Fourth Grade - ELA
1: Interdependence
Unit 1: Little House in the Big Woods
Lesson 1
Introducing the Story
Students are asked to add the story start date (1871) and Laura Ingalls Wilder's birth (1867) to an Age 8-10 Timeline and to locate where she lived on a U.S. map. Students are asked to look at the book cover and point out visual clues that indicate the story took place many years ago, and to locate pictures of Wisconsin and record plants and animals on a two-column chart. The activities require students to read about Wisconsin online or in reference books and record findings on the provided 'Setting: Wisconsin' chart.
Lesson 3
Winter Days and Winter Nights
Students are asked to extract chores and responsibilities from the chapter and record them in a two-column chart (Laura's Family) linking characters to tasks. Students are asked to reread a descriptive paragraph and then illustrate Laura's house and their own house, and list similarities and differences. Students complete a "Life in the Big Woods vs. Life Today" page by recording what they learned, which requires organizing textual information into a visual comparison format.
Lesson 7
The Sugar Snow
Students cut apart and order illustrated steps in the "Maple Sugar Farming" activity, using a picture of a tapped tree and jumbled step boxes to reconstruct the process. In Option 2, students refer back to the text to record the ten numbered steps, linking the visual sequence boxes to the written description. In Activity 4, students read and follow a recipe with precise measurements, oven temperature, and step-by-step directions, working with quantitative procedural information.
Lesson 8
Dance at Grandpa's
Students are asked to "Draw a diagram of Grandma's house based on Laura's description," which has them translate textual description into a diagram. The Student Activity Page provides illustrated instructions for square dancing steps, which students interpret visually to perform movements. In Activity 4 Option 2 (Song Graphing), students create and label a bar graph of music genres after listening to songs and discuss which type of graph should be used.
Lesson 11
Finishing the Book
Students read aloud and discuss "A Letter from the Author," and are asked whether the author's letter was formal or informal and to explain why, which requires interpreting oral/textual features and tone. A Student Activity Page describes an image of the author's dated, signed letter (February 19, 1947) that students view and use as source material. Students complete a "Life in the Big Woods vs. Life Today" page and an organizer that asks them to describe environment and family dependence on it, which requires comparing information presented in the text and the activity pages.
Final Project
Pioneer Family Night
Students follow illustrated, step-by-step directions for the orange clove decoration and use the Student Activity Page and Checklist that include images (e.g., log cabin, skillet, violin) while completing tasks. Students read aloud two to three favorite book sections and prepare to explain why those passages are their favorites. Students prepare oral explanations connecting activities (crafts, music, storytelling) to pioneer life, for example explaining how pioneers used natural resources and why music and storytelling were important.
Unit 2: The Sign of the Beaver
Lesson 1
Background Information
Students are asked to analyze the book cover and predict what the story might be about, using visual information to infer meaning. Students record the year 1768 on a timeline and are prompted to connect that date to events in the book, linking the visual/quantitative timeline to understanding the historical fiction. Students locate Maine on a U.S. map, discuss climate and geography based on location, and complete activity pages that include an outline map, sections for average temperatures, landforms, and habitats to organize visual and quantitative information about the setting.
Lesson 2
Alone
Students are asked to record information on a provided Character Timelines graphic organizer, placing words or phrases that describe a character's feelings, attitudes, or actions on timeline sections labeled with page ranges (12, 35, 47, etc.). The lesson provides multiple Student Activity Pages that use visual graphic organizers (star-shaped vocabulary webs) which students fill in with definitions, part of speech, synonyms/antonyms, and root/prefix/suffix information. The Johnnycakes recipe presents quantitative information (measurements and step-by-step directions) that students follow and reflect on after preparing the food.
Lesson 3
A Stranger
The lesson asks students to record words or phrases describing Matt's feelings, attitudes, and actions on a "Character Timelines" page, which requires placing textual events into a visual timeline. The Natural Remedies activity includes a two-column table where students list conditions (bee stings, snake bite, poison ivy, sunburn) and write corresponding remedies, linking textual events (Saknis healing Matt) to entries in the table. The lesson also prompts students to explain orally how Saknis helped heal Matt's bee stings and to discuss which ingredients can be found in the environment, requiring students to connect information in the activity pages to the story.
Lesson 4
A Treaty
Students are asked to fill in information about Attean and Matt on a "Character Timelines" page, converting events from Chapter 6 into a visual sequence. Students are asked to describe aloud what happened to Matt and who saved him and to discuss comprehension questions, which requires oral presentation of information. Students create and illustrate objects for each letter in the ABC activity and draw a symbol for a relationship on the "Interdependence in Relationships" page, engaging with visual representation.
Lesson 5
A Story
Students are asked to fill in "Character Timelines" for Matt and Attean, which requires representing events from the chapters in a visual, chronological format. The "A Desert Island" activity asks students to describe natural resources and illustrate how they would use them, prompting students to create and label visual representations tied to the text. The journal activity asks students to write about how Matt and Attean see the story differently, connecting interpretations to specific parts of the text.
Lesson 6
The Beaver
Students are asked to fill in Character Timelines for Matt and Attean, which requires organizing and interpreting events in a timeline format. Students use a Venn diagram (or create one) to compare Robinson Crusoe and Friday with Max and Naxen, using a visual organizer to represent similarities and differences. Students may watch an animated film adaptation and are prompted to discuss the relationship between characters and make connections between the movie and The Sign of the Beaver. The Beaver Research worksheet asks students to locate information, record it in labeled boxes (habitat, adaptations, predators), and illustrate the beaver in its habitat.
