Amplify CKLA Grades 2-5

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3	Grade 2	TITLE	KNOWLEDGE STORY	ANCHOR TEXT TYPE LEXILE	ASSESSMENT TYPES/ MODES OF WRITING
4		FAIRY TALES AND TALL TALES	Students are introduced to three classic fairy tales: “The Fisherman and His Wife,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” They consider characteristic elements of fairy tales and consider problems faced by the characters as well as lessons each story conveys. Students then turn to the American frontier and tall tales about Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Casey Jones. They learn about the characteristics of tall tales, such as exaggeration and larger-than-life characters.	FAIRY TALES AND TALL TALES (READ-ALOUD) LITERARY TEXT 780L	NARRATIVE- students rewrite a fairy tale to change one element and write a desription of a scence. INFORMAL: graphic organizers, responses to text, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
5		EARLY ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS	Students are introduced to the continent of Asia and its two most populous countries, India and China. Students learn about early India, the importance of the Indus and Ganges Rivers, and the basics of their culture. Students then explore early Chinese civilization and its lasting contributions, including paper, silk, and the Great Wall of China. In addition, students are introduced to related folktales and poetry, including “The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal,” “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” and “The Magic Paintbrush.”	EARLY ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS (READ ALOUD) INFORMATIONAL/ LITERARY 970L	INFORMATIONAL- small groups write an informational book about paper, writing, and calligraphy in ancient China. INFORMAL: notes, graphic organizers, responses to text, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
6		THE ANCIENT GREEK CIVILIZATION	Students explore the civilization of ancient Greece, which lives on in many ways—in our language, government, art and architecture, the Olympics, and more. Students learn about the city-states of Sparta and Athens, Greek democracy, the gods and goddesses of the ancient Greeks, and the philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.	THE ANCIENT GREEK CIVILIZATIONS (READ ALOUD) INFORMATIONAL/ LITERARY 1050L	NARRATIVE- students plan, draft, and edit a fictional narrative about someone living in the time of ancient Greece INFORMAL: opinion, notes, graphic organizers, responses to text, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
7		GREEK MYTHS	Building on the Ancient Greek Civilization domain, students explore several well-known Greek myths and mythical characters, including Prometheus and Pandora, Demeter and Persephone, Arachne the Weaver, Oedipus and the Sphinx, Theseus and the Minotaur, and others. Students learn about common characteristics of myths and examine story elements in the myths.	GREEK MYTHS (READ ALOUD) LITERARY 920L	NARRATIVE- students use narrative writing knowledge and the elements of a myth to write their own Greek myth. INFORMAL: spin a story tapestry, journal entries, notes, graphic organizers, responses to text, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
8		CYCLES IN NATURE	Students are introduced to natural cycles that make life on Earth possible. Students will learn about seasonal cycles, plant and animal life cycles, and the water cycle. Students will also enjoy poems by Emily Dickinson and Robert Louis Stevenson.	CYCLES IN NATURE (READ ALOUD) INFORMATIONAL 940L	INFORMATIONAL- students write an informational paragraph about the life cycle of a frog that includes introduction, transitions, and a conclusion INFORMAL: observational notes, graphic organizers, illustrated summaries, responses to text, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
9		WESTWARD EXPANSION	Students are introduced to an important period in the history of the United States—the time of westward expansion during the 1800s. Students explore why pioneers were willing to endure the hardships to move westward, and learn about innovations in transportation and communication, including the steamboat, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the Pony Express. Students also come to understand the hardships and tragedies that Native Americans endured because of westward expansion.	WESTWARD EXPANSION (READ ALOUD) INFORMATIONAL 910L	INFORMATIONAL- creation of a Westward Expansion Quilt with an image on the front and relevant words and phrases and summary of the main topic on the back. INFORMAL: notes, graphic organizers, responses to text, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
10		THE U.S. CIVIL WAR	This domain lays the foundation for more in-depth study in later grades of a critical period in American history. Students learn about the controversy between the North and the South over slavery. Students also become familiar with the achievements of key historical figures during this time, including Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Robert E. Lee.	THE U.S. CIVIL WAR (READ ALOUD) INFORMATIONAL 1060L	LITERARY ANLAYSIS- students respond to information in the texts by writing daily in Civil War Journals INFORMAL: short summaries, graphic organizers, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
