Third Grade - ELA
1: Environment
Unit 1: Tornado
Lesson 1
Weather on the Farm
Students are asked to look at and read the book Tornado (cover activity) and to read about tornadoes in a weather book or on the Internet. The Skills list explicitly includes "Read expository materials for answers to specific questions," and activities ask students to write three factual sentences about tornadoes, label and color a map of Tornado Alley, and describe the setting of a story (farm). Multiple tasks require students to locate information, make predictions, and explain why tornadoes can be dangerous, indicating reading with purpose and comprehension.
Lesson 2
The Storm
Students are asked to read Chapter 1 aloud or independently and respond to targeted comprehension questions asking them to summarize events, identify the problem, list characters, and describe the setting. Students complete a Main Idea activity where they select or write main ideas for short paragraphs and produce a written chapter summary in a journal that uses time-transition words to show sequence and understanding. Students also retell parts of the story and engage in vocabulary-in-context activities (Word Match) that require reading words in their sentence contexts to support comprehension.
Lesson 3
The Tornado
Students are asked to listen to Chapter 2 being read aloud and then verbally summarize the chapter, and they answer specific comprehension questions about plot and details. Students write and illustrate a chapter summary and produce a descriptive paragraph about a pet, which requires them to demonstrate understanding and purpose in their writing. Students are asked to read the author's description and the simple description aloud, underline descriptive words, compare the two versions, and explain how word choice creates sensory images, indicating attention to meaning while reading short passages.
Lesson 4
A Card Trick
The child is asked to read Chapter 3 independently and then answer seven comprehension questions about events, motivations, and character actions. Activity 1 asks the child to write and illustrate a chapter summary in a journal, and the listed skills include producing a summary of a text. Activity 2 and the wrap-up require the child to read sentences aloud, identify punctuation and intonation for questions and exclamations, and discuss meaning and expression aloud.
Lesson 5
Turtles
Students are instructed to read Chapter 4 and then answer specific comprehension questions in complete sentences, requiring purposeful reading. Students write and illustrate a chapter summary in their journal and retell myths from How the Turtle Got Its Shell, demonstrating comprehension and purpose. Students complete a Story Map graphic organizer and compare multiple myths, practicing identification of setting, characters, problem, events, and solution to show understanding.
Lesson 6
The Best Pet Award
Students are asked to read Chapter 5 aloud and respond to a set of comprehension questions (Q1–Q7) that require recall, inference, and interpretation of characters' actions. The lesson provides explicit 'Questions to Explore' (e.g., how living things influence the environment) that give a reading purpose. Students write a chapter summary in a journal and complete activities that require them to cite reasons from the text (award ribbons), demonstrating comprehension and evidence-based explanation. The skills list explicitly includes reading and comprehending figurative language and recalling main ideas, facts, and details.
Lesson 7
Conflict
The lesson directs the child to read Chapter 6 and then answer targeted comprehension questions (e.g., describing Pete's saddest day, explaining characters' feelings, and making judgments about actions). Students are asked to produce a chapter summary and an event illustration in a journal, which requires them to restate and organize meaning. The Story Conflict activity has students identify, label, and illustrate two distinct conflicts, demonstrating comprehension of plot and character relationships.
Lesson 8
The End of the Storm
Students are asked to read Chapter 7 aloud and answer text-dependent discussion questions (e.g., "How did Pete feel at the beginning of the chapter? How do you know?"), which requires comprehension and citing details. Students produce a chapter summary in their journal and write a paragraph about a personal emotional experience, demonstrating they can read for understanding and then restate main ideas. Students reread Chapters 1 and 7, complete the "Mood and the Environment" organizer, and describe how changes in environment affect characters, showing comparison and comprehension of the text's arc. The lesson's skills list explicitly includes "Read orally with fluency," indicating practice in reading to support understanding.
Lesson 9
Plot
Students are directed to read picture books and the chapter book Tornado and to reread chapter summaries to identify the plot, problem, climax, and resolution (Activity 1 and Activity 2). They write the title and one-sentence descriptions of the problem and major events on a Story Plot Diagram and place or glue event strips in chronological order, using time transition words. Students retell or act out important events and are prompted to recall main ideas, facts, and details and to represent text information in story maps and charts.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students are asked to read the book Tornado and then choose three mini-projects that require comprehension (e.g., write a letter as Pete, write a journal entry, create a new cover, or draw a favorite event). One project explicitly asks students to "write a paragraph that describes how the environment and/or weather affects the characters' feelings or actions" and to include a sentence that clearly explains that effect. The wrapping-up prompts ask students to explain what they learned from the story and whether they would recommend it and why, which requires understanding the text.
Unit 2: Sarah, Plain and Tall
Lesson 1
Getting Started
Students are asked to read the book title and study the cover (Activity 2) and to read informational material about Kansas and Maine in an encyclopedia or on the Internet (Activity 3). The skills list explicitly includes "Read expository materials to answer questions and locate information" and "Demonstrate understanding of informational text." Students complete comprehension tasks such as listing six facts about each state, writing five-senses poems to describe each environment, and discussing differences between Maine and Kansas.
Lesson 2
Story Elements
Students are asked to read a named book (Sarah, Plain and Tall) and to read a picture book, and to ‘think about' story elements as they read. Students read definitions aloud and explain them in their own words, make predictions, recall main ideas/facts/details, and answer questions about characters, setting, theme, and plot on activity sheets. Students also demonstrate understanding by creating a story pyramid after reading and by writing a short story that applies and explains story elements.
Lesson 3
The News
Students are asked to read Chapter 1 of Sarah, Plain and Tall and to set a purpose by predicting whether they will enjoy the story and recalling the setting. Students answer six comprehension questions that require summarizing and inferencing (e.g., why Anna took three days to love Caleb, where they live), and are instructed that answers should reflect understanding. Students write journal entries in Anna's voice and retell or summarize written messages, which requires them to demonstrate comprehension and to use text evidence.
Lesson 5
The Arrival
Students are asked to read Chapter 3 aloud and then answer specific comprehension questions in complete sentences, which requires them to read for meaning and locate information (e.g., identifying what Papa does to prepare for Sarah). Students are directed to "read independently for extended periods of time" and to "locate specific information within text," and they complete a Venn diagram that requires finding examples in the book about geography, plants, animals, and transportation. Students also write a journal entry from a character's point of view and select a welcome token using evidence from the farm, which requires comprehension and purposeful reading to support those tasks.
Lesson 6
Life on the Prairie
Students are asked to read Chapter 4 of the book and to read and answer a set of comprehension questions about that chapter. The Skills list explicitly includes "Read independently for extended periods of time" and "Retell written messages by clarifying or summarizing," and activities require students to write journal entries, discuss answers, and summarize events. The lesson also asks students to use personal experiences to interpret written and oral messages and to discuss lyrics to connect meaning to text.
