This reader contains 11 original instructional essays written specifically for adults, and is designed to accompany the BC Reads: Adult Literacy Fundamental English - Course Pack 6. This level 6 reader, one of a series of six readers, is roughly equivalent to grades 7.5 to 9 in the K-12 system. New vocabulary are set in bold throughout each story, and then summarized and defined in a Glossary found in the appendix. Font size and line spacing can be adjusted in the online view, and have been enhanced for the print and PDF versions for easier reading. This reader has been reviewed by subject experts from colleges and universities.

In this unit, students explore the beauties of winter. In the first part of the unit students pretend to be meteorologists as they learn about different weather forecasts and the words that meteorologists use to describe the weather in winter. Students start by exploring generic weather words and then transition into winter-specific words. In the second part of the unit, students explore how animals survive in the winter and the ways in which animals meet their basic needs, even when the ground is covered with ice and snow. In the last part of the unit, students read a variety of Jan Brett texts and use what they have learned about snow and animals to make inferences about what is happening with the different winter animals in the text. By the end of the unit, students should have a strong grasp of what makes winter unique and the different ways plants and animals survive in the winter. Due to the timing of this unit, it is our hope that students will have plenty of opportunities to interact with the vocabulary and content in the natural world around them. When outside for recess or anytime that it snows, students should be pushed to use the vocabulary and content they are learning in the unit so that the content can fully come to life. In reading, this unit is predominately a collection of informational texts and builds on skills and strategies from earlier units. At this point it is assumed that students are inquisitive consumers of text and are able to ask and answer questions about a text in order to deepen understanding of the content. In this unit, students will continue to be challenged to identify the main topic of a text, retell the key details that connect to the main topic, describe the connection between ideas in a text, and use the illustrations and words to describe and retell what is happening in a text with varying levels of teacher support. Students will also begin to use strategies to ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text, specifically those connected to weather and snow. As part of daily text introductions, students will also continue to explore the purpose behind text features, specifically the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book, and how each feature supports understanding of the text. Many of the skills and strategies in this unit are spiraled from earlier units or will be spiraled through upcoming units; therefore, it is up to the teacher to decide what level of support students need with the particular strategy and scaffold accordingly. In writing, students will continue to write daily in response to the text. At this point in the year, students should be using a combination of drawing and words to correctly answer the question. Pick focus teaching points based on data from previous units and individual student needs.

Reading is revamped in this lesson in which students use a multimedia approach to study the books by Seymour Simon.

Students will discuss the definition of a biography and determine what elements it contains. They will research a famous person and create a web graphic organizer with key achievements and personal information from their life. Peer feedback will be given on the web creation and then an oral presentation will be given.

LEARNING TO WRITE BIOGRAPHIES
Discuss biographies previously read
Students will write a biography about one of the people they have read about. They will use information from one of these books and information from an online source to plan and write the biography.
Review Writing Process
Create Graphic Organizer model
Informative Writing Checklist
Students will work in their research groups and choose 3-4 subtopics. Then students will begin the graphic organizer.
Sharing
Use the Smartboard or projector to display www.factmonster.com.
Students will continue to work in their research group. They need to complete their research from the class book quickly and begin their search with source two.

Digital Age Pedagogy Project. Educators worked with coaches to create Unit Plans promoting BlendEd Learning Best Practices.

To prepare for literature circles featuring historical novels, students research the decades of the 1930s to the 1990s and share their information using Prezi, a web application for creating multimedia presentations.

After reading several examples of how a published author incorporates facts in fiction writing, students research a topic of their choice and write fictional diary entries that incorporate factual information.

In this lesson, students use the lyrics to "Something Like This" as an opportunity to learn the stories of Achilles, Hercules, Wonder Woman and Superman. Students will explore similarities between these gods and superheroes, finally considering why mortals still need superhumans, thousands of years later.

In this lesson, students will explore these questions, comparing Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful" with chapters 1-7 of The Great Gatsby to form their own characterization of Daisy. Students will view the music video for "Young and Beautiful" and analyze advertisements and headlines from 1918-1922 to consider the potential influence of cultural values and gender expectations on women like Daisy. Finally, using excerpts from the novel, the song, and the advertisements, students will work in groups to create an identity chart for Daisy.

BrainVentures are engaging & interactive, digital, enrichment activities meant to supplement your standard aligned curriculum. They can be used as indepent or collaborative practice as well as remotely or on campus.

Young citizens learn about human impact on Earth's resources through engaging video, books and simulations. And also discover ways to be kind to the Earth on Earth Day 2020.
BrainVentures are engaging & interactive, digital, enrichment activities meant to supplement your standard aligned curriculum. They can be used as indepent or collaborative practice as well as remotely or on campus.

BrainVentures are engaging & interactive, digital, enrichment activities meant to supplement your standard aligned curriculum. They can be used as indepent or collaborative practice as well as remotely or on campus.
Additional Standards: MDE SEL 3A-B, 4A-B Social Awareness 3A. Demonstrate awareness of other people’s emotions and perspectives 3B. Demonstrate consideration for others and a desire to positively contribute to the school and community. Relationship Skills 4A. Use positive communication and social skills to
interact effectively with others
4B. Develop and maintain positive relationships

In this BrainVenture student take a look at the manatee and its environment in the Everglades of Florida. Students read and watch videos about the manatee then do a comparison of the sea cow and the cow. Students are also prompted to help save the manatees by writing a letter.

BrainVentures are engaging & interactive, digital, enrichment activities meant to supplement your standard aligned curriculum. They can be used as indepent or collaborative practice as well as remotely or on campus.

Take a virtual trip through the park for your personality after taking the personality quiz. Then read about the parks in a collection in Get Epic. Next we will all go to Yellowstone and visit the themes of the park. Make sure to take pictures of the park attractions you have visited and put them in the Photo Album.

Through a series of picture book read-alouds, students engage in critical discussion of complex issues of race, class, and gender.

In Unit 2, students will build their ability to read and understand informational text and begin to build their knowledge of frogs through closely reading excerpts of the informational text Everything You Need to Know about Frogs and Other Slippery Creatures. Students will use the information gained in reading these excerpts to help them write answers to the questions generated in Unit 1 after reading poems and narratives about frogs. For a mid-unit assessment, students will demonstrate their reading skills through reading a new text about reptiles and amphibians, and they will gather information to answer a research question.
In the second half of the unit, students will continue with the same central text and build their knowledge by studying three "freaky frogs" that have specific adaptations according to where they live: the glass frog, the Amazon horned frog, and the water-holding frog. They will read about these frogs to answer this question in an informative paragraph: How does where a frog lives affect how it looks and/or acts? In the End of Unit 2 Assessment, students read another excerpt of text about the poison dart frog, gather information to answer a research question, and write an on-demand informative paragraph to answer the question.
RI.3.1, RI.3.3, RI.3.4, RI.3.5, RI.3.7, RI.3.8, W.3.2, W.3.7, W.3.8, L.3.1d,e, L.3.4

The students are introduced to the research process through an assignment (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aV1canXyzEv0imNlA3VgYuAqXqJV4ax7xv0opIt4mtQ/edit?usp=sharing) that requires them to perform research on an individual who has had to overcome challenges and has benefitted others (eg. Jackie Robinson)

I want to work towards making them more savvy researchers as well as more digitally literate. I envision this lesson as part of a focus on conducting quality research. Another lesson, probably prior to this, would be on identifying credible sources of research. A follow-up lesson could easily be on performing effective web searches in research.

Students will build a project about an idea, activity, item, or cause they feel strongly about.