Lesson 7
Real Life Learning
Activity 1 asks students to record descriptions on a "Character Timelines" page, which has them organize character information in a visual timeline. Activity 3 directs students to make a book titled "Rules of the Forest" and to illustrate each rule, requiring them to create and use visual representations tied to the text. The Student Activity Page for the vocabulary game asks students to draw a simple design or symbol for each vocabulary word, linking visual symbols to word meanings.
Lesson 8
The Bear
Students are asked to record information on a "Character Timelines" page, which requires placing events from Chapters 14–16 into a timeline format. Students use a double-bubble map to compare the Bible's Noah's Ark story and Attean's flood story, filling in details in the graphic organizer. Students complete a Cause and Effect activity page that uses arrows and boxes for students to write effects for listed causes based on events in the story.
Lesson 9
Attean's Past
Students are asked to fill in a "Character Timelines" sheet for Matt and Attean, which requires working with a timeline representation of events. Students are also asked to describe how Matt kept track of time and to devise, illustrate, and try out another method of keeping track of time in their journal, engaging with temporal/quantitative information visually and practically.
Lesson 10
Manitou
The lesson includes the skill "Draw and discuss visual images based on text descriptions," and Activity 2 (Word Pictures) instructs students to record three passages and illustrate the images they visualize from the text. Activity 1 asks students to fill out a "Character Timelines" page, which implies students will work with a timeline format. The Values page includes drawings of two characters and structured sections where students compare and record values for each character.
Lesson 11
A Choice
Activity 1 directs the student to add information to a "Character Timelines" page, which has students place story events into a visual timeline. Activity 2 asks the student to write about or illustrate favorite, scariest, saddest, and happiest parts of the story in a journal, which requires creating visual representations of text events. The reading and journal questions require students to identify and sequence events and character changes (e.g., how Attean changed after finding his manitou), which can feed into timeline construction.
Lesson 13
The Return
Students are asked to record a final entry on a "Character Timelines" page, which requires them to place events in chronological order on a visual timeline. Students fill in a beaver-shaped "Story Elements" graphic organizer with labeled spaces for main problem, resolution, theme, main characters, and setting. Students complete "Solving Problems" tables that present problems with columns for "Book's Solution" and "Your Solution," and they write responses into these visual/graphic formats.
Final Project
The Sign of the Beaver Movie
Students are asked to look at real movie posters at a theater or online to inform their own poster design, which requires observing and discussing visual elements. The Skills list explicitly includes "Draw and discuss visual images based on text descriptions," prompting students to create and talk about visuals derived from the book. In designing costumes and sets, students must select props and clothing that reflect the book's environment and events, requiring them to translate textual details into visual representations.
Unit 3: Native American Animal Stories
Lesson 1
Myths, Legends, and Folktales
Activity 2 has a parent tell a myth orally (without pictures), stop at a suspenseful part, ask the child why they did not want the story to stop, and then have the child retell the story—this requires the child to listen to and interpret an oral presentation. Activity 3 asks the child to reread a myth or folktale and identify elements of culture, recording them on the provided "Elements of Culture" table; the student fills a visual organizer with information drawn from the text. Activity 1 and the wrap-up ask the child to discuss what can be learned about culture from stories, which involves explaining connections between information (oral/textual) and understanding of the story.
Lesson 2
People and Animal Stories
Students complete a Story Map diagram to identify setting, problem, events, and resolution for "The Dogs Who Saved Their Master," and they use a double-bubble (Venn) diagram to compare "The Woman Who Married a Frog" with "The Frog Prince." Students fill an Elements of Culture chart, recording cultural information from the legends, and they locate and record tribe names on a Map of Native American Tribes after researching geographical locations. Activity 8 asks students to discuss how animals in stories reflect geography and habitat, linking the map/location information to interpretation of the texts.
Lesson 3
The Natural World
Students are given "Elements of Culture" charts and instructed to "Record the cultural elements found in the legends you read," which has them extract textual details and place them into a visual organizer. For the butterfly activity, students look at pictures of different types of butterflies and decorate wings to resemble real butterflies, using visual references to guide their work. In the retelling activity, students use props (paper bag and natural materials) and add ingredients as they narrate, linking visual/physical elements to their oral presentation of the story. Activity 6 asks students to compare the mythical and scientific explanations for fawn spots and to describe other camouflaged animals, prompting them to explain differing explanations for phenomena described in the texts.
Lesson 5
Legends from Other Cultures
Students are asked to locate Brazil, China, and Central Africa on a world map or globe, requiring them to interpret a map to situate texts. Students complete a double-bubble map to compare Pan Gu Makes the World and Silver Fox and Coyote Create the Earth, interpreting a diagram to identify similarities and differences. Students record and illustrate what each object in the Pan Gu story becomes (boxes with arrows) and fill an Elements of Culture chart, linking visual representations to meaning and cultural information in the texts.
2: Force and Power
Unit 1: Ben and Me
Lesson 1
Ben Franklin and the Colonies
Students are asked to record Ben Franklin's birth and death on an Age 8–10 timeline and to fill those dates on the student activity page. Students locate the Atlantic coast and label and color the thirteen colonies on a map and are asked to calculate the distance from their home to Philadelphia. Students view a virtual tour and pictures of colonial Philadelphia and discuss how the city was different 250 years ago, and they complete a kite-shaped diagram and visual collage/illustration activities that require filling in information from web sources and images.