Lesson 7
The Dune
Students are given a pre-reading prompt that sets a purpose by asking what kind of fun activities might happen on a farm and telling them the chapter will show the family having fun with Sarah. Students read Chapter 5 independently and then answer specific comprehension questions in their journal or discuss them, practicing recall, inference, and interpretation. Students write a journal reflection, retell events, make predictions about Sarah's future, and discuss ways people enjoy environments, reinforcing understanding of the text.
Lesson 8
Work and Play
The introduction tells students the purpose for reading: to learn more about farm life, framing Chapter 6 as connected to that purpose. Students are asked to read Chapter 6 (and a winter description aloud) and then answer specific comprehension questions, write journal entries (Anna's journal), and retell or summarize events. Students also analyze historical fiction versus nonfiction by listing three factual and three nonfactual details from the text and by discussing similarities and differences between past and present winter activities.
Lesson 9
Writing
Students are asked to identify the problem of the story and answer questions about what characters (Caleb and Anna) have been worried about, which requires comprehension of the text. Students discuss read-aloud persuasive examples and decide what each writer is trying to persuade the reader of, explaining which example is most convincing and why. Students are asked to record three reasons from the book to support their persuasive letter, using examples from the story to support their claims.
Lesson 10
Neighbors
The lesson asks the child to read Chapter 7 aloud and then answer specific comprehension questions, giving students direct practice reading for meaning. The listed skills include "Discuss main ideas, facts, and details from a text," and activities require using text details to draw the setting and to write journal entries based on events and feelings from the chapter. The "Questions to Explore" and follow-up discussion prompts guide students to read with a clear purpose related to character relationships and environment.
Lesson 11
Squall
Students are asked to read Chapter 8 and respond to explicit comprehension questions (e.g., reasons for Sarah's actions, Anna's feelings, clues that Anna misses her mother), which requires understanding characters and motivations. The lesson opens with "Questions to Explore" about how the environment changes and how it affects people, providing a clear purpose for reading. Follow-up activities require students to write a journal entry from a character's perspective and to draw and describe characters, asking them to explain and describe characters in their own words and compare/contrast them.
Lesson 12
The End of the Storm
Students are asked to read Chapter 9 independently and determine whether their predictions about the ending were correct, giving them a clear reading purpose. Students answer specific comprehension questions about plot details and character motivations, and they write a journal entry about Anna's feelings, which requires understanding and interpretation. Students create a plot diagram and a theme web that require them to locate main ideas, events, and supporting details from the text to demonstrate comprehension and purpose-driven reading.
Final Project
Welcome To Kansas
Students are asked to "locate sources to read about activities and foods that pioneers enjoyed," which requires reading informational texts for a defined purpose. The Skills list explicitly includes "Recall main ideas, facts, and details from a text," indicating students will extract and use information they read. Students are directed to read their draft aloud during self-editing and to read the final card aloud to guests, showing reading with communicative purpose and some demonstration of understanding.
Unit 3: Who Was Helen Keller?
Lesson 1
Helen's Early Years
Students are instructed to read Chapter 1 and answer chapter questions in complete sentences, with chapter questions provided to guide comprehension. Students are asked to generate their own questions about the book and to record answers in a journal, encouraging reading with a purpose. Students complete follow-up activities (timeline of Helen's life, distinguishing fiction/nonfiction, spelling practice) that require them to locate and interpret information from the text.
Lesson 2
Helen's Childhood
Students are asked to read Chapter 2 and answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., what Helen would miss, why she threw tantrums, how she communicated), which requires reading for understanding. Students make predictions before reading and compare their ideas to the text, showing a stated purpose for reading. Students locate vocabulary in the text, read the sentence that contains each word aloud, and record definitions and syllables, which reinforces comprehension and purposeful reading.
Lesson 3
Helen's Challenges
Students are asked to read Chapter 3 and then answer four comprehension questions about events, how Helen got information from her environment, skills she learned, and where her parents took her. The introduction directs students to think about why living in Helen's environment could be frustrating and sometimes dangerous, which sets a purpose for reading. Activities require students to respond to the story (add events to a timeline, describe sensory details, write a song or a paragraph about a gift) and to read their descriptive paragraph aloud for others to guess the object.
Lesson 4
Inventors
Students are asked to read Chapter 4 and then answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., why Helen loved Bell, what we know about Annie Sullivan), which requires reading for understanding. The Skills section explicitly lists reading expository materials for answers to specific questions and recalling main ideas, facts, and details from a text. Activities require students to read a separate biography of Alexander Graham Bell, compare it to Chapter 4, and write ten factual clues and sentences about inventions, all tasks that give students a clear purpose for reading and require comprehension.
Lesson 5
Annie
Students are asked to read Chapter 5 and then answer five specific comprehension questions that require recalling character feelings, causes of events, and explanations. Students are prompted to add events from the chapter to a timeline and to recall main ideas by drawing before/after pictures, listing adjectives, and writing sentences describing Helen's change. Students are also asked to describe the relationship between Annie and Helen, predict future events, and reread informational pages about Braille to discuss how blind readers use touch to interpret text.
Lesson 6
Helen Leaves Home
The Skills section directs students to "Read aloud with fluency and expression any text appropriate for early independent readers," and the Reading And Questions section instructs students to read Chapter 6 aloud and then answer specific comprehension questions. The Introduction asks students to predict how Helen will respond to upcoming events, providing a clear purpose for reading. Activities (timeline and discussion) require students to recount and interpret events from the chapter, reinforcing understanding.
Lesson 7
More Learning
Students are directed to read Chapters 7 and 8 and then answer specific comprehension questions about characters, events, and details. The lesson lists skills including "Recall main ideas, facts, and details from a text," and provides explicit question-and-answer comprehension tasks (Questions #1-#5). Students complete follow-up activities that require extracting and organizing information from the chapters (adding events to a timeline, labeling places on a map, and matching events to locations). Students also synthesize information by writing a bio poem about Helen and explaining the importance of events in her life during the wrap-up discussion.
Lesson 8
All Grown Up
Students read Chapters 9 and 10 of the Helen Keller biography and answer five specific comprehension questions about college life, Helen's first book, her work after Annie's death, and her lifelong job. Students read and read aloud quoted passages on the "Helen's Voice" activity page, underline parts they think are strong, and answer follow-up questions such as "Do you want to keep reading? Why?" and "What words or phrases create images in your mind?" Students create a personal timeline and write about an event from their life, using answers to reflective questions to focus on voice and show understanding of text meaning.
