Grade 5 ELA Curriculum Unit Map
Weeks 1-6 Lesson Seeds
Table of Contents
Click on the yellow outlined page number box to link directly to that seed.
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Seeds
Unit Overview
#1 RL.5.10 and RI.5.10
Becoming Metacognitive Readers
#2 RL.5.4
Becoming Word Conscious
#3 RL.5.10
Gathering Information about Characters and Setting
#4 RL.5.10
Keeping Track of Characters
#5 RL.5.3
Comparing and Contrasting Two Settings
#6 RL.5.3
Comparing and Contrasting two or more Characters
#7 RL.5.4
Using Context Clues to Determine the Meaning of Unknown Words
#8 RL.5.2
Determining the Theme of a Poem
#9 RL.5.4
Understanding Figurative Language
#10 RI.5.2
Determining two or more Main Ideas
#11 RI.5.2
Explaining how Key Details support Main Ideas
#12 RI.5.1
Inferring Accurately From the Text
Resources
Also utilize the Suggested Standards Map for English/Language Arts located in the Literacy Closet &/or the Gheens Website.
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Unit Title: Thinking, Talking, Reading, and Writing about Literary and Informational Texts
Overview: During this unit, students will think, talk and write about literary and informational texts.
They will begin to have deep conversations and will practice quoting accurately from the text when
explaining their thinking. Students will learn the power of previewing before reading and will begin to
compare and contrast characters and settings. Students will learn a strategy for considering context
clues when trying to infer the meaning of an unknown word, as well as explore the use of figurative
language in poetry. While analyzing a poem, students will begin to think about the theme an author or
narrator is trying to convey.
Students will learn to determine main ideas of an informational text, identify details that support the
main ideas, and explain how the details support the main idea.
Focus Standards
• RL.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when
drawing inferences from the text.
• RL.5.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how
characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects
upon a topic; summarize the text.
• RL.5.3: Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama,
drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
• 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, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• RI.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and
when drawing inferences from the text.
• RI.5.2: Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by
key details; summarize the text.
• RI.5.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in
a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
• RI.5.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including
history/social studies, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity
band independently and proficiently.
Reading Workshop is the recommended framework for standards-based reading instruction. The
workshop framework is a cycle of differentiated support that begins with whole group instruction,
narrows to small group and individual instruction based on student need, and concludes with whole
group sharing. Assessment and intervention are embedded within the workshop framework.
Classrooms that do not use a workshop framework are expected to implement research-based reading
instruction daily. Research-based reading instruction provides daily opportunities for students to
experience: interactive read alouds, shared reading, whole group mini-lesson, small group instruction,
conferring with a teacher, independent reading practice, thinking, talking and writing in response to
reading, and closure. Teachers meet with small groups of students on a rotating basis and meet with
the lowest achieving students daily. Targeted interventions are provided for students who need more
support. Whole group, small group, and individual instruction should be standards-based.
1
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
This unit includes multiple lesson seeds. Lesson seeds include objectives, learning targets, sample
activities, anchor charts, thinking stems, and formative assessment suggestions. Lesson seeds should
be used to build or grow a learning experience, and are for the whole group mini-lesson. A learning
experience includes standards, learning targets, materials, formative assessment opportunities, minilessons (e.g., teach/model/demonstrate, guided practice), daily work time (e.g., guided reading, focus
groups, and/or book clubs) and daily group sharing (reflection and evaluation of the learning). A
learning experience and some lesson seeds are designed to take multiple days. For example, the
mini-lesson might take one or two days, the guided practice would become the mini-lesson for the
following day, and possibly extend to the next day. In addition, based on formative assessment, if the
majority of students did not understand the mini-lesson concept, seeds may be repeated with different
texts or excerpts. If some of the students did not understand the mini-lesson concepts, small group
instruction and teacher led conferences are utilized to reteach, reinforce, and support students who
need additional help.
Although it may take more than one day to get through one seed, always remind readers of the
focused learning target at the end of the daily mini-lesson. Then, send readers off to read on their own
with a directive relating to the mini-lesson for their independent reading and writing. After work time,
readers are gathered again to discuss and share the strategies and thinking they used while reading
and writing and how they might have grown as readers.
Interactive read alouds, as well as on-level shared reading experiences allowing students to see and
hear fluent reading of the text, should be included daily in addition to the reading during the minilessons. Many seeds revisit texts that have previously been read in prior experiences of shared reading
and/or read alouds.
Word Study should occur daily within the context of reading. The purpose is to promote understanding
of how words work and how to use them to effectively communicate ideas. This may occur as the
workshop mini-lesson, as a focus group, during guided reading, during read aloud, during content area
instruction, or as targeted word work instruction. Students will need the opportunity to apply the
learning during authentic reading and writing. At the 4/5 level, Word Study should occur daily within
the context of reading. The purpose is to promote understanding of the various ways we use words to
effectively communicate ideas as well as how we use knowledge of roots and affixes to comprehend
what we read. Writing Standards 1-6 and most Language Standards will be taught during Writing
Workshop. However, these standards will reinforce and will support the learning within these units.
Handwriting Instruction – During this six-week unit, students in fifth grade should receive cursive
writing instruction on a daily basis as part of their word study and writing times. Appropriate letter and
word formations are expected and reinforced as students engage in authentic writing tasks. The JCPS
Handwriting Map, which includes a link to resources to support instruction in letter formation, can be
found on our website.
2
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Objective: Students will think about their thinking (i.e., making connections, asking, and answering
questions) while reading to make sense of key ideas and details in the text.
Seed #1-Literature and Informational
Learning Target:
I am aware of my thinking as I read. (RL.5.10 and RI.5.10)
Note: This seed is adapted from an experience on metacognition described in Comprehension
Connections, by T. McGregor. Good readers monitor their thoughts, or think about their thinking while
reading. No matter the level of readers, time should be spent noticing, naming, and exploring
metacognition.
Materials for this lesson include one large bowl labeled “real reading salad,” two small bowls—one
labeled “text” and the other “thinking,” small green paper squares that say “text,” small red paper
squares that say “thinking,” a challenging adult book you may be currently reading outside of school
(i.e., Warriors of God), and a deep thinking picture book. A deep thinking picture book recommended
for this seed is Don’t’ Laugh at Me, by Seskin and Shamblin. The authors are songwriters. The text is
actually a song recorded by music artists, Peter, Paul, and Mary. However, any deep thinking picture
book will work. Copy a few sentences from the text onto the Metacognition ThinkSheet (LINK). Make
copies for each student.
Mini-Lesson(s): (RL.5.10, RL.5.1; RI.5.10, RI.5.1, SL.5.1 ) Students are asked to pretend to be the
teacher by listening to you read. They will evaluate you as a reader. Begin by telling them how the
book you are about to read was recommended by a friend and has several hundred pages and contains
many difficult words. Tell them the text is challenging for you but you will do your best as you read the
first paragraph. Read the text with expression and at an appropriate rate with no difficulty. Have
students turn and talk about what they think of you as a reader. Responses will include how good of a
reader you are and how you read all of the words with no help.