Lesson 5
Electrifying
The lesson's Skills section explicitly states students will "Interpret and use graphic sources of information, including maps, charts, graphs, and diagrams," signaling an expectation that students work with visual information. The Student Activity Page includes a drawing of a fluorescent bulb and a balloon with a squiggly line representing static electricity and asks students to "Describe what happened" and "Why do you think this happened?", prompting students to observe and explain a visual/experimental result. The kite activity asks students to consider forces (gravity, lift) and to write a first-person account of the kite-flying experience, which requires using described visual/physical concepts to explain observed events.
Lesson 7
France
Students are asked to locate France on a world map or globe and trace a path from the east coast of America to France, and later to locate Russia, Sweden, Italy, Spain, and America on a map or globe. Students are directed to take a photo journey through France online, find pictures (including Versailles), and explain that the building is an important part of the chapters read. Students create step-by-step rescue plans that include illustrations for non-readers, connecting map locations and visual representations to the story events.
Lesson 9
The Rescue
Students are asked to complete a graphic organizer titled "Ben and Amos Bags," listing characteristics (likes, dislikes, appearance, uses of power, personality) for each character, which requires them to extract and place textual information into a visual format. Students decorate two bags with illustrations, words, and phrases that represent each character and then place 3–5 representative items in each bag; the teacher pulls items and asks students to explain the significance and how each item relates to the character. Students are given musical notation, lyrics, and a web video link for "Yankee Doodle" and are asked to sing/play the song and write a new verse from Amos's account, linking oral/aural material to understanding of the text.
Unit 2: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Lesson 1
The Professor's House
Students are shown the cover of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and are asked to use the cover to predict what the story might be about, which requires interpreting a visual and connecting it to likely text content. Students are asked to describe a battle between good and evil from another book or movie and then illustrate a scene that demonstrates the struggle for power, which has them translate textual or narrative elements into a visual representation. The "Meet the Author" student page includes an author image for students to use while filling in information from their research, providing another visual prompt tied to text-based information.
Lesson 2
Edmund Discovers Narnia
Students are asked to look at the map on the inside front cover, locate Narnia and Cair Paravel, and read the names of other geographic regions. Students are instructed to create their own map of a fantasy land, labeling lands, bodies of water, using symbols for landforms, and drawing a compass rose. Students are given a "Good vs. Evil" chapter chart where they record and illustrate examples from each chapter, using a visual organizer to capture story elements.
Lesson 3
Always Winter and Never Christmas
Students complete the "Narnia Logic" worksheet (Activity 2) where they read sets of statements accompanied by illustrations and decide whether the conclusions are logical by circling "yes" or "no." The worksheet ties those visual/textual statements to story facts (e.g., Lucy not being mad, Edmund and Turkish Delight), so students use presented information to reach conclusions about characters and events. Activity 4 and the Wrapping Up prompt students to discuss how persistent winter and weather contribute to what the children discover in Narnia, asking them to explain in discussion how that information affects understanding of the story.
Lesson 4
The Lion
Students read a Student Activity Page titled "Lions in Myths and Legends" that includes images (sphinx, griffin, lions) and descriptive text about lion symbolism. Students are asked to find a related short story, record words and phrases that describe the lion in that story, and then use a Venn diagram to compare that lion to Aslan. Students also create illustrations (Activity 1 and 3) that require engaging with visual representations of characters.
Lesson 5
A Disappointment
Students are asked to "read or listen to a description of the White Witch" and then describe her hair, skin, eyes, mouth, actions, and effects on others, which requires interpreting an oral/visual description. Students are directed to illustrate villains and write descriptive phrases and sentences about how each villain uses power, linking visual representation with character actions. Students create a picture dictionary by gluing pictures to vocabulary words and writing definitions, which has them interpret images to support word meaning.
Lesson 8
Deep Magic
Students are asked to have a passage reread orally and then record words and phrases that appeal to the senses and illustrate the scene, which has them interpret orally presented language and produce a visual representation. Students use a graphic organizer titled "The Four Siblings" to draw pictures and list descriptive words for each character, engaging with information in a visual format. Students are instructed to read about a historical leader online or in reference sources and record ten facts, which requires interpreting information from external (possibly visual or quantitative) sources.
Lesson 10
Back Through the Wardrobe
Activity 2 directs students to watch the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and discuss differences between the book and the movie. The prompts ask students to explain which version they enjoyed, and to describe how the characters, creatures, and setting were similar to and different from what they imagined. Activities also ask students to write a movie review or justify casting choices, which require students to refer to the movie's visual and oral elements when explaining their opinions.
Final Project
Narnia Think-Tac-Toe
Students are asked to create visual artifacts such as a flag and a crown and to "describe the significance of the symbols on the flag" and make the crown "look like something that represents the character," which requires linking visual elements to character and theme. Students are instructed to share written and oral products and to summarize the book when presenting their projects, giving them a chance to explain how their visuals support understanding of the text.
Unit 3: The BFG
Lesson 1
In the Middle of the Night
Students complete Activity 1 "Vocabulary Giant," a visual, interactive page where they cut out words and match them to labeled parts of a giant to reveal definitions. Students are instructed to reread sentences in the novel to use context clues when unsure of a word, linking the diagram to text meaning. In Activity 2 Option 1, students look at their street at night, illustrate it, and write a paragraph describing how it differs from day, modeling interpretation of visual information related to Sophie's observation.
