English Language Arts
Unit of Study Planning Guide
Using the Common Core Standards
Grade Level: Fifth Grade
Goals:
• Students will
Unit: Biography Study
Theme: History of Civil Rights
Essential Questions:
What is the structure of a biography?
What are the similarities and differences between the structures of biographies and the structures of
realistic fiction, fantasy, memoir, and historical fiction?
How do biographies interconnect over time to tell history?
Overview:
The students will learn the text structure of a biography (chronological, birth to death).
The students will create a timeline and post facts about the different people they are studying on the
timeline to see the interconnectedness of the lives/texts they are reading. (Chronology on a larger scale)
Students will explore the theme of civil rights (how to treat each other) as the unit progresses. The read
alouds and guided reading texts will each explore the continuum of civil rights from slavery to the
election of the first black president. As you go, they should feel like every day is just a continuation of
the overarching story, and they will see how each of the folks they read about interconnect with the
various parts of history. You put cards on the timeline from group reading (read aloud), they add cards
independently from their guided reading texts and their independent reading.
The unit of study will eventually weave in the various wars that were all fought because of the violation
of some group’s civil rights.
After each reading at least 10 biographies, each choose one person to study in-depth and write a
biography from.
Tools of inquiry:
Time line
Note cards
Dictionaries
Reader’s notebook
Performance Tasks
Tools and Data Used
Data collected and used by
teacher:
Words their Way assessment
Text levels (for Guided Reading)
Writing samples
Assessments -
Readers’ Notebooks
Other Evidence
Key Criteria
Key Criteria
Key Criteria
Common Core Standards Infused in Unit
Reading - Literature
Reading-Informational
Writing
Speaking and Listening
Language
Social Studies
Math
Science
Health
Student Objectives:
Thinking, written communication, products to organize and share thinking, performance
Student Outcomes: (Students will know and be able to…)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Read and discuss biographies about characters, real and fictional.
Analyze, compare, and contrast the structures of different texts (genre).
Analyze the development and change of characters and themes over time in fiction texts.
Analyze and Discuss how authors use literary techniques in narration to engage the reader.
(point of view, change in setting, passage of time etc.)
Explore the reader’s notebook as a tool of organizing thinking about reading. This will become
the answer key to the rest of reading. An answer key (tool) they can take to Middle School.
Write a variety of responses to literature and informational texts. Include hand drawn thinking
scaffolds (graphic organizers).
Organize notes about reading in different sections (reader’s log, genre study, mini lesson notes,
glossary of terms, etc).
Conduct Research on authors who write about other people. What are the differences between
different authors of biographies
Conduct Research on wars and the civil rights movement. Also on links to any famous person’s
life. Notice the wars become a timeline as well.
10. Participate in group discussions around books and themes.
11. Participate in group projects around books and co-present thinking to class
12. Conduct Research about a person that interests you. Choose three people and explain why you
want to learn more about them. Teacher helps choose the final person. Research with note
cards about the person
13. Participate in group study of Rosa Parks (or another person). Read several read alouds in a row
about that person. Compare and contrast them. Synthesize information into a group mural.
14. Deconstruct teacher’s biography about Martin Luther King Jr. Label paragraphs.
15. Community write a biography on Rosa Parks
16. Write a biography independently
17. Present research (plays, timeline, mural, and wax museum of individual research).
Student Learning Targets:
• I can....
Resources
What are Read Alouds?
Read Alouds
The Other Side by
Jacqueline Woodson
First Biographies
Booker T. Washington
Summary
An African American girl’s mom
warns her to not go on the
other side of the fence. It is
dangerous because a little white
girl lives over there. As the story
unfolds, the girls become
friends and they sit on the fence
together. They teach others
how to ignore color and fears to
become friends. Even the
mother starts to soften towards
each other at the end.
Booker T. Washington was born
a slave without a last name.
When he was 9, the slaves were
freed. This is the story of how
he learned to read and write
and how he started a school.
Do the community writing to
the right as you unpack the
book. Show the timeline tool
at the back of the book that
matches the chart you created
Possible Literature Responses
Explain this is a realistic fiction
book. Show the story structure
from the fantasy introduced
Explain the structure of a
biography. (Written birth to
death.) Show on chart paper
how to pull the important parts
out of is life. Birth, young child,
teen, young adult, adult, what
make him famous, death, how
was his vision carried forward
after his death. Set it up in a
graphic organizer
AGE and Date IMPORTANT
EVENT
together. These tools are often
found in biographies.