Let them in on a little secret about yourself when you were in school. Tell them how sometimes you
faked your teachers and other people out when you were reading. You always raised your hand to
read aloud in school and did an awesome job by reading aloud really hard words and reading very fast.
But there was something you weren’t doing. You were not thinking. You were just reading the words.
If your teacher would have asked you questions about what you read, you wouldn’t have been able to
give thoughtful answers. Explain about fake reading and how you were doing fake reading as you just
read aloud. It sounded good, but you were not doing any thinking. Ask students if they have ever
done fake reading. Explain how they are being metacognitive by thinking about their thinking.
Explain how you will model real reading and how it is like a tossed salad. Introduce the materials and
how they will help understand more about real reading. A tossed salad might be a mixture of lettuce
and tomatoes. A “reading” salad is a mixture of text and thinking. Each bowl is filled with cards. The
text bowl includes red cards that say “text” (tomatoes). The thinking bowl includes green cards that say
“thinking” (lettuce). With your help, we will make reading salad while enjoying a great book! I am
going to show you exactly how real reading works. Explain how you will point to the text while reading
the text and point to your head when you are thinking. Choose one helper to be in charge of the text
bowl, and one helper to be in charge of the thinking bowl. One helper puts a red card into the salad
bowl each time you point to the text. The other helper puts a green card into the salad bowl each time
you point to your head. During your thinking, model making predictions, making connections, and
asking and answering questions. Model text-thinking-text-thinking. After midway through the book,
3
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
send helpers back to the group, and have students turn and talk on what they have just seen and what
they are thinking.
Guided Practice: (this may occur during the next mini-lesson) Listen as I continue to read, but this time
you will do the thinking. Drop in a red text card each time you read. Then, call on readers to share
what’s going on inside their head. Have each reader drop in a green thinking card as they share their
thinking. After reading each page of text, have several readers share their thinking to model more
thinking than reading so that more green cards are being added at a much faster rate. After reading,
guide readers to realize how much more green (thinking) there is in the salad than red (text). Discuss
how real reading should include much more thinking than reading to understand. Create an anchor
chart.
Work Time: Remind readers again of the learning targets. Provide each reader with a Metacognition
ThinkSheet. Read the text on the text side together and have each reader draw/write about their own
thinking from this text. This independent practice from the mini-lesson should last no more than ten
minutes. Then, students transition into other work time activities. Have readers begin to think more
about noticing their own thinking as they are reading their own texts at their independent reading
level. Have them track their thinking on a post-it note, a ThinkSheet, or reader’s notebook, for
evidence of this great thinking by recording the text (and page number if applicable) on one side and
their thinking on the other. While students are working, circulate the room to listen in or confer with
them on their reading, or pull small groups to provide focus group instruction for students needing
additional support. Guided reading groups are also to be pulled at this time.
Share: Have readers share their thinking about the chosen part of the text. Have them share parts
from their own texts, their thinking, and how they tracked their thinking.
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Chart:
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• Listen in during turn and talk for understanding about reading and thinking.
• Use student writing during independent practice as an exit slip for thinking about their thinking.
• Observe during independent reading for noticing and tracking their thinking from their own
texts.
• Exit Slip: Have students analyze their post-it notes to reflect on what they notice about
themselves as readers. What do you notice about your thinking about reading? How does
thinking help you better understand what you are reading? What are your next steps as a
reader?
• Check for understanding of noticing their thinking during small groups by having readers begin
to track their thinking.
4
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Objective: Students will pay close attention to words and phrases used by an author.
Lesson Seed #2 – Literature
Learning Targets:
I can listen for interesting language during read aloud. (RL.5.4)
I can identify and record interesting language while reading independently. (RL.5.4)
Note: Ideas for interactive read aloud lessons have been included in many of the seeds in this unit. The
read aloud should occur prior to the mini-lesson. This will allow you to revisit these texts, or parts of
these texts, during future mini-lessons. During the interactive read aloud you will model deep thinking,
fluent reading, and how to have conversations about books. You will also be exposing students to
complex texts that they may not be able to read independently.
Building students’ vocabulary begins with students becoming aware of the words around them and
noticing words and phrases they find interesting. When students begin paying attention to language
and the word choice of authors, they will begin to use this language in their own speaking and writing.
The purpose of this seed is to build word-consciousness in the classroom through making students
aware and excited about language. This is only the beginning to building students vocabulary.
Interactive Read Aloud: (must occur prior to the mini-lesson) Before reading the text, think about the
routines and procedures you want in place for read aloud time. Pair students with a reading partner so
that during read aloud students are able to turn and talk about the text. This allows students to
construct meaning of the text. This partnership may be the same for the entire read aloud book.
Before beginning the read aloud, select a student to model how to turn and talk during the read aloud.
Model how partners should face each other, look each other in the eye, while demonstrating
appropriate body language. Start an anchor chart labeled “Characteristics of Effective Listening” and
“Characteristics of Effective Speaking.” Have students help you think of characteristics of each as you
create the chart together.
Choose a picture book with interesting language such as I’m in Charge of Celebrations, by Byrd Baylor.
Select specific parts in the text where students are invited to turn and discuss the book. For example,
after reading the first two pages of text say: Turn and talk to your partner about how the narrator
seems to feel about being alone in the desert. Refer to the text to support your answer. Allow students
to share their thinking. You will want to choose other stopping points for partner talk and sharing.
While students are sharing, provide language support and offer feedback. It is not necessary to read
the entire book during this interactive read aloud. You may choose to revisit it during another read
aloud for another purpose.
Mini-Lesson(s): (RL.5.4, RL.5.5, 5.10; RF.5.4a, 5. 4b; L.5.4, 5.6; W.5.8, 5.10; SL.5.1a, 5.1b, 5.1c) This
seed is intended to span more than one mini-lesson. Reread the first two pages of text in I’m in
Charge of Celebrations. Think aloud about the interesting language the author used and point out
words and phrases that you find interesting. Wow! I love the words used to describe the setting: deep
ravines, hawk nests, cliffs! I can really visualize what it looks like where the narrator lives. Continue to
read a few more pages, pausing to think aloud interesting words and phrases.
Tell students that you are going to reread a few more pages as they listen for words or phrases that
they find interesting. Have students share out and chart their responses. Ask students to explain why
they chose that word or phrase. Do you like the way the word sounds? It is unusual? Does it help to
paint a picture in your mind? At this point students may not be able to explain why they find the
word(s) interesting. By continuing to model and think aloud about interesting language students’
5
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
explanations will become more sophisticated. Eventually you will want students to explain why they
find the language interesting and how the language helps them as a reader.
Guided Practice: (this may occur during the next mini-lesson) Provide students with a copy of either a
familiar poem or the last few pages of I’m in Charge of Celebrations. Tell students that they are going
to work with partner to reread the poem or the pages from the book. Begin by each person taking
turns reading the text. Then, have each student underline 2-3 words and/or phrases that they find
interesting. Have partners form groups of four to discuss the language they found interesting and why
they found it interesting. Write the following questions on chart paper to help guide their thinking:
Which words or phrases did you find interesting? Why did you find it interesting? Why do you think the
author chose to use that word/phrase? As student are working in their small groups, listen in to
students’ conversations. Briefly bring students back together and select a few students to share with
the whole class.
