Unit Overview
Content Area: Language Arts- Reading
Unit Title: Reading ~ Foundational Reading Skills Unit: 1
Target Course/Grade Level: Fifth Grade
Unit Summary:Foundational Reading Skills is the first reading unit of the fifth grade year. The unit reviews and introduces skills and strategies that enhance reading comprehensionwhich form a foundation for later reading analysis. The unit also serves to help students to learn how to think as readers and to develop skills that will enhance reading enjoyment. The unit begins by reviewing how to select books at a “just right level” and by teaching students how to select books across a variety of genres. Other skills and strategies taught include determining the meaning of unknown words; asking questions during reading; making predictions, connections, and inferences; and responding to text with written reading responses utilizing textual evidence.
Primary interdisciplinary connections:Writing, Vocabulary
21st century themes and skills:Communication and Collaboration, Life and Career Skills: -flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social skills, productivity and accountability, leadership and responsibility
Anchor Standards:
Anchor Standards for Reading:
Key Ideas and Details
R.1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
Craft and Structure
R.4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
R.10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Anchor Standards for Writing:
Production and Distribution of Writing
W.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
W.9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Anchor Standards for Language:
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
L.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues,analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
Learning Targets/Activities
Domain:Reading, Writing, Language
Cluster: Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity, Production and Distribution of Writing, Research to Build and Present Knowledge, Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Standard # / Standards
RL.5.1 / Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RL.5.4 / Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
RL.5.10 / By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
W.5.4 / Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W.5.9 / Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
L.5.4.A,C / Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
A. Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
C. Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
Unit Essential Questions
•What strategies do effective readers utilize to construct meaning from texts?
•How do strong readers independently monitor their understanding of texts?
•How do successful readers improve their reading level and interest?
•How do readers support their thinking about texts? / Unit Enduring Understandings
•Effective readers construct meaning from text using a variety of comprehension skills and strategies (ie: vocabulary skills, rereading, questioning, etc.)
•Strong readers employ many reading comprehension strategies (ie: making connections, asking questions, making predictions, inferencing, and synthesizing) to independently monitor their understanding of text.
•Readers improve their skills by selecting a variety of ‘just right’ books across many genres.
•Students clarify and support their thinking about reading by quoting accurately from the texts.
Unit Learning Targets
Students will ...
Select ‘just right’ independent reading books of interest across multiple genres. (RL.5.10)
Review and apply previously learned reading comprehension strategies to monitor their understanding of text. Skills and strategies will include: making predictions, visualizing, questioning, inferencing, and making connections. (RL.5.10)
Determine meaning of unfamiliar words by means of a variety of strategies including rereading, context clues, etc. (RL.5.4, L.5.4a)
Determine meaning of unfamiliar words through use of reference materials, both print and digital (RL.5.4, L.5.4c)
Organize and write open ended reading responses about text. (W.5.4, W.5.9)
Quote accurately from the text to support ideas and conclusions drawn in written responses to reading (RL.5.1, W.5.9)
Make and support inferences by quoting accurately from the text (RL.5.1, W.5.9)
Learning Activities
  • Whole class read alouds of picture books and/or novels with targeted mini-lessons on reading strategies and skills.
  • Small group picture book reading
  • Partner reading/ pair-share
  • Jigsaw activity
  • Dictionary practice activities
/
  • Library introductory session to select books at “just right level” across various genres for book talk project.
  • Independent reading of selected short stories and novel excerpts from Out of This World anthology.
  • Read Time for Kids magazines and complete accompanying activities and handouts.
  • Reading responses

Evidence of Learning
Formative Assessments
  • Teacher observation
  • Student participation
  • Application of reading skills and strategies during group, partner, and independent reading of picture books and novels.
  • Graphic organizers
/
  • “Book mark” to record various skills/strategies
  • Time for Kids quizzes and activity pages
  • Reading Responses
  • Exit tickets
  • Novel quizzes

Summative Assessments
  • Booktalk project

RESOURCES/TECHNOLOGY
Teacher Instructional Resources:
Dictionaries
Out of This World reading anthology
Time for Kids magazines
Picture Books for Context Clues:
  • Jabberwocky, Graeme Base (original poem by Lewis Carol)
Picture Books for Visualizing:
  • Night in the Country, Cynthia Rylant
  • The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  • Tar Beach, Faith Ringgold
Picture Books for Making Predictions:
  • Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig
  • For the Love of Autumn, Patricia Polacco
Picture books for Making Connections Strategy:
  • My Rotten Headed Older Brother, Patricia Polacco
  • Thank You Mr. Falker, Patricia Polacco
  • The Relatives Came, Cynthia Rylant
  • Bedhead, Margie Palatini
  • Picture books for Asking Questions:
  • Fly Away Home, Eve Bunting
  • The Wall, Eve Bunting
  • Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster, Debra Frasier
  • The Day of Ahmad’s Secret, Florence Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland
  • The Stranger, Chris Van Allsburg
Picture books for Drawing Inferences:
  • Teammates, Peter Golenbock
  • Tuesday, David Weisner
  • Just a Dream, Chris Van Allsburg
  • Babushkah’s Doll, Patricia Polacco
  • Fireflies, Julie Brinkloe
Picture books for Synthesizing:
  • Zathura, Chris Van Allsburg
  • Fables, Arnold Lobel
  • The Sweetest Fig, Chris Van Allsburg
Class Novel: Crash, Jerry Spinelli
Literature Group resources: There’s a Boy in the Girls Bathroom by Louis Sachar,
Rules by Cynthia Lord, Loser by Jerry Spinelli
In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning, Nancie Atwell
Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6): Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell
Student “bookmark”
Reading Skills Graphic Organizers
Reading Response Organizer
5th Grade Reading Response Rubric (1-4)
Novel quizzes
Integration of Technology:
Smartboard, Elmo, internet
Technology Resources:




Opportunities for Differentiation:
Leveled picture books for group work and independent reading
Differentiation of graphic organizer
Question/discussion techniques
Metacognitive strategies
Teacher Notes: