Third Grade - ELA
1: Environment
Unit 1: Tornado
Lesson 1
Weather on the Farm
In Activity 1 students are asked to draw a tornado and write three factual sentences about tornadoes and to discuss the difference between factual and nonfactual information. In Activity 2 students label and color a map of Tornado Alley and are given a definition and an explanation of why tornadoes form (cold, dry air meeting warm, moist air). In Activities 3 and 4 students write a paragraph about life on a farm, complete a Venn diagram comparing farm life to their own, and write a detailed daily schedule that requires facts and specific details.
Lesson 2
The Storm
Students look up vocabulary words in a dictionary, match each word to its definition, and glue each word next to its definition (Activity 1). Students identify main ideas and supporting details by circling or writing the main idea for several short paragraphs (Activity 2). Students write three to four sentence chapter summaries that explain the main events or main idea and are asked to use time-transition words to organize those summaries (Activity 4 and Activity 3).
Lesson 3
The Tornado
Students are asked to write a paragraph describing a pet with a topic sentence, at least three supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence, and to use a hamburger or paragraph organizer to structure those supporting details. In Activity 2 students analyze an "Author's Description" versus a "Simple Description," underline descriptive words, and generate their own sensory-rich wording to create vivid details. The assessment asks reviewers to look for words and phrases that engage the senses and create images for the reader, which focuses student practice on producing detailed descriptive content.
Lesson 4
A Card Trick
The Skills section includes 'Produce a summary of a text,' and Activity 1 asks the child to write and illustrate her chapter summary in her journal. The Questions to Explore and Activity 1 prompt discussion that 'dogs learn about the world from their environment,' providing topical facts students could use. The curriculum asks students to answer comprehension questions about the chapter, which requires recalling events and details from the text.
Lesson 5
Turtles
Students are asked to complete a Turtle Research page by locating information in books and on the Internet and filling in facts about types of turtles, habitats, predators, diets, and ways to protect turtles. Students are given a definition under "Facts and Definitions" (a myth is a traditional story) that models providing definitions. Students are asked to write and illustrate a chapter summary in a journal, which requires selecting and recording key facts and details from the text.
Lesson 6
The Best Pet Award
Students are asked to write and illustrate a chapter summary in their journal, which requires them to recall and convey main ideas, facts, and details. A Facts and Definitions section lists specific definitions (e.g., mood, pleasure, damage) and the Skills list includes recalling main ideas, facts, and details from a text. In Activity 3 (World's Best Pet Award), students must write reasons that Tornado is a good pet and Option 2 explicitly encourages using specific examples from the story.
Lesson 7
Conflict
The lesson includes a "Facts and Definitions" section that defines conflict and lists types (character vs. character, character vs. nature, character vs. self). Students are asked to write a chapter summary in a journal and to dictate sentences that describe two specific conflicts, label their types, and illustrate them. The wrapping-up and life-application tasks ask students to describe conflict types and identify them in other books, prompting explanation in students' own words.
Lesson 8
The End of the Storm
Students plan and write a paragraph using the "Happy or Sad Fishbone" graphic organizer that requires a central topic sentence, four supporting details, and a concluding sentence. Students produce a chapter summary in their journal, which asks them to condense events and include relevant details. Students identify and record the author's descriptive words and phrases that convey feelings, and they complete the "Mood and the Environment" sheet to describe characters and settings at beginning and end of the story.
Lesson 9
Plot
The lesson includes a Facts and Definitions section that defines plot, climax, rising/falling action, and resolution. In Activity 1 students write the story title, describe the main problem in one sentence, and write major events on a Story Plot Diagram using time-transition words. In Activity 2 students write one-sentence chapter summaries, place events in sequence, and identify the problem, climax, and resolution; the Skills list also expects students to recall main ideas, facts, and details and to represent text information in graphic organizers.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students use a Hamburger Paragraph Organizer with spaces for a topic sentence, three supporting details, and a conclusion to arrange their thoughts before writing. Students are directed to write drafts and then final copies for projects that involve writing, and to revise their work. Several writing tasks require development with supporting sentences, including creating a sentence for each of five objects that explains how the object relates to the book and writing a paragraph that describes how the environment or weather affects characters with a sentence that clearly explains that effect.
Unit 2: Sarah, Plain and Tall
Lesson 1
Getting Started
Students are asked to read encyclopedia or Internet entries about Kansas and Maine to locate information about weather, geography, and natural resources. Students must list six facts about each state on a worksheet, directly practicing gathering and recording facts. Students learn and apply definitions (e.g., adjectives, comparative and superlative forms) and use sensory details by writing five-senses poems to describe each state's environment.
Lesson 2
Story Elements
Students read and restate explicit definitions of plot, theme, characters, and setting and are asked to explain each definition in their own words. Students write targeted descriptive sentences (one sentence about a favorite character and setting) and a focused explanatory response (write about the most important lesson learned from a book). Students describe the plot with specific parts (problem/conflict, important events, solution) and fill a story pyramid with one- to seven-word descriptors that require selecting facts and details about the story.
Lesson 3
The News
Students are given a Facts and Definitions section that defines terms (e.g., journal, classified ads) and a vocabulary list with meanings. In Activity 3 students look up each vocabulary word in a dictionary and write the definition on index cards, and they practice placing those words in a vocabulary story and in a descriptive paragraph about an environment. In Activity 2 students create a farm advertisement and are prompted to list specific qualities (beyond ‘nice') and to describe what the family is looking for in a helper.
Lesson 4
The Letters
Students are asked in Activity 3 to write a paragraph that describes the environment where they live and to brainstorm words and phrases, with a reminder to use interesting and descriptive vocabulary. The Student Activity Page provides a Hamburger Paragraph Organizer with a topic sentence, three detail slots, and a conclusion, guiding students to include multiple supporting details. Activity 2 asks students to write a letter that "should include details about his personality, what he likes to do, and the character traits he possesses," and Reading and Questions include factual items from the text (e.g., seals, fish, whales) that students summarize.
Lesson 5
The Arrival
Students create a Venn diagram comparing the coast of Maine and the Kansas prairie, recording three things unique to each place and two things they have in common. Students are prompted to look for and record examples from the book about geography, plants, animals, and transportation to support their diagram entries. Students write a sentence or two explaining why a chosen welcome token is special, and the Facts and Definitions section gives a definition for a Venn diagram.
Lesson 6
Life on the Prairie
Students are asked to research and record names and facts about wildflowers, using an encyclopedia, field guide, or the Internet, and to create a Wildflower Field Guide with pages that include 'Name,' 'Where it grows,' and 'Interesting fact.' Student Activity Pages provide structured prompts that require students to include factual details and one other interesting fact for each entry. Question #5 and the 'Facts and Definitions' section ask students to identify factual differences between life on the prairie 100 years ago and life today.
Lesson 7
The Dune
Students are asked to write a journal entry reflecting the events of Chapter 5, which requires them to produce an informative narrative about the day's activities. Activity 3 directs students to write and/or illustrate how the environment can provide entertainment and to record ideas in their journal, prompting descriptive details about the environment. The lesson lists a "Facts and Definitions" section (giving a definition of conflict) and includes the skill goal to "Write structured, informative narratives," which signals attention to informative writing.
Lesson 8
Work and Play
The Facts and Definitions section gives an explicit definition: "Historical fiction is a fiction book set during a specific time period and containing some historical details." Activity 2 directs students to write in their journal three things from the book they believe are facts about the time period/environment and three things that are not factual. Activity 1 asks students to write Anna's journal entry reflecting on conversations and activities, and the Skills list includes writing structured, informative narratives and retelling by clarifying or summarizing.
Lesson 9
Writing
Students are asked to record three reasons and support each one (Activity 2) and to use a graphic organizer labeled Reason 1/Support, Reason 2/Support, Reason 3/Support to plan those details. The instructional Example 1 models providing specific supporting examples and descriptions for each reason (e.g., daily walks, dogs licking you when sad). The self-editing checklist prompts students to check whether they have three reasons and whether they support each reason, reinforcing development with supporting details.
Lesson 10
Neighbors
The lesson includes a Facts and Definitions section that defines setting as the time and place where action occurs. The Skills list and prompts ask students to "discuss main ideas, facts, and details from a text" and Activity 2 directs students to use details from the text to draw and describe the setting, including time-related details. Activities 1 and 3 require students to produce written responses (Anna's journal entry and a list/poem of things they would miss), which ask for content tied to the chapter's events and environment.
Lesson 11
Squall
Students are given explicit definitions about sentence structure ("Sentences can be combined using conjunctions. And is a conjunction."). Students are asked to write a journal entry from Anna's perspective about Sarah's request and the big storm, which requires composing multiple sentences about a topic. In the Character Line-Up activity, students write words or phrases that describe each character, drawing on details from the text. The Connecting Sentences and Wrapping Up sections require students to apply the definition of 'and' and practice composing combined sentences about characters.
Lesson 12
The End of the Storm
Students are given an explicit definition of theme in the "Facts and Definitions" section and are asked to use that definition when identifying theme. Students complete a Theme activity where they write the theme in the center and record examples (characters' actions, words, thoughts, and events) in surrounding bubbles to support the theme. Students create a plot diagram and reread journal entries to locate and recall events and details that can be used as supporting information.
Final Project
Welcome To Kansas
Students are asked to locate sources about pioneer activities and foods and to use that information when planning the party. Students write a recipe with labeled Ingredients and Directions and list activities and a game with Materials and Directions, which requires concrete factual and procedural details. Students write a paragraph explaining how they would decorate using farm materials and use a Self-Editing Checklist that asks "Do you have three reasons?" and "Do you support each reason?" to prompt supported development.
Unit 3: Who Was Helen Keller?
Lesson 1
Helen's Early Years
The lesson provides explicit facts and definitions (e.g., "A deaf person cannot hear," "A blind person cannot see," and the definition of "biography") that students read and can record. Students are asked to answer chapter questions in complete sentences and to record answers in a journal, which requires them to use facts from the text (for example, describing what caused Helen to lose sight and hearing). The timeline activity asks students to identify and record two or three important events and dates from Helen's life, prompting them to collect and list factual details about the topic.
Lesson 2
Helen's Childhood
Students record definitions, synonyms/antonyms, syllable counts, and example sentences on the vocabulary pages, explicitly developing word meanings. Students identify and place important events from Chapter 2 on a timeline, selecting key factual details about Helen Keller's childhood. Students answer comprehension and explanatory questions (e.g., why Helen threw tantrums, how she communicated) and decode/sign a message using the ASL alphabet, engaging with factual and definitional content about sign language.
Lesson 3
Helen's Challenges
Students are asked in Activity 2 to write a paragraph describing an object using sensory words (smell, touch, taste) and to revise for word choice, capitalization, punctuation, and subject-verb agreement. Activity 3 Option 2 directs students to draw a gift for Helen and write a paragraph explaining why they selected it, with an optional Hamburger Paragraph Organizer that explicitly prompts a topic sentence and three details. The reading questions and Timeline activity require students to identify and add factual events from Helen's life (e.g., dangerous events, where her parents took her).
Lesson 4
Inventors
Students read and are given the definition of an invention and are asked to discuss it. Students write ten facts about Alexander Graham Bell on the 'A Bell Riddle' page. On the 'Famous Inventors and Inventions' pages students write a sentence describing each invention, a sentence describing how the invention helped people, and a sentence describing how the invention changed people or the world. Students also add events to a timeline and compare details from a biography to Chapter 4, practicing recall of facts and details.
Lesson 5
Annie
Students are asked to recall main ideas, facts, and details from Chapter 5 and to add events to a timeline, which requires them to identify and record factual information. The lesson provides a clear definition of Braille and has students study the Braille alphabet, create Braille words, and discuss how Braille works, which engages them with facts and a definition. The skills list explicitly includes "Write structured, informative presentations... when given help with organization," and students write ‘‘before'' and ‘‘after'' sentences using adjectives that describe Helen, practicing concise written description.
Lesson 6
Helen Leaves Home
Students add events from the chapter to a timeline of Helen Keller's life (Activity 1) and create a personal timeline listing important events and years (Activity 3), which requires them to identify and record factual events. The reading questions ask students to recall specific events and reasons (e.g., what Helen enjoyed at Cape Cod, why she became ill), prompting students to use facts from the text. The skills list includes that students will "plan and make judgments about what to include in written and oral products," which suggests some practice deciding which facts or details to include.
Lesson 7
More Learning
Students answer specific factual comprehension questions about Helen Keller (e.g., why the interviewer was surprised, how she did at Cambridge) and are asked to recall main ideas, facts, and details from the text. Students add one event from each chapter to a timeline and label places on a U.S. map, cutting and pasting events next to the correct locations, which requires identifying and organizing factual events and details. Students complete a bio poem template that prompts factual lines (e.g., Resident of, Sister/brother of, Who needs) and copy the poem to a final page, providing opportunities to record facts and descriptive details about Helen.
Lesson 8
All Grown Up
Students answer factual comprehension questions about Helen Keller (e.g., name of her first book, jobs she held) and add later important events to a timeline, which requires identifying and recording facts. Students read and discuss excerpts from Helen Keller to identify strong vocabulary and figurative language, and the lesson explicitly defines "voice" under Facts and Definitions. Students compare and connect information within and across selections when discussing author choices for nouns, verbs, modifiers, and specific vocabulary.