11		THE HUMAN BODY: BUILDING BLOCKS AND NUTRITION	Students learn about Anton van Leeuwenhoek and his pioneering work with the microscope. They then proceed to explore a number of topics regarding the human body, including cells, tissues, organs, and body systems, with a focus on the digestive and excretory systems. In addition, students learn about good nutrition and other keys to good health.	HUMAN BODY: BUILDING BLOCKS AND NUTRITION (READ ALOUD) INFORMATIONAL 950L	INFORMATIONAL- students write in journal entries to to log what they know and have learned about the human body, its systems, and other information gathered. INFORMAL: graphic organizers, responses to text, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
12		IMMIGRATION	Students explore the idea of e pluribus unum and the importance of immigration in the history of the United States, with a focus on the great wave of immigration between 1880 and 1920. They learn reasons why people immigrated and why they settled in particular cities or regions. In learning about citizenship, students are introduced to basic knowledge about the constitution and the Bill of Rights.	IMMIGRATION (READ ALOUD) INFORMATIONAL 1060L	NARRATIVE- students plan and draft a letter from the perspective of a fictional immigrant writing home to a family member or friend, describing events based on knowledge gained from Read-Alouds. INFORMAL: E Pluribus Unum puzzle, notes, graphic organizers, responses to text, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
13		FIGHTING FOR A CAUSE	Students learn about seven key figures who fought for a cause and, against great opposition, stood up for what they believed in: Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary McLeod Bethune, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Cesar Chavez. Students explore the connection between ideas and actions and see how people can do extraordinary things to change a nation’s understanding and actions.	FIGHTING FOR A CAUSE (READ ALOUD) INFORMATIONAL 930L	POETRY- students plan and draft free verse poetry throughout the unit to express their opinions about topics read in several Read-Alouds. Then, they choose one of their poems to revise, edit, and publish. INFORMAL: graphic organizers, responses to text, Pausing Points, Culminating Activities
14	Grade 3	TITLE	KNOWLEDGE STORY	ANCHOR TEXT TYPE LEXILE	ASSESSMENT TYPES/ MODES OF WRITING
15		Classic Tales	Students explore classic tales from different parts of the world, including The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, and “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp.” They study character development, themes, and narrative perspective, and they write text-based opinion paragraphs about characters and themes. Students review significant foundational skills, including short and long vowel sounds, r-controlled vowels, /er/ and its spelling, and syllables with ‘le.’	Classic Tales Literacy Lexile: 580L	NARRATIVE: L2 - rewrite scene from Rat's perspective; L4 - alternate ending OPINION: L11-13 - opinion paragraph INFORMAL: graphic organizers
16		Animal Classification	This unit continues students’ study of the natural world, explaining how scientists use animals’ characteristics to classify and study them. Students apply their knowledge through text-based discussions, informal writing exercises in which they classify animals according to their characteristics, and formal informational writing assignments in which they use evidence to classify a particular vertebrate. Students learn and practice alphabetizing words to the second and third letters, and they spell words with suffixes such as –ed, –ing, and –es. In grammar, students review nouns, verbs, adjectives, subjects, predicates, fragments, and run-on sentences. They study concrete and abstract nouns and write compound sentences by adding subjects and predicates to simple sentences. Students also learn the prefixes un–, non–, re–, and pre–and discuss how adding prefixes changes the meaning of root words and how the parts of speech of words may change.	Anchor Text: Rattenborough’s Guide to Animals Text Type: Informational Lexile: 770L	Animal Classification Formal Writing: Informational Paragraph Students use their study of informational text characteristics in this unit to write an informational paragraph about a mammal. Students will plan, draft, and revise their writing. Begins in Lesson 12. Informal Writing: field journal, foldable brochure, graphic organizers, notes, short and extended responses to text
