a position. Critical readers examine the organization of ideas in the text to identify the ideas that signal and address opposing viewpoints. Furthermore, they can identify the argument and claims within a text, evaluate an author’s argument, and recognize when the evidence is irrelevant and unsound based on the claims made by the author in terms of accuracy and viewpoint. Within text types and purposes, students will be required to write various arguments. Students should be able to provide credible and relevant evidence that specifically relates to the topic sentence and explain how the topic sentence and evidence support each other. Appropriate text organization and transitions should be used while addressing alternate or counterclaims by providing evidence and reasons specific to the counterclaim, and distinguishing why their argument is still stronger (rebuttal). Students must provide a conclusion that restates the thesis, summarizes the main points in the argument, and provokes further or deeper thinking from the reader (e.g., prediction, recommendation, revelation, final thought, call to action, or moral of the argument). Unit Duration:  29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule 

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:Analysis of craft and structure in informational text requires readers to identify the author’s purpose and perspective to determine how an author acknowledges and responds to a position. Critical readers examine the organization of ideas in the text to identify the ideas that signal and address opposing viewpoints. Furthermore, they can identify the argument and claims within a text, evaluate an author’s argument, and recognize when the evidence is irrelevant and unsound based on the claims made by the author in terms of accuracy and viewpoint. Within text types and purposes, students will be required to write various arguments. Students should be able to provide credible and relevant evidence that specifically relates to the topic sentence and explain how the topic sentence and evidence support each other. Appropriate text organization and transitions should be used while addressing alternate or counterclaims by providing evidence and reasons specific to the counterclaim, and distinguishing why their argument is still stronger (rebuttal). Students must provide a conclusion that restates the thesis, summarizes the main points in the argument, and provokes further or deeper thinking from the reader (e.g., prediction, recommendation, revelation, final thought, call to action, or moral of the argument). Unit Duration:  29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule 

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:The goal of the Integration of Knowledge and Ideas is for students to use multiple sources to address a question or solve a problem. The focus in this unit is on the ability to identify the argument and claims within a text. Through evaluation of an author’s argument and claims in informational texts, a reader needs to recognize when evidence is irrelevant and unsound by evaluating the claims made by the author in terms of accuracy and viewpoint. The focus of Research to Build and Present Knowledge is to conduct short research projects based on a focused question and to demonstrate understanding through the presentation of the inquiry topic. In this unit, students will gather data and other relevant information from credible sources both online and in print to answer a research question and add to the topic in engaging and relevant ways. Resources should be used to inform direct quotes or to paraphrase, requiring the appropriate citation and format style (e.g., Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association, Chicago Manual of Style) to avoid plagiarism.  Unit Duration:  29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:The goal of the Integration of Knowledge and Ideas is for students to use multiple sources to address a question or solve a problem. The focus in this unit is on the ability to identify the argument and claims within a text. Through evaluation of an author’s argument and claims in informational texts, a reader needs to recognize when evidence is irrelevant and unsound by evaluating the claims made by the author in terms of accuracy and viewpoint. The focus of Research to Build and Present Knowledge is to conduct short research projects based on a focused question and to demonstrate understanding through the presentation of the inquiry topic. In this unit, students will gather data and other relevant information from credible sources both online and in print to answer a research question and add to the topic in engaging and relevant ways. Resources should be used to inform direct quotes or to paraphrase, requiring the appropriate citation and format style (e.g., Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association, Chicago Manual of Style) to avoid plagiarism.  Unit Duration:  29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:In this unit, students will engage with narrative text to analyze key ideas and details of narrative stories to determine what makes an interesting and engaging story. Analysis of key ideas and details in literature requires readers to consider what a literary work’s dialogue or plot reveals about what a character in a story or drama thinks, says, or does to advance the storyline. Students will use their knowledge of what makes an engaging story to craft and create narrative stories that follow a cohesive sequence with intentional and purposeful voice and mood. Students will analyze a text’s craft and structure, and students will need to consider how various points of view and perspectives of the characters and the audience function together to create effects such as suspense and humor. Students will work together in collaborative groups or partnerships to establish routines and structures within the English Language Arts classroom to set the year up for literary analyses, collaborative discussions, critique and comprehension of texts, and extended thinking. Unit Duration: 29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule 