Booker T. Washington
By Lola M. Schaefer
This is a very simple version of
the Booker T. Washington
Biography. Show how it has the
same structure as yesterday,
but it has a new element…a
timeline. Share how the
timeline works.
If you Lived When There
was Slavery in America
By Anne Kamma
Read this book in sections over
many days. Show the timeline
at the bottom. Add cards to the
timeline. Make sure to add the
first slaves brought to America
in 1619.
birth
Young boy
teen
Young adult
adult
What made
him famous
death
How was his
work carried
on after his
death?
Make sure to launch a guided
reading group to make a poster
together.
Have one of your top reading
groups make the 3X5 card time
line. Have them make a card for
every 10 years starting with
1600 until 2020. Hang it across
the room. Then at sharing,
create some cards with the
significant dates on them about
Booker T. Washington and hang
them on the timeline.
On the way through make
another T chart of all the things
you learn about slaves in this
book. Have the students help
create a summary statement for
each section. Put this on the
left. Then have each child write
during Managed Independent
learning in their reader’s
notebook, about what those
chapters made them think
about or feel.
Chapter
What the
summary
author’s
words make
me think
about.
You write the first column
together during interactive read
aloud. Each student will copy
the chart into their reader’s
notebooks and fill out the other
side independently. Have them
share one each at the sharing
circle at the end of Managed
Independent learning. Each day
they should add another line as
you complete a chapter
summary together.
Up the Learning Tree
By Marcia Vaughan
A picture book of Harriet
Tubman by David Adler
This book is about a little slave
boy who goes to school every
day to get his master’s boy’s
assignments and turn in his
homework, while he is sick. The
slave boy climbs a tree and
listens to the teacher’s lessons.
Slowly the slaveboy learns to
read, even though he could
have his fingers chopped off If
they found out. Eventually the
teacher figures it out, and gives
the boy some books. The
teacher ends up getting fired
because she admits to helping
the boy learn.
Harriet Tubman was a slave.
She couldn’t read or write, so
she had no maps. She escaped
And went north to the free
states. She ended up going back
to try to help other slaves
escape. It was hard, but she got
many people to volunteer to
help. So many people helped,
and so many slaves escaped,
Have a group read this book as a
guided reading group the day
before you use it as a read
aloud. Have the group show
their timeline project and share
the book introduction to it.
(Similar to the one that we
created around Booker T.
Washington.
Harriet Tubman
By John Rowley
Aunt Harriet’s
Underground Railroad in
the sky.
By Faith Ringgold
The Underground
Railroad. An interactive
History Adventure. By
Allison Lassieur
Almost to Freedom
By Vaunda Micheaux
Nelson
they named her operation, The
Underground Railroad. It
wasn’t a real train, but a team
that helped other slaves escape.
Review the same structure of a
biography. Compare and
contrast similarities and
differences in the structures and
information in the two
biographies. Talk about how no
one can share every detail of a
person’s life. It is up to the
author, which interesting facts
the author wants to highlight.
Share the glossary and Index in
this new one.
Again, same person, different
way of telling the story. Why
did the author choose to draw
out the first escape for Harriet?
Why did this author choose to
bring her brother into the story?
How did this new character
enhance the story?
Teach the children how this
interactive adventure genre
works. Do this book as a read
aloud three days in a row. Have
the children help you pick a
different path to travel each
time you read it. Ask the
children why they think the
author chose to write the book
this way? How did it add to
their experience as a reader?
This is a story about a little girl
named Lindy and her families’
trip on the underground
railroad as she escapes to
freedom.
Share with the student’s the
author’s note at the end.
Sweet Clara and the
Freedom Quilt
By Deborah Hopkins
This is a story about a little slave
girl that gets taken from her
mama and sold to another slave
Written response to the
reading:
Why was it important for the
author to include the doll as a
part of the story? Why didn’t
she just tell the story without
the doll? How would the story
have been different without the
doll?
Under the Quilt of the
Night by Deborah
Hopskinson
Moses
When Harriet Tubman Led
Her People to Freedom by
Carole Boston Weatherford
Follow the Drinking
Gourd by Jeanette
A Picture Book of
Sojourner Truth
owner. She secretly makes a
quilt with a map on it that tells
the way to the North. She
escapes and goes to get her
mama and they all follow the
map North. Clara had it
memorized in her head, so she
left the quilt for others to follow
This is another story of a slave
escaping and following the
freedom trail. It is written more
in poetic form. In this book, the
boy sees the quilt that is left
hanging on the line. If the
squares are the traditional red it
was not a safe house. If the
middle squares were blue, it
was a signal that the house
would hide slaves overnight and
give them food.