Final Project
Scrapbook or Interview
Students are prompted to research and record factual information (e.g., birth certificate, doctor's report, descriptions of how Helen learned, school journal entries, postcards, and achievements) and to use the book they read, an encyclopedia, or the Internet to find information. Students are instructed to draft, revise, and produce final writing in Helen's first-person voice and to include pictures or mementos to add concrete detail. Rubrics for both the scrapbook and the interview explicitly score how well students present informative answers, show Helen's environment, and include voice and organization, which directs students to develop topics with facts and details.
2: Change
Unit 1: Morning Girl
Lesson 1
Background Information
Students are given a Facts and Definitions section that defines archaeologists and artifacts and states factual points about Columbus and the Bahamas. Students are asked to summarize researched information and create a short report about the Bahamas using an outline that prompts location, sights, food, and activities (Activity 2). In Activity 5 and Activity 4 students record facts in a journal, list materials and uses for artifacts, and write sentences about how artifacts were used; Activity 3 asks students to create a labeled map with title, labels, and points of interest, reinforcing detail inclusion.
Lesson 2
Point of View
Students record character thoughts/words and two important events in a journal entry (Activity 1), fill in character details such as name, age, relation, personality traits, and other information (Activity 3), and use a four-part Venn diagram to identify similarities and differences among accounts (Activity 4). The lesson also provides explicit definitions of 'point of view' and 'first person' that students can reference when answering questions and writing about characters.
Lesson 3
The News
The lesson provides a Facts and Definitions list (e.g., hammock, mango, approach, fortunate, hollow) that students can use as factual definitions. In Reading and Questions, students read Chapter 3 and record answers in their journal about concrete details (resources on the island, characters' reactions). Activity 3 asks students to write three phrases or sentences that describe what each family member brings to the family, prompting them to record details about a topic.
Lesson 4
The Rock
The lesson provides an explicit definition of pronouns and asks students to identify and replace nouns with pronouns on the activity sheet, showing instruction in using a definition. Students are asked to record three feelings, three phrases, and two events from chapters in character voices, which requires collecting and writing specific details. Students are also asked to write a sentence beneath each family member's name describing one thing they might do to make that person feel better, which requires producing brief explanatory sentences tied to named topics.
Lesson 5
Let's Write
Students use the "Ideas and Rough Draft" organizer to list an opening idea, what they "See," "Hear," "Think," "Do," and a concluding idea for two perspectives (Morning Girl and Star Boy). Students write first-person drafts for each voice, are prompted to revise for precise word choices and vivid images, and use an editing rubric that evaluates the clarity and creativity of ideas and the presence of character voice. The activities ask students to generate ideas, develop drafts, and revise to make the voice and descriptions obvious.
Lesson 6
The Storm
Students are asked to answer comprehension questions in complete sentences, providing factual answers about events (e.g., what happened to Star Boy, what items were found after the storm). In Activity 2, students record words or phrases that describe the setting before and after the storm and list two positive and two negative effects the storm had on people. In Activity 3, students explain the meanings of names, create new names for family members, and explain the significance of each name, which requires giving definitions and reasons.
Lesson 7
Visitors
Students are asked to write journal entries recording Star Boy's feelings, actions, and words and to write perspective journals for Morning Girl and an explorer using the Morning Girl/Visitor organizer, which prompts for description, thoughts and feelings, and other ideas. The Name Poem activity directs students to use events and text descriptions to show how Star Boy has changed. The reading questions require students to answer factual questions about Chapters 8 and 9.
Final Project
Poetry Night
Students are asked to read the "European Explorers and Native Americans" page and look through Encounter to find examples, then write or draw those examples under flaps labeled "Positive Changes," "Negative Changes," and "Mixed," which requires collecting facts and details. The activity page text provides specific factual information (disease impacts, exchange of crops and animals, forced labor and land loss) that students can use to develop those summaries. In Step 2 students must write two "before and after" poems that explicitly instruct them to include ways the natives' environment, communities, health, and lives were changed, and each poem should contain five before-and-after phrases drawn from those details.
Unit 2: Communities and Culture
Lesson 1
Getting Started
Students record prior knowledge, questions, and new information on the Historical Time Periods organizer for Ancient Egypt and the Middle Ages, adding facts to the "What I have learned" section as they read. Students are given explicit definitions (BCE and CE) and are asked to locate Egypt and England on a world map, situating facts in time and place. Students practice writing sentences using proper nouns and are prompted to list examples of people, places, and things from the texts, which requires extracting factual details from sources.
Lesson 2
Where Are We?
Students are asked to record new information on a "Historical Time Periods: Ancient Egypt" sheet and to answer reading questions in complete sentences, including factual questions about the Nile, homes, food, and how people used natural resources. In Activity 2 students write in a journal three factual details and three fictional details, explicitly distinguishing fact from fantasy. The Student Activity Page directs students to write names/descriptions of natural resources, shelter, food, drink, and clothing for both ancient Egypt and their own community, prompting them to list and describe facts and details.
Lesson 3
The King
The lesson provides an explicit "Facts and Definitions" list that students can use as source material and vocabulary to support writing. In Activity 2 students complete a Venn diagram comparing a king and a president and then are asked to write a paragraph explaining which form of government they would prefer, which requires using comparisons and factual information. Activity 3 has students look up word definitions, use them in sentences, and incorporate those words into a written short story or dictated account, reinforcing use of definitions and details in writing.
Lesson 4
Back Home
Students are asked to add information to their "Historical Time Periods: Ancient Egypt" page, which requires collecting facts about ancient Egypt. The lesson includes explicit facts and definitions (e.g., "Pyramids were burial sites for kings" and "A mummy is the specially preserved body of someone who died") that students read and recall. Activity 3 asks students to reread how pyramids are built and to discuss burial rituals and religion, prompting students to identify details about ancient Egyptian practices.
Lesson 5
A Day in Egypt
Students are directed to brainstorm and record a daily schedule for ancient Egypt and to "include details in her descriptions about what happens during each event," including meals, entertainment, and marketplace purchases. The activity tells students to refer to the "What I have learned" section and the book as needed, which prompts use of factual information from sources. Students must write a paragraph comparing life now and then and are given a "Hamburger Paragraph Organizer" that explicitly asks for a topic sentence, three details, and a conclusion.
Lesson 6
Middle Ages
Students are asked to record new information about the Middle Ages on a Historical Time Periods page, which requires locating and noting factual details from the reading. Students compare and contrast the lives of ancient Egyptian laborers and medieval peasants and must describe at least three similarities and three differences, which requires using facts and details from the texts. Students create diagrams of social class structures using information from the readings and reread specific pages to find supporting details. The lesson defines concrete and abstract nouns and asks students to write two sentences about the Middle Ages that include concrete and abstract nouns, reinforcing use of definitions in writing.
