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Language Arts
Unit 1 - Lesson 1
"Henry and Mudge: The First Book"
During the next few weeks, we'll explore the theme Neighborhood Visit. Through our reading,we'll visit neighborhoods both imaginary and real, filled with friends to meet! As we read, we'll explore the Big Idea "There are different kindsof communities." This week we begin by reading about Henry's move into a new neighborhood. As we follow his search for a pet in the realistic fiction selection Henry and Mudge, we will think and talk about the question "Why is the order of events in a story important?" We will also read an informational text called All in the Family.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: curly, straight, floppy, drooled, weighed, stood, collars, row
Phonics Skills: Words with short a (can); words with short i (dig); cvc words (consonant, vowel, consonant) such as win
Vocabulary Strategy: Alphabetical order
Comprehension Skill: Sequence of events-tell the order in which things happen
Comprehension Strategy: Infer/ predict-uses clues to figure out moreabout story parts
Writing Focus: Write to narrate-sentences that tell atrue story
Unit 1-Lesson 2
"My Family"
Throughout this unit, we are reading about different kinds of communities and the families who live in them. This week we will meet Camila in the informational text My Family. Camila is a real girl who shares special times and happy celebrations with her family. We will also read Family Poems, poetry about families. As we read, we will be exploring answers to the question "How are families alike and different?"
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: remembered, porch, crown, spend, stuck, visit, cousin, piano
Phonics Skills: Words with short a (hop), short u (fun), short e (hen); review CVC words (bat)
Vocabulary Strategy: Using aglossary
Comprehension Skill: Compare and contrast-tell how two things are alike or not
Comprehension Strategy: Questions :ask questions about what you are reading
Writing Focus: Write to narrate - friendly letter
Unit 1-Lesson 3
"Henry and Mudge: Under the Yellow Moon"
By the end of the week, your child will know a lot more about communities. We will look for answers to the question "Why might an author write a story?" We'll read Henry and MudgeUnder the Yellow Moon, a realistic fiction selection about how Henry and Mudge explore their community in different ways. We'll also read Outdoor Adventures, a selection of e-mails between a girl and her grandmother as they discuss the seasonal changes in their community.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: woods, turned, tops, chipmunks, busy, picked, south, grew
Phonics Skills: Words with long a, (gate), long i (mine) (VCe); hard and soft sounds for c (car, cent)
Vocabulary Strategy: Multiple-meaning words
Comprehension Skill: Author's purpose- tell why an author writes a book
Comprehension Strategy: Analyze/evaluate- tell how you feel about the text and why
Writing Focus: Write to narrate- sentences that describe
Unit 1 - Lesson 4
"Diary of a Spider"
This week we'll explore the question "What might cause a story character to change?" We'll read a fun and fantastic story about Spider's family, friends, school, and favorite places to play in Diary of a Spider. Along with this humorous fiction story, we will read A Swallow and aSpider, a traditional tale written in a read-aloud reader's theater format. Both stories will help us understand more about different kinds of communities.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: rotten, sticky, insects, scare, judge, screaming, dangerous, breeze
Phonics Skills: Words with long o (rose), long u (dune), long e (Pete) (VCe);
hard and soft sounds for g : (giraffe, goose)
Vocabulary Strategy: Context clues
Comprehension Skill: Cause and effect-tell how one event makes another happen
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize, stop to tell important events as you read
Writing Focus: Write to narrate- .prewrite a true story (Reading/Writing Workshop)
Unit 1 - Lesson 5
"Teacher's Pets"
This week we'll explore another kind of neighborhood--the classroom! We'll consider the question "What clues tell you where and when a story takes place?" We'll begin with Teacher's Pets, a realistic fiction story about Miss Fry's classroom. It's a lively place for students and animals alike! Then we'll See Westburg by Bus! as we read an informational text about this interesting community.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: share, noticed, suddenly, bursting, noises, wonderful, quiet, sprinkled
Phonics Skills: Consonant blends with r, l, and s, including triple blends (burst, trucks, split)
Vocabulary Strategy: Base words and endings -ed, -ing
Comprehension Skill: Story structure- tell the setting, character, and plot in a story
Comprehension Strategy: Visualize- picture what is happening as you read
Writing Focus: Write to narrate- draft/edit a true story (Reading/Writing Workshop)
Unit 2 - Lesson 6
"Animal Homes"
During the next few weeks, we'll explore the theme Nature Watch. We'll learn about different kinds of plants, animals, gardens, and weather while considering the Big Idea "Nature can teach us many things." We'll begin by exploring the question "How can chapter headings help you?" We'll read an informational text called Animals Building Homes that tells about different types of animal homes around the world. Then we'll have fun with the play Hiding at the Pond. What animals might have homes in a pond?