Final Project
Scrapbook or Interview
Students are directed to use a book they have just finished reading and to look up new information in an encyclopedia or on the Internet to record ideas for the scrapbook pages. Students must write in Helen's voice for scrapbook entries and compose answers for an interview, which requires understanding Helen Keller's life and selecting relevant details. The scrapbooking and interview rubrics evaluate whether readers can "get a sense of Helen's environment" and whether "voice" is apparent, which ties students' reading to comprehension of content.
2: Change
Unit 1: Morning Girl
Lesson 1
Background Information
The Skills section explicitly lists "Read expository materials for answers to specific questions," and activities ask students to locate and read information about the Bahamas and the Taino Indians from provided websites. Students are directed to summarize information by creating a short report, record facts in a journal, and write sentences explaining how artifacts may have been used, which require comprehension of the texts they read. Several activities (e.g., completing the report outline, writing an acrostic after reading) require students to read with a clear purpose and demonstrate understanding of content.
Lesson 2
Point of View
Students read whole chapters of Morning Girl and Voices in the Park aloud and silently and are asked to reread using different voices, demonstrating purposeful reading. Students answer specific comprehension questions in writing or discussion (identifying narrator, comparing character perspectives, describing setting) to show understanding. Students record journal entries of characters' thoughts/words and use a four-part Venn diagram to compare accounts, requiring them to extract and organize meaning from the texts.
Lesson 3
The News
Students are asked to read Chapter 3 aloud and answer comprehension questions both orally and in their journals, demonstrating reading with purpose. Students summarize feelings and events in a journal activity and retell or record a short island story using vocabulary, which requires understanding of text content and use of context. Students discuss similarities and differences in events and characters and respond to guided questions about characters' feelings and plot, showing comprehension-focused reading tasks.
Lesson 4
The Rock
Students are asked to read Chapters 4 and 5 of Morning Girl and then answer comprehension questions aloud or in a journal, providing direct practice reading for understanding. Students record feelings, phrases, and events in character voices and retell or summarize spoken messages, which requires them to read with a defined purpose. Students analyze character change, discuss causes and effects, and role-play responses, all activities that require understanding of the text and its meaning.
Lesson 6
The Storm
Students are instructed to read Chapters 6 and 7 and then answer specific comprehension questions in a journal or discussion, which sets a clear purpose for reading. The lesson asks students to answer in complete sentences and to discuss differences between verbal and written answers, promoting thoughtful comprehension. The provided questions target events, character actions, and descriptions of weather and setting, and activities ask students to record feelings, compare setting before and after the storm, draw visual images, and list effects of the storm, all requiring understanding of the text.
Lesson 7
Visitors
Students are instructed to read Chapters 8 and 9 and then answer specific comprehension questions in complete sentences, providing a clear purpose for reading. Students are asked to read the epilogue aloud and discuss cultural differences, then write journal entries from Morning Girl's and an explorer's point of view, which require them to interpret feelings, ideas, and perspectives. The lesson lists skills such as making inferences and drawing conclusions and responding to stories in ways that reflect understanding (through writing, art, and drama), and includes activities (journal, Name Poem, Visitor's Point of View) that require students to use evidence from the text.
Final Project
Poetry Night
Students are asked to read the book Encounter aloud and to listen as an adult reads it, with a stated goal to explore the positive and negative changes resulting from contact with explorers. The lesson provides comprehension questions (seven explicit Q&A items) and asks students to find examples in the text to categorize as positive, negative, or mixed effects and record them in a mini-fold book. Students write two before-and-after poems based on text details (one from the native perspective and one from Columbus) and prepare to read those poems aloud, record themselves, and revise their oral delivery. The skills list explicitly includes "Read orally with fluency."
Unit 2: Communities and Culture
Lesson 1
Getting Started
Students are asked to read two books each day and to record questions and new information on organizers ("What I Want to Learn" and "What I Have Learned"), which sets a reading purpose. Students locate specific information in the books (finding homes, proper nouns, and settings) and use that information to compare cultures and describe settings. Students are prompted to list examples from the texts and to use text details in follow-up tasks (scavenger hunt, drawing, and writing sentences).
Lesson 2
Where Are We?
Students are instructed to read pages 4–15 of Hot on the Trail in Ancient Egypt and to answer comprehension questions in complete sentences, giving direct practice in reading to understand a continuous passage. Students make predictions, recall main ideas, facts, and details, and answer specific text-based questions (for example about the Nile, homes, food, and effects of change). Students complete activities that require distinguishing fact from fantasy and comparing life in ancient Egypt to their own community, using the text as the information source.
Lesson 3
The King
Students are directed to read pages 16–27 and then answer specific comprehension questions about setting, character actions, causes, and purposes (e.g., where Emma goes, why Libby and Emma work, why pyramids were built). Students make predictions about the plot and are asked to retell what they learned and predict future events, which requires reading with a purpose. Students apply understanding in follow-up tasks: completing a Venn diagram comparing government types, writing a journal paragraph explaining a preference, and using vocabulary words in a self-created story read aloud.
Lesson 4
Back Home
Students are asked to finish reading Hot on the Trail in Ancient Egypt through page 47 and to predict how the story will end, giving them an explicit purpose for reading. They answer specific comprehension questions about plot events, pyramid structure, and vocabulary (for example, identifying how Emma and Libby rescue Josh, explaining the mortuary and valley temples, and defining a mummy). Students complete a Plot Pyramid activity in which they record events leading to the climax, events after the climax, the problem, and the solution, and they reread informational pages (pp. 28–29) to discuss changes in burial rituals and religious beliefs.
Lesson 5
A Day in Egypt
Students are directed to read through the "What I have learned" section and to refer to Hot on the Trail in Ancient Egypt as needed to gather information. Students are asked to check whether questions they posed at the beginning were answered in the story, which requires reading with a specific purpose. Students use information they read to create a daily schedule and to write a comparative paragraph, demonstrating comprehension of the text's content.
Lesson 6
Middle Ages
Students are instructed to read pages 1–15 of Adventures in the Middle Ages and to read aloud specific pages (e.g., page 14) to locate and recount information. They answer comprehension questions in complete sentences, record new information on a Historical Time Periods page, and write a first-person journal entry describing a peasant's work and feelings. Students also compare and contrast lives across texts, mark nouns aloud on the 'Concrete vs Abstract' page, and create diagrams of social structure, all showing purposeful reading and evidence of understanding.
Lesson 7
Off to the Castle
Students are asked to read pages 16–31 in Adventures in the Middle Ages and then answer six specific comprehension questions about events, beliefs, and characters, providing direct tasks that require understanding the text. An introductory prompt asks students to consider why castle life might be better than a peasant's, which sets a reading purpose. Follow-up activities require students to record new information about the Middle Ages, compare castle events to modern community activities, and discuss similarities and differences, all of which require comprehension of the assigned text.