Work Time: Remind students of the learning targets. While reading books at their independent level
have students record either on sticky notes or in their reading notebooks language that they find
interesting.
While students are working, circulate the room listening in to their reading, or pull small groups of
students to provide focus group instruction for students who need additional support. This is also the
time you would pull guided reading groups.
Share: Before bringing students back together ask them to select one word or phrase that they found
interesting and be ready to share their thinking. For this share time you could either have students turn
and share with a partner or randomly choose 3-4 students to share their thinking. Continue to ask
students why they found the language interesting. After share time, provide students with a sentence
strip to record the word or phrase they chose. Post students words on the wall (see anchor chart
below). These words and phrases will be used in the next seed.
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Chart:
•
•
•
What words/phrases did you find interesting? Why?
Which words or groups of words seem powerful and why?
Why do you think the author chose that word/phrase?
6
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• Collect and analyze students work from the guided practice portion. Are they able to indentify
interesting language?
• Listen in to students’ conversations. Are students able to explain why they chose that the
word/phrase?
Objective: Students will gather information about characters, settings, and problems by previewing
the text and carefully analyzing the beginning of the text.
Lesson Seed #3-LIterature
Learning Target:
I can preview a book to help me understand characters and settings. (RL.5.10)
Note: This seed is an adapted lesson from Lucy Calkins’ Reading Units of Study, which is a collection of
thoughtful standards based units. It is designed to show readers how previewing a book provides
them with useful information that helps them understand the characters they will meet, the place in
which to story takes place, and the problems the characters are likely to face.
Interactive Read Aloud: (must occur prior to the mini-lesson) Read aloud chapter one of The Lightning
Thief. For the purposes of the upcoming lesson, do not preview or discuss the book before reading.
Just dive into the text. Students may seem confused as you read the scene with Mrs. Dodds. It is okay
for students to be confused. After the following mini-lesson, you will reread chapter one and students
will experience how information gathered from previewing helps the reader understand the characters
and the setting.
Mini-Lesson(s): (RL.5.10, RL.5.1, 5.2, 5.3; SL.5.1, 5.4; L.5.6; W.5.9a, 5.10) This seed will take more than
one mini-lesson. Provide students with a copy of the front cover, back cover, and the first two pages
of The Lightning Thief. Tell students that a good reader collects information about the characters,
setting, and plot by previewing the book. They also begin to think about questions they have.
Think aloud as you model how to preview a book to gather information about the characters, setting,
and plot. Share questions you have as you preview. As you think aloud, take notes on your thinking.
When I preview a book, there are four parts I look at to gather information about the story. I think
about the front cover, the back cover, the table of contents if included, and lastly, I think while reading
the first few pages of the book. Let’s begin by looking at the front cover and while we’re looking, let’s
remember how quickly things happened while reading the first chapter of the book. Remember the
scene with Percy and Mrs. Dodds? I’m still confused. Where did Mrs. Dodds go? Did this really happen
or was Percy dreaming?
Project the front cover. I see this is New York City. I see the Empire State Building and the lightning
striking. And there is a boy, probably Percy, emerging from the ocean and he is dry. He also has a
sword in one hand and something else in the other. I sense something magical just because the boy is
dry and he is watching a lightning storm from water. The sword reminds me of something medieval,
but the city skyline and the boys contemporary clothing tells me the story happens in modern times.
7
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Project a copy of the back cover of the
book, read aloud the first paragraph of
the blurb, think aloud and model taking
notes.
Guided Practice: (this may occur during
the next mini-lesson) Students continue
previewing the book. After reading and
thinking about the remainder of the
back cover, have students discuss what
they are thinking. Are they beginning to
better understand the questions they
had after hearing the first chapter of the
book? Students should continue to
preview the table of contents, record their thinking and talk to a partner. Students should then read
the first couple of pages of the book, take notes, and talk about details beginning to make sense.
Before sending students to begin work time, bring the class back together to discuss the information
gained while previewing.
Work Time: Students should begin their work time by previewing their book. Even if students have
read several chapters of their book, they may find that one or more of their questions are answered on
the back of the book or they may better understand the cover. While students are reading
independently, circulate the room listening in to their reading, or pull small groups of students to
provide focus group instruction. This will also be the time you would pull a guided reading group, if
needed.
Share: Bring the class back together as a whole group. The purpose of this time is to lead a discussion
about the process of previewing books. What important information were students able to gather
from their previews?
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Chart:
• Where does this story take place? Is the place realistic
or fantasy? Where have you found clues to help you
understand the setting?
• What new information have you learned about the
characters? What problem(s) are they likely to face in
the place and time in which this story takes place?
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
Students write a response to the following questions in their
reader’s notebook:
• What do you know about the characters, setting, and
problem in your book?
• What information does the reader get when they
preview a book?
8
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Possible Next Steps: You may wish to plan a mini-lesson designed to teach students how to use their
reader’s notebook to reflect upon their reading. Think aloud and model writing about how you, as a
reader, were confused about the scene with Mrs. Dodds because the events did not seem possible.
Explain how reading the blurb on the back of the book and analyzing the cover helped you make sense
of this scene. Be sure to model how to refer to specific parts of the text as you explain your thinking.
You will want to begin a chart of “Reading Responses.” As you model possible reading responses, list
the types of entries on the chart for students to refer to during their independent reading.
Lesson Seed #4 – Literature
Learning Target:
I can keep track of multiple characters as I read. (RL.5.10)
Note: Many books in the 4/5 grade band require the reader to keep track of multiple characters.
Some characters are introduced at the beginning of the book, but do not become important until the
end of the story. The reader’s notebook is a tool a reader can use to track characters and hold their
thinking about settings, plots, themes, and thoughts they may want to explore during conversations or
writing. It is important to model how a reader may choose to use a notebook to hold their thinking.
Interactive Read Aloud: Continue reading aloud The Lighting Thief and tracking characters. Even
though the mini-lesson focuses on the first pages of the book, you will want to keep reading forward
daily during read aloud. You may actually read chapter 2 or 3 during read aloud on the same day you
revisit a section of chapter 1 during your mini-lesson. Your read aloud will not always support your
reading mini-lesson. You may read aloud an informational text that supports your science or social
studies content. The purpose of read aloud is to model fluent reading and deep thinking while
teaching students to have conversations about texts.
To prepare your students for conversations they will have about texts, stop while reading aloud to
share your thinking. As you think aloud, record your thought on a post-it note. Use the visualizer so all
students can see how you are jotting to record your thinking. It is very important that you model
recording only one thought on each post-it note. When students begin to have conversations about
their reading, having only one thought on each post-it note helps them stay focused on one thought.
Mini-Lesson(s): (RL.5.10, RL.5.2, 5.1, 5.2; L.5.6; W.5.9a, 5.10) Tell students that the beginning of a
book is very important because the author is introducing the main characters to the reader and helping
the reader get to know the characters well enough to understand the emotions involved in the
problems they will face.