Lesson 7
Off to the Castle
Students are asked to record new information about the Middle Ages on the "Historical Time Periods: Middle Ages" page, which requires noting facts learned. In Activity 2 students complete a two-column chart listing similarities between castle life and modern community life, and Option 2 explicitly asks students to make lists of castle activities and write where those activities occur today (or "not practiced today"). In Activity 3 students compare how castles and pyramids are used and act out activities that occur within castle walls, reinforcing factual details about castle functions.
Lesson 8
Return Home
Students are asked to record new information about the Middle Ages on a "Historical Time Periods: Middle Ages" page (Activity 1), which requires them to gather and write facts. In Activity 2 students write a sentence for each vocabulary word using the provided definitions (peasants, lice, poacher, dungeon, chivalry). Activity 6 asks students to draw and/or record names of artifacts tied to cultural elements, label them as Ancient Egypt or Middle Ages, and discuss how artifacts differ, which engages them in using details to describe topics. Activity 4 directs students to identify and write similarities between a chosen historical culture and their own, requiring factual comparison.
Lesson 9
Writing About History
Students are asked to choose a time period and list interesting facts about the culture (homes, clothing, religion, food and drink, education, entertainment, and jobs) on the Getting Started page. Students are instructed to collect information from books or online and to write a factual paragraph using prompts such as "In the year __, you would find __" and "One thing you should know about __ is __," which require facts and supporting details. Students use an editing rubric that asks them to evaluate ideas and overall structure, prompting revision of content and details.
Final Project
Elements of Change
Students choose three cultural elements and describe each element for Ancient Egypt, the Middle Ages, and Today, filling in organizer boxes and the "Through the Ages" pages. Students write a sentence describing each element on the lines provided in the "Book of Change" and are prompted to use descriptive words to make their writing more interesting. Students are asked to read through their sentences, edit for grammar/complete sentences, and then describe some reasons for the changes they include in the book.
Unit 3: American Heroes
Lesson 2
Early American Heroes
Students read expository passages about Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington and answer specific factual questions (e.g., list Franklin's talents, inventions, and places he founded). Students complete Hero Cards that require entering years lived, three adjectives, and writing a sentence about how each hero changed the world. Students add names and birth/death years to a Heroes Timeline and create epitaphs that list the three greatest things each man did.
Lesson 3
Heroes of Freedom
Students read informational chapters on Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Tubman and answer specific factual questions about how each person changed the world and why actions were dangerous. Students are given a Facts and Definitions section (e.g., main cause of the Civil War, definition of slave, roles of Lincoln and Tubman) that they can use to support writing. Students complete activities that require describing and recording facts and details: filling out hero cards with names/dates, describing secret signs, drawing a route map, and creating a key that marks safe houses, the correct path, and things to avoid.
Lesson 4
Hard Times
The lesson includes a "Facts and Definitions" section that gives students explicit facts (e.g., Roosevelt was president during WWII; Eleanor was his wife) and a definition of a contraction. Students answer factual reading questions about Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt that require citing changes, challenges, and characteristics (e.g., how Eleanor changed, challenges FDR faced). Activity 1 asks students to fill out hero cards and record heroes' names and birth dates on a timeline, which has students record and organize factual details.
Lesson 5
Recent Heroes
Students answer targeted comprehension questions about Walt Disney and Jesse Owens that require them to state factual information (e.g., Owens's world records and four Olympic gold medals; Disney's movies and theme parks) and to explain how those people changed the world. Students complete Hero Cards and record names and birth dates on a timeline, requiring them to gather and organize factual details. Students write sentences using nouns and adjectives related to the heroes, which encourages adding descriptive details about people, places, and things.
Lesson 6
African-American Heroes
Students answer focused comprehension questions that require recalling facts about Mary McLeod Bethune, Frederick Douglass, and George Washington Carver (e.g., what they did, how they are remembered, and specific contributions). The Scientific Discovery activity directs students to "Read about the product... What did you learn?" with three detail prompts and asks them to explain a new use and how it would be used. The Hero Cards activity asks students to create cards for the heroes and record each one's birthdate on a timeline, encouraging collection and recording of factual information.
Lesson 7
Female Heroes
Students answer factual reading questions about Susan B. Anthony and Sandra Day O'Connor (e.g., why Anthony was arrested; O'Connor was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court). Students are asked to create hero cards and record dates of birth on a timeline, which requires selecting and recording biographical facts. Students write declarative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences about what they learned and compose an acrostic poem that lists accomplishments and descriptive phrases about a woman they admire.
Lesson 8
Heroes of Science and Invention
Students answer factual reading questions about Einstein, Edison, and the Wright brothers that require use of dates, events, and effects (e.g., why August 6, 1945 was sad; how Edison's inventions changed life). Students create hero cards and record names and birth dates on a timeline, which requires them to collect and record facts. The Perseverance activity explicitly asks students to list three reasons that motivated them and to support those reasons with details, and the Facts and Definitions section defines key terms (e.g., perseverance, adverb).
Lesson 9
Book of Heroes
Students are asked to recall main ideas, facts, and details (listed under Skills). Students complete a three-ring Venn diagram where they record each hero's name, lifespan, and significant events in America, which requires organizing factual details. Students write three sentences on the "My Favorite Hero" page and are encouraged to look up short biographies in books or online to gather more information.
Final Project
My Life Story
Students are prompted to record birth information and three major life events in the Pre-Writing Organizer, requiring them to produce concrete facts about their lives. Students are asked to list characteristics of a "hero" and to explain how they hope to change the world, which asks them to develop definitional ideas and explanatory details. Students choose photographs, use at least five adjectives and three adverbs, and include exclamatory/interrogative sentences, which requires adding descriptive details and elaboration to support their topic.
3: Cycles
Unit 1: Poppy
Lesson 1
Preparing for Poppy
Students are asked to research deer mice and great horned owls using books and websites and to fill in specific factual sections (habitat, food source, predators, shelter, size, other information). The lesson provides explicit definitions for genre terms (fantasy, protagonist, antagonist, setting) and directs students to write unfamiliar vocabulary words and their definitions on note cards and record sentences showing the words in context. Students are prompted to summarize Avi's idea of Poppy and to list elements of fantasy in a journal, which requires selecting and recording details and definitions.
Lesson 2
Mr. Ocax
Students are asked to read Chapters 1 and 2 and then write a paragraph about what they have in common with one of the characters, with explicit instruction to "support her opinion with evidence from the story and events in her own life" and to include three similarities. The Skills list instructs students to recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text. The lesson also includes a "Facts and Definitions" note (definition of conjunctions) and sentence-combining practice that requires students to craft longer, more detailed sentences.