Lesson 8
Return Home
Students are asked to finish reading the book, make predictions about the ending, and then answer specific comprehension questions about plot, characters, and castle features. The Skills list explicitly includes "Read text to locate information and answer specific questions," and activities require students to identify character traits using text and illustrations and to compare cultures based on what they read. Several activities (Artifacts, Binkerton Characters, Day 2 comparisons) require students to use textual details to support responses, showing purposeful reading for understanding.
Lesson 9
Writing About History
The lesson instructs students to "read a number of pages in the book" and to "read aloud the 'Fact or Fantasy?' section," then discuss differences between factual and fictional text. Students are asked to read for meaning to collect information to write a factual paragraph and to compare voice between factual and fantasy paragraphs. The activities explicitly connect reading specific pages with a purpose (distinguishing fact vs. fantasy) to support subsequent writing.
Unit 3: American Heroes
Lesson 1
Heroes
Students are directed to read specific sections of a grade-level book ("A Tribute" on page 7 and the Introduction on pages 8-9) and to crosscheck a list of American heroes using the table of contents. Students record lists in a journal, answer questions about heroes, and are asked to describe what a hero did, which requires them to comprehend and synthesize information from text. Students draw a hero and write sentences using adjectives from Activity 1, connecting reading with written responses that show understanding.
Lesson 2
Early American Heroes
Students read assigned expository pages about Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington and answer targeted comprehension questions in discussion or in a journal (e.g., questions about talents, inventions, similarities, reasons for action). Students locate information for specific purposes and recall main ideas and details as shown in the skills list and question prompts. Students summarize and interpret what they read by completing Hero Cards, adding names/dates to a Heroes Timeline, and writing epitaphs that state the three greatest things each hero did.
Lesson 3
Heroes of Freedom
Students are directed to read grade-level chapters on Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Tubman and then answer focused comprehension questions (e.g., describe the person, explain how they changed the world, what can be learned from them). Students read and interpret Abraham Lincoln's poem aloud and are asked to explain archaic language and meaning, demonstrating purpose-driven reading for understanding. Students read the Underground Railroad explanatory page and then create signs and a route map, applying information from the text to complete tasks that show comprehension.
Lesson 4
Hard Times
Students are instructed to read chapters on Eleanor Roosevelt (pp. 102-103) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (pp. 104-105) and then answer specific comprehension questions about changes in Eleanor, challenges FDR faced, and characteristics of a hero. The skills list explicitly includes "Read and comprehend text by locating information for specific purposes" and "Read expository materials for answers to specific questions." Students practice applying text information in follow-up activities: completing hero cards and a timeline, discussing racial climate and activism, and writing responses to scenario prompts that require understanding of the historical context.
Lesson 5
Recent Heroes
The Skills section explicitly asks students to "Read and comprehend text by locating information for specific purposes" and to "Read expository materials for answers to specific questions," which directs purposeful reading. The reading tasks require students to read the chapters on Walt Disney and Jesse Owens and then answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., characteristics demonstrated, achievements, how they changed the world). Follow-up activities (hero cards, timeline, and the Imagineer project) require students to use information from the readings to produce answers and products, showing understanding of the texts' content.
Lesson 6
African-American Heroes
Students are asked to read chapters on Mary McLeod Bethune, Frederick Douglass, and George Washington Carver and then answer specific comprehension questions for each chapter (e.g., what did she believe about education?; What did Douglass do that made him a hero?). The lesson's Skills section explicitly states students will "Read and comprehend text by locating information for specific purposes" and "Read expository materials for answers to specific questions." Activities require students to locate information to complete hero cards and to write a purpose-driven letter about education, reinforcing reading for a clear purpose and demonstrating understanding.
Lesson 7
Female Heroes
Students read chapters on Susan B. Anthony and Sandra Day O'Connor and answer specific comprehension questions that require locating key information (e.g., why Anthony was arrested; what O'Connor was first to do). The Skills list explicitly states students will "Read and comprehend text by locating information for specific purposes" and "Read expository materials for answers to specific questions." Activities (Hero Cards, timeline, and the Types of Sentences page) require students to extract facts from the readings and use them in written responses and products.
Lesson 8
Heroes of Science and Invention
Students are directed to read grade-level expository chapters on Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and the Wright brothers and then answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., how Einstein felt about weapons; how Edison's inventions changed life). The Skills list explicitly includes "Read expository materials for answers to specific questions" and "Use text for a variety of functions, including literary, informational, and practical," which frames reading with purpose. The introduction sets a reading purpose by telling the child they will "look at some of the heroes of science and invention," and the wrap-up asks students to describe why science and inventions are important, requiring synthesis of understanding.
Lesson 9
Book of Heroes
Students are asked to read through the pages of their Book of Heroes and to reread pages about selected individuals in the 60 American Heroes book (Activity 2). The Skills list includes recalling main idea, facts, and details, and students are prompted to describe what they remember about each hero and to explain how each hero changed the world (Wrapping Up). Students use reading for specific purposes: selecting three favorite heroes to compare in a three-ring Venn diagram and choosing one hero to describe in writing and art (Activities 2 and 3).
3: Cycles
Unit 1: Poppy
Lesson 1
Preparing for Poppy
Students are asked to preview Poppy and make predictions about the book's topic and genre, establishing a clear purpose for reading. As they read, students trace Poppy's journey on a setting map and label major events, which requires them to track and understand story events. Students locate vocabulary words in context and record sentences from chapters, and they summarize the author's idea and answer questions about cycles of power and nature, showing comprehension of text details and themes.
Lesson 2
Mr. Ocax
Students are directed to read Chapters 1 and 2 of Poppy independently (or listen if the text is beyond their level) and respond to chapter questions as discussion or journal entries. Students are asked to recall main ideas, facts, and details and to write a paragraph comparing themselves to a character using evidence from the text, including three ways they are similar. Students practice comprehension through targeted questions about character motivation, plot events, and themes (e.g., the power cycle between Mr. Ocax and the mice).
Lesson 3
The Emergency Meeting
Students read Chapters 3 and 4 and answer directed comprehension and journal questions in complete sentences and write a short summary of the chapters. Students identify and discuss main ideas, facts, and details, and summarize events in passages (Questions #1–#8 and summary prompt). Students practice oral reading and comprehension of paragraph structure by underlining topic and concluding sentences, cutting and reordering paragraphs, reading aloud, and signaling paragraph endings (stomp) while comparing readings and identifying central ideas on pages 20–22.
Lesson 4
Standing Before Mr. Ocax
Students read Chapters 5 and 6 and are prompted to generate three or four discussion questions to guide their reading. They answer specific comprehension questions in complete sentences and discuss reasons for characters' actions (e.g., why Mr. Ocax denied the mice). Students chart the setting map, reread and identify dialogue and the beginning of Lungwort's speech, and write and present their own speech to an audience.
