Draft letters ask students to think critically about their writing on a specific assignment before submitting their work to a reader. This lesson explains and provides models for the strategy.

Students create math stories by first drawing, then writing, and finally using math symbols to show addition or subtraction.

Students draw a series of pictures that tell a story, including character action, problem and solution. They read their story to others, transcribe it into writing, and create an accordion book.

This resource provided by CommonLit support 5th graders in understanding Langston Hughes' poem "Dreams." To support student's understanding of the themes, teachers can access guiding questions, assessment questions and discussion prompts as well as texts with similar themes literary devices, topics and writing style. The lesson can be paired with Langston Hughes' poem, "Harlem."

An Observation and Inquiry Sheet guides students as they analyze and compare their reactions to the value, engagement, and credibility of three websites related to Anne Frank and the Holocaust.

Introduce gerunds and review nouns, adjectives, and verbs through engaging read-alouds; then apply these concepts through collaborative word-sorting and poetry-writing activities.

Panelists, including Dr. Jan Hasbrouck, discuss key features of structured literacy within K-6 literacy systems. They highlight the importance of teaching systematically and explicitly to improve student outcomes.

This podcast interview with Drs. Piasta and Hudson discusses teacher content/pedagogical knowledge, phonological awareness instruction, and phonics instruction, why it all matters, and what it means for instruction.

This lesson is the fifth in a series of six in which students engage in a close read aloud of The Invisible Boy. In Session 5, students use a Language Dive to see the cause of and change in Brian's feelings. Additionally, students use Justin's kindness toward Brian as an introduction to compassion, a habit of character.

This lesson is the final one in which students engage in a close read-aloud of The Invisible Boy. Students learn that Brian is happier at school because of the new friendship he has built with Justin. This final session allows students to practice recognizing significant events that cause a response in the main character.

This lesson is the first in a series of six in which students engage in a close read-aloud of The Invisible Boy. This book provides another example of school to help students define and clarify the purpose of school. In this book, students learn that school helps us to appreciate other people's abilities and underscores the importance of treating others kindly. Additionally, students track the main character's change of emotions to better understand the impact of their words and actions on their classmates.

This lesson is the second in a series of six in which students engage in a close read-aloud of The Invisible Boy. In Session 2, students focus their attention on a smaller chunk of the text that dives deeper into understanding the main character, Brian, and an example of something that makes him feel invisible.

This lesson is the third in a series of six in which students engage in a close read-aloud of The Invisible Boy. In Session 3, students begin talking about and tracking Brian's feelings on an anchor chart.

This lesson is the fourth in a series of six in which students engage in a close read-aloud of The Invisible Boy. In Session 4, students explore the connection between being "invisible," Brian's feelings, and the drawings of Brian throughout the book. Additionally, students use Justin's appreciation for Brian's drawing abilities as an introduction to the habit of character respect in the closing of the Close Read Aloud

Following an in-depth review of the CCSS for ELA, members of the ELA curriculum workgroup transitioned this document to the Virgin Islands Standards of Achievement for English Language Arts. The revised standards emerging from this work represent the Virgin Islands Standards of Achievement (VISA) for English Language Arts. Revisions are highlighted in red for easy identification for educators.

A compendium of protocols (structured conversations) used in the EL Education Language Arts Curriculum Module Lessons. Serves as a critical ongoing reference document alongside the K-5 module lessons.

As part of their ELA coursework, students are reading an autobiography to study author's craft.  In particular, students are exploring how authors use dialogue, transitional phrases/clauses, and sensory details to tell a personal story. The unit will culminate with students writing their own memoirs. The bulk of the unit takes place in the ELA classroom. In the ESL support block, students will receive support with reading an autobiography of their choice, noting examples of author's craft in the autobiography, and integrating this craft into their own writing.

In this first lesson of the unit, students choose from two memoirs 15 on the Road to Freedom and the Big Lie. Students participate in a F2F mini-lesson in how dialogue can develop characters in an autobiography. Students then transition to technology for a book introduction with historical context and a chapter 1 book preview (guided reading). Students in 15 on the Road to Freedom then continue to receive support via Ed Puzzle for identifying dialogue and documenting in a graphic organizer, while students in The Big Lie meet with the teacher for the support. While students in The Big Lie transition to continue completing the graphic organizer independently, students in the 15 on the Road to Freedom meet with the teacher F2F to discuss their completed graphic organizers. Students then return to their autobiographies (written on google docs and organized in google classroom) to include additional dialogue in their stories and peer-review a partnerÅ› story. Students then participate in a full group F2F wrap up/reflection where they share out examples of dialogue their partner included in their writing as a result of the lesson.

Online Lesson for Books: Historical Context/Chapter 1 Intro/Graphic Organizer Support

15 on the Road to Freedom: Book Introduction, Chapter 1 Preview, and Support with Graphic Organizer Task
The Big Lie: Book Introduction, Chapter 1 Preview (Note that support with graphic organizer is given F2F for this group)

Graphic Organizers

I can identify how authors use dialogue to develop characters
I can identify precise language authors use to introduce dialogue
I can identify how authors use sensory details to develop experiences
I can identify how authors use transitional words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence shifts

Assignment Sheet

ELA Autobiography Assignment Sheet (Created by Julia Koli, Connie Ray, and Elliot Willis-Begley at Scarlett Middle School, Ann Arbor MI)

F2F Mini-Lesson #1

Mini-Lesson on Character Development Through Dialogue

Please email daughertye@aaps.k12.mi.us if you would like me to send you the additional resources I created for the remaining mini-lessons and book chapters!

Students shape up their reading, writing, and listening skills in this lesson by creating original diamante, acrostic, and shape poems about science.

Students will view this slideshow online as the first activity in a blended unit. The activity is meant to introduce the author and some of his works, including several that the students will read as part of the unit. It is primarily intended to spark student interest in the unit. However, it will also aid the students in that they will be better poristioned to read the author's works if they have some sense of what to expect in terms of themes.

     The choice to include such as introductory tool into the unit was based upon prior observations regarding the difficulty of getting students engaged in any lesson when nothing had been done to sprak their interest beforehand.

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