In this unit, students learn about United States history by reading the core text, Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African-Americans, and excerpts from Let It Shine: Stories of Black Freedom Fighters and Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America. Throughout the unit, students grapple with the discrimination and broken promises African Americans faced, paired with the endless determination and perseverance that fueled countless triumphs to overcome unfair and unjust treatment. Through a study of slavery up through the civil rights movement, students will be challenged to think critically about different events, influential people, and how they have had a lasting impact on the America we know today. This is incredibly important for helping students not only understand America’s past, but also to understand the realities of America’s present. It is our goal that this unit, combined with others in the curriculum, will inspire a passion within students to stand up for what is right and to fight for civil rights in order to attain equality and justice for all human beings, regardless of race. The goal of this unit is not depth; rather, the focus is more on exposure and building student understanding of the history behind the civil rights movement while simultaneously building a sense of empowerment and empathy. In fifth grade, students will study the civil rights movement in depth, learning about a wider variety of influential leaders, groups, and events, especially those in which youth advocacy and fight inspired and drove change. It is our hope that the combination of both units will equip students with the tools necessary to begin to challenge injustice in their own lives.

The unit requires students to deeply analyze a text to see how an author develops different ideas and points using vivid evidence in both the text and illustrations. Students will analyze author’s word choice, the different details an author includes, and the way in which an author presents information in order to build a deeper understanding of the time period and the text. Students will also be challenged to carry information across multiple texts in order to build a deeper understanding of content and themes.

WEEK 9, DAY 1
Learning about Informative Writing
WEEK 9, DAY 2
Learning to Evaluate Informative/ Writing
WEEK 9, DAY 3
Learning to Write Informative Pieces
WEEK 9, DAY 4
Learning to Write Informative Pieces
WEEK 9, DAY 5
Learning to Write Informative Pieces

In this unit, second graders learn about insects and the impact insects have on the natural world. Building on what students learned in Unit 1 about habitats, they will explore how different insects rely on the environment, or habitat in which they live, for survival. Through this exploration, students will learn the unique characteristics of insects, how insects can be both beneficial and destructive, and the stages of an insect’s life cycle. By the end of the unit, students will have a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the beauty of the insect world.

This unit is comprised of predominantly shared reading experiences to help students practice different reading strategies and skills. Building on unit one, students will continue to be inquisitive, active consumers of texts by asking and answering questions, and they will continue to deepen their understanding of the role text features and illustrations play in helping a reader better understand the content of a text. Students will also begin to explore the connections between scientific ideas and concepts using cause-and-effect language and will continue to strengthen their habits of discussion as they debate and analyze key ideas of the unit.

This social media literacy unit introduces students to foundational skills in analyzing images and social media posts. It also reenforces critical thinking questions that can be applied to various forms of media. This unit was taught to 9th grade students but is easily adaptible to a range of secondary classrooms. It was also taught in conjunction with another unit focused on social media platforms and content.

This unit engages students in a variety of activities that analyze and reflect on the role of social media in our everyday lives. This includes options for collaborative group work, reading nonfiction articles, a design challenge and presentations to communicate ideas. The unit also includes a formal writing assessment option that aligns with the Common Core State Writing Standards. Activities can be adapted or combined in a variety of ways to support student reflection and analysis. These lessons were piloted in 9th grade English classes but are suitable or a range of secondary students. 

This is a BlendSpace lesson on the persuasive appeals - ethos, logos, and pathos. It involves note-taking, an understanding check quiz, and an application assignment in which students analyze a commercial or print ad for its use of ethos, logos, and pathos.

This LO demonstrates how to create in-text citations for tricky situations including more than one author, multiple quotes by the same source in a paragraph, corporate authors, electronic sources.

This LO demonstrates how to create the most common types of in-text citations.

This LO demonstrates how to follow MLA guidelines to set up a document.

This LO introduces how to correctly format a block quote following MLA 8.

This LO covers how to create both the in-text citation and works cited citation for books.

This LO covers how to create both the in-text citation and works cited citation for most electronic sources students will encounter.

This LO covers how to create both the in-text citation and works cited citation for different types of multimedia including images, audio, and video.

This LO covers how to create both the in-text citation and works cited citation for other types of sources that weren’t covered in previous lessons. It is less likely for students to encounter these types of situations.

This LO covers how to create both the in-text citation and works cited citation for periodicals.

This LO covers how to create both the in-text citation and works cited citation for presentations.

This LO presents a reputable website that consists of frequently asked questions and answers about MLA.

This LO demonstrates how to follow MLA guidelines and set up a paper in Google Docs.

This LO introduces in-text citations and discusses how they connect to the works cited page.