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: beaks, break, deepest, hang, pond, shaped, winding, branches
Phonics Skills: Common final blends nd, ng, nk, nt, ft, xt, mp
Vocabulary Strategy: Base words and prefixes un- (means "not" or "undo") and
re- (means "again")
Comprehension Skill: Text and graphic features-tell how words work with art
Comprehension Strategy: Question-ask questions about what you are reading
Writing Focus: Write to inform- informational paragraph
Unit 2 - Lesson 7
"The Ugly Vegetables"
This week we will find out more about our Big Idea: "Nature can teach us many things." We are going to read a realistic fiction story and an informational text that will help us answer the question "What helps you make decisions about a character?" In The Ugly Vegetables, a girl learns about her neighbors when she plants a garden. We'll also see some HUGE plants from real gardens when we read They Really Are GIANT!
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: blooming, muscles, nodded, plain, scent, shovels, tough, wrinkled
Phonics Skills: Double consonants and ck; double consonants (CVC)
Vocabulary Strategy: Homophones
Comprehension Skill: Conclusions: use details to figure out more about thetext
Comprehension Strategy: Analyze and Evaluate-tell how you feel about the text and why
Writing Focus: Writing to inform: A summary paragraph
Unit 2 - Lesson 8
"Super Storms"
This week we will explore all kinds of weather. We'll also explore the question "How do you know what a story is mostly about?" In the informational text Super Storms, we'll learn about several kinds of extreme weather. Then we will read Weather Poems, including "Night Drumming for Rain," "Leaves," and "Morning Sun."
This week's ...
Target Vocabulary: flash, equal, damage, reach, pounding, prevent, beware, bend
Phonics Skills: Consonant digraphs th, sh, wh, ch, tch, ph; and base words with endings, -ed, -ing (no spelling changes)
Vocabulary Strategy: Compound words
Comprehension Skill: Main ideas and details-tell important ideas and details about a topic
Comprehension Strategy: Visualize: picture what is happening as you read
Writing Focus: Write to inform: informational paragraph
Unit 2 - Lesson 9
"How Chipmunk Got His Stripes"
This week we are going to answer the question "What can you learn from the way a character acts?" First we'll read a folktale called How Chipmunk Got His Stripes. Then we'll read a traditional tale called Why Rabbits Have Short Tails. As we read, we'll keep talking about the Big Idea, "Nature can teach us many things."
This Week:
Target Vocabulary: curled, direction, healed, height, toward, tunnel, tease, brag
Phonics Skills: Base words and endings -ed, -ing (including spelling change of drop final e);
words with consonant vowel (CV) pattern
Vocabulary Strategy: Synonyms
Comprehension Skill: Understanding characters-tell more about characters
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize: stop to tell Important events as you read
Writing Focus: Write to Inform: prewrite instructions (ReadinIWriting Workshop)
Unit 2 - Lesson 10
"Jellies"
This week we'll explore the question, "How do you know if something is a fact or an opinion?" We'll read two informational texts about the deep blue sea. The first selection, Jellies, features beautiful underwater photographs and fascinating facts about jellyfish. Then Meet Norbert Wu will introduce us to a man who makes his living photographing animals that live in the ocean. What an exciting-and wet-job!
This Week:
Target Vocabulary: decide, disgusting, drift, millions, simple, wrapped, choices, weaker
Phonics Skills: Contractions
Vocabulary Strategy: Base words and suffixes -er and -est (comparatives and superlatives)
Comprehension Skill: Fact and opinion-tell if an idea can be proved or is a feeling
Comprehension Strategy: Monitor/clarify-find ways to figure out what doesn't make sense
Writing Focus: Write to inform-revise/ edit instructions (Reading/Writing Workshop)
Unit 3 - Lesson 11
"Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type"
During the next few weeks, we'll explore the theme Tell Me About It. Our reading selections in this unit focus on how we communicate with each other. From a fanciful tale of typing cows to artists from around the world, we'll read about the ways people share their ideas and feelings. As we read, we'll explore the Big Idea "We learn from each other." We'll begin this week with a humorous fiction story called Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. Farmer Brown's cows have found a typewriter, and they're using it to demand better working conditions. What will Farmer Brown do? We'll also read about how real animals communicate in the informational text Talk About Smart Animals! Throughout the week we'll consider the question "What helps you make a decision about a character?"