17		The Human Body: Systems and Senses	This unit immerses students in the study of the human body, building their scientific understanding of its skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems. Students read about the role of various body parts and organs associated with each system, such as bones, joints, muscles, nerves, the spinal cord, and the brain. Students also take an in-depth look at the senses of sight and hearing and the various body parts that enable these senses to function properly, and they learn about difficulties that may occur when vision and/or hearing are impaired and how people cope with these challenges. Students write paragraphs, focusing on sentence cohesion and sequence, identifying irrelevant sentences, and composing titles. They review the spelling of regular and irregular plural nouns, as well as adding –s or –es to certain verb forms, and they review changing the letter ‘f’ to ‘v’ and adding the suffix –es to create the plural form of words. This unit introduces students to pronouns and asks them to determine subject-verb agreement in sentences, recognizing the pattern of adding –s or –es to third person singular verbs. In this unit, students study the common prefixes dis– and mis– and review the prefixes un–, non–, re–, pre–, dis–, and mis–.	Anchor Text: How Does Your Body Work? Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 620L	Formal Writing: Informational Paragraph Students practice writing various parts of a paragraph, including topic and concluding sentences, details, and titles and participate in a shared writing activity to compose a paragraph. Students write paragraphs independently about one of the body systems studied in the unit. Begins in Lesson 1. Informal Writing: unit dictionary, quick writes, sentence sequencing, written reflection, topic and concluding sentences, short and extended responses to text, graphic organizers
18		The Ancient Roman Civilization	Students dive into ancient Rome in this unit, studying its historical events and culture and reading the legend of Romulus and Remus about Rome’s founding and several myths about Roman gods and goddesses. They study the historical rise and fall of the Roman republic and empire, as well as key historical figures such as Hannibal, Julius Caesar, and Augustus. Students review the spelling patterns of r-controlled vowels as well as spellings of the sound /ee/. They review verb tenses and the verbs to be and to have as well as subject-verb agreement, learning to change the spelling of verbs to match various subjects. They also study the common suffixes –er, –or, –ist, –ian, –y, and –al, reviewing how suffixes change the meaning of root words and how they may change the part of speech of that word. Students develop their opinion writing skills in this unit, working on a range of opinion pieces that culminate in an opinion essay about Rome’s most significant cultural contribution.	Anchor Text: Stories of Ancient Rome Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 640L	Formal Writing: Opinion Essay Students are introduced to formal opinion writing by analyzing and charting the components of an opinion piece. Students plan, draft and revise an opinion essay about which god or goddess should have a statue in present-day Rome. Begins in Lesson 6. Students also write an opinion for the unit Performance Task. Informal Writing: opinion quick write, writing a debate, performance task notes, short and extended responses to text, graphic organizers
19		The Viking Age	This unit immerses students in the lives of the ancient Norse, using both informational and literary text to convey information about the Vikings, their culture, and their exploration. During this unit, students also participate in a Quest, an immersive, digital, narrative experience that helps them experience what life was like in Viking communities and work collaboratively to make decisions in the Viking manner. Students spell words with /k/ and /s/, learn the conjunction because, and work with the suffixes –ly and –ive. Student writing focuses on the characters about which they are reading; students compare and contrast characters, analyze them, and imagine new narratives for them. Students also complete a Mid-Year assessment in this unit, allowing teachers to measure their progress toward mastering grade-level standards.	Anchor Text: Gods, Giants, and Dwarves Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 760L	The Viking Age Formal Writing: Informational Paragraph Students will plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish a descriptive paragraph about a character from Norse mythology. Begins in Lesson 6. Informal Writing: character comparison, notes, graphic organizers, short and extended responses to text Quest: vocabulary definitions, short descriptions, short responses to text and multimedia