Lesson 3
The Emergency Meeting
The lesson asks students to write a short summary of Chapters 3 and 4 in their journal and to answer comprehension questions in complete written sentences, which requires them to use facts and details from the text. The Skills list explicitly includes "Recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text," and the Facts and Definitions section provides explicit definitions (e.g., owl pellets, paragraphs) students can use. In Activity 3 students examine owl pellets, identify bones using a bone chart, research the animal bones found, and draw food chains—tasks that require collecting and using factual evidence.
Lesson 4
Standing Before Mr. Ocax
Activity 3 asks the child to write a speech explaining an action or idea and explicitly states the speech should be "supported with evidence, examples, or reasons." The reading questions prompt students to answer why characters acted as they did (e.g., whether Basil's reasons were good, why Mr. Ocax denied them), requiring students to give reasons and details. The Facts and Definitions section gives a definition (quotation marks show words that are spoken), showing an instance of teaching a definition.
Lesson 6
Dimwood Forest
Students are prompted to write in a journal describing a decision Poppy made, including the decision, its effects, and why the decision was good or bad, which asks them to explain and provide details. Students are asked to define good and evil during the Good vs. Evil activity, practicing use of definitions. The lesson provides a written definition of a diamante and asks students to create one using Mr. Ocax and Poppy, which requires selecting nouns, adjectives, and -ing words to characterize subjects.
Lesson 7
Ereth
The lesson includes a Facts and Definitions section that defines alliteration, giving students an explicit definition to use. Activity 3 asks students to read about what porcupines eat, which animals eat porcupines, and to discuss the food chain, prompting students to gather and use factual information. Activity 1 (Journal Entry) and Activity 4 (Ereth's Circle Map) require students to record quotes, explain why they are important, and write descriptive words/phrases, which directs students to collect and organize details about the topic.
Lesson 8
On the Way to New House
Students are asked to write a summary of Chapters 13 and 14 in their journal and are told that a summary is a short description of the major ideas, which requires recalling main points. A "Facts and Definitions" list provides explicit definitions students can read and use (e.g., astonished, attempt, carcass). Skills and activities ask students to recall main ideas, facts, and details, complete vocabulary crosswords using those definitions, and use each vocabulary word in their own sentence orally.
Lesson 9
The Truth at Last
Students are asked to record two examples from the text that show Mr. Ocax losing power and two pieces of evidence that Poppy is gaining hers, which requires citing facts and details from the chapters. Students complete a journal entry using the scaffold "In Chapters 15-16, Poppy wanted...But...So..." to record important information and sequence events. Students are given explicit definitions of prefix and suffix and are asked to explain the difference and produce examples, showing practice with definitions and using them in writing and sentences.
Lesson 10
The Battle
Students are asked to write a personal journal entry about a time they showed bravery and to "explain what made her afraid, how she overcame her fear, and what the outcome of the event was," which requires supplying details. In Activity 1 students design a victory flag and then explain the meaning of the symbols they created, which prompts them to use definitions and descriptive detail. The reading questions require students to answer in complete sentences and to explain causes (for example, why Poppy gained power), encouraging students to use explanatory detail and reasons.
Lesson 11
Writing Project
The organizer directs students to write three paragraphs with an introductory sentence, three supporting ideas, and a concluding sentence for each paragraph, focusing on describing the cycle of power, how Poppy broke it, and how life will change. The rubric explicitly asks students to confirm they "provide supporting evidence for each idea" and to revise writing to improve organization and supporting details. Prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing steps require students to turn organizer ideas into sentences and to add or change content when rubric items are not met.
Lesson 12
A New Beginning
Students are asked to write epitaphs for Ragweed and Mr. Ocax and are given a definition of 'epitaph' and a sentence-frame that prompts factual items (e.g., "Best known for...", "Remembered for..."). The Story Tree activity requires students to record concrete literary elements (theme, setting, protagonist, antagonist) which asks for factual details about the text. The "________'s Tree" activity asks students to place four items on the tree and then "record beneath the tree why each item on the tree is unique," prompting students to supply details about a topic, and the life application asks students to write a short speech about a person after planting a tree.
Final Project
Poppy
Students complete a Plot Diagram that asks them to identify the problem, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, requiring them to select specific plot details from the text. Students are asked to write a paragraph describing how a character reflects a theme (e.g., cycle of life or power) and to "explain the story elements and plot supporting that theme," which requires use of supporting details. Other tasks (e.g., writing a journal entry as Poppy, explaining why they chose a present) ask students to explain reasoning and include text-based support.
Unit 2: Charlotte's Web
Lesson 1
Getting Started
Students look up base words and write definitions on note cards for vocabulary (Activity 4), and they are asked to identify words with endings and record base words. Students are prompted to recall main ideas, facts, and details and to answer reading questions in complete sentences (Skills; Reading and Questions). Students write major events in a Plot Flow Chart and record descriptive words/phrases for characters as they finish each chapter (Activity 5), which requires collecting details from the text.
Lesson 2
Charlotte
Students are asked to locate information about spiders and fill out a Spider Research page with labeled sections (e.g., body, types, silk use, reproduction, life cycle), which requires gathering facts and details. The activities direct students to reread Charlotte's descriptions about eating habits and to use research information when writing a poem from Wilbur's point of view. The lesson provides a definition of "schedule" and asks students to list Wilbur's daily activities and create their own schedule, which practices using a definition and factual sequencing. The skills list includes "Write structured, informative presentations..." indicating expectation for producing informative work when given organizational help.
Lesson 3
Bad News
Students are asked to list six products that come from pigs and may need to do research to learn more about pigs (Activity 2: Pig Products), which requires gathering factual information. Students record sensory descriptions from specific pages about the barn and translate those details into writing and pictures (Activity 3: The Barn). The skills section explicitly includes planning what to include in written products and writing structured, informative presentations and narratives when given help, connecting students' writing practice to organizing content.
Lesson 4
Some Pig
Students are asked to recall the main idea, facts, and details from Chapters 10–12 and to answer specific comprehension questions about events and characters. Students complete a Plot Flow Chart by highlighting major events and write Character Descriptions that require selecting descriptive words or phrases about how characters acted or felt. Students are asked to locate adverbs in Charlotte's Web and are given explicit definitions of adverbs (a definition) and examples to use in sentences.