Lesson 2
Snatched
Activity 2 directs students to locate London, England on a world map and to find pictures of the city, important buildings, and people, which requires students to read and use visual sources. The cut-and-fold template and labeled flaps (Location, Language, People, Homes, Buildings, Similarities, Differences, Other) ask students to record information and illustrate findings from those visual sources. Activity 1 asks students to illustrate the author's descriptive passage of Giant Country, prompting students to translate textual description into a visual representation.
Lesson 3
The BFG
Students locate countries on a world map in the "Giant Geography" activity and use the map to connect place names to the giant's descriptions of how people from those places "taste." Students create illustrations of people from each country based on textual descriptions and write what the giant might say about people from their own state, linking visual location to text-based characterization. Students use table-style activity pages ("Quotable Quotes") to record and organize important quotes from chapters, treating a visual organizer as a way to collect textual information.
Lesson 4
Ears and Snozzcumbers
Activity 2 asks students to discuss color symbolism and to illustrate a vivid dream, choosing a color scheme to convey emotions. Activity 3 asks students to focus on auditory information during a nature walk, write down sounds they hear, describe or identify them, and then write a paragraph about using an enhanced sense of hearing to help others. The introduction and questions also prompt students to discuss how the giant's powerful hearing helps him and to reflect on characters through quoted dialogue.
Lesson 5
Time with the BFG
Students are directed to use a comparison activity page that visually lays out categories (appearance, personality, power) with slots to record one similarity and two differences between the BFG and the Bloodbottler. The activity page includes sketches near sections, encouraging students to use visual cues while comparing characters. Students are also given a recipe card with ingredient measurements and directions, so they must read and apply quantitative information to prepare the frobscottle (including an extension to double the recipe).
Lesson 6
Catching People and Dreams
The "Interpreting the BFG" activity has students substitute correct words and correct the giant's grammar, requiring them to translate and interpret the giant's spoken sentences. The "A New Giant" activity asks students to read the BFG's description of how giants catch human beans and then draw and describe a new giant and its capture strategy, which requires interpreting textual/oral description into a visual and written product. The "Sweet Dream or Nightmare" and collage options have students visualize and represent dreams using shapes and colors, engaging them in creating and reasoning about visual representations.
Lesson 9
The Palace
Students are asked to locate and look at pictures of London and Buckingham Palace and given a video link and a webpage about Buckingham Palace to review. Activity 2 directs students to find information on a selected city (buildings, important places, people) so they can include those details in a plan for how the BFG and Sophie would act in a different setting. The introduction invites viewing visual/oral sources (images and a short video) before reading the chapters.
Lesson 10
A Breakfast Fit for a Queen
Activity 2 asks the child to discuss the proportions the butler used (example: a 6-foot man needs a 3-foot table, so a 24-foot giant needs a 12-foot table) and identifies the butler's use of a 1:4 ratio. The activity asks the child to use that 1:4 ratio to calculate sizes and capacities for items the BFG would need and to describe or illustrate solutions on the "Hosting a Giant" student page. The student page includes text-based calculation questions (bed size, pillow, bathtub/shower length, glass capacity, pizza pieces, TV size, popcorn amount) and illustration prompts (pillow, milk carton, bucket of popcorn).
Lesson 11
Fighting Giants
Students are asked where the planes in the story flew and to discuss the pilot's remark that the place isn't in the atlas and the Head of the Air Force's response, which requires linking oral information to a map. Students examine a world atlas layout and then use two blank pages to draw and label new countries (including Giant Country), interpreting map features, scales, and spatial relationships. The Skills list explicitly tells students to "Interpret and use graphic sources of information," indicating practice with visual sources.
Lesson 12
Snozzcumbers
Students use a Theme graphic organizer (a diagram with ovals and lines) to record events, quotes, and characters' actions that support listed themes. Students design a new book cover that must reflect something important in the story, producing a visual representation tied to textual meaning. Students complete a casting chart (table) in the "Directing the BFG" activity, choosing actors and explaining reasons, which requires organizing information in a visual/diagrammatic format.
3: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Stories from Africa and Asia
Lesson 1
Meerkats in Botswana
Students are asked to look at the book cover and illustrations and make predictions about the story, which requires interpreting visual information. Students locate and label Botswana, Gaborone, and the Kalahari Desert on maps and shade the country, and they complete a graphic organizer about land/language/animals/people using referenced websites. Students follow illustrated, step-by-step visuals for the meerkat craft and are asked to draw a meerkat in its habitat, linking visual representation to factual description.
Lesson 2
Meeting Precious
Students fill a comparative chart (Activity 2, Option 2) that displays information about ostriches, cobras, and meerkats with columns for diet, predators, defense, habitat, and special characteristics. Students list five facts about ostriches and cobras and color labeled drawings (Activity 2, Option 1), engaging with pictorial information. Students complete a vocabulary crossword and can view an answer-key image of the filled puzzle, requiring them to read and use a visual layout to match words and definitions.
Lesson 3
The Surprise
The Life Application directs students to "find a video clip or documentary your child can watch on meerkats" and to "Discuss how the meerkats in the film are similar to and different from the one in the book," which asks students to interpret visual/aural information and relate it to the text. The provided Web Link (a BBC meerkat video) gives an explicit visual/oral source for students to view and compare with the story's depiction of Kosi.