20		Astronomy: Our Solar System and Beyond	Students learn about astronomy and the universe around us, reading about the sun, planets, our moon, asteroids, comets, meteors, galaxies, stars, and important figures in the history of space exploration, including Nicolaus Copernicus and Mae Jemison. They review words with spelling patterns /j/, /n/, /ae/, /k/, and /s/ and learn the conjunctions so and or as part of their continuing study of conjunctions. They also review the use of quotation marks in dialogue and learn about singular and plural possessive nouns and the correct punctuation needed for presenting items in a series. The formal writing piece for the Astronomy unit is a multi-day informative writing project that describes a day in the life of an astronaut on the International Space Station. Students will gather information, take and organize notes, and use the writing process to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish the final piece.	Anchor Text: What’s in Our Universe? Text Type: Informational Lexile: 730L	Formal Writing: Informative Writing Students conduct research and take notes before using the writing process to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish an informative writing piece about a day in the life of an astronaut on the International Space Station. Begins in Lesson 18. Writing is also part of the Performance Task. Informal Writing: compare and contrast, connecting main ideas, quick write, opinions, Reader’s Theater script, short and extended responses to text
21		Native Americans: Religions and Cultures	Students read how Native Americans spread through the continents, changing their ways of life as they did so. They learn about Native Americans who settled in the Greater Mississippi River areas as well as in the Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Arctic/Subarctic. Students review words with /ə/ and /sh/ + /ə/ + /n/ spelled ‘tion.’ They study possessive nouns and pronouns, plural possessive nouns not ending in ‘s’ or ‘es,’ and singular and plural possessive nouns. They also learn the difference between the possessive pronoun its and the contraction it’s. Students learn the suffixes –ish, –ness, –able, and –ible. Students use writing to compare and contrast, assemble information, and reflect on what they have learned.	Anchor Text: Native American Stories Text Type: Literary Lexile: 860L	Formal Writing: Narrative Presentations and Recordings Students learn about the art of storytelling through Native American legends and stories, then practice and perform narratives from the text. Presentations are recorded and include visual displays created by the students. Informal Writing: dictionary definitions and sentences, journal, quick writes, notes, graphic organizers, reflection, shared writing, short and extended responses to text.
22		Early Explorations of North America	Students in this unit explore reasons for European exploration, what exploration was like, and who went exploring. They read about aspects of navigation, life on a ship, the journeys of and locations reached by specific explorers, explorers’ interactions with native people, and lasting contributions as a result of European exploration. Students spell words with /ue/, /oo/, and /f/. They practice using sentence context to determine word meanings and then consulting a dictionary to see if the definition matches the usage of the word in a sentence. They write sentences to match specific definitions and practice the linking words for example, in the same way, and in contrast. Students are also introduced to comparative and superlative adjectives using the suffixes –er and –est as well as more and most; they also learn about irregular comparative and superlative adjectives. Students study the prefixes pro– and anti– and review the suffixes –ish, –ness, –able, and –ible. Students write text-based opinion pieces explaining who they believe was the most important explorer they have studied.	Anchor Text: The Age of Exploration Text Type: Informational Lexile: 680L	Opinion: L9-13
23		Colonial America	Throughout this unit students learn about different colonies in early America, including how each colony was started, what life was like when people first arrived, and progress colonists made in the few years after the land was initially settled. Students observe similarities and differences among the colonies in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Students spell words with / e/, / e/ + /l/, /sh/ + / e/ + /n/, /ue/, /oo/, /f/, /oi/, and /ou/. Students also practice dictionary skills, identifying entry words and their definitions, parts of speech, and affixed root words and then selecting the correct form of the word to use in a sentence. They practice comparative and superlative adjectives and learn comparative and superlative adverbs, subject pronouns and their antecedents, and object pronouns and their antecedents. Students learn the common prefixes uni–, bi–, tri–, multi–, over–, mid–, and under–. During the unit, students practice formal and informal narrative writing. They learn about and apply characteristics of narratives to their own stories, including building a plot, developing characters, using dialogue, and creating an ending. They write a narrative using the writing process by planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.	Anchor Text: Living in Colonial America Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 860L	Narrative: L2, L5-10, 12-16