Lesson 5
Progress
Students are given a explicit "Facts and Definitions" list and vocabulary words with definitions to use (e.g., admiration, astonishing; spider egg sacks and molting). Students match vocabulary to definitions, find words in context, copy sentences, and make up their own sentences (Activity 3), which requires using definitions and details. Students research and describe or illustrate the spider life cycle (Activity 4) and fill a plot flow chart and character descriptions (Activity 1), all tasks that require identifying and recording factual details and definitions about the topics.
Lesson 6
The Fair
Students are prompted to write a focused paragraph in Activity 3 ("The Best Time I Ever Had") and are asked explicit reflection questions including "Do I provide enough information and details about the topic of the paragraph?" The Skills list includes "Write structured, informative presentations and narratives when given help with organization" and "Plan and make judgments about what to include in written products," which directs students to decide what details to include. In Activity 5 students make lists, describe booth activities, and list materials for a fair booth, requiring them to produce specific supporting details about their chosen topic.
Lesson 7
The End
Students are given an explicit Facts and Definitions statement listing life cycle stages (birth, growth, adulthood, reproduction, and death). Students complete Life Cycles Chart activities (Options 1 and 2) in which they check off stages for characters and create charts that require using those facts and definitions. In Activity 6 students research spiders using guided prompts and are told to include a main idea and "good information on the habitat etc.," producing sentences and an oral report that require facts and details. Activity 5 asks students to write descriptions of how characters changed, prompting them to use details from the text.
Final Project
Charlotte's Web
Students are instructed to write a three-paragraph book review that asks them to describe the setting, major events, and the problem (Paragraph 1), to describe main characters in an engaging way (Paragraph 2), and to discuss the theme of cycles with a recommendation (Paragraph 3). A sample book review is provided that models factual summary and character description. The advertisement option requires students to write short descriptive pieces about characters, setting/events/problem, and to illustrate and explain two cycles, with rubrics and planning pages prompting specific factual and detailed content.
Unit 3: The Family Under the Bridge
Lesson 1
Pre-Reading
Students are given a "Facts and Definitions" list (e.g., "Economics follows cycles," "Paris is a city in France," "People need jobs...") to use as content. Students complete a structured "Setting: Paris, France" activity page that directs them to research and record location, weather, people, historic sites, food, and other details and then write a paragraph summarizing Paris. Students complete an "Economic Cycles" diagram by listing examples in each part of the cycle and are asked to explain how the cycle would be disrupted if a person did not have a job.
Lesson 2
The French Man
Students record facts and details about characters using the "Meeting Characters" organizer (noting thoughts, words, and physical characteristics) and answer chapter questions in writing or journal entries. Students look up vocabulary in "Vocabulary Webs," write definitions, synonyms/antonyms, and use words in new sentences. Students list advantages and disadvantages of Armand not having a job and explain (role-play) what he enjoys, using facts and consequences to support their points.
Lesson 3
A Discovery
The lesson asks students to recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text and provides a "Meeting Characters" page where students fill in new information learned about characters, which requires recording factual details. Activity 2 directs students to think about how the children's economic situation was affected by their father's death and to consider things the children need but cannot buy, and then to write diary/journal entries from Armand's and Suzy's perspectives. The lesson also provides a "Facts and Definitions" note (defining a diary) and sentence starters to help students compose focused responses.
Lesson 4
A Day in the City
Students are asked to recall main ideas, facts, and details from Chapter 3 through specific reading questions and are instructed to answer in complete sentences. In Activity 2, students answer factual questions about Christmas in France (foods, date, traditions) and complete a Venn diagram comparing similarities and differences, which requires listing concrete facts and details. Activity 1 has students fill in information about characters, reinforcing attention to factual details from the text.
Lesson 5
Singing
Students are asked to describe the economic cycle of the Calcet children and Armand by listing their wants and needs, what they did to make money, and how they spent the money (Activity 1: Working for Money). The Skills section includes "Write structured, informative presentations and narratives when given help with organization," and the Working for Money student page uses a flowchart prompting specific factual entries about goods, services, and earnings. Students are also directed to reread a specific page (page 27) and list goods from the text, distinguishing needs and wants, which requires extracting facts and details from the reading.
Lesson 6
The Shoe
Students are asked to recall the main idea, facts, and details from the text (listed under Skills) and to answer guided questions in complete sentences, which practices using facts in responses. Students fill in a double-bubble map to write words and phrases describing the Calcet children and the Gypsies, organizing similarities and differences as details. Students read and compare definitions (dash, hyphen, ellipsis) and reconstruct sentences with ellipses, identifying missing phrases and explicit definitions.
Lesson 7
Among Friends
Students are asked in Activity 2 (Pack a Bag) to select items to meet characters' wants and needs and to explain their reasons and which character benefits, which requires using details and factual reasoning. The Facts and Definitions section explicitly names concepts (apostrophes; wants and needs, jobs, money, goods and services) and Activity 3 has students match vocabulary words to their definitions, showing attention to definitions. Activity 1 (Meeting Characters) directs students to record new information learned about characters, prompting them to collect and note details.
Lesson 8
Christmas Eve
The lesson includes a 'Facts and Definitions' section that explicitly presents facts about churches helping people in need and a definition-like statement about apostrophes in contractions. Activity 2 asks students to discuss and write about what people do at places of worship and how those places help the community, which prompts use of facts and community details. The activities require students to add information to a 'Meeting Characters' chart and to answer reading-comprehension questions in complete sentences, which asks for details from the text.
Lesson 9
Saying Goodbye
Students are asked to use the Culture Commentary page to look back at chapters and describe aspects of French culture, recording information about the time period, people (clothing, personalities, jobs), French words/phrases, and traditions—tasks that require gathering facts and details. Students are prompted to answer discussion and journal questions in complete sentences about plot events and economic consequences, which asks them to explain reasons and outcomes using details. Students add new information to a Meeting Characters chart and write quinzaine poems and parentheses exercises, showing opportunities to produce written responses and use definitions (the lesson includes a brief definition about parentheses).
Lesson 10
A Home at Last
Students are asked in Activity 4 Option 1 to write a paragraph that describes why having a home is important and what families are able to do when they have a home, which requires using details from the book. In Activity 4 Option 2 students write a letter explaining how they selected a housewarming gift, why it is special, and how it can be used, and they use information from the text to compose a singing telegram. The flip book and chapter questions ask students to summarize events and record descriptive phrases or sentences, prompting students to develop topics with supporting details from the story.
4: Relationships
Unit 1: One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest
Lesson 1
The Rain Forests
The lesson provides explicit facts and definitions students can use (e.g., Venezuela location, the two types of rain forests, 70 inches of rain per year, differences in leaf types). Activity 2 asks students to illustrate and describe relationships between living things, which requires them to identify and explain details about organisms and their interdependence. The Wrapping Up prompt asks students to explain the difference between temperate and tropical rain forests, prompting use of definitions and factual details.