This is a more poetically written
version of Harriet Tubman’s
escape and building of the
underground railroad
An old sailor named Peg Leg Joe
taught the slaves to follow the
drinking gourd to freedom. He
was talking about the big dipper
and the North Star.
Sojourner Truth was a slave
named Isabella. She changed
her name to Sojourner Truth
when she was older and free.
She protested that blacks
couldn’t ride in Street Cars. She
even stood in front of one until
it almost ran her over…until
blacks were allowed to ride.
She dreamed all people would
be equal on day…almost 100
years before Rosa Parks.
Talk about why the author
chose to change the font. What
does each different font mean?
Dear Benjamin Banneker
By Andrea Davis Pinkney
Independent Reading
Activities
Assessments
What is independent Reading?
Independent Reading
Who was Annie Oakley?
Who Was Anne Frank?
Activities
Annie Oakley
Anne Frank
Amelia Earhart
Assessments
Amelia Earhart (first biographies)
Amelia Earhart, Young Aviator
Who Was Amelia Earhart?
Amelia Earhart (by J. Sutcliffe)
Abraham Lincoln (by J.Schott)
Stand Tall Abe Lincoln
Abe Lincoln The Young Years
Who Was Abraham Lincoln?
Abraham Lincoln, The Great
Emancipator
Who Was Albert Einstein?
Albert Einstein, Young Thinker
Albert Einstein (first biographies)
Albert Einstein (By F. Wishinsky)
Odd Boy Out :Young Albert
Einstein (by D. Brown)
Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor
of the Telephone
Listen Up! Alexander Graham
Bell’s Talking Machine (by M.
Kulling)
Alexander Graham Bell (K.
Harvey)
Alexander Graham Bell and the
Telephone (A. Garmon)
Alexander Graham Bell (first
biographies)
Benjamin Franklin (by V. Sherro)
Ben and Me (by R. Lawson)
Who Was Ben Franklin ?
Benjamin Franklin (Heroes of
America)
Betsy Ross Designer of Our Flag
Christopher Columbus, The Life
of a Master Navigator
Young Christopher Columbus
Discoverer of New Worlds
Clara Barton, Founder of the
American Red Cross
Abraham Lincoln
Albert Einstein
Alexander Graham Bell
Benjamin Franklin
Betsy Ross
Christopher Columbus
Clara Barton
Clara Barton, Angel of the
Battlefield
Clara Barton (First Biographies)
Clara Barton Battlefield Nurse
Dolley Madison (J.Patrick)
Who was Eleanor Roosevelt?
Eleanor Roosevelt, Heroes of
America
Who Was Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth, The Life of England’s
Renaissance Queen
Ellen Ochoa (by P. Walker)
Dolley Madison
Eleanor Roosevelt
Elizabeth the First
Ellen Ochoa
George Washington
George Washington Soldier,
Hero, President
Who Was George Washington?
George Washington Our First
President
Let’s Read About George
Washington
George Washington (by P.
Abraham)
George Washington’s First
Victory (Ready to Read)
George Washington (by C. Ransom)
George Washington Young
Leader
George Washington and the
General’s Dog (Step into Reading)
George Washington The Life of
an American Patriot
George Washington (by A. Cohn)
Young George Washington
America’s First President
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall (First Biographies)
Jane Goodall (by G. Miklowitz)
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder (by P.
Walker)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr?
Martin Luther King, Jr. (Time
Trap)
If You Lived at the Time of
Martin Luther King
Young Martin Luther King, Jr. “I
Have A Dream”
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Martin Luther King Jr. (by P.
Roop)
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Rosa Parks
Rosa (by N. Giovanni)
If a Bus Could Talk The Story of
Rosa Parks
Who Was Rosa Parks
I am Rosa Parks
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges Goes to School My
True Story
Sandra Day O’Connor
Meet My Grandmother She’s a
Supreme Court Justice
Sacagawea
Who Was Sacagawea?
Sacagawea American Pathfinder
Sacagawea Translator and Guide
Sacagawea Shoshone Trailblazer
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth Voice of
Freedom
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony, Champion of
Women’s Rights
Jackie Robinson Strong Inside
and Out (Time for Kids)
Who Was Jackie Robinson?
