Literacy Planning

Unit 1: 4-6 weeks –

Big Question: What is the best way to find the truth?

Week 1 – 8/31 to 9/4

8/31 – YWBAT Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.

YWBAT Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases.

YWBAT Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details.

  • Warm up: Write to Learn – Saturday marked the 10th year anniversary of one of the worst storms to ever hit American soil, Hurricane Katrina. What, if anything, do you know about this?
  • Introduce and explore, the Big Question
  • Introduce Big Question academic vocabulary
  • Literary Analysis Workshop: Fiction and Nonfiction
  • Elements of fiction and nonfiction
  • Determining theme and central ideas
  • No vocabulary/spelling test this week!

9/1 – YWBAT Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details.

  • Warm up: alone or with a partner in your table group, write a sentence using at least 4 of the 9 academic vocabulary words on page 3 of your textbook.
  • Literary Analysis Workshop: Fiction and Nonfiction
  • Close Read: The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks
  • Independent Practice: The Three Century Woman
  • Guided comprehension

9/2 - YWBAT determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details.

  • Warm up: answer selected questions on page 21(1-3)
  • Literary Analysis Workshop: Fiction and Nonfiction
  • Close Read: The Great Fire
  • Independent Practice: The Fall of Hindenburg
  • Guided comprehension
  • Crash

9/3 - YWBAT determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details.

YWBAT determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words.

YWBAT use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.

  • Warm up: Vocabulary warm-up
  • Discuss reading skill: Context Clues
  • Discuss Literary Analysis: Narrative Text
  • Writing about The Big Question
  • Preview and begin reading Papa’s Parrot as a class

9/4 - YWBAT determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details.

YWBAT determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words.

YWBAT use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.

  • Warm up: Quick Write: How do the relationships between children and their parents change as children grow?
  • Discuss
  • Finish Papa’s Parrot as a class
  • Guided comprehension
  • Critical Thinking Questions 1-3
  • Vocabulary questions 1-6

Week 1 spelling and vocabulary list: This week, we will focus on learning the words. No test.

For use from 8/31 to 9/4

Word: / Definition:
merely / adv. No more than; simply
clusters / n. numbers of things of the same sort that are grouped together; bunches
ignored / v. paid no attention to
shipments / n. Deliveries or acts of sending goods
resumed / v. began again; continued
perch / n. roost for a bird; seat
Awareness / n. knowledge gained from one’s own perceptions or from information
conclude / v. decide; reach a determination
convince / v. persuade
debate / v. argue in an attempt to convince
evaluate / v. judge or determine the significance of
explain / v. make plain or clear
insight / n. ability to see the truth; an understanding
perceive / v. see; be aware of