Lesson 5
Poppy and Poppa
Students are directed to read Chapters 7 and 8 and to answer verbal and written questions in complete sentences, including prediction prompts that give a clear purpose for reading. Students complete comprehension tasks (discussion/journal questions, cause-and-effect graphic organizer, and character analysis) that require understanding and interpretation of the text. Students also use vocabulary and word-choice activities (synonyms/antonyms; Choose the Right Word) to deepen meaning and comprehension of what they read.
Lesson 6
Dimwood Forest
Students read Chapters 9 and 10 and write in a journal describing a decision Poppy made, explaining the decision, its effects, and whether it was good or bad, which requires purposeful reading and interpretation. Students answer specific comprehension questions about character motivations, feelings, and plot details (e.g., Poppy's desire, Mr. Ocax's actions, Poppy's feelings in the forest). Students chart setting, discuss themes of good vs. evil, and reread descriptive passages to point out words and phrases that create mood, demonstrating reading for understanding and textual evidence gathering.
Lesson 7
Ereth
Students are asked to read Chapters 11 and 12 and to make a prediction before reading, which sets a reading purpose. After reading, students answer explicit comprehension questions (who, how, what, why) in complete sentences and discuss inferences (e.g., whether Mr. Ocax would be upset). Students select three important quotes and explain why each is important, and they complete a circle map to describe Ereth, showing they must extract and represent meaning from the text.
Lesson 8
On the Way to New House
Students are asked to read Chapters 13 and 14 and to write a summary of the two chapters in their journal, giving them a clear purpose for reading. Students answer guided comprehension questions about setting, point of view, character motivation, and plot details, requiring them to demonstrate understanding. Students trace Poppy's journey on a setting map and act out scripted dialogue with puppets, applying comprehension to mapping and dramatic interpretation.
Lesson 9
The Truth at Last
Students are directed to read Chapters 15 and 16 of Poppy and to answer specific discussion and journal questions in complete sentences, which focuses their reading on comprehension. Multiple comprehension tasks ask students to identify facts (e.g., what Poppy discovered), infer motives and feelings (e.g., why Ereth left, how Poppy feels), and summarize truths learned. Activities require students to find and record textual evidence (two examples of Mr. Ocax losing power and two of Poppy gaining hers) and to locate words in the text when practicing prefixes and suffixes. The wrapping-up prompts ask students to recap the cycle of power and explain how it is breaking down, reinforcing purposeful reading for understanding.
Lesson 10
The Battle
Students are asked to preview and set a purpose by predicting how Poppy will get the salt and by answering guided discussion and journal questions about Chapters 17 and 18. Students must answer verbal and written comprehension questions in complete sentences and discuss causes, motivations, and outcomes (e.g., why Poppy felt powerful, how she escaped, what gave her bravery). Students write a personal bravery journal entry and are encouraged to read that entry aloud and to describe how Poppy defeated Mr. Ocax, which requires them to comprehend and summarize the text.
Lesson 11
Writing Project
Students are asked to explain story elements (the cycle of power, how Poppy broke the cycle, and how life will be different), which requires comprehension of the text. Students use a paragraph organizer to record ideas from the story and then turn those ideas into three paragraphs, showing they extract and organize meaning from the narrative. Students are instructed to read their paragraphs aloud and read their final copy to family, providing an opportunity to demonstrate understanding when speaking the text.
Lesson 12
A New Beginning
Students read Chapters 19 and 20 and respond to comprehension questions that ask them to infer feelings, explain meanings, and recall plot details (Questions #1–#5). Students trace Poppy's journey on a setting map and complete a Story Tree to identify theme, setting, protagonist, antagonist, conflict, solution, and resolution. Students write epitaphs and a short speech that require them to summarize characters' lives and articulate themes and life applications, and they reflect on what they learned in a wrap-up prompt.
Final Project
Poppy
Students must complete a required plot diagram that asks them to identify the problem, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, showing they locate and organize story events. Students write a journal entry as Poppy and a paragraph explaining a character/theme with supporting story elements and plot, which requires reading for purpose and demonstrating understanding. Vocabulary and writing tasks (using words in sentences, composing poems/dialogue) require applying comprehension of the text and its language to purposeful products.
Unit 2: Charlotte's Web
Lesson 1
Getting Started
Students are asked to read chapters of Charlotte's Web and to answer verbal and written questions in complete sentences, with specific comprehension questions provided (Questions #1-#8). Students complete activities that require purpose-driven reading: creating a bubble map of friendship traits to apply while reading, using a plot flow chart to record major events after each chapter, and filling character description pages to track character development. Students preview and locate vocabulary in the text, record base words and definitions, and use words in sentences tied to the book, which supports purposeful engagement with the text.
Lesson 2
Charlotte
Students are asked to read Chapters 4–6 and respond to targeted discussion and journal questions that ask them to recall main ideas, describe plot events, and characterize characters (e.g., describe Wilbur's day, Charlotte's behavior, and the goose's comment about Christmas). Students complete a Plot Flow Chart and Character Descriptions activity that requires them to identify major events and how characters acted or felt in each chapter. Students conduct Spider Research and write poems from Wilbur's point of view using information from the text and research, which requires rereading specific passages (Charlotte's descriptions) for understanding.
Lesson 3
Bad News
Students are directed to read Chapters 7–9 of the book and are given a purpose (Wilbur learns something that makes him upset). Students answer specific comprehension questions about main events, characters, and details (e.g., the bad news Wilbur learned, Charlotte's promise, reactions of Fern's parents). Students complete tasks that require summarizing plot events (Plot Flow Chart), describing characters, identifying sensory details from specified pages (The Barn activity), and writing/journaling responses that use text evidence and interpretation.
Lesson 4
Some Pig
Students are told a clear purpose for reading (to learn about Charlotte's plan to save Wilbur) and are directed to read Chapters 10–12 and use provided discussion/journal questions. Students answer specific comprehension questions, recall main ideas and details, and explain characters and the author's message in their own words. Students complete a plot flow chart and character descriptions to demonstrate understanding and are asked to locate and read aloud three adverbs from Charlotte's Web, connecting reading to comprehension and oral reading.
Lesson 5
Progress
The lesson tells the student to "read Chapters 13-15" and begins by stating the day's purpose: to learn how Charlotte's plan for Wilbur is progressing. Students are instructed to answer specific comprehension questions (about Farmer Zuckerman, Charlotte's word choices, and character beliefs) in discussion or in a journal. Activities ask students to complete a Plot Flow Chart, write Character Descriptions, and respond to a Wrapping Up prompt about what they learned, all of which require demonstrating understanding of the text. Vocabulary and context tasks require students to find words in the chapters and use them in sentences, reinforcing comprehension of meaning in context.