Reread the first two pages of The Lighting Thief and model keeping track of the characters. Lucy
Calkins suggests using boxes and bullets as an organizer. On the first page we are introduced to Percy
Jackson, the main character. This book is written in first person. Percy, himself, is telling the story so
we will experience it through his point of view. On the second page, we are introduced to one of Percy’s
teachers. Model writing the character’s names in a box and bulleting a few notes about each. In order
to later compare and contrast characters (RL.5.3), you will want to model thinking and writing about
each character’s traits, motivations, feelings, and interactions with others.
Continue rereading the next page and add Nancy and Grover to the character tracking chart in your
notebook. Model jotting a few notes about each character as you add to your notebook.
9
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Guided Practice: (this may occur during the next minilesson) Continue rereading the next page of The
Lighting Thief as students keep track of characters and
add to their notes on characters they have already
recorded in their reader’s notebook. Keeping track of
characters should continue throughout the book.
Work Time: Have students reread (or read) the first
chapter of their independent reading book and keep
track of characters in their reader’s notebook. While
students are working, circulate the room listening in to
their reading, or pull small groups of students to provide
focus group instruction for students who need additional
support. This will also be the time you would pull a
guided reading group, if needed.
Share: Bring the class back together as a whole group. Restate the learning target and ask a couple of
students to share how rereading and tracking characters helped them organize their thinking about the
book.
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Chart:
• Who are the characters that are introduced in the
beginning of your book?
• What do you know about the characters?
• Who is telling the story? How do you know?
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• During guided practice, observe students as they are
identifying characters and listing important details about
those characters. Note students who are having trouble
with this. Pull these students for a reteaching focus
group during work time.
• During work time, conference with students while they
are reading their independent books and make notes
about their reading. What are their strengths? What do they need help with? Begin to plan for
whole group and small group instruction based on what you learn from your readers.
• Review students’ reader’s notebooks. Students should have a few jottings about each
character introduced at the beginning of their books. Many students will record physical
features of characters, some will begin to list a couple of traits or even how the character feels.
Lesson Seed #5 - Literature
Learning Target:
I can compare and contrast two settings. (RL.5.3)
Note: Fantasy stories are often set in a medieval world full of swords, horses, castles, and dragons.
They can also be set in a futuristic world full of spacecraft, intergalactic travel, and advanced
technology. It is common for a fantasy story to begin in a realistic place, where at first everything
seems normal, but then magical elements are gradually introduced.
10
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
It is important that 5th graders think of a setting as more than a time and place. They must analyze a
setting by thinking about how it must feel to live in this time and place. Understanding the setting
helps the reader understand the characters, their problems, their motives, and their interactions.
Interactive Read Aloud: Continue reading aloud The Lighting Thief and tracking characters. Help
students notice that you may not keep track of every character mentioned in the book because you
may not think they will be important to the story. For example, you may choose to not track Mr. Nicoll
on page 17. If a character becomes important later, we can always add them then.
Even though the mini-lesson focuses on excerpts at the beginning of the book, you will want to keep
reading forward during the read aloud. You may actually read chapter 3 or 4 during read aloud on the
same day you revisit a section of chapter one during your mini-lesson.
You will probably notice many of the conversations you hear during read aloud are surface level.
Explicit instruction is necessary to teach students to stay focused on one topic long enough for the
conversation to contain depth. Prior to the read aloud, begin a chart with “Conversation Prompts” and
add the following prompts: “I agree because…,” “I thought that too because…,” “I agree, but look
where it says…,” “I disagree because…,” and “Building on to what ______ said…” During this read
aloud, you will introduce strategies for discourse that students will use
throughout the year during read aloud and book club discussions.
Provide students with post-it notes. Have them jot their thinking as
you read aloud, recording one thought per post-it note. Read aloud 23 pages and stop to provide a minute for students to continue thinking
independently and jotting their thoughts. This is an important step
because some students are unable to focus on their own thinking long
enough to record their thoughts while listening to you read aloud.
After jotting, have students turn and talk about their thinking. Right
now, jotting is a way for a student to “hold” their thinking and
mentally plan for a conversation. After one student shares their thinking, the other student must
respond using one of the conversation prompts. Listen in as they talk. Many students will agree,
because it is the easy thing to do. If you hear someone disagree and explain why, ask them to recreate
their conversation for the class. Remember, this read aloud is about learning to carry on a
conversation about their thinking while supporting their thoughts with evidence from the text.
Students are more likely to support their thinking with evidence when they disagree.
You do not want each partner merely reading aloud their post-it note and their partner doing the
same. Depending on the needs of your students, you may need to model how to use the conversation
prompts or provide more practice.
Mini-Lessons(s): (RL.5.3, RL.5.1, 5.2; L.5.6; W.5.9a, 5.10) This seed will take more than one minilesson. Tell students they are going to think, talk, and write about two settings. Provide students with
copies of pages 4 and 5 of The Lightning Thief and the Comparing and Contrasting Think Sheet (LINK).
Tell students before they can compare and contrast two settings, they must analyze each. On the left
column of the think sheet, you might analyze the museum before Percy told Nancy to shut up, using
text on page 4. On the right column, you might analyze the museum after Percy told Nancy to shut up,
using page 5.
Project page 2 of the text and think aloud as you complete the left side of the think sheet.
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Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Guided Practice: (this may occur during the next mini-lesson) Have students work with a partner to
analyze the setting after Percy told Nancy to shut up. The mood in the museum definitely changes.
After students analyze both settings, they are ready to compare and contrast the two settings.
Students should write in their reader’s notebook how the setting has changed.
Work-Time: Provide students with blank Comparing and Contrasting Settings Think Sheets. As they
read independently, ask them to analyze two settings within the same section of the book. Students
will begin to notice how events in a story affect the setting or the mood. While students are reading
independently, circulate the room listening in to their reading, or pull small groups of students to
provide focus group instruction. This will also be the time you would pull a guided reading group, if
needed.
Share: Bring the class back together as a whole group and ask them to share the analysis of two
settings with a partner. Students can also orally compare and contrast the two settings as a rehearsal
for writing. Listen in as students talk with a partner and ask a student to share with the whole group.
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Chart:
• Describe the event that caused a change in the setting.
• The time and place did not change, but the mood or
emotional atmosphere did. Explain the change.
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• Analyze students’ comparison of the setting as they work
with a partner during guided practice. Listen to their
conversations and read their written work. If students are
focusing on the physical attributes of the museum, they
need to understand that the setting includes how it feels to
live in the physical space. You will need to provide further
instruction. Some students may be able to verbally
compare and contrast two settings, but may struggle with
written expression. You will need to model and think aloud
as you record your thinking on paper.
• Analyze students’ comparison of settings from their independent reading. Ask them to explain
to you the events that caused a change in the mood or setting.