24	Grade 4	TITLE	KNOWLEDGE STORY	ANCHOR TEXT TYPE LEXILE	ASSESSMENT TYPES/ MODES OF WRITING
25		Personal Narratives	This unit examines the genre of personal narratives, which consists of works of nonfiction written by a first-person narrator involved in the events being described. Students read five personal narratives, identifying the elements of the genre and, throughout the unit, using these elements in writing a variety of their own personal narratives. These elements include events proceeding in a logical sequence, dialogue that shows character, vivid descriptive language, characters with defining traits, sensory details, figurative language, and writing strong introductions and conclusions. Students also take a Beginning-of-Year assessment to evaluate their preparedness for Grade 4 instruction.	Anchor Text: Personal Narratives Text Type: Informational Lexile: 800L	Formal Writing: Personal Narrative Students focus on details, transition words, similes, metaphors, and vital verbs while writing personal narratives. They plan, organize, draft, revise, edit, and share their finished work. Begins in Lesson 7. Informal Writing: memory paragraph, cause and effect, descriptive writing, food narrative with dialogue, graphic organizers, short and extended responses to text
26		Empires in the Middle Ages, Parts 1 and 2	The Empires in the Middle Ages unit covers the history of both the Middle Ages in Europe and the Islamic Medieval Empires. While part 1 deals primarily with the events of western Europe and the relationship between the Christian Church and the rulers of the region, the concurrent part 2 looks at events in another part of the world (particularly in what is now called the Middle East). Students practice taking notes from informational text, writing an informative, explanatory paragraph, and writing a persuasive paragraph. They describe the functions of and relationship between nouns and adjectives as well as between adverbs and verbs, form and use prepositional phrases, identify parts of speech, correctly use subject and predicate, and correct sentence fragments or run-on sentences by revising them into complete sentences. They practice writing the four different kinds of sentence and using the progressive verb tense. Students work with the prefixes un–, non–, and en–, the root words arch and graph, and the suffix –y.	Anchor Text: Empires in the Middle Ages Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 910L	Formal Writing: Opinion/Persuasive Students use the writing process to write an opinion about what type of person they would most want to be if they were living in the Middle Ages. Students use extensive notes and paraphrasing to gather information, then use the information to form their opinion. Students use the writing process to plan, draft, and revise their paragraphs. Begins in Lesson 8. Informal Writing: informative paragraph, historical fiction, notes, graphic organizers, paraphrasing, short and extended responses to text
27		Poetry	This unit gives students tools and strategies for approaching poetry, training them in the methods and devices poets use and equipping them to read and interpret both formal and free verse poems. It gives them continual opportunities to create poems themselves, allowing them to practice what they have learned. The poems in this unit represent a wide variety of time periods, from Kshemendra’s twelfth-century treatise on the responsibilities of poets to the work of living writers such as Harryette Mullen. The poets come from many backgrounds and nations; the poets included are European, Asian, African American, Native American, and Hispanic. The poems themselves are similarly diverse; some employ precise meter and rhyme schemes, while others use free verse. A key aspect of the Poetry unit is encouraging and equipping students to write original poems. This allows for creative and imaginative expression, but it also affords students the opportunity to implement the poetic devices they have learned in the reading components of each lesson. The writing portion of the unit allows students to apply their new poetry knowledge, further solidifying their understanding of the craft of poetry. Throughout this unit, students will practice using the poetic devices exemplified by each poem. They will compose rhymes, similes, and metaphors; use repetition, anaphora, and alliteration; and plan, draft, and revise several original poems inspired by the poems studied in this unit.	Anchor Text: Poetry Journal Text Type: Literary Lexile: N/A because poetry/verse	Formal Writing: Poetry Students will plan, draft, and revise a memory poem using several poetic devices, such as repetition, alliteration, similes, and tone. Begins in Lesson 3. Informal Writing: poetry journal, question and answer poems, five senses poems, narrative poems, advice poems, reflections, short and extended responses to text
