Students are prompted to write a reflective journal entry that asks them to describe an event, their feelings, and what they learned, which requires them to provide concrete details and personal examples. The vocabulary matching and picture-dictionary activities require students to record and use explicit definitions and to create illustrative examples for words. The Sailing Paragraph option asks students to write a paragraph about sailing that explicitly uses each vocabulary word, requiring them to compose connected written material that applies learned definitions.

Students are asked to read Chapters 8–14 and answer questions in complete sentences, which requires them to produce written responses based on the text. Question #3 explicitly directs students to use examples from the book to support their answer, prompting them to cite textual details about Cody's feelings for Sophie. The Character Timeline activity asks students to record words and phrases to describe Sophie and Cody, which has students collect concrete descriptive details from the reading.

Students cut out and match direct quotations from the novel to characters in the "Identifying Voice" activity, working directly with quoted text. Students answer comprehension questions in complete sentences about how the environment and boat changed, which requires citing concrete details from Chapters 36–50. In the Similes & Personification activities, students identify figurative-language examples in quoted passages and write their own descriptive sentences or a paragraph (Option 2) using similes and personification as concrete examples.

Students are asked to research either Ireland or England using the provided web links, locate the countries on a map, and create a 4" x 6" postcard that includes an illustration and a written note describing what they are doing on the visit. The directions require students to use informational sources to find things they might see and do and to write a message that summarizes that information for a friend or relative.

Students are directed to complete 'Themes' pages that ask them to list ways each character changed and to "provide evidence from the book to support both themes." Option 2 explicitly instructs students to think of two themes and write three pieces of evidence for each theme in lined boxes. The parent plan supplies sample evidence statements and model examples, and Activity 2 (Option 2) asks students to "write down a plan for how you would teach the skill or idea to your family," requiring them to produce an explanatory plan with supporting details.

The lesson repeatedly instructs students to add concrete, sensory details and dialogue (e.g., "Put your reader in the action…appeal to the reader's senses," "Use dialogue in your narrative," and "Add interesting and important details"). The Prewriting Narrative Organizer requires students to write three main events, note how each event made them feel, and state what they learned or how they changed. The rubric and editing checklist explicitly ask students to use precise descriptive details, include dialogue/quotations if appropriate, and reflect on what was learned.

Students must select a character quote and write an explanation of why the quote is meaningful (Character Quote mini book). Students must paste a character artifact image and explain why that object represents the character (Character Artifact). Students must choose and illustrate the four most important events for the character (Important Events accordion) and write sentences describing the character at the beginning, middle, and end of the story (Character Changes). The end-of-unit test also asks students to describe a theme of the book using examples from the story and to state lessons taught by characters, requiring use of textual examples.

Students are instructed to locate dictionary definitions for vocabulary words, record the definitions, draw illustrations, and write sentences using each word, which involves using and applying definitions. Students are asked to watch The City of Ember and write or perform a movie review that describes characters, setting, and plot and discusses how the setting plays an important role. The lesson also directs students to read or watch sample movie reviews (links provided) to understand what to include in their review.

Students are asked to keep a Learning Log (Activity 1) in which they record discoveries and illustrate them across chapters. They are instructed to decide how to group similar discoveries, label pages by category, and repeatedly add concrete items (oxen, milk from cows, tree bread, etc.), which requires selecting and organizing relevant content. Reading questions also prompt students to answer why characters react a certain way and to cite facts from the story in complete sentences.

Students are asked to write a ballad about the Disaster that "should remind the people of what happened and that they should always try to live peacefully," including guidance on stanza form and rhyme patterns and links to example ballads. Students are also asked to create a monument for Sparks: they must draw a sketch and build a small model using materials, and parents are prompted to discuss decisions about materials, shape, and colors. A comprehension question asks students to state what the Disaster was (three plagues and four wars), which gives a specific factual detail students can use in their products.

Students are instructed in Activity 1 to compose three arguments and to "support each argument with evidence" and to identify which statements are facts and which are opinions. The Student Activity Page provides spaces for three arguments and supporting details, directing students to record a position and supporting information. In Activity 2 students write a short descriptive paragraph to accompany a drawing, requiring selection of colors and images that reflect mood and use of descriptive detail.

Students are asked to answer comprehension questions in complete sentences that require explanation (e.g., evaluating whether Tick's ideas are good and whether Lina should have hidden in the truck). Activity 2 asks students to illustrate Ember and Sparks and create a Venn diagram, explicitly telling students to include landforms, bodies of water, and manmade structures and to use their learning log and the movie to remember discoveries. The instruction to "Add to Doon and Lina's learning log" requires students to write about the text.

Students are prompted in Activity 1 to write a paragraph selecting one media outlet and explain why it would benefit the people of Sparks and Ember, including how it could help them with problems and change the emotional climate, which requires giving reasons and examples. In Activity 2 students must draw five items a roaming visitor would find and then explain on the back why they chose each item, requiring concrete explanations tied to their choices. Reading questions ask students to answer in complete sentences about character motives and actions (e.g., why Torren hates Lina and what he does), which requires recounting relevant facts and details from the text.

Students are asked to explain and justify opinions in open-response questions (e.g., "Who do you think is a more effective leader, Mary or Ben? Why?"), which requires them to provide reasons and supporting details. In Activity 1 students must identify context clues and record what in the book's context helped them understand vocabulary words, which asks them to cite specific textual context. In Activity 2 students brainstorm lists comparing American city governments and Sparks, decide which system is more effective and why, or design a government diagram and describe it to a parent, requiring organization of information and reasons.

Students are asked to brainstorm solutions and then write a 6-8 sentence speech explaining a solution and why both groups should work together, prompting them to provide reasons and supporting details. Students complete a bubble map identifying the type of conflict in the novel and supply evidence from the text, including events, characters' words and actions, or dialogue, which encourages use of examples and quotations. Students choose between describing five ways electricity will change lives or writing experiment directions with a materials list and step-by-step procedures, requiring concrete details and specific information.

Students are asked to gather information about a selected war or plague and to take notes in a Research Organizer that specifically prompts them to record causes, effects on communities, and how/why it ended. The Wars and Plagues rubric and Daily News organizer require students to integrate research into a newspaper report, include visuals, and provide engaging, detailed writing. In Option 2, students are directed to write a three-paragraph essay with specified paragraph focuses (geography/resources; government/economy; adaptation), and the New Environment rubric evaluates paragraph detail and use of examples. The Skills section explicitly states students will "develop the topic with simple facts, details, examples and explanations."

Students are asked in Activity 2 (Eye Bouquet) to choose a familiar object and create a vivid description using words that appeal to the sense of sight, producing at least 25 words and avoiding naming the object. Students read their descriptions aloud to a listener who tries to guess the object, and the lesson provides model descriptive lines from the story (e.g., "that shimmery color, halfway between purple and silver") as examples to imitate.

Students are directed in Activity 