Lesson Seed #6-LIterature
Learning Target:
I can compare and contrast two or more characters. (RL.5.3)
Note: RL.4.3 requires that students describe in depth a character, drawing on specific details in the
text such as a character’s thoughts, words, or actions. RL.5.3 requires that students compare and
contrast two or more characters. Their comparisons of characters should begin with an in depth
analysis of characters. You will need to guide students’ thinking to reach the depth intended by the
standard.
Interactive Read Aloud: (must occur prior to the mini lesson) Continue reading aloud The Lightning
Thief. Refer students to the “Conversation Prompts” chart and tell them the goal of a conversation is
to talk about one idea for a long time. Practice the process of reading (you reading aloud), stopping to
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Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
jot thinking, and discussing thoughts with a partners using discussion prompts as a guide. Listen
carefully as student talk. You will want to notice how well students respond to each other and if they
use evidence from the text when responding. Use this time to coach partnerships, teaching them the
process. Time spent early in the year teaching students to have deep conversations will reap benefits
for the remainder of the year.
After students converse with their partner, bring the whole group back together to reflect on the
process of talking and responding to one idea. Point out specific behaviors that are important to
having an effective conversation. You may want to role play a conversation to make a specific point
your students need to consider.
Mini Lesson(s): (RL.5.3, RL.5.1, 5.2, 5.10; L.5.6; W.5.9a, 5.10) Tell students they are going to do an in
depth comparison of Percy and Annabeth. We are going to deeply analyze and compare and contrast
Percy and Annabeth. We know they are both demigods and they are both living at Camp Half-Blood.
We know they differ in that Percy is a boy and Annabeth is a girl. Annabeth’s mom is a god and Percy’s
dad is a god. We can even compare and contrast their physical traits such as their color of hair, but an
in-depth comparison will go much deeper.
Tell students we are going to compare and contrast both characters’ relationships with their mortal
parent—Percy’s with his mother, and Annabeth’s with her father. Go back to page 95 in The Lightning
Thief and read aloud this conversation between Percy and Annabeth. We find out from this
conversation that Annabeth has not seen her father since she was very small. We can assume that she
does not have a relationship with her father because she hasn’t seen him in such a long time. We also
know that Percy just arrived at Camp Half-Blood and his mom was killed trying to protect him. His
relationship with his mom is clear. He loved his mom and she loved him. This is in contrast from the
relationship between Annabeth and her father.
Go back to page 66 and read aloud the middle of the page beginning with “’Percy,’ he said.” Tell
students to listen for evidence that Percy’s relationship with his mother was in contrast to the
relationship between Annabeth and her father. Provide students with copies of pages 104-106 of The
Lightning Thief and ask students to read, thinking about the relationship between Percy and his mother
and how it is different from the relationship between Annabeth and her father.
Guided Practice: (this may occur during the next mini-lesson) Students should work with a partner to
further compare and contrast Percy and Annabeth. Provide students with a copy of pages 145-147 and
ask them to consider the relationships between Annabeth and her mother (Athena) and Percy and his
father (Poseidon). Ask students to explain using evidence from the text.
Work Time: Students will continue to read independently a book on their independent level. As
students read, they should keep track of characters in their reader’s notebook and consider two
characters they can compare and contrast. Ask students to be prepared to share with a partner two
characters from their book and how they are alike and/or different. Tell students to jot on a post-it
note to hold their thinking and place post-it notes in their book where they locate text that supports
their thinking. As students work, you will want to either circulate the room, listening in to their reading
or pull small groups of students to provide focus group instruction. This will also be the time you
would pull a guided reading group, if needed.
Share: Bring the class back together as a whole group. Restate the learning target and ask students to
share with a partner how two characters in their book are alike and/or different. Listen in as students
share. Notice students who are comparing character’s emotions, feelings, or beliefs instead of physical
traits. Also notice students who are able to support their comparisons with evidence from the text.
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Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Ask them to share with the whole group pointing out to the rest of the class the deep thinking about
the characters and the supporting evidence.
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Chart:
• How are Annabeth and Percy alike and how are they different?
• Explain how their feelings about being Half-Bloods are similar or different. What in the story
led you to that conclusion?
• Explain how Annabeth’s relationship with her mortal parent is similar or different to Percy’s
relationship with his mortal parent.
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• Listen in to conversations about Annabeth and Percy. Are students able to analyze the
characters and notice their similarities and differences beyond physical traits? Are they able to
identify details from the text that support their thinking?
• Exit Slip: Compare and contrast Annabeth and Percy. Use evidence from the text to support
your response.
Note: As you continue to read aloud The Lightning Thief, you will want students to continue to
compare and contrast Annabeth and Percy. You may want to guide students to consider that
Annabeth knows a lot about the life of half-bloods (p.96, 99) and Percy is just learning who he is and
putting the pieces of his life together. The two characters also differ in that Annabeth has numerous
siblings (p.116) and Poseidon only has a few. You may also want students to think about Annabeth’s
desire to have a quest (p.99) and get out into the world (p.102), while considering Percy’s feelings
about a quest and living the rest of his life in Camp Half-Blood. Additionally, students may notice the
other Half-Bloods’ and Gods’ feelings toward Percy (p.131) in contrast to their feelings for Annabeth.
Consider Percy’s motives to take a quest and how it compares to the reason Annabeth longs for a
quest.
Objective: Students will use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Lesson Seed #7 - Literature
Learning Targets:
• I can determine the meaning of an unknown word in real text using context clues. (RL.5.4)
• I can recognize when the context of a text does not give me enough information to determine
the meaning of an unknown word. (RL.5.4)
Note: This seed focuses on teaching kids to effectively use context clues to determine the meaning of
unknown words. It is important for students to understand that context clues will not always allow
them to determine the meaning of an unknown word. However, it is the first step they can use to
determine the meaning of an unknown word. The next step is using word morphology, or word parts,
to infer the meaning of unknown words. Morphology will be addressed in future units.
Interactive Read Aloud: (must occur prior to the mini-lesson) Continue reading The Lightning Thief and
teaching students to have deep, focused conversations about characters, settings, and events.
Students should continue to use conversation prompts, with your guidance. They should also identify
evidence from the text to support their thinking on a daily basis.
Mini-Lesson(s): (RL.5.4, RL. 5.10; L.5.4a) We are going to revisit parts of The Lightning Thief and use
strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words using clues from the text. When we read we
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Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
can sometimes figure out the meaning of a word we don’t know by using clues in the text. There are
several different types of clues that the author might give a reader in the sentence or sentences around
a word. The author may define the word, or give you an example. The author may use a synonym or
antonym in the sentence or selection that the reader can use to help them understand the meaning of
the word. Often, the author provides several clues to the word’s meaning in the sentence or selection
that the reader can use to infer the meaning of a word. Sometimes, there is not enough information to
determine the exact meaning of an unknown word.
Provide students with the following strategy for using context clues to determine meaning—Think.
Decide. Think. Decide. You will want to construct an anchor chart during the lesson so students can
refer to the strategy as they read independently.
Reread the sentence or selection.