Lesson 6
The Fair
Students are asked to read Chapters 16-18 and to use the provided Questions to Explore and comprehension questions in a discussion or journal, giving a clear reading task tied to understanding Wilbur's experience at the fair. The set of six comprehension questions includes both literal (Why did Mrs. Zuckerman want to give Wilbur a bath?) and inferential items (What evidence does the author give that Fern is growing up?), requiring students to interpret text details and make inferences. Activities require students to identify major events on a Plot Flow Chart, write Character Descriptions based on chapter behavior, and produce a descriptive paragraph about a personal best day that draws on ideas from the chapters, all of which require reading with purpose and demonstrating comprehension.
Lesson 7
The End
Students are instructed to read Chapters 19-22 of Charlotte's Web and to predict outcomes, giving a clear reading purpose. They answer nine comprehension questions about plot, character actions, and events and complete activities that require recalling main ideas and details (Plot Flow Chart, Character Descriptions). Students read aloud and reread specific passages (Charlotte's description of the seasons) and produce comparisons (book vs. movie Venn diagram), demonstrating tasks that require understanding the text.
Final Project
Charlotte's Web
Students are asked to read Charlotte's Web and then produce a book review or advertisement that requires them to identify the setting, major events, the central problem, character descriptions, and the theme of cycles. The tasks direct students to refer back to their Plot Flow Chart, Character Descriptions, and Character Timelines, indicating they must reread and extract information from the text for a specific purpose. Rubrics and checklists require students to show that their writing conveys understanding of those textual elements (e.g., checkboxes for setting, events, problem, characters, and two cycles).
Unit 3: The Family Under the Bridge
Lesson 1
Pre-Reading
The Introduction sets a clear purpose by telling the child they will begin reading a novel about a family's economic situation and asking what they know about economics. The Skills list explicitly includes "Locate information in text for specific purposes" and "Read expository materials for answers to specific questions," and Activity 1 directs students to use research texts about Paris to compose a paragraph. Activity 2 asks students to review the book's economic cycle, list examples from their community, and explain how the cycle would be disrupted, and Activity 3 asks students to identify and discuss themes in the novel, all of which require comprehension of text content.
Lesson 2
The French Man
Students are directed to read Chapter 1 of The Family Under the Bridge and to answer listed comprehension questions in verbal discussion or journal writing, with reminders to answer in complete sentences. Students complete a 'Meeting Characters' organizer to record character thoughts, words, and physical traits, practicing extraction of details and main ideas. Students use Vocabulary Webs to look up words in context, write definitions and sentences, and thereby deepen comprehension of the chapter. The Skills list explicitly includes 'Recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text,' reinforcing comprehension-focused tasks.
Lesson 3
A Discovery
Students are instructed to read Chapter 2 and to predict what will happen, giving them a clear purpose for reading. Students answer a series of comprehension questions in complete sentences (recalling main ideas, facts, and details) and fill in a "Meeting Characters" page, which requires extracting information about characters. Students write diary entries from two characters' perspectives and discuss punctuation, which require understanding and interpreting the text.
Lesson 4
A Day in the City
Students are directed to read Chapter 3 ("Today your child will read Chapter 3") and are told the reading purpose (to read about a special place Armand takes the children). Students answer explicit comprehension prompts: five guided questions with expected answers and a reminder to answer verbal and written questions in complete sentences. Skill-focused activities require students to recall main idea, facts, and details, fill in character information, and compare events and traditions using a Venn diagram, all demonstrating reading for understanding.
Lesson 5
Singing
Students are asked to read Chapter 4 (including rereading page 27) aloud and make predictions before reading, providing a clear purpose for reading. Students answer guided comprehension questions in complete sentences and journal responses that require recalling main ideas, facts, and details. Students complete a "Working for Money" flowchart and write a persuasive letter or speech that require understanding events and character motivations from the text.
Lesson 6
The Shoe
Students are instructed to read Chapter 5 and to answer the provided journal and discussion questions in complete sentences, including inferential and factual items (Questions #1–#7). The lesson lists a skill to "Recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text" and has students fill in a "Meeting Characters" sheet and complete a double-bubble map comparing the Calcets and the Gypsies. Students also read aloud the Gypsies description (pp. 60–61) and discuss punctuation examples tied to passages from the chapter, linking reading to comprehension tasks.
Lesson 7
Among Friends
Students are instructed to read Chapter 6 aloud with expression and to give characters voices, which targets purposeful oral reading. They are asked to make a prediction about Madame Calcet's response before reading and then check that prediction afterward, which establishes a reading purpose. After reading, students answer comprehension questions, journal, discuss character attributes, and complete activities (Meeting Characters, Pack a Bag, vocabulary exercises) that require them to explain, justify, and apply ideas from the text.
Lesson 8
Christmas Eve
Students read Chapter 7 independently and are instructed to answer verbal and written comprehension questions in complete sentences. Students retell and infer plot and character details by answering specific questions (where they went, what characters noticed, why actions occurred) and by adding information to a "Meeting Characters" chart. Students compare and describe how characters celebrate and draw gifts tied to character analysis, connecting reading to interpretation and understanding.
Lesson 9
Saying Goodbye
Students are asked to read Chapter 8 and answer verbal and written questions in complete sentences, including eight specific comprehension questions about character actions, motivations, and plot events. Students add information to a "Meeting Characters" chart and write quinzaine poems about characters and homelessness, requiring them to connect text details to written responses. Students use a "Culture Commentary" page to locate and record examples from Chapters 1–5, citing page ranges or locating information without page numbers to support textual understanding.
Lesson 10
A Home at Last
Students are directed to read Chapter 9 and to answer chapter questions in their journal, with a reminder to respond in complete sentences. Students answer explicit comprehension questions (e.g., How did Armand help solve the children's problem?) and complete activities that require rereading textual descriptions to draw the new house and to describe why having a home is important. Students create a flip book summarizing parts of the story and write a letter and singing telegram using information the author shares, all tasks that require extracting and using meaning from the text.
Final Project
Reader's Theater
Students reread specified pages of The Family Under the Bridge and follow along with a Reader's Theater script, reading lines aloud while using different voices and rehearsing lines four to five times. Students select a scene, reread the event aloud with the purpose of turning it into dialogue, and write a script of at least twenty lines that reflects characters, actions, and emotions. Students discuss script format and punctuation, use stage directions, and use a rubric that requires inclusion of thematic elements (economic cycle, care for someone in need), showing comprehension through dramatization.