Lesson 4
A Missing Cow
The Student Activity Page titled "Story Conflict" presents three explicit images (a sailboat on the ocean, a desert scene, and a snowy mountain) and asks students to think of a Man vs. Nature conflict for each setting, requiring students to interpret visual scenes and generate corresponding story events. The lesson also has a "Precious and Me" chart that students fill in, which asks them to organize similarities and differences between themselves and the character (a visual organizer). Teachers prompt students to discuss how man vs. nature functions in The Mystery of Meerkat Hill and to think of other books with similar conflicts, connecting visual settings to textual themes.
Lesson 7
Japan
Students are asked to locate Japan on a globe or world map, and Activity 4 directs students to locate and label specific places (Hiroshima, Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, seas, etc.) on an outline map of Japan. Activity 3 requires students to complete a Venn diagram using words and pictures to organize similarities and differences between Japan and America. The lesson also refers to a picture of a bento box on page 4 and asks students to use that image as a model when creating their own bento.
Lesson 9
The Secret is Out
The Skills section explicitly tells students to "Represent text information in different ways, including story maps, graphs, and charts," which asks them to create visual representations of text content. Activity 2 directs students to produce a chart or Venn diagram comparing their life to Sadako's, requiring them to extract textual details and organize them visually. Activity 3 includes an illustrated example of a gift flap diagram that students can model when recording gifts, giving a concrete visual format tied to the text content.
Lesson 10
Kenji
The lesson asks the child to "discuss the symbolism of the golden crane" and to make an origami crane (Activity 3), which requires following visual folding instructions from the provided web links. Activity 1 asks the child to fill in information about Japanese cultural elements, prompting students to use cultural information to support understanding. The get-well card activity asks the child to include Japanese cultural elements in writing, linking cultural/visual elements to interpretation of character and context.
Unit 2: Holes
Lesson 1
Texas and Desert Biomes
Students are asked to look at the cover illustration of Holes and infer what the story might be about by using clues in the illustration. Students label an outline map of Texas and use online physical and vegetation maps to locate major desert regions and the Chihuahuan Desert, linking those visuals to the story setting. Students watch videos about desert plants and animal adaptations and record those adaptations on a Desert Biome page, and some activities direct students to write a paragraph describing the geographic location, rainfall, and indigenous species of a chosen desert.
Lesson 3
Digging
Students cut, order, and glue illustrated soil layers (topsoil, weathered material, subsoil, bedrock) and match each layer to its written description in Activity 2. The lesson provides a labeled soil diagram (answer key) and a web link to a soil layers page for students to view. Students also perform a hands-on digging activity where they examine and discuss the dirt they dig up.
Lesson 4
Caveman
Students are asked to record the author's description of the yellow-spotted lizard and illustrate it (Option 1), which has them translate textual imagery into a visual representation. Option 2 asks students to build a clay model that "should reflect the author's description," reinforcing making a visual/physical representation from text. The "Make Your Own Fossil" activity has students press objects into dough to create fossil impressions and includes sketches on the activity page; the Life Application suggests visiting a museum and discussing where fossils were found and what living things made them.
Lesson 7
Zero
Activity 3 asks students to locate the author's description of Green Lake, draw how it looked 100 years ago and how it looks today, and discuss similarities, differences, and explanations for the geographic change. The Student Activity Page presents a recipe with explicit quantities and times and directs the child to make the spiced peaches and discuss why that food would have been a delicacy in the Old West. Several discussion prompts (e.g., wrapping up and Life Application) ask the child to explain what was learned about Green Lake and pioneer life.
Lesson 9
Driving a Truck
Students are given a Character Comparisons graphic organizer (a pentagon with five circles and connecting lines) and are instructed to write similarities and differences between characters on the lines, which requires using a diagram to organize information about the text. Students are offered an option to design a Wanted Poster for a character and to look up Old West Wanted Posters online for inspiration, which involves examining external visual examples. The lesson also asks students to record information about the boys on "Happy Campers" pages and to use Student Activity Pages (grids and cards) that present information visually for activities.
Lesson 11
The Thumb of God
Students are asked to create a Venn diagram comparing Kate and Sam's story with Stanley and Zero's story, listing similarities and differences in the overlapping and separate parts of the circles. Students are guided to use an index in Activity 1 to locate onion recipes in cookbooks and to practice finding words and page numbers. The Student Activity Page presents an image of sentences for students to edit, requiring students to read and work from a visual worksheet.
Lesson 12
Treasure and Lizards
Students listen to sentences read aloud during the Homophone Bingo activity and place counters on the correct spellings, which requires interpreting orally presented information. Students complete the "Conflict in Holes" activity by identifying three types of conflict from the novel, writing descriptions, and creating illustrations in the three boxes provided, which uses visual representation tied to the text. The Homophone Bingo board (a 4x4 visual grid) and the Conflict in Holes page (divided sections for description and illustration) provide concrete visual/oral tasks students perform.
Lesson 13
Innocent
Activity 2 asks students to watch the movie adaptation and compare how the movie and book are similar and different, prompting students to think about how the movie presentation affects their understanding and to discuss reasons why film adaptations change events. Activity 3 provides a Student Activity Page with pictures and event descriptions that students cut apart, sort into two character plots, sequence chronologically, and identify problem, climax, and solution. The Multiple Story Plots page includes visual icons and ordered events that students manipulate to reconstruct timelines for two storylines.
Unit 3: Stories from Europe
Lesson 1
Tradition Stories
Students watch an instructional video about myths, fables, legends, and fairy tales and are asked to answer any questions after viewing it, providing oral engagement with presented content. Students assemble and label a Map of Europe, point out Europe on a world map, and as they read each story they shade the country of origin and glue a picture representing the story into the country. Students cut out and paste boxes of "Famous Stories of Europe" into the correct countries, matching visual map information to specific texts.