Jacie Robinson and the Story of
All-Black Baseball
Jackie Robinson, Young Sports
Trailblazer
First in the Field Baseball Hero
Jackie Robinson
Teammates
Young Jackie Robinson, Baseball
Hero
Jackie Robinson (Baseball Legends)
Jackie Robinson
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman A Woman of
Courage (Time for Kids)
Who Was Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman The Road to
Freedom
Harriet Tubman (by J. Rowley)
Aunt Harriet’s Underground
Railroad
Helen Keller
Who Was Helen Keller?
Helen Keller, From Tragedy to
Triumph
Helen Keller, Courage in the Dark
Helen Keller Crusader for the
Blind and Deaf
Helen Keller (by J. Woodhouse)
Helen Keller (by J. Sutcliffe)
Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong (by D. Rau)
Neil Armstrong Young Flyer
Who Is Neil Armstrong?
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison (National Geo)
Thomas Edison (First Bios)
Who Was Thomas Alva Edison?
Thomas A. Edison Young
Inventor
Thomas Alva Edison (by H. Thomas)
Thomas Edison (by J. Shuter)
Walt Disney
Who Was Walt Disney
Walt Disney Young Movie Maker
Walt Disney, Maker of Magical
Worlds
Ancient History
King Henry (by J. Hardy-Gould)
Who Was King Tut?
Mary, Bloody Mary
Can’t You Make Them Behave,
King George?
Artists
Diego (by J.Winter)
Who Was William Shakespeare?
Who Was Leonardo Davinci?
Who Was Pablo Picasso?
Artists and their Art (by
M.Medearis)
Authors
Who Was Dr. Seuss?
Dr. Seuss (by G. Miklowitz)
Conversations with J.K. Rowling
Five Famous Writers
Charles Schulz (Wonder Books)
Johannes Gutenberg
Inventor of the Printing Press
Explorers
Who Was Marco Polo?
Matthew Henson (by M. Weidt)
Exploring the World Cabot John
Cabot and the Journey to North
America
Lewis and Clark (by J. Glaser)
Race to the Pole (Nat Geo)
Who was Ferdinand Magellan?
Journey to Monticello Traveling
in Colonial Times
Lewis and Clark Explorers of the
American West
Who Was Charles Darwin?
On Assignment: Queen Anne’s
Revenge
Five Brave Explorers Great Black
Heroes
Graphic Biographies
Charles Lindbergh
Sitting Bull The Life of a Lakota
Sioux Chief
Cleopatra The Life of an Egyptian
Queen
Richard the Lionheart The Life of
a King and Crusader
Spartacus The Life of Roman
Gladiator
Hernan Cortes the Life of
Spanish Conquistador
Julius Caesar The Life of a Roman
General
Harriet Tubman The Life of an
African-American Abolitionist
Alexander the Great The Life of a
King and Conqueror
George Washington The Life of
an American Patriot
Abraham Lincoln The Life of
American’s Sixteenth President
Inventors
Insides Steve’s Brain
Steve Jobs The Genius Who
Changed Our World
Discover Sir Isaac Newton
Florence Nightingale (by R. Vickers)
Five Notable Inventors Great
Black Heroes (by W. Hudson)
The Usborne Book of Inventors
from DaVinci to Biro
Marie Curie (First Bios)
Five Brilliant Scientists Great
Black Heroes
Starry Messenger Galileo (by P.
Sis)
John Deere
Blacksmith Boy
U.S. Presidents
Thomas Jefferson Third
President of the United States
Who Was Thomas Jefferson?
Franklin D. Roosevelt A Leader in
Troubled Times
Who is Barack Obama
Who Was Thomas Jefferson?
Who Was John F. Kennedy?
Our President: Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton Forty-second
President of the United States
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Musicians
Ray Charles
Who Was Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart?
Who was Elvis Presley?