1. Think. What is the sentence or group of sentences about?
2. Decide. Is there enough information to help me determine the meaning of the tricky word?
3. Think. What are the clues in the story that can help me figure out the tricky word?
4. Decide. What do I think this word means? Does that make sense?
Provide students with access to excerpts you are using from The Lightning Thief. LINK It is very
important for the readers to actually have the text in hand to practice this strategy. We want to
determine the meaning of expelled from this selection describing Percy seeing his mother the first time
after coming home from school. Read aloud the excerpt from p. 33. Model using the Think. Decide.
Think. Decide. strategy.
Think. What is the excerpt about? (Percy coming home.) What has been happening to Percy? (Kicked
out of school).
Decide./Think. Is there enough information to help me determine the meaning of the word expelled?
(“She didn’t mention anything about my getting expelled.”) We may be able to infer the meaning of
expelled if we think about what is happening and how the sentence is structured. “me getting
expelled.” We know that expelled is something that has happened to Percy. What has happened to
Percy recently?
Decide. What does expelled mean? (kicked out of school)
Let’s practice. We want to determine the meaning of the word blared. Read the excerpt from “Percy
Jackson” (p.30 and 31). Have students turn and talk to use the Think. Decide. Think. Decide. strategy.
Think. What is the excerpt about? (Percy coming home) What is happening? What is the author trying
to show us? (What the apartment is like)
Decide/Think. Is there enough information to help me determine the meaning of the word blared?
(Not really, we know that blared is connected to the TV and ESPN. I know that blared tells me how the
television did something, but there are not enough clues to decide exactly what blared means.)
Decide. Is it important to understanding the story to figure out EXACTLY what blared means? (No, it
doesn’t affect understanding the story if we don’t know exactly what blared means. Knowing that
blared describes how ESPN is playing on the TV is enough to continue to comprehend the story.)
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Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Guided Practice: (may occur during the next mini-lesson) Tell students that they are going to work in
partners to determine the meaning of unknown words in The Lightning Thief. Give different groups
different words and have them use the strategy to determine the meaning of the word. Students jot
down the word and what they think it means on a post-it note to share.
p.36 anxiety
p.38 rebellious
p.41 artillery
p. 42 mallets
p. 43 cloven
Work Time: Send students off to work time with a directive to continue to use strategies for
determining the meaning of unknown words in their independent reading today.
While students are working, circulate the room listening in to their reading, or pull small groups of
students to provide focus group instruction for students who need additional support. This is also the
time you would pull a guided reading group.
Share: Bring students back together. Does anyone have any words from their reading today they
would like to share? How did you determine the meaning of tricky words? Are there words that you
couldn’t figure out the meaning of using clues from the text? If so, does knowing the meaning of the
word affect understanding of the story?
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Chart:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Using Context Clues
Think – Decide – Think – Decide
Think. What is the sentence or group of sentences about?
Decide. Is there enough information to help me determine the meaning
of the tricky word?
Think. What are the clues in the story that can help me figure out the
tricky word?
Decide. What do I think this word means? Does that make sense?
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• Note children during share time who can successfully explain how they determined the
meaning of tricky words in their reading.
• Provide student with a previously read page from The Lightning Thief that has a few tricky
words that can be figured out or inferred using context clues. Have students locate a word,
use the Think. Decide. Think. Decide strategy to determine the meaning and explain.
Objective: Students will think about the theme of a poem.
Lesson Seed #8 – Literature
Learning Targets:
I can determine the theme of a poem. (RL.5.2)
I can determine how the speaker of a poem reflects upon the topic. (RL.5.2)
Note: Prior to completing this lesson seed, you will need to have read aloud the poem for other
purposes [e.g., listening to and enjoying the rhythm and rhyme, exploring the vocabulary (RL.5.4),
exploring poetry structure (Rl.5.5), understanding point of view (RL.5.6)]. The poem, World of a
Blossom LINK, is being used in this seed, because the theme must be inferred and arguments can be
made for more than one theme. Therefore, having a good understanding of the poem is necessary
before determining the theme.
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Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Interactive Read Aloud: (must occur prior to the mini-lesson) Provide students with access to the
poem, World of a Blossom, by projecting it and providing them with their own copies. Tell students
that you are going to reread the poem, World of a Blossom, aloud in its entirety as they follow along to
remind them of the content of the poem.
Mini-Lesson(s): (RL.5.2, RL.5.1, L.5.6) Tell students that they are going to work toward determining the
theme (a lesson that can be applied beyond the page/pages of a text) of the poem, World of a
Blossom. Post the question: What does the author/narrator want us to know or understand after
reading this poem? Tell students that you are going to look more closely at what the narrator is telling
us in each stanza before considering the poem in its entirety to help answer that question. Reread the
first stanza and tell the students they are going to decide what the narrator (first-person) is trying to
tell us or wants us to understand about the blossoms (flowers). Tell students that understanding how
the narrator reflects on the blossoms gives us insight into the theme of the poem. Ask students to
support their thinking with specific lines from the poem, such as “With stories to tell.” Model
underlining in the first stanza and/or taking notes in the margin to capture the thinking.
Guided Practice: (may occur during the next mini-lesson) Tell students they are going to finish reading
the poem in partners. They are going to highlight lines from the poem which help to answer the
posted question. In doing this work, they will be ready to think more about the theme. Confer with
partner groups. Ask, “What does the narrator want us to know about the blossoms in this stanza? How
does the narrator feel about ______? How do you know? Should you highlight any of these lines?
What notes can you take to capture your thinking?”
Have partnerships form a group of four to answer the following questions (chart if needed): What is a
theme of this poem? How do you know? Encourage students to put the theme in their own words, if
they can. Have groups share and discuss the similarities and differences in their responses. The theme
statements can/should differ, but each group should supply sufficient support and reasoning for their
statement. (Possible themes: belonging, look for a place to belong, take time to look at the world
through someone else’s eyes, everything has a place, etc.) Reflect with students on how looking closely
at specific stanzas and ideas in the poem helped them to determine the theme.
Work Time: Send students off to work time with a directive to continue to look for the theme in their
literary reading today. Remind them that the theme may or may not be directly stated in the text.
Provide students with access to multiple poetry samples and/or books from which to choose during
independent reading time. They may also determine possible themes in their chapter books or
previously read picture books. While students are reading independently, circulate the room listening
in to their reading, or pull small groups of students to provide focus group instruction. This will also be
the time you would pull a guided reading group, if needed.
Share: Bring the class back together as a whole group. Ask if anyone would like to share a possible
theme they are considering from their reading today? How did you determine the theme? Was it
stated directly or did you have to infer from the author’s clues?
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Chart:
• What does the author want you to “walk away with” after you no longer have this text
(poem/book/drama) in front of you?
• What is the message the author or narrator is trying to convey?
• What did we learn from reading this poem?
17
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• Exit Slip: What is the theme of the poem? Explain using evidence from the poem.
Objective: Students will identify and understand an author’s use of figurative language.