Lesson 2
Morning in the Rain Forest
Students look up and record vocabulary definitions and then use each word in a sentence (Activity 2). Students classify animals by category and describe relationships among animals in the Rain Forest Animals Chart (Activity 1). Reading questions ask students to list animals, explain interactions among organisms, and state why rain forests are important, requiring recall and use of facts and details (Questions #2, #3, #5). The lesson also supplies a Facts and Definitions list that students can incorporate into their responses.
Lesson 3
The Tree
Students answer specific comprehension questions that require recalling facts and details from Chapter 2 (e.g., how plants depend on water; describing army ants; listing plants and animals dependent on the canopy). Students record new animals on a "Rain Forest Animals Chart" and record major events on a "Daily Activities" sheet, which asks them to organize information from the chapter. The materials include a Facts and Definitions section and activities where students locate nouns and the adjectives that describe them and circle adjectives that clarify relationships, supporting use of definitions and descriptive details.
Lesson 4
Butterfly Search
Students are prompted to write a paragraph in Activity 2 that asks them to state which type of animal scientist they would be and to provide the habitat, three animals they would study, and an explanation of a relationship between two organisms. Activity 3 asks students to pretend they discovered a new butterfly and to write about two relationships that the butterfly has with a plant or animal. The lesson includes a Facts and Definitions section (names and definitions of types of scientists and symmetry) and Skills that explicitly call for planning written products and recalling facts and details.
Lesson 5
Rain Forest Relationships
Students answer focused comprehension questions about organisms and their interactions (e.g., describing the sloth and sloth moth relationship, how plants battle for sunlight), and they complete a "Relationships" activity that asks them to describe how pairs of living things help or harm one another. The Skills list explicitly includes "Recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text" and "compose texts when responding to literature," and students add animals and relationships to a "Rain Forest Animals Chart" and record events on "Daily Activities." The Plot Timelines require students to place factual events in sequence, reinforcing use of details from the chapters.
Lesson 6
Law of the Jungle
Students add animals and relationships to a Rain Forest Animals Chart and record major events, which requires them to collect and record factual details. Students match vocabulary words to definitions and then use each word in a sentence related to the rain forest, which engages them with definitions and word-meaning application. Students illustrate or describe three examples of "The Law of the Jungle" in a journal and answer why the law exists, which asks them to develop the topic with supporting details and explanations.
Lesson 7
Helping a Friend
Activity 1 asks students to add new animals to a "Rain Forest Animals Chart" and to "describe any relationships among living things" from the chapter, and to "record the major events" on a "Daily Activities" page. Activity 3 directs students to read the description of leaf-cutter ants, make an "Ants on a Log" snack, and encourages them to read more about the ants' roles, the process by which they grow food, their relationship with fungus, and how they help one another. The lesson provides web links and prompts that lead students to gather factual information and details about animals and ecological relationships.
Lesson 8
Persuasive Writing
The lesson provides organizers (Option 2) where students must write an introductory sentence, three reasons and a supporting detail sentence for each reason, and a concluding sentence for Paragraph 1, and similar detail lines for Paragraphs 2 and 3. The Student Activity Pages for Paragraphs 2 and 3 include explicit "Detail" lines for each relationship/treasure, prompting students to add supporting information. The Editing and Revising Rubric asks students to check whether each paragraph has supporting details, directing students to revise for detail.
Lesson 9
A Close Call
Students add new animals and describe relationships on the Rain Forest Animals Chart (Activity 1), and they total occurrences and create a labeled bar graph showing which animal groups appear most and least often (Activity 3). Students read and list major events, select important events, and write the problem, climax, falling action, and resolution on a Plot Diagram (Activity 4). Students discuss and record definitions of metaphor and simile and generate their own examples and illustrations (Facts and Definitions; Activity 2).
Final Project
Field Guide or Documentary
The organizers for both the field guide and documentary prompt students to record specific factual categories (name, layer where found, food, predators, interesting facts, relationships with other living things). The documentary option requires students to write a script that includes name, habitat, diet, predators, interesting facts, and relationships, and the field guide organizer asks students to provide information and pictures for each animal. The lesson also instructs students to use multiple sources to locate information and to develop, revise, and edit drafts, and the rubric evaluates clarity of writing and explanation of relationships.
Unit 2: The Whipping Boy
Lesson 1
Medieval Times
Students are given a Facts and Definitions list (democracy, monarchy, reference book, historical fiction) and are asked to write anything they already know about medieval times on the Medieval Times activity page. Students list disadvantages of a monarchy, use a Venn diagram to compare a king and a president, and use the provided similarities/differences to develop factual comparisons. Students complete The Middle Ages chart by writing what they learn about transportation, clothing, homes, government, education, and entertainment, and they must identify factual details in the historical fiction as they read and create historically accurate illustrations for a comic strip using reference sources.
Lesson 2
Jemmy and Prince Brat
Students are asked to write definitions and contextual sentences for vocabulary words in Activity 2, and a Facts and Definitions list is provided with explicit definitions (e.g., gloat, thrashing, crest). Students must recall main ideas, facts, and details as listed in the Skills section and answer comprehension questions that require citing facts and summarizing chapters. Students create comic-strip panels and write a sentence/narration for each scene, selecting important events and details from the chapters.
Lesson 3
The Plot Thickens
Students match idioms from the book with their translations and translate idioms in writing, which requires them to use and apply definitions. Students use the provided list of colors and symbols with meanings to create crests for Jemmy and Prince Brat and are asked to describe how the characters' personalities affect their relationship, prompting use of details and facts about the characters. Students answer journal questions about Chapters 4–6 that ask for facts and details (for example, where Jemmy planned to hide and what happened in the foggy woods).
Lesson 4
A Note to the King
Students read a Facts and Definitions section that defines a simile and the feudal system. Students study a feudal-system flowchart and answer specific factual questions (who has most/least power, what peasants pay, what kings give), practicing use of facts and details. Students answer comprehension questions in a journal about the chapters, recalling facts and details from the text.
Lesson 5
Disagreements
Students are instructed to answer comprehension questions in a journal about Chapters 10–12, which ask them to explain events (e.g., how Jemmy convinced others, who was sent back, and why) and to describe relationships between characters. The lesson provides a Facts and Definitions list and vocabulary activities that require students to look up and apply word meanings (selecting words to fit blanks, filling words into a paragraph). Students rewrite hyperboles into non-exaggerated statements and compose their own hyperboles, which practices clarifying meaning in writing.