Sports Heros
Childhood of Famous Americans
Babe Ruth
Baseball Legends
Babe Ruth
Step into Reading
Babe Ruth Saves Baseball
Baseball Legends
Roy Campanella
Baseball Legends
Roberto Clemente
Baseball Legends
Dizzy Dean
Baseball Legends
Joe Dimaggio
Baseball Legends
Jimmie Foxx
Baseball Legends
Rogers Hornsby
Baseball Legends
Mickey Mantle
Baseball Legends
Willie Mays
Baseball Legends
Frank Robinson
Amazing Athletes
Lance Armstrong-Biking
Amazing Athletes
Tom Brady-Football
Amazing Athletes
Drew Brees-Football
Amazing Athletes
Dale Earnhardt Jr.-Racing
Amazing Athletes
Roger Federer-Tennis
Amazing Athletes
Jeff Gordon-Racing
Amazing Athletes
Josh Hamilton-Baseball
Amazing Athletes
Ryan Howard-Baseball
Amazing Athletes
LeBron James-Basketball
Amazing Athletes
Derek Jeter-Baseball
Amazing Athletes
Payton Manning-Football
Amazing Athletes
Yao Ming-Basketball
Amazing Athletes
Steve Nash-Basketball
Amazing Athletes
Dirk Nowitzki-Basketball
Amazing Athletes
Shaquille O’Neal-Basketball
Amazing Athletes
David Ortiz-baseball
Amazing Athletes
Danica Patrick-Racing
Amazing Athletes
Michael Phelps- Swimming
Amazing Athletes
Albert Pujols-Baseball
Amazing Athletes
Alex Rodriguez-Baseball
Amazing Athletes
Johan Santana-Basebll
Amazing Athletes
Maria Sharapova-Tennis
Amazing Athletes
Annika Sorenstam-Golf
An autobiography
Sammy Sosa
Amazing Athletes
Dwyane Wade- Basketball
Amazing Athletes
Shaun White-Snowboarding
Amazing Athletes
Venus & Serena Williams-Tennis
Scholastic Biography
Jennifer Capriati-Tennis
Jim Thorpe
World’s Greatest Athlete
Childhood of Famous Americans
Jim Thorpe-Olympic Champion
Leveled Readers
Champion Billy Mills
Sports Legends: Pele- Soccer
Babe Didrikson-Golf
Bobby Orr
Star on Ice
Historical US War Leaders
Sybil Ludington’s Midnight Ride
Childhood of Famous American’s
Paul Revere
Who Was
Paul Revere?
And Then What Happened
Paul Revere?
Graphic Library
Nathan Hale Revolutionary Spy
Graphic Library
The Battle of Gettysburg
Graphic Library
Patrick Henry Liberty or Death
History Maker Bios
Robert E. Lee
Where was Patrick Henry
on the 29th of May?
Will you sign here
John Hancock?
Aviators
Childhood of Famous Americans
Wilbur and Orville Wright
First-Start Biography
Young Orville and Wilbur Wright
Flight
Charles Lindberg
Childhood of Famous Americans
John Glenn
Rookie Biographies
Neil Armstrong
Pioneers
An I can Read Book
Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express
An I can Read Book
The Long Way to a New Land
Who was
Daniel Boone?
The Story of Johnny Appleseed
Who was
Johnny Appleseed?
Jim Bridger:
Man of the Mountains
Kit Carson
Mountain Man
People on the Move
Miscellaneous
Ra Kroc
Invented McDonald’s
Be My Guest
Conrad Hilton
They Changed the World
Short Biographies
The Story of the Pony Express
Gandhi
Peaceful Warrior
Louis Pasteur’s
Fight Against Microbes
Medical Pioneers
Portrait of Greatness,
Gandhi, Churchill, Mandela
Cesar Chaves
Guided Reading
Abigail Adams Eyewitness to
America’s Birth (Time for Kids)
A Picture Book of Anne Frank
A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart
What’s the Matter With Albert?
A Story of Albert Einstein
Alexander Graham Bell Inventor
of the Telephone
A Picture Book of Benjamin
Franklin
Eleanor Roosevelt First Lady of
the World
A Picture Book of Harriet
Tubman
Activities
Amelia Earhart
Albert Einstein
Alexander Graham Bell
Benjamin Franklin
Eleanor Roosevelt
Harriet Tubman
Assessments
A Picture Book of Helen Keller
Henry Ford Putting the World on
Wheels (Time for Kids)
Jackie Robinson Strong Inside
and Out (Time for Kids)
John F. Kennedy The Making of a
Leader (Time for Kids)
Helen Keller
Henry Ford
Jackie Robinson
John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Let’s Read About Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Rosa Parks Civil Rights Pioneer
A Picture Book of Rosa Parks
Theodore Roosevelt The Time for
Kids)
What’s the Mater with Albert?