Lesson 2
Fiona's Luck
Students locate Ireland on a map and color it to represent potatoes, linking a visual map to details from the story (Activity 1). Students watch two videos about Ireland and are asked to tell what they learned about Ireland's culture and geography from the story. Students complete a Fact and Fantasy chart in which they list three factual details about Ireland from the story and three fantasy elements, and on Day 2 they read a website about Ireland and answer questions about what new information they learned.
Lesson 3
The Sea King's Daughter
Students are asked to study the book cover and predict the story, which requires interpreting a visual and connecting it to text. Students locate and color Russia on a map and explain what they learned about Russia's culture and geography from the story, connecting a visual representation to the narrative. Students examine paintings and a filmed opera performance and are prompted to determine which parts of the story the images or performance represent and to recognize characters and events from the text. The lesson's listed skill explicitly asks students to make connections between a story and a visual or oral presentation, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions in the text.
Lesson 4
The Snow Queen
Students are asked to watch the theatrical interview and scenes (Activity 6) and then select a scene to create a script, requiring them to interpret spoken and visual elements and distill important dialogue. Students are asked to watch the movie Frozen, take notes on ways the movie relates to the book, complete a "Frozen vs. The Snow Queen" comparison page, identify at least two similarities and two differences, and explain why screenwriters made changes. Students are also asked to locate Denmark and Finland on a map before reading and to connect those locations to Gerda's travels, linking map information to story setting.
Final Project
Writing Your Own Story
Students plan and create illustrations for characters and settings (Setting page, character frames, and multiple pages for drawings) and are instructed to include images or slides to "enhance the written story." The Story Checklist explicitly asks that "The illustrations...enhance the written story," and the Rough Draft directions tell students to sketch illustrations "so the reader can better visualize the story." The Theme page and Plot Organizer give students graphic organizers (a theme web and a plot book layout) that require students to link visual elements to story elements.
4: Exploration and Survival
Unit 1: Abel's Island
Lesson 1
Survival
Students are asked to look at the cover of Abel's Island and predict what the story might be about, interpreting visual cues to make meaning. Students read river-habitat web pages and discuss plants and animals, using information from online (potentially interactive/visual) sources to understand habitat features. Students complete a "Natural River Resources" graphic organizer, listing river resources and how they are used, and add examples from the text as they read, linking visual/quantitative organization to comprehension of the character's survival.
Lesson 2
The Storm
Students fill a two-column "Using Natural Resources" table to record which natural resources Abel uses and how he uses them across chapters, organizing information visually by chapter. Students cut out pictures in the Life Application and make inferences and predictions about people or animals from those photographs, explaining feelings or situations based on visual cues. Students create a picture dictionary for vocabulary words by drawing illustrations that represent word meanings, linking visual representation to text-based definitions.
Lesson 3
Where Am I?
Students are asked to use a "Parts of a Boat" diagram: they match labeled letters (A–E) to parts (sail, rudder, mast, deck, oars) and label parts found on Abel's boats. Activity 2 directs students to describe Abel's boats, illustrate them, and label any parts that correspond to the diagram. Activity 1 asks students to fill in a chart titled "Using Natural Resources," taking information from Chapters 3 and 4, and the skills list includes "Interact with the text by locating information for specific purposes."
Lesson 4
Who Is Abel?
Students calculate and convert Abel's island dimensions (12,000 tails by 5,000 tails) using a provided map scale (1/4 inch = 500 tails), then draw a scaled map that measures 6 inches by 2 1/2 inches. Students estimate tail length, convert tail counts to inches and feet, and answer questions that prompt them to think about how scale and estimates affect the island's size. Students also illustrate Abel, record textual evidence for character traits, and are asked to represent text information in different ways (story maps, graphs, charts) and to draw and discuss visual images based on text descriptions.
Lesson 6
Surprises
Students are asked to fill in a chart titled "Using Natural Resources," taking information from Chapters 9 and 10, which asks them to extract textual details and place them into a visual chart. In Activity 2 (Option 1) students cut apart and order Abel's routines and are asked to explain how they decided on the order, which requires sequencing events from the text into a visual arrangement. Activity 2 (Option 2) has students create a daily schedule for Abel and contrast it with their own, and the Life Application asks students to record times for daily activities, linking quantitative time data to the schedule.
Lesson 7
Threats
Students are asked to fill in a chart titled "Using Natural Resources" by taking information from Chapters 11 and 12, requiring them to place textual details into a visual organizer. Students are asked to list three adaptations for Abel and to illustrate him on the "Adaptations for a Mouse" page, using labeled boxes and icons to organize their responses. Students use vocabulary cards and structured graphic organizers to record definitions, roots, parts of speech, syllable counts, and sentences, which involves translating text into visual formats.
Lesson 8
The Dead of Winter
Students complete a Hibernation Experiment table recording pulse, breaths, and temperature at rest and after exercise and answer questions comparing those quantitative measures. The experiment explicitly asks students to use those quantitative results to explain what they can learn about hibernating animals. Students are asked to fill in a "Using Natural Resources" chart by taking information from Chapters 13 and 14, organizing text information into a visual chart.