4: Relationships
Unit 1: One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest
Lesson 1
The Rain Forests
The lesson includes the skill statements "Use text for a variety of functions" and "Read expository materials for answers to specific questions." Activity 1 asks students to locate Venezuela on a map and "read about Venezuela online," and the introduction notes "the book he will be reading" about a boy's adventures in the rain forest. The Wrapping Up prompts ask the child to tell what he learned and to explain differences between temperate and tropical rain forests, which requires comprehension of the texts consulted.
Lesson 2
Morning in the Rain Forest
Students are asked to read Chapter 1 (and subsequent chapters) and answer specific comprehension questions (#1–#5) that ask for description, inference, listing details, and explaining causes. Activity 1 requires students to classify animals from each chapter and describe relationships, giving a clear purpose for reading each section. Activity 3 asks students to record the most important event at each time point, compare Tepui's day to their own, and answer reflective questions that require comprehension and summarization. The vocabulary activity directs students to locate words in the text, read them in context, record definitions, and use the words in sentences, supporting reading for meaning.
Lesson 3
The Tree
Students are asked to read Chapter 2 with an explicit purpose (to learn more about Tepui and the rain forest) and to respond to four targeted comprehension questions that require recalling facts and explaining ideas. Students complete activities that require them to locate and use textual descriptions—adding animals to a chart, placing animals in and around Tepui's favorite tree based on the author's descriptions, and recording daily events. Students also locate nouns and the adjectives the author uses, match them, and discuss how those word choices affect understanding of relationships in the text.
Lesson 4
Butterfly Search
Students read Chapter 3 and respond to selected journal questions and discussion prompts that ask for comprehension of key plot and informational details (e.g., human property rights, Tepui's job, Dr. Rivero's motive for finding a butterfly). The skills list explicitly includes recalling main idea, facts, and details and asking and answering questions about organisms, objects, and events. Students complete activities that require using text information to match scientist names to the animals they study, write a paragraph describing which scientist they would like to be, and write about two relationships the butterfly has with a plant or animal.
Lesson 5
Rain Forest Relationships
Students read Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 and answer targeted comprehension questions (e.g., describe the butterfly, explain how plants battle, describe sloth–moth relationship). Students record main ideas, facts, and details on a "Rain Forest Animals Chart" and describe how pairs of organisms help or harm each other on the "Relationships" activity. Students sequence events by cutting, pasting, and placing events on "Plot Timelines," identifying simultaneous events and how earlier events affect later ones.
Lesson 6
Law of the Jungle
Students are asked to read Chapter 6 and to make predictions before reading, giving them a clear purpose for reading. They answer seven specific comprehension questions (with model answers) and discuss/journal responses, showing activities that require understanding of events and ideas. Students also use context clues and a dictionary for vocabulary, reread a key page aloud, illustrate three examples of the Law of the Jungle, and write a short free-verse poem to demonstrate comprehension.
Lesson 7
Helping a Friend
Students are instructed to read Chapter 7 with a stated purpose — to read about how Tepui and Dr. Rivero find the nameless butterfly. The lesson gives seven comprehension questions (with answers) and asks students to record major events on a "Daily Activities" page, requiring them to retell and sequence important story events. Students are asked to reread pages 49–52 aloud, discuss character relationships, and dramatize the scene by writing and performing dialogue and stage directions while attending to characters' feelings, tone, and actions.
Lesson 8
Persuasive Writing
Students are asked to identify the problem in a story and explain how characters attempted to solve it, which requires reading for comprehension. Students are instructed to read their rough drafts four times focusing on different areas from the Editing and Revising Rubric, which engages them in purposeful rereading to improve meaning and conventions. Students are asked to read their final persuasive paragraphs aloud to a specific audience (the people clearing the rain forest), which asks them to read with a persuasive purpose and to convey understanding of their text.
Lesson 9
A Close Call
Students read Chapters 8–10 to find out whether Tepui and Dr. Rivero saved the rain forest, giving them a clear reading purpose. They answer six specific comprehension questions (who, how, why, what happened) and record events on a Daily Activities page. Students select and sequence important events on a Plot Diagram, identify the story's climax, problem, and resolution, and discuss relationships among events. Additional tasks—identifying metaphors/similes and creating a bar graph of animal occurrences—require students to interpret and analyze text details to show understanding.
Final Project
Field Guide or Documentary
Students are directed to "use multiple sources including print, technology, and experts, to locate answers to questions" and to "look up information about each animal in books or online," which requires reading informational texts. Students complete Field Guide and Documentary organizer pages that prompt them to record specific details (name, layer where found, food, predators, interesting facts, relationships) from those sources. Students then synthesize the information into a field guide entries or documentary scripts, indicating reading with a purpose to gather facts for a product.
Unit 2: The Whipping Boy
Lesson 1
Medieval Times
Students are asked to read The Whipping Boy and to identify places in the story that reflect historical facts, linking reading to comprehension. Students practice identifying the story setting from the cover and text and compare characters and relationships (prince and servant) through written Venn diagrams and journal entries. Students summarize and demonstrate understanding of chapter events by illustrating major events in a comic strip as they read each chapter.
Lesson 2
Jemmy and Prince Brat
Students are instructed to read Chapters 1–3 of The Whipping Boy and answer specific comprehension questions that ask for main ideas, character relationships, and chapter summaries. Students create a comic strip for each chapter, illustrating important events, writing dialogue/thought bubbles, and adding captions that require them to summarize and interpret text. Students complete vocabulary activities that require copying sentences from the book, defining words, and writing new sentences in context, and they write diary entries from Jemmy's and Prince Brat's points of view to show understanding of perspective.
Lesson 3
The Plot Thickens
Students are asked to read Chapters 4–6 of The Whipping Boy and then answer questions in a journal and discuss responses, which gives them a clear task tied to comprehension. The Skills list explicitly includes "Recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text," and comprehension questions (e.g., why Jemmy changed his mind, what happened in the foggy woods) require students to extract facts and infer motives. Activities require students to summarize scenes in a comic strip, analyze character traits by creating crests, and match idioms from the text with their meanings, all of which require reading with purpose and demonstrating understanding.
Lesson 4
A Note to the King
Students are asked to read Chapters 7-9 aloud and are encouraged to give characters voices and read with feeling. Students answer specific comprehension questions in a journal or discussion (recalling main ideas, facts, and details) and complete summarizing activities such as a comic strip. The skills list explicitly includes "Recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text," and activities (flow chart questions, simile identification) require reading for meaning.
Lesson 5
Disagreements
Students are instructed to read Chapters 10–12 and then answer targeted comprehension questions in a journal or discuss responses aloud, showing direct work on understanding plot and character. Students create a comic strip for each chapter, which requires them to summarize events and sequence key ideas. Students also locate vocabulary in context and read those words aloud, and rewrite hyperboles from the book, demonstrating interpretation of figurative language and meaning in context.