This Week...
Target Vocabulary: problem, impossible, understand, impatient, furious, demand, gathered,
believe
Phonics Skills: Base words with endings -s, -es (including pronunciation and syllables)
Vocabulary Strategy: Prefixes pre(means "before") and mis- (means "not" or "badly")
Comprehension Skill: Conclusions: use details to figure out more about the text
Comprehension Strategy: Infer/ predict-use clues to figure out more about the story parts or
important ideas
Writing Focus: Write to persuade: persuasive letter
Unit 3 - Lesson 12
"Violet's Music"
This week we'll consider the question "How do you find important story characters?" First,we'll read Violet's Music, a realistic fiction story about a girl who loves making music with herfriends. Then we'll read Wolfgang Mozart, Child Superstar, a biography about the real life of this famous musician.
This week's..
Target Vocabulary: nursery, shake, smooth, whenever, hours, alone, real, museum
Phonics Skills: Vowel digraphs ai, ay
Vocabulary Strategy: Figurative language/idioms
Comprehension Skill: Story structure: tell the setting, character, and plot in a story
Comprehension Strategy: Question : ask questions about what you are reading
Writing Focus: Write to persuade: opinion paragraph
Unit 3 - Lesson 13
"Schools"
This week we'll read about schools in other parts of the world and explore the question, "Why do authors write different kinds of texts?" In the informational text Schools Around the World, we'll learn about how schools in other parts of the world are the same and different. We'll also read a selection of poems about school in School Poems.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: culture, community, languages, transportation, subjects, lessons, special,
wear
Phonics Skills: Vowel digraphs ee, ea (long esound)
Vocabulary Strategy: Using a dictionary
Comprehension Skill: Author's purpose-tell why an author writes a book
Comprehension Strategy: Analyze / evaluate-tell how you feel about the text and why
Writing Focus: Writing to Persuade: A persuasive paragraph
Unit 3 - Lesson 14
"Helen Keller"
This week we'll ask, "How do you know when story ideas are important?" We'll read the biography of Helen Keller, who learned how to communicate with help from her devoted teacher. And we'll learn about other ways to communicate in the informational text Talking Tools.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: curious, imitated, knowledge, motion, silence, illness, darkness, behavior
Phonics Skills: Words with long o (o, oa, ow) [open, coat, bowl]
Vocabulary Strategy: Suffix -ly (means "in a certain way")
Comprehension Skill: Main ideas and details-tell important ideas and details about a topic
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize-stop to tell important ideas as you read
Writing Focus: Write to persuade-prewrite a persuasive essay (Reading/Writing Workshop)
Unit 3 - Lesson 15
"Officer Buckle and Gloria"
This week we'll ask, "What might cause a story character to change?" IN the humorous fiction story Officer Buckle and Gloria, we'll read about teamwork between a police officer and his dog. We'll read about a different kind of teamwork in the play Safety at Home.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: attention, buddy, obeys, speech, enormous, safety, shocked, station
Phonics Skills: Compound word; schwa vowel sound (was)
Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary entry
Comprehension Skill: Cause and effect-tell how one event makes another happen
Comprehension Strategy: Monitor/clarify-find ways to figure out what doesn't make sense
Writing Focus: Write to persuade- revise/edit persuasive essay (Reading/Writing Workshop)
Unit 4 - Lesson 16
Mr. Tanen's Tie Trouble
During the next few weeks, we'll explore the theme Heroes and Helpers. As we'll discover, this category can include anyone from caped superheros to people you see everyday at work, at school, or in your own mirror! As we read, we'll discuss the Big Idea "We can all make a difference." In this first week, we'll meet Mr. Tanen, a school principal who uses his tie collection to help his school. Mr. Tanen's Tie Trouble is a realistic fiction story about a hero and a helper.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: received, account, budget, disappointed, chuckled, staring, repeated, fund
Phonics Skills: Base words and endings -ed, -ing (including doubling the final consonant and /ed/, /t/, /d/, pronunciations for -ed)
Vocabulary Strategy: Homographs
Comprehension Skill: Story structure- tell the setting, character, and plot in a story
Comprehension Strategy: Infer/predict-use clues to figure out more about story parts
Writing Focus: Write to express-fictional narrative (story) paragraph
Unit 4 - Lesson 17
"Luke Goes to Bat"