28		Eureka! Student Inventor	Eureka! Student Inventor Quest, a narrative-driven unit that immerses students in close reading adventures. Through them, students read complex literary and informational texts and consistently demonstrate their ability to find evidence and use it appropriately. Over the course of the Quest, students write routinely in opinion, informational, and narrative modes, adjusting style for the task and audience indicated. In Eureka! Student Inventor, students read a range of informational texts about inventors, inventions, and the process of creation. In addition to close readings, students analyze objects and situations in the world around them, identify problems, create evidence-based solutions, and ultimately become inventors themselves. By routinely writing informational and opinion pieces, students practice research, observation, communication, and persuasion. They also engage in a range of collaborative discussions, sharing ideas and working in teams with defined roles and agreed-upon rules. Students read biographical articles about eight inventors, detailed histories of important inventions, and scientific explanations of simple machines. Comprehension and collaboration skills are developed throughout, as students establish rules for group work and work together on building, reading about, and presenting inventions. Students make oral presentations about their inventions and demonstrate how and what they have learned from their peers’ presentations. Audio and video components, as well as teacher-read texts, give students opportunities to practice active listening.	Anchor Text: Eureka! Files Text Type: Informational Lexile: 1100L	Formal Writing: Opinion/Argument During the course of this Quest, students write a detailed explanation of an invention they create and write an argument for its importance using evidence. They will use the opinion to write a script for an invention pitch. Begins in Lesson 9. (Note from teacher experience: The informational writing using claim, evidence, closing.) Informal Writing: notes, skit writing, documentation writing, inventor cards, graphic organizers, letter writing, short and extended response to text
29		Geology	This unit focuses on the composition of the earth and the forces that change Earth’s surface. Students learn about the theory of plate tectonics and how it explains the presence of volcanoes, mountains, underwater trenches, ridges, and other geological features. Students will also study geological processes like rock formation, weathering, and erosion in order to understand how the earth changes over time and why it looks the way it does. They review the stages of the writing process, examine and explain similes, draft an informational pamphlet about tsunamis, write a wiki entry about a specific volcano, and create a descriptive paragraph about a type of rock or item in the rock cycle, incorporating literary devices such as alliteration, personification, and simile. Students also work with the suffix –ly and the root word rupt and practice sequencing adjectives and proper use of commas and quotation marks. This unit includes a Mid-Year assessment to track student progress towards grade-level standards mastery.	Anchor Text: The Changing Earth Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 900L	Formal Writing: Informative Writing Students will use the writing process to plan, draft, revise, and edit a Wiki entry about volcanoes. Begins in Lesson 7. Informal Writing: explanatory writing, informational pamphlet, notes, descriptive paragraph, graphic organizers, short and extended responses to text
30		Contemporary Fiction	This unit leads students into a deep dive on narrative literature and writing, using excerpts from The House on Mango Street as its anchor text. Throughout this unit, students read closely and analyze the text, then practice using literary elements they have explored in each vignette from the Reader—for example, the use of detailed descriptions, the building of aspiration as a theme, and the contrast between the protagonists’ perceptions and the perceptions of others. The unit asks students to compose a multi-chapter narrative; they build their stories throughout several lessons devoted to planning, drafting, and revising their work. In addition, students practice opinion writing using evidence from the text.	Anchor Text: Writer’s Journal with excerpts from The House on Mango Street Text Type: Literary Lexile: 800L	Contemporary Fiction: The House on Mango Street Formal Writing: Narrative Writing Students use ideas from the text to write aspiration stories. Students have a choice of writing a fiction or nonfiction story. Students use literary devices studied in previous units to plan, draft, and revise stories using peer feedback. Begins in Lesson 5. (Note from teacher experience: theme, tone, character traits, and narrative writing embedded in this unit.) Informal Writing: writer’s journal entries, descriptions, alternative narrative, opinion, reflections, graphic organizers, short and extended responses to text