Lesson 6
In the Woods
Students are asked to read Chapters 13–15 and then answer targeted journal questions and discussion prompts (Questions #1–#10) that require recalling facts, inferring feelings, identifying similes, and explaining motivations. The Skills section explicitly lists recalling main idea, facts, and details and discussing similarities and differences in events and characters, which students practice through retelling, character comparison activities, and the comic-strip reconstruction. Activities require students to write responses (journal, letter, Best Friend Award) and verbally retell events, providing multiple tasks that focus reading on comprehension and purpose.
Lesson 7
The Rescue
The student is instructed to read Chapters 16-18 and to make predictions before reading, answer comprehension questions (#1-#11), and discuss selected questions, which gives explicit purposes for reading. Students are asked to summarize scenes by drawing a comic strip, to write a paragraph explaining where they feel most comfortable, and to discuss how characters change, all of which require demonstrating understanding of the text. The student is directed to read pages about a medieval town aloud and to read and sing a ballad while identifying rhyming words, tying reading to comprehension and interpretation.
Lesson 8
Friends
Students are directed to read Chapters 19-20 and to reread Chapters 1-2, giving explicit reading tasks. Students answer selected comprehension questions in a journal and discuss other questions, requiring purposeful reading and checking understanding. Students complete activities (reviewing the comic strip, listing four behaviors for early and late versions of the prince, writing a poem, and composing diary entries) that require them to interpret events and demonstrate comprehension.
Final Project
A Monologue
Students are asked to reread specific pages (65-66, 68-70, 79) to gather details for writing monologues, which gives them a clear purpose for reading. Students are directed to locate examples of similes, idioms, and hyperboles in the book and to use those elements in their writing, requiring them to read for understanding of figurative language. Students practice reading aloud their monologues, think about how characters speak, and discuss changes in relationships, demonstrating comprehension of character perspective and plot.
Unit 3: Iggie's House
Lesson 1
The Move
Students are asked to read Chapter 1 (and other chapters) and to answer selected comprehension questions in their journal, including why Winnie was upset and descriptions of characters and events. Students complete a Reactions Chart where they write characters' reactions to events and their own personal reactions, requiring analysis of plot and character responses. Students summarize important events, list and explain traits of friendship, and complete vocabulary activities that require locating words in text and choosing sentences that use them correctly.
Lesson 2
Meeting the Neighbors
Students are instructed to read Chapter 2 and to make predictions about the neighbors before reading, which sets a clear purpose. Students answer specific comprehension questions in a journal or discussion (recalling main idea, facts, details and analyzing characters). Students read scenarios aloud in the Racial Relationships activity and complete Fact or Opinion tasks that require understanding and interpreting text.
Lesson 3
The Softball Game
Students are instructed to read Chapter 3 and to think specifically about what Winnie does to be a good friend, giving them a clear purpose for reading. Students answer a series of discussion and journal questions that require recalling events, explaining characters' motivations, and describing outcomes (e.g., why Winnie lied, why she was disappointed, describe Mrs. Landon). Students complete a Reactions Chart and are asked to describe the softball game, which requires them to recall main ideas, facts, and details from the text.
Lesson 4
A New Dog
Students are directed to read Chapter 4 and to answer selected comprehension questions in a journal or discuss others aloud, which gives them a clear purpose for reading. The included questions ask for recall and inferencing about characters, actions, and events (for example, why Winnie tears up letters, why Mrs. Landon came over, and what surprise the Garbers had), which requires students to demonstrate understanding of the text. Students are asked to summarize the events of Chapter 4 and complete a "Reactions Chart," further requiring them to interpret and restate text meaning.
Lesson 5
A Visit from Germs
Students are asked to read Chapter 5 and respond to specific comprehension questions (e.g., why the Garbers were glum, whether Winnie's parents signed the petition, and what Winnie did), which require recalling facts and inferring motives. The skills list explicitly includes 'Recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text' and 'Analyze characters, including their traits, relationships, actions, and changes.' Activities ask students to complete a Reactions Chart and a Problems in Relationships page, asking them to describe problems between characters and suggest solutions.
Lesson 6
A New Petition
Students are asked to read Chapter 6 and then summarize important events from yesterday's reading, which establishes a clear reading purpose. After reading, students answer journal and discussion questions that require recalling main ideas, facts, and details (e.g., Why did Winnie think the Garbers would hate her? Describe the petition Winnie made), and students complete character analysis tasks that require comprehension and inference. The wrapping-up prompts ask students to summarize what happened and to explain character similarities, reinforcing reading for understanding.
Lesson 7
The Swim Club
Students are asked to read Chapter 7 aloud and then respond to specific comprehension questions (e.g., how Big Red felt, why Mr. Berger did not sign the petition, and why Winnie showed Mrs. Landon her petition). Students complete activities that require summarizing and interpreting relationships (Reactions Chart, Friendship House) and are prompted to describe what happened to Winnie and to identify contractions in the chapter. The lesson also provides guiding "Questions to Explore" that frame reading with a focus on relationships and personalities.
Lesson 8
Moving
Students read Chapter 8 and answer specific comprehension questions (e.g., why Winnie felt nervous, what Herbie did, why Mrs. Landon came), which requires recalling facts and explaining reasons. Students complete a Reactions Chart and double-bubble maps comparing characters, which requires identifying main ideas, details, similarities, differences, and character traits. The Skills section explicitly lists recalling main idea, facts, and details and analyzing characters, showing students practice comprehension-focused tasks tied to their reading.
Lesson 10
I Have a Dream
Students are instructed to read an excerpt of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" aloud and then answer targeted comprehension questions such as "What was Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream?" and "What does 'all men are created equal' mean?" Students are also asked to respond to chapter 9 questions in a journal and participate in class discussion about how Winnie and the student can help King's dream come true. Students illustrate their own dreams and discuss how actions can make those dreams happen, linking reading to purpose and meaning.
Lesson 11
The End
Students are instructed to finish reading the story and to name and describe the main characters and the story problem, which requires comprehension of text. Students respond to a set of focused comprehension and discussion questions (Questions #1–#11) that ask them to explain characters' motives, plot resolution, themes, and author's message. Students complete activities that require them to recall events (Reactions Chart), identify and justify story elements (Book in a Bag), and write/refelect about a character friendship, all of which ask them to demonstrate understanding of the grade-level text.
Final Project
Character Interviews
The skills list instructs students to recall the main idea, facts, and details and to analyze characters, their traits, relationships, actions, and changes. In Part 1 and the activity pages, students are asked to write interview questions based on the story and to avoid yes/no questions, and the rubric explicitly asks whether students used events in the story to develop questions and answers. Part 2 directs students to make up responses from each character's perspective, referring to a Reactions Chart and their journal to include events from the story in their answers.