Lesson Seed #9 – Literature
Learning Targets:
I can identify an author’s use of figurative language. (RL.5.4)
I can determine the meaning of figurative language in a poem. (RL.5.4)
Note: Prior to completing this lesson seed, you will need to have read aloud the poem for other
purposes [e.g., listening to and enjoying the rhythm and rhyme, exploring poetry structure (RL.5.5),
understanding point of view (RL.5.6)]. While the lesson encourages identifying and even naming the
types of figurative language used, the purpose of this initial lesson seed is to notice the use of nonliteral language and determine the meaning behind the language.
Interactive Read Aloud: (must occur prior to the mini-lesson) Provide students with access to the
poem, World of a Blossom, by projecting it and providing them with their own copies. Tell students
that you are going to reread the poem, World of a Blossom LINK, aloud in its entirety as they follow
along to remind them of the content of the poem.
Mini-Lesson(s): (RL.5.4, RL.5.1, 5.2; L.5.6) Tell students they are going to look more closely at the
language the poet used in the poem, World of a Blossom. Authors often use figurative language to
help the reader get a more vivid picture in their mind, to create a special effect, or to better help the
reader understand the meaning behind the writing. Figurative means that it is not literal. Literal
language means exactly what it says. Literal language uses the ordinary or usual meaning of a word or
phrase. When authors use figurative language, the words they use mean more than what the actual
words say. Authors do this in all types of writing, but today we are going to look at some different
types of figurative language in our poem, “World of a Blossom”. Read the first stanza and ask students
to think about the lines “Roses and daisies/ With stories to tell.” Does the author ACTUALLY mean the
roses and daisies are going to talk and tell stories? What does the author mean? (That the roses and
daisies have seen a lot and WOULD have stories to share, IF they could talk.) Tell students that those
two lines represent a type of figurative language called personification, because the author is making
the flowers have the characteristics of a human or a person. The author used those words, because
they want us to know that the flowers are important, just like humans. However, it wouldn’t be as
interesting or vivid to say “Roses and daisies/Are important.”
Repeat the process with subsequent stanzas. Discuss the meaning behind each line or set of lines.
Stanza 2: “Lifting faces to breezes” (Personification-type of metaphor)
Stanza 4: “My feet planted tight” (Metaphor-one object or idea is used in place of another; the feet for
the roots of the plant)
Stanza 5: “Friends with the butterflies/Who tickle and kiss/Their upturned faces” (Personification)
Guided Practice: (may occur during the next mini-lesson) Have partners work on stanzas 6-7 to
continue looking for figurative language. Students could underline or highlight and make notes about
what the language means. Confer with partners as they are working. Students should notice
personification in all lines of stanza 6 and the simile comparing the petals to the soft feel of silk in
stanza 7.
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Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Bring students back together to analyze stanza 8. Read the last two lines and ask students what they
notice (use of a simile-“I’d be like a person/With a place to belong”). What is the author comparing to
“a person with a place to belong”? What does that let us know about the narrator’s point of view? The
author is comparing the narrator to “a person with a place to belong,” which lets us know that the
narrator feels as though he/she doesn’t currently have a place to belong. Through the use of the
comparison, the author lets us know more about the point of view conveyed throughout the poem.
Work Time: Send students off to work time with a directive to continue to look for figurative language
in their independent reading. Provide students with access to multiple poetry samples and/or books
from which to choose during independent reading time. They should also continue reading their
independent reading book. Ask students to record any figurative language they notice in their reading
today in their reader’s notebook and/or mark it with post-it notes.
Share: Does anyone have any figurative language you would like to share from your reading today?
How did you determine the meaning of the language? Would you like to add any of those words or
phrases to our “Interesting Words and Phrases Wall”?
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Chart:
• What figurative language does the author use to share his/her ideas? How do you know the
language is figurative and not literal? What does the author mean when they write
_________?
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• As students share the language from their independent reading, make note of students who are
only finding literal language and are struggling to find figurative language. While they should
still be encouraged to add those words or phrases to the wall, it is still noteworthy for future
lessons.
Objective: Students will determine main ideas and supporting details while reading informational
texts.
Lesson Seed #10 - Informational
Learning Target:
I can determine two or more main ideas and their supporting details. (RI.5.2)
Note: Students must be able to determine two or more main ideas and supporting key details before
they are able to construct a summary.
Mini-Lesson(s): (RI.5.2, RI.5.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.10; W.5.9b, 5.10) This seed is intended to span more than
one mini-lesson. Provide students with a copy of the article entitled “Hard at Work” from The
Comprehension Toolkit. Read aloud the title and subtitle. Have students preview the article by reading
the section headings and analyzing the photographs and captions. Have students turn and talk about
the information that will be presented in the article.
Place your copy of the article on the document camera so all students can see the text as you read and
think aloud. Read aloud the first three paragraphs and think aloud about the main idea. The main idea
of this section is many children in Ecuador work on banana plantations. In Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study
for the Reading Workshop, she suggests using “boxes and bullets” as an organizer for main ideas and
details. Record the main ideas in a box on post-it notes.
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Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Model rereading the first three paragraphs identifying
details that support the main ideas. Create a bulleted
list of the details under each main idea.
Continue reading the next section of the article, thinking
aloud about the main ideas and supporting details, and
modeling how to organize your thinking in a boxes and
bullets format. You will want to gradually release
responsibility to students by having them turn and talk
about the main idea after you read a section aloud and
share their thinking with whole group. Students should
also be involved in identifying key details that support
the main ideas. Several sections should be completed
together before providing time for guided practice.
Guided practice (will occur during a subsequent mini-lesson) students should read a section of this
article (or another article) and determine the main ideas and supporting details. Students can work in
pairs to read the article and determine the main ideas and supporting details. As students work,
circulate and provide support as needed. Make note of students who have difficulty identifying the
main ideas and supporting details. These students will need additional practice in a small group
setting.
Work Time: Ask students to spend some of their work time reading informational text and
determining main ideas and supporting details. Provide students with post-it notes to record the main
ideas and supporting details in a boxes and bullets format.
While students are working, you will want to either circulate the room, listening in to their reading or
pulling small groups of students to provide focus group instruction for students who need additional
support. This is also the time you would pull a guided reading group.
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Charts:
• What is the text mostly about?
• What does the author want you to know after reading this section?
• What are the details that support the main idea?
20
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• During guided practice, take note on who is struggling with determining main ideas and
supporting details. Plan to meet with students in a small group setting for reteaching.
• Analyze students’ boxes and bullets and determine students who need reteaching in a small
group setting or conferencing.
• Exit Slip: Explain how you determined the main idea of (text title) and identified the details that
support the main idea.
Lesson Seed #11 - Informational
Learning Target:
I can explain how key details support main ideas. (RI.5.2)
Note: This seed is intended to follow the previous seed in which students learn how to determine
main ideas and identify key details that support the main ideas.
Mini-Lesson(s): (RI.5.2, RI.5.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.10; W.5.9b, 5.10) Project the
“Hard at Work” article used in the last seed. Leave the post-it notes
with the main ideas and supporting details intact.
Model taking one post-it note from the article and placing it in your
reader’s notebook and tell students they are going to explain how the
key details support the main idea.