31		American Revolution	This unit centers around the big idea that disagreements about principles of government led colonists in North America to seek independence from Great Britain. The causes, major figures, and consequences of the American Revolution provide a framework for understanding both what caused the thirteen colonies to break away and become an independent nation and what significant ideas and values were at the heart of the American Revolution. Students review the stages of the writing process, enact and record key information from vignettes corresponding to the causes of the American Revolution, and develop a five-paragraph cause and effect essay. Students learn the prefixes im– and in–, the suffixes –ible and –able, and the root word port. They also learn modal auxiliary verbs and continue developing their use of commas and quotation marks and employing correct subject-verb agreement.	Anchor Text: The Road to Independence Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 950L	Formal Writing: Informative Writing Students use the writing process to compose a cause and effect essay about how the French and Indian War led to colonial protests. Students focus on cause-and-effect transition words, writing body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Informal Writing: graphic organizers, short and extended responses to text, writing prompts
32	Grade 5	TITLE	KNOWLEDGE STORY	ANCHOR TEXT TYPE LEXILE	ASSESSMENT TYPES/ MODES OF WRITING
33		Personal Narratives	This unit examines the genre of personal narratives, which consists of works of nonfiction written by a firstperson narrator involved in the events being described. Students read five personal narratives, identifying the elements of the genre and, throughout the unit, using these elements in writing a variety of their own personal narratives. These elements include a logical sequence of events, dialogue, vivid descriptive language, sensory details, figurative language, and images that accompany a written text. Examining the genre in this way will help students build their knowledge of descriptive writing. A primary goal of the unit is for students to write frequently and, indeed, to begin to identify themselves as writers. To this end, students write every day, often full-paragraph or multi-paragraph narratives, in a lowstakes environment that encourages students to develop their writing skills.	Anchor Text: Personal Narratives Text Type: Informational Lexile: 920	Most of the writing assignments are connected to practicing a skill, such as writing dialogue or using strong descriptive verbs, which students will have studied in connection with the narratives they are reading. In addition, over the course of the unit, students will have multiple opportunities to share their writing in safe and supportive sessions, with their classmates offering concrete and positive feedback.
34		Early American Civilizations	The Big Idea of this unit is that large complex civilizations, including those of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, developed in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans. This unit orients students to the geography, climate, flora, and fauna of the Americas. It also presents an overall history and timeline highlighting the rise and fall of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. In addition, the unit describes innovations and discoveries of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca and features myths from these ancient civilizations.	Anchor Text: Maya, Aztec, and Inca Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 880L	Students plan and draft a paragraph about the Maya and practice paraphrasing and note-taking, plan and draft a paragraph about the Aztec and incorporate images into their work, practice using linking words and phrases to compare the Maya and the Aztec, and plan and draft a paragraph about the Inca. Students edit their writing then integrate their writing and images to complete their Codex Project.
35		Poetry	This unit teaches students tools and strategies for approaching poetry, training them in the methods and devices poets use, and equipping them to read and interpret both formal and free verse poems. It gives them continual opportunities to create poems themselves, allowing them to practice what they have learned. The poems in this unit are drawn from various literary traditions over the last several centuries, and they range from William Blake’s 18th-century verse to the work of such contemporary writers as Virgil Suárez and Marie Howe. The poets come from many backgrounds and nations: the poets included are of European, Middle Eastern, African American, Native American, and Hispanic descent. The poems themselves are similarly diverse; some employ precise meter and rhyme schemes, while others use free verse and experimentation. Throughout the unit, students practice close reading and writing. They learn about many of the formal elements of poetry as they identify those elements arising organically from the text.	Anchor Text: Poet’s Journal Text Type: Literary Lexile: n/a because poetry/verse	Students will write poetry in various poetic forms and use poetic devices, including tone, anaphora, figurative language, rhyme, and metaphor.