This week we'll explore the question "What words show the order of events in a story?" As we read the realistic fiction selection Luke Goes to Bat, we will find out about a boy who learns an important lesson with the help of his grandmother and the legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson. In the informational text, Jackie Robinson, we will learn more about this special American hero.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: practice, hurried, position, roared, extra, curb, cheered, final
Phonics Skills: Words with long i (igh, ie, y) such as sigh, tie, by
Vocabulary Strategy: Antonyms
Comprehension Skill: Sequence of events- tell the order in which things happen
Comprehension Strategy: Visualize- picture what is happening as you read
Writing Focus: Write to express-fictional narrative (story) paragraph
Unit 4 - Lesson 18
"My Name is Gabriela"
This week we will ask, "What makes a character interesting?" First, we'll read My Name is Gabriela, a biography of Gabirela Mistral. Gabriela, a girl who loved to read, became the first Latin American woman to win a Nobel Prize. WE'll also read a few poems from the collection of poetry in Poems About Reading and Writing.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: accepted, express, fluttering, grand, pretend, prize, wonder, taught
Phonics Skills: Words with long e sound for y (sleepy); changing y to i (sleepier)
Vocabulary Strategy: Suffixes -y and -ful
Comprehension Skill: Understanding characters- tell more about characters
Comprehension Strategy: Analyze/evaluate- tell how you feel about the text, and why
Writing Focus: Write to express-fictional narrative paragraph (descriptive paragraph)
Unit 4 - Lesson 19
The Signmaker's Assistant
This week we'll ponder the question "What can you learn from signs in your community?" In the humorous fiction story The Signmaker's Assistant, a town's residents learn that they can't always believe what they read. We'll also read the play The Trouble with Signs.
This week's...
Target Vocabulary: assistant, agreed, polite, failed, tearing, wisdom, trouble, cleared
Phonics Skills: Words with r-controlled vowels ar (car)
Vocabulary Strategy: Synonyms
Comprehension Skill: Text and graphic features- tell how words work with art
Comprehension Strategy: Question- ask questions about what you are reading
Writing Focus: Write to express- prewrite a story: fictional narrative (Reading/Writing Work
Unit 4 - Lesson 20
Dex: The Heart of a Hero
We're going to wrap up our Heroes and Helpers unit by exploring the question "How can stories be alike and different?" First, we'll read the fantasy story Dex: The Heart of a Hero, about a dog that becomes a superhero! We'll also learn about some real heroes in the informational text Heroes Then and Now.
Unit 5 - Lesson 21
Penguin Chick
During the next few weeks, we will be exploring the theme Changes, Changes Everywhere. We will read about babies that grow up, making new friends, how plants grow-even how goat woolgets changed into a rug! As we read, we will explore the Big Idea "Living things change overtime." During this first week, we will read Penguin Chick, about emperor penguins and how they raise their babies. We'll also read about several animals in Animal Poems. Both of these selections will give us information to use as we think about the question "How do you know which facts are important?"
This week's ...
Target Vocabulary: finally, junior, otherwise, slippery, steer, waterproof, webbed, whistle
Phonics Skills: Words with r-controlled vowels er (father), ir (bird), ur (nurse)
Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary entry
Comprehension Skill: Main ideas and details-tell important ideas and details about a topic
Comprehension Strategy: Infer/predict-use text clues to figure out important ideas
Writing Focus: Write to inform-problem-solution paragraph
Unit 5 - Lesson 22
Gloria Who Might Be My Best Friend
This week we will be talking about changing neighborhoods and making new friends. We will
be exploring the question "What can you learn from a character's words and actions?" In the
realistic fiction story Gloria Who Might Be My Best Friend, we'll find out what happens when
a new girl moves next door to Julian. We'll also learn how to change simple supplies into a kite
in the informational text How to Make a Kite.
This week's ...
Target Vocabulary: lonely, seriously, copy, heavily, planning, answered, guessed, knot
Phonics Skills: Homophones; base words and endings -er, -est (including doubling of final consonant)
Vocabulary Strategy: Figurative language/idioms
Comprehension Skill: Understanding characters-tell more about characters
Comprehension Strategy: Question : ask questions about what you are reading
Writing Focus: Write to inform: compare- and-contrast paragraph