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:In this unit, students will engage with narrative text to analyze key ideas and details of narrative stories to determine what makes an interesting and engaging story. Analysis of key ideas and details in literature requires readers to consider what a literary work’s dialogue or plot reveals about what a character in a story or drama thinks, says, or does to advance the storyline. Students will use their knowledge of what makes an engaging story to craft and create narrative stories that follow a cohesive sequence with intentional and purposeful voice and mood. Students will analyze a text’s craft and structure, and students will need to consider how various points of view and perspectives of the characters and the audience function together to create effects such as suspense and humor. Students will work together in collaborative groups or partnerships to establish routines and structures within the English Language Arts classroom to set the year up for literary analyses, collaborative discussions, critique and comprehension of texts, and extended thinking. Unit Duration: 29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule 

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:In reading, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas requires the ability to think across related texts to compare and contrast a theme or topic. The focus of this unit is for students to understand how classic literature serves to inform the themes, events, and characters in modern-day texts. Students will be able to explore and analyze how modern-day authors use myths, traditional stories, and religious texts to create new renditions.  Key Ideas and Details in the informational text require students to have increasingly sophisticated reading comprehension skills as they demonstrate knowledge of key concepts of reading. In this unit, students will develop and use the skill of making connections and distinctions between individuals, ideas, and events. By analyzing the author’s use of comparison, analogy, and categories, students will gain a deeper understanding of the connections and distinctions an author is making within the text.  Unit Duration:  29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule  

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:In reading, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas requires the ability to think across related texts to compare and contrast a theme or topic. The focus of this unit is for students to understand how classic literature serves to inform the themes, events, and characters in modern-day texts. Students will be able to explore and analyze how modern-day authors use myths, traditional stories, and religious texts to create new renditions.  Key Ideas and Details in the informational text require students to have increasingly sophisticated reading comprehension skills as they demonstrate knowledge of key concepts of reading. In this unit, students will develop and use the skill of making connections and distinctions between individuals, ideas, and events. By analyzing the author’s use of comparison, analogy, and categories, students will gain a deeper understanding of the connections and distinctions an author is making within the text.  Unit Duration:  29 days (25 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule  

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:This unit is designed to focus on the central ideas and themes that emerge from literature and non-fiction texts.  Students will analyze the parts of a text to recognize how the parts fit together to convey a central message.  Students will examine a topic and develop the topic with relevant facts and details in a cohesive, organized structure. Students will analyze how information and ideas are presented across media and formats to distinguish the purpose and motives for presentations related to central ideas and themes.  Teachers may choose to use a theme to anchor the content of this unit such as “courage.”  Teachers may choose to ask students to analyze texts through the themes of courage and ask students to choose an idea or person who exhibits(ed) courage, and to write an informative essay about the topic/person using supporting details from the texts and resources provided.   Unit Duration:24 days (20 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule  

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS:This unit is designed to focus on the central ideas and themes that emerge from literature and non-fiction texts.  Students will analyze the parts of a text to recognize how the parts fit together to convey a central message.  Students will examine a topic and develop the topic with relevant facts and details in a cohesive, organized structure. Students will analyze how information and ideas are presented across media and formats to distinguish the purpose and motives for presentations related to central ideas and themes.  Teachers may choose to use a theme to anchor the content of this unit such as “courage.”  Teachers may choose to ask students to analyze texts through the themes of courage and ask students to choose an idea or person who exhibits(ed) courage, and to write an informative essay about the topic/person using supporting details from the texts and resources provided.   Unit Duration:24 days (20 instructional days and 4 re-teach/enrichment days); Five periods per week based on a traditional bell schedule

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS: This unit focuses on counting and cardinality as well as operations and algebraic thinking.  Learning in this unit will enable students to:  Know number names and the count sequence.  Count to tell the number of objects.  Compare numbers.  Understand addition as putting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from  

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS: This unit focuses on counting and cardinality as well as operations and algebraic thinking.  Learning in this unit will enable students to:  Know number names and the count sequence.  Count to tell the number of objects.  Compare numbers.  Understand addition as putting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from  

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS: This unit focuses on geometry and measurement and data.  Learning in this unit will enable students to: Analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes. Describe and compare measurable attributes