36		Adventures of Don Quixote	In this unit students focus on character and plot, as well as on literary elements such as characterization, while reading a full-length, adapted version of Adventures of Don Quixote. They trace the development of plot, characters, and literary elements over the course of the novel, which exposes them to the culturally relevant aspects of the classic novel such as the quixotic nature of the primary character; the relationship between Don Quixote and his sidekick, Sancho Panza; and episodes such as the one involving windmills.	Anchor Text: Adventures of Don Quixote Text Type: Literary Lexile: 940L	Students write a four-paragraph persuasive essay arguing whether they think Don Quixote’s good intentions justify his often calamitous actions; they support their claims with reasons and evidence from the text.
37		The Renaissance	This unit provides students with a broad exposure to the art and literature of the Renaissance through the works of renowned masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Bruegel, Dürer, Van Eyck, Machiavelli, Castiglione, Cervantes, and Shakespeare. Students learn that the Renaissance was a cultural movement that began in Italy and swept through Europe. During the Renaissance, increased trade between European countries led to increased wealth, power, and influence of the middle class, which allowed merchants and businessmen to support artists as their patrons.	Anchor Text: Patrons, Artists, and Scholars Text Type: Informational Lexile: 980L	Students will write an informational paragraph using note-taking techniques on informational texts, and they will create a biography about a famous Renaissance artist using at least two sources.
38		The Reformation	This unit teaches students about the Reformation, a movement involving religious and political upheaval that shifted the power in Europe from the Catholic Church to the state and led to the creation of Protestantism. Students learn how Gutenberg’s invention of an efficient printing press helped fuel the Reformation movement and allowed Martin Luther’s and others’ ideas to spread quickly.	Anchor Text: Shifts in Power Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 980L	Students draft a friendly letter with a clear purpose from Jacques's point of view, and they will create a slide deck presentation about key events and figures of the Reformation.
39		A Midsummer Night's Dream	The A Midsummer Night’s Dream unit is an immersive Quest that treats Shakespeare’s comedy as both literature and a living text for interpretation and performance. Over the course of the Quest students read, write, act, direct, design, and watch scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Students think about scenes through the frames of character action (what a character wants, what stands in his or her way, what he or she will do to achieve it) and character traits (what a character’s actions tell us about him or her, what adjectives we would use to describe this character) while exploring Shakespeare’s brilliant language. Students engage in close reading, creative writing, and theater activities to enhance their understanding of the play and engage their imaginations, as well as their skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.	Anchor Text: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Text Type: Literary Lexile: n/a because poetry/verse	Students will write to compare characters using evidence and descriptive details, they will make inferences to write a description of a character in modern-day life, they will use descriptive details to write about the a setting in the text, and they will write a journal entry from the perspective of a character using evidence from the text.
40		Native Americans	This unit teaches students how Native Americans were intricately and intimately connected to their landscape and explores how the policies of the American government in the 1800s and contact with settlers, missionaries, traders, and explorers affected Native American cultures and their relationship with the land.	Anchor Text: A Changing Landscape Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 1010L	Students write a persuasive essay in which they argue that a chosen image best shows the connection between Native Americans and the land. In this writing, students focus on note-taking, incorporating evidence, and crafting an argument; they also revise, edit, and share their writing.
41		Chemical Matter	In this unit, students learn chemical content through a fictional work, The Badlands Sleuth, which tells the story of a fossil dig in which a number of fossils go missing and the protagonist, Amy, must use the chemistry she is learning to solve the mystery.	Anchor Text: The Badlands Sleuth Text Type: Informational/Literary Lexile: 880L	Because the unit is both literary and informational, writing tasks vary accordingly. The key skills that students build on in this unit include appropriate organization of content for a range of purposes, combining informational and literary details, applying recently learned insights to convey information and understanding to others, integrating information from multiple sources to explain concepts and ideas, and revising writing in response to peer feedback. The culminating writing task for this unit asks students to write Amy’s next case: another detective story which uses scientific content to solve a mystery.
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