Lesson 9
The Newcomer
Students are asked to fill in a chart titled "Using Natural Resources" using information from Chapters 15 and 16, which requires extracting text information and placing it into a visual/quantitative format. Students are instructed to create a Venn diagram comparing Gower and Abel, organizing physical attributes, attitudes, and personalities visually. The Life Application asks students to watch a live play and observe the set and props and to pay close attention to the lines exchanged between characters, prompting students to attend to visual and oral elements.
Final Project
Your Own Deserted Island
Students are asked to draw an island map that includes a scale, symbols, and a key on the 'Island Map' activity page, and to write a paragraph describing the island environment. The rubric for Part 1 explicitly checks for a map, key, and scale, and the 'Stranded on the Island' page asks students to list resources and write about how they use them. The 'Escaping the Island' page asks students to plan and sequence steps, which requires organizing quantitative/sequential information.
Unit 2: Pedro's Journal
Lesson 1
Exploring with Columbus
Students trace Columbus' route on a map or globe and are instructed to record dates and important events along the 1492 voyage (Activity 4), which requires interpreting a diagram and linking locations/dates to events in the text. Students read the Author's Note aloud and discuss why the author included it (Activity 3), which has students interpret an oral/textual element and consider its purpose. The "Reasons for Exploration" activity asks students to use a three-column table to list possible positives and negatives for listed reasons, requiring students to read a visual organizer and generate explanatory connections.
Lesson 2
August
Students read Pedro's journal entries and record approximate geographic location, Columbus' attitude, Pedro's attitude, the crew's attitude, and important events in a chart called "The Journey," requiring them to transfer textual information into a visual organizer. Students complete a "Tools of Navigation" activity that asks them to match navigation instruments with illustrations and descriptions and to locate pictures online and read about how the instruments were used. Multiple Student Activity Pages present tables and graphic organizers (months, columns for attitudes/events/locations) and web links to visual resources that students can consult.
Lesson 3
September
Students are asked to view pictures of comets and meteors online (NASA link) and discuss the origin of comets and meteors. Students are prompted to discuss why meteor sightings may have been fearful for the sailors and to read the "Meteors as Signs" page listing cultural beliefs about meteors. Students are then asked to explain and create their own myth or omen, connecting those visual/textual ideas to sailors' reactions.
Lesson 4
October
Students use a graphic organizer titled "The Natives and the White Men" to record words or phrases describing each group, which requires them to organize visual information. Students are directed to view maps and images of San Salvador via Google Images and species pages and then draw the island and its animals, which involves interpreting visual resources. Students practice reading lines with quotation marks using different "voices," engaging with oral presentation of text.
Lesson 6
November
The Student Activity Page is a two-column graphic organizer titled "Surviving Life at Sea, Surviving Life on Land," and students are instructed to list disadvantages from Pedro's perspective in each column, requiring them to translate textual details into a visual comparison. The lesson directs students to read the description of the natives on p.49 and to "look at examples of Native American animal masks online," then sketch and construct a mask based on those images, which engages students with visual representations tied to the text. The wrapping-up prompts ask students to state what Pedro is learning about the natives and Columbus, encouraging synthesis of textual and observed visual information.
Lesson 7
December
Students are directed to use the two labeled treasure-chest illustrations to illustrate and label what Columbus expected to find in the Indies and what he actually found in the Americas. They are asked to compare the two visual lists and explain how the New World treasures differ from expected Asian treasures, and to discuss whether the soldiers are right to complain. The lesson also asks students to answer journal questions and make contributions in group discussions, providing oral practice linking information to the text.
Lesson 8
The Island of the Skog
Students are directed to use the graphic organizer "Comparing Stories" to record similarities and unique characteristics of Pedro's Journal and The Island of the Skog, filling blank boxes that visually map comparisons. Students are also asked to read The Island of the Skog aloud and participate in guided discussion questions about the text, engaging with the story through oral presentation and discussion.
Lesson 9
January
Students are asked to find pictures of manatees online and discuss the ecosystem and threats to their survival, connecting that to Columbus' crew having never seen manatees. Students perform a hands-on bathtub activity comparing propulsion with a paddle and a hand to observe how the manatee's flipper-like digits help it move through water. Students can illustrate a manatee in its ecosystem and discuss the new environment Columbus and his men are exploring after reading Pedro's journal entry that describes the manatees.
Final Project
Story Blocks
The Skills list asks students to "Represent information in different ways, including story maps, graphs, and charts," and multiple cube tasks require students to create visual representations (e.g., Setting Cube, Exploration Cube, Survival Cube) by illustrating or recording discoveries, survival strategies, and setting details. The wrapping up activity directs students to place each block on a story tower and "explain the information on the block," prompting verbal explanation of visual artifacts. Several cubes (Similes, Quotes, Historical Fiction) require students to extract specific information from the text and place it on the cube faces, converting textual information into visual/oral form.
Unit 3: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Lesson 1
Sickness
Students keep a Plot Flowchart and are instructed to record a major event for each chapter, retell what they read, and use boxes/arrows to show sequence and progression. The Plot Flowchart graphic organizer asks students to record titles, brief retells, and opinions for each day's reading, which involves organizing information visually. Students also complete a vocabulary word-search grid, locating listed words in a matrix of letters.
Lesson 2
Spring is Coming
Students are asked to use a Plot Flowchart to record an event from each chapter, which requires translating textual events into a diagram. Students must illustrate the setting and then describe beneath their picture how the survival of Mrs. Frisby's family is threatened, linking a visual to text understanding. Students compare rats and mice using a Venn diagram (Option 1 or 2), synthesizing factual information into a visual format and illustrating differences.