A Story of Albert Einstein
Barack Obama
By Jane Sutcliffe
A Picture Book of
Benjamin Franklin
First Biographies
Booker T. Washington
Time for Kids Biographies
Eleanor Roosevelt
A Picture Book of
Fredrick Douglas
A picture Book of
George Washington
A Picture Book of
Harriet Tubman
Time for Kids Biographies
Harriet Tubman
A Woman of Courage
A Picture Book of
Helen Keler
Time for Kids Biographies
Henry Ford
Putting the World on Wheels
Rosa Parks
Theodore Roosevelt
A Picture Book of
Jackie Robinson
Time for Kids Biographies
Jackie Robinson
Strong Inside and Out
A Picture Book of
Jesse Owens
Time for Kids Biographies
John F. Kennedy
The Making of a Leader
Let’s Read About
Martin Luther King, Jr.
A picture Book of
Rosa Parks
Time for Kids Biographies
Rosa parks
Civil Rights Pioneer
Ruby Bridges Goes to School
My True Story - Autobiography
The Story of Ruby Bridges
By Robert Coles
A Picture Book of
Sojourner Truth
Time for Kids Biographies
Theodore Roosevelt
The Adventurous President
A picture Book of
Thomas Jefferson
A Picture Book of
Thurgood Marshall
Thomas Edison A Brilliant
Inventor (Time for Kids)
Laura Ingles Wilder Easy Readers, then beginning chapter books
My First Little House Books
Christmas in the Big Woods
My First Little House Books
County Fair
My First Little House Books
Dance at Grandpa’s
My First Little House Books
E Deer in the Wood
My First Little House Books
A Farmer Boy Birthday
My First Little House Books
Going to Town
My First Little House Books
Going West
My First Little House Books
A Little House Birthday
My First Little House Books
A Little Prairie House
My First Little House Books
Sugar Snow
My First Little House Books
Summer Time in the Big Woods
My First Little House Books
Winter Days in the Big Woods
My First Little House Books
Winter on the Farm
A Little House Chapter Book
Laura #1
The Adventures of Laura & Jack
A Little House Chapter Book
Laura #2
Pioneer Sisters
A Little House Chapter Book
Laura #3
Animal Adventures
A Little House Chapter Book
Laura #4
School Days
My First Little House Books
Independent Reading
Activities
Assessments
Connection to known genre structure:
Day 1: Introduce Fiction Story Structure (familiar text structure to kids)
Draw the story structure and explain the parts.
Explain this is the guide or map the author uses when writing a fiction text. In particular, they think first
about what lesson the author wants to teach through the text.
climax
Probl
em
(serie
s of
event
s that
builds
tensi
Re
sol
uti
on
Turn around (which character helped turn the
problem around?)
Lesson Learned (What character learned,
what lesson author wanted
readers to learn)
Set up or lead
• Characters
• Setting
• Plot
• Point of View
• Theme
Teacher reads the text: Hunter’s Best Friend at School.
Think aloud with the students: During the text, have students tell where the set-up is over (discuss
characters, setting, basic plot, mood, point of view, theme (lesson) of text. Then figure out where the
action starts, move finger along path to follow events to teach the students the structure of a fiction
text. Talk about what lesson the author wanted the readers to learn. The teacher begins teaching text
structure with familiar text (in this case fantasy). Discuss similarities and differences between realistic
fiction and fantasy. What makes this text a fantasy?
Community Writing
Write on the chart paper the characters, plot, setting, point of view etc. Write the name of character
that turned the story around, then write the solution, and the lessons the characters learned. Last have
them come up with the Lesson the author wanted us to learn from the text (author’s purpose).
Post this in the room so you can refer back to it.
Reader’s Notebook
Teacher introduces the reader’s notebook to the students. Shows them the book and all of the sections.
Allows students time to explore the text and turn open all tabs. Talk about each section.
Mini-Lesson
Teach students how to fill out the genre study of a fantasy. You write what they come up with on chart
paper. Have students fill out their text as they go along.
Independent Writing
Turn to the section where they write about their reading. Explain this is an area where they write to you
about their reading. Starting next week, you will write them back once a week. They need to write in
their book every single day.
Explain today they are going to write in response to your reading. Have the students write a response to
the Hunter and Stripe text. What lesson or story in your own life did this book remind you of? Tell them
they (or you) will share their writing at the end of the session. Collect books and share out the writing.
Independent Reading
Have students write and then begin independent reading when done with their writing.
If time permits, encourage students to draw their own story structure of the book they are reading as a
second piece of writing. Find one or two to share the next day. Each time you share, it becomes a spring
board for others to try.
Sharing
Collect books and share out some of the written responses. Then have a discussion and have kids share
with their neighbors about the book they are reading independently.