In your reader’s notebook, model writing an explanation of how the
key details support the main idea. Remember to think aloud. You can
continue this process with other main idea and details from the “Hard at Work” article as needed for
your students. Gradually release responsibility to your students by having them turn and talk before
you model.
Guided practice: (may occur during the next mini-lesson) Have students take a main idea and
supporting details from an article used during the previous seed and explain how the details support
the main ideas. As students work, support their learning by reteaching and modeling as needed. Push
students’ thinking by asking, “How do all these details support or give specific information about the
main ideas?”
Work Time: Students should practice explaining how details support the main ideas in their
independent reading. They can explain how details support the main ideas in their reader’s notebooks.
Students should also have the opportunity to read literary text on their independent reading level
during work time.
While students are working, circulate the room listening in to their reading, or pull small groups of
students to provide focus group instruction for students who need additional support. This is also the
time you would pull a guided reading group.
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Charts:
• What is the point the author is trying to make for the reader? How do the details the author
chose to include support the point they are trying to make?
21
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• Analyze students’ reader’s notebooks. Note who continues to struggle with determining main
ideas and supporting details. You will need to reteach in a small group setting. Note who is
struggling with explaining how the details support the main ideas. You will need to reteach this
skill in a small group setting to those who continue to struggle.
Objective: Students will make inferences from what is explicitly stated in the text.
Lesson Seed # 12 - Informational
Learning Target:
I can make inferences from what is explicitly stated in the text.
(Working toward RI.5.1 target, I can quote accurately from the text when explaining my thinking.)
Mini-Lesson(s): (RI.5.1; RL.5.2, 5.10; SL.5.1, 5.4; W.5.9, 5.10; L.5.4) Making reasonable inferences
requires a reader to think carefully about the details presented by the author. Prepare a two column
chart prior to the lesson. Label the columns with “When I Read,” and “I Thought.” Provide student
with a copy of “We Were Here, Too” from Toolkit Texts grades 4-5 and ask students to preview the
article. Project your copy, read aloud the first two sentences and model the thinking required to
complete the chart.
I Thought
When I Read
The women brought to America as slaves have Our voices whisper across centuries. We were
now passed away but we are still reminded of
brought to America from Africa against our will as
their stories. Their stories are told in their own slaves.
words as if they are speaking from their graves.
Continue reading the next two sentences and record your thinking on the chart.
I Thought
When I Read
The women brought to America as slaves have Our voices whisper across centuries. We were
now passed away but we are still reminded of
brought to America from Africa against our will as
their stories. Their stories are told in their own slaves.
words as if they are speaking from their graves.
The slaves’ captors wanted to take everything
The names you know us by are not our real names
away from the slaves, including their identity.
but rather names our captors gave us.
The names given by their captors symbolizes
their ownership.
Continued on next page
22
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Read aloud the next sentence, record it on the chart and have students turn and talk about their thoughts.
I Thought
When I Read
The women brought to America as slaves have Our voices whisper across centuries. We were
now passed away but we are still reminded of
brought to America from Africa against our will as
their stories. Their stories are told in their own slaves.
words as if they are speaking from their graves.
The slaves’ captors wanted to take everything
The names you know us by are not our real names
away from the slaves, including their identity.
but rather names our captors gave us.
The names given by their captors symbolizes
their ownership.
We cleared and planted their fields, raised their
children, got sick from disease, went hungry when
the crops failed, and helped America become free
from England.
Listen in as student share their thinking with a partner. Push their thinking by asking questions. Have a
couple of students share their thinking with the whole group and record it on the chart.
Guided Practice: (this may occur during the next mini-lesson). Students should create the chart in their
reader’s notebook. Have them work with a partner to read the first paragraph written by Angela and
record their thinking on the chart. Bring the group back together to share. Repeat the partner work
and sharing whole group as needed.
Work Time: Students should practice recording accurate quotes from the text under the “When I
Read” column and recording their inferences under the “I thought” column as they read
independently. This process also works with literature, but will need to be modeled before you should
expect students to do so. Students should only work on this task for 10-15 minutes of their work time
because it will drastically decrease the amount of reading they are doing.
While students are working, circulate the room listening in to their reading, or pulling small groups of
students to provide focus group instruction for students who need additional support. This is also the
time you would pull a guided reading group.
Share: Bring the whole group back together, review the learning target and ask a student to share
their thinking by projecting their reader’s notebook. Have the student talk through their thinking. It is
very important that students see proficient work in a classmate’s reader’s notebook.
Sample Thinking Stems/Anchor Charts:
Ask text dependent questions to push students’ thinking. Questions will depend on the text the
student is reading and the depth of their thinking. Ask questions such as:
• What do you think about how Angela describes her capture? How do you think Angela felt
about leaving her village? What text clues support your thinking?
Formative Assessment Opportunities:
• Analyze student’s reader’s notebooks to see if they are making reasonable inferences from the
text information that goes beyond the text. Also notice if students are merging background
knowledge with the text clues to make reasonable inferences. Keep in mind that background
knowledge is acquired as students read the article and analyze the text features.
23
Kentucky Core Academic Standards Curriculum Unit
Jefferson County Public Schools English Language Arts
Grade: 5
Weeks: 1-6
Suggested Instructional Texts:
Rigby (R), Classroom Library (CL), Text Exemplar (E), Science (S), Social Studies (SS), Toolkit Texts (TT)
Literary
Informational
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
“We Were Here, Too” (TT)
“Hard at Work” (TT)
Additional Professional Resources:
• Reading Units of Study by Lucy Calkins
• Good Choice by Tony Stead
• Toolkit Texts (Grades 4-5)
• Toolkit Texts (Grades 6-7)
• The Comprehension Toolkit Grades 3-6 by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis
• A Curricular Plan for The Reading Workshop Grade 5 by Lucy Calkins
• achievethecore.org
Resources for Tier II & Tier III Interventions
• JCPS Response to Interventions website:
http://www.jefferson.k12.ky.us/Departments/Gheens/RTI/RtI.html
• Interventioncentral.org: http://www.interventioncentral.org/
• Readworks.org (K-6 reading lessons and passages): http://www.readworks.org/
• Literacyleader.com (lessons and resources): http://www.literacyleader.com/
24
Name
My thinking about …
(Title)
Text
Thinking
Comparing and Contrasting Settings
Setting:
Name
Setting:
What can you see, touch, smell, and hear in this place?
What can you see, touch, smell, and hear in this place?
Record any textual evidence that tells you how the characters feel about this
place.
Record any textual evidence that tells you how the characters feel about
this place.
What adjectives are used to describe the place?
What adjectives are used to describe the place?
How does the description of the place make you feel?
How does the description of the place make you feel?
1. from p. 33 of The Lightning Thief
We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked
the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair
and demanded to know everything I hadn’t put in my
letters. She didn’t mention anything about me getting
expelled. She didn’t seem to care about that. But was I
okay? Was her little boy doing all right?
2. from p. 30 and 31 of The Lightning Thief
“Between the two of us, we made my mom’s life pretty
hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I
got along… well, when I came home is a good example.
I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be
home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living
room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared
ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.”