Lesson 3
A Visit to an Owl
Students are asked to draw a bird's-eye view of their neighborhood (Activity 2) and to consider major landmarks and their locations in relation to one another, with an extension to view satellite imagery on Google Maps. Students are asked to fill out a Plot Flowchart (Activity 1) using events from the chapters, which requires representing story sequence in a visual organizer. The student activity pages include illustrations accompanying homophone sentences that students use while completing tasks.
Lesson 4
Rats in the Rosebush
Students are asked to fill in a Plot Flowchart for the chapters they read, which has them place events into a visual sequence. The Student Activity Page gives a bubble map labeled "Bravery" where students draw Mrs. Frisby and list five ways she showed bravery, requiring them to represent character information visually. Activity 3 directs students to look for pictures and descriptions of owls online or in books to design a new owl home, which has them use visual resources related to the topic.
Lesson 5
Meeting the Rats
Students are asked to describe important events from the chapters on a Plot Flowchart, which requires them to interpret a diagrammatic representation of the text's sequence. Students complete the "Beyond Needs" graphic organizer (Inventions, Machines, Decorative Appeal, Signs of Education) by listing or illustrating examples from the chapters and then discussing how those items show the rats function beyond normal rats. The extension asks students to identify simple machines, record them in the organizer, and describe how each machine or invention makes life easier for the rats, explicitly linking visual information to understanding of the text.
Lesson 6
A Plan for Mrs. Frisby
Students use the 'A Bushel' chart and the student activity page to perform quantitative calculations (e.g., multiplying fractions of a bushel by pounds per bushel) and compare weights of produce. Students complete a Plot Flowchart by describing important events from the chapters, invoking a visual representation of plot sequence. Students illustrate the garden, rock, and Mrs. Frisby's house and place the rats' proposed move on that diagram, using visual mapping to plan an action in the story.
Lesson 7
The Capture
Students are asked to complete a Plot Flowchart by describing an important event from each chapter, which requires representing story events in a visual sequence. The Student Activity Page includes illustrations (UFO, PC, AC, NASA rocket, mice) and spaces for students to fill in letters for acronyms, prompting students to connect visual icons with words. The Life Application suggests visiting a farmers' market and discussing how the market works, which could involve observing and discussing visual/oral information about the market.
Lesson 8
Life at NIMH
The lesson asks students to place and describe an important event from both chapters on a "Plot Flowchart," which requires organizing story events in a visual format. The "Design a Maze" activity asks students to create a visual path from a rat in a cage to the outdoors, engaging spatial/visual reasoning. The Student Activity Page includes visual icons (lab flask, DNA strand, atom, radioactive symbol, test tubes) and a dialog fill-in that uses contextual visual cues alongside text.
Lesson 9
The Escape
Students are asked to record an important event from each chapter on a Plot Flowchart, which requires them to organize story events in a visual sequence. The Student Activity Page contains an illustration of a rat and prompts students to explain Nicodemus before and after NIMH, asking them to write and compare information in the worksheet format. Students answer guided comprehension questions that reference specific events and tools, which they can use when completing the visual organizer.
Lesson 10
Amazing Rats
The Tools and Machines student activity page presents illustrations of items (lathe, electric motors, circular saws, drills, grindstones, hammers, electric fan, plow) and directs students to "Record how the Rats of NIMH use tools and machines," requiring them to interpret those visuals and write how each tool helped the rats' society or plan. The Plot Flowchart activity asks students to record an important event from each chapter, which has students place textual events into a visual organizer to show sequence and relationships. The Electricity activity asks students to research conductors and circuits and, if possible, set up a light and circuit, which involves interpreting diagrammatic/technical information and relating it to how the rats might have obtained or used electricity.
Lesson 11
The Plan
Students are asked to complete a Plot Flowchart by recording an important event from each chapter, which has them represent textual sequence visually. Students create a pop-up picture of Thorn Valley and accompany it with a paragraph describing the place, linking a student-made visual to their understanding of setting. Students also use an "Animal Testing and Research" chart to record arguments for and against animal research after reading and interviewing, which has them organize information in a chart format.
Lesson 12
Working in the Night
Students are asked to fill in an event from the chapters on a Plot Flowchart, which requires placing textual events into a visual sequence. Students are asked to draw a picture of how the rats moved the house based on the author's description and to label simple machines if familiar, translating text into a diagram. Students are prompted to summarize what they learned from the chapters and to answer discussion questions orally, engaging with the text in spoken form.
Lesson 13
A New Home
Students are asked to complete a Plot Flowchart and a Plot Diagram by listing the problem, three major events (rising action), the climax, falling action, and solution, using their chart and memory. Students use the Elements of Fantasy activity page to read short prompts in labeled boxes (Setting, Characterization, Plot, Theme, Style and Tone) and record examples from the book in each box. The Option 2 advanced task asks students to label diagram boxes (rising action, climax, etc.) before filling them, which requires reading and using the graphic organizer structure.
Final Project
The Next Chapter or Book Float
Students plan and sketch visual sides of a parade float using graphic organizers labeled "SETTING," "CHARACTER," and "RATS' ADVANCEMENTS," which asks them to choose images and objects that represent story elements. Students select items to put inside the float to represent a theme, the main character, the problem, and the solution, and they choose a song to reflect the book. The rubric and wrap-up require students to display and explain how the float shows setting, characters, advancements, and the story's solution during a presentation.