Lesson 6
In the Woods
Students answer focused journal questions that require recalling facts and details from Chapters 13–15 (for example, how Jemmy escaped, what beast he found, and how they planned to make money). The lesson includes a "Facts and Definitions" section that defines main and supporting characters and asks students to name and sort those characters. Students are asked to write a letter to a friend or design a "Best Friend Award," both of which prompt them to list traits and explain why someone is a good friend.
Lesson 7
The Rescue
Students are directed to write a paragraph about the place where they feel most comfortable using a five-sentence outline that includes a topic sentence, three reasons, and a concluding sentence (Option 1 and Option 2). Option 2 explicitly provides lines for a reason and a supporting detail for each of the three reasons, guiding students to add supporting details. The lesson also includes a "Facts and Definitions" note (defining a ballad) and activities that ask students to read and discuss factual information about town life and medieval food, which students can use as facts and details in their writing.
Lesson 8
Friends
Students are asked to reread Chapters 1-2 and 19-20 and list four specific behaviors for Prince Brat and Prince Horace on the 'Changes' activity page, which requires recalling and recording facts and details from the text. The comprehension questions require students to answer concrete questions (e.g., why the prince was afraid, who they met in the sewers), prompting use of textual details. The 'A Day in the Castle' journal page asks students to describe day's events, thoughts, decisions, and reflections for both characters, prompting students to develop a topic with supporting details. The Skills section notes that students will 'plan and make judgments about what to include in written products' and 'write structured, informative presentations ... when given help,' indicating practice in organizing details for writing.
Final Project
A Monologue
Students are prompted to reread specific pages and to write monologues that explain how Prince Brat and Jemmy feel and how their relationship has changed, using sentence starters that ask for background, wishes, and descriptions. The rubrics ask whether students included specific ideas and explanations about the character's background, difficulties, and main message. The activity asks students to revise and edit their monologues for clarity and to make sure they covered the rubric criteria.
Unit 3: Iggie's House
Lesson 1
The Move
Students are asked to list five characteristics of a good friend in a journal and to write a sentence for each characteristic explaining why it is important, then give examples of how they have demonstrated those characteristics (Activity 1). The vocabulary pages provide definitions and require students to identify sentences that use words correctly, prompting students to apply definitions in context (Activity 3). The Reactions Chart and the options in Activity 4 require students to write personal reactions, a paragraph describing what they would miss about a friend, or a letter sharing facts about their life — all tasks that ask for supporting details and examples.
Lesson 2
Meeting the Neighbors
The lesson explicitly provides definitions (e.g., "A fact is something that can be proven," and a definition of racial relationships) and asks students to distinguish fact from opinion in a "Fact or Opinion" worksheet where they mark statements and write two factual and two opinion sentences. Students are asked to answer journal questions about Chapter 2 that require recalling main ideas, facts, and details, and to complete a "Reactions Chart." The Student Activity Page asks students to read scenarios about racial relationships, decide how they would respond, and create their own scenario, prompting written responses that use facts and examples.
Lesson 3
The Softball Game
The lesson includes a "Facts and Definitions" section that gives explicit definitions and rules about verbs (third-person singular -s, past tense -ed, irregular verbs). The Skills and Reading sections ask students to "recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text" and to answer journal/discussion questions about the chapter, which prompts written responses. Activities ask students to write sentences (Subject/Verb Agreement activity, Irregular Verbs sentences) and to fill in a Reactions Chart, requiring them to record information and responses in writing.
Lesson 4
A New Dog
Activity 2 asks students to write a paragraph about their relationship with a pet and to describe what owners must do to take care of pets, listing concrete items (feed them, give attention, provide a safe place, take them to the vet) that students can include as supporting facts and details. The Skills section and the Student Activity Page prompt students to record knowledge and draw a picture beneath the paragraph, reinforcing use of specific details and facts to develop the topic. The instruction to discuss the relationship and responsibilities before writing gives students examples of facts and details to use in their writing.
Lesson 5
A Visit from Germs
Students answer comprehension questions that require recalling specific facts and details (for example, identifying that Mrs. Landon brought a petition with 9 signatures). Students complete Activity 2 by writing descriptions of the problems between named characters and suggesting ways to solve them. In Activity 3 students list three points of interest and describe materials needed for a tree house, requiring them to provide concrete details.
Lesson 6
A New Petition
Students identify and write definitions for vocabulary words (crusader, questionnaire, firmly, jotted, frantically, permission) and create flashcards, practicing matching words with their meanings. Students answer journal questions and summarize chapter events, which requires recalling facts and details from the text. Students complete Character Circle Maps, writing descriptive words and are asked to support those choices with evidence from the text (events, actions, and words).
Lesson 7
The Swim Club
The Facts and Definitions section provides an explicit definition of contractions for students to learn. Activity 3 (Contractions Game) and its options ask students to use contractions in sentences and to write six sentences in a journal related to characters/events, requiring them to produce written sentences that include the defined term. Activity 2 (Friendship House) requires students to write numbered sentences that describe the friendship between pairs of characters, and the Wrapping Up prompts ask the child to describe what happened to Winnie and identify contractions in the chapter.
Lesson 8
Moving
Students are asked to 'Recall the main idea, facts, and details from a text' and to complete a Reactions Chart and double-bubble maps that require them to record specific characteristics and similarities/differences between characters. The Skills list includes 'Write structured, informative presentations and narratives when given help with organization,' which implies guided practice in composing organized writing. Several activities (Similarities and Differences, the Student Activity Page) require students to collect and record details about characters.
Lesson 9
A Letter
The planning pages require students to write a topic sentence and multiple supports for each of three paragraphs, prompting students to list supporting details for each main idea. The directions explicitly remind students to use events that occurred in the story in their writing, and the provided example letter models specific factual details (places, people, actions like the petition) that students can emulate. The letter rubric asks whether the student used examples and descriptive words, reinforcing the expectation to develop ideas with supporting details.
Lesson 11
The End
The lesson includes a "Facts and Definitions" section that gives explicit definitions for theme, protagonist, antagonist, and setting, which students can use as definitions in writing. Activity 1 (Reactions Chart) asks students to read through major events and character responses, prompting them to recall facts and details. Activity 2 (Book in a Bag) has students select items to represent story elements and then pull out each item and describe why they selected it, requiring students to explain details and connect evidence to a topic. Activity 3 asks students to write in a journal about what they would have in common with a character, why that character would be a good friend, and what they would do together, prompting development of a topic with reasons and supporting details.
Final Project
Character Interviews
Students are asked to write interview questions for specific characters that "require the person being interviewed to supply the public with information" and to avoid yes/no answers. Students are instructed to make up answers from each character's perspective and to "include events in the story" using a Reactions Chart and journal entries as sources. The rubric asks students whether they "used events in the story as [they] developed [their] questions and answers" and whether answers "reflect the personalities of the characters," prompting use of details and facts about characters.