English Language Arts Unit of Study Planning Guide Using the Common Core Standards Grade Level: Fifth Grade Unit: Biography Study Theme: History of Civil Rights Goals: Students will 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. Read and discuss biographies about characters, real and fictional. 2. Analyze, compare, and contrast the structures of different texts (genre). 3. Analyze the development and change of characters and themes over time in fiction texts. 4. Analyze and Discuss how authors use literary techniques in narration to engage the reader. (point of view, change in setting, passage of time etc.) 5. 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. 6. Write a variety of responses to literature and informational texts. Include hand drawn thinking scaffolds (graphic organizers). 7. Organize notes about reading in different sections (reader s log, genre study, mini lesson notes, glossary of terms, etc). 8. Conduct Research on authors who write about other people. What are the differences between different authors of biographies 9. 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 Summary Possible Literature Responses The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson First Biographies Booker T. Washington 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 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. birth Young boy teen Young adult adult What made him famous death How was his work carried on after his death? Booker T. Washington By Lola M. Schaefer If you Lived When There was Slavery in America By Anne Kamma 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. 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. 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 summary What the author s words make me think about.
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, 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. 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 Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt By Deborah Hopkins 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. 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 Activities Assessments Annie Oakley Who was Annie Oakley? Who Was Anne Frank? Anne Frank Amelia Earhart
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 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)
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 Lance Armstrong-Biking Tom Brady-Football Drew Brees-Football Dale Earnhardt Jr.-Racing Roger Federer-Tennis Jeff Gordon-Racing Josh Hamilton-Baseball Ryan Howard-Baseball LeBron James-Basketball Derek Jeter-Baseball Payton Manning-Football Yao Ming-Basketball Steve Nash-Basketball Dirk Nowitzki-Basketball Shaquille O Neal-Basketball David Ortiz-baseball Danica Patrick-Racing
Michael Phelps- Swimming Albert Pujols-Baseball Alex Rodriguez-Baseball Johan Santana-Basebll Maria Sharapova-Tennis Annika Sorenstam-Golf An autobiography Sammy Sosa Dwyane Wade- Basketball Shaun White-Snowboarding 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 29 th 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 Activities Assessments 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 Amelia Earhart Albert Einstein Alexander Graham Bell Benjamin Franklin Eleanor Roosevelt Harriet Tubman
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) Let s Read About Martin Luther King, Jr. Helen Keller Henry Ford Jackie Robinson John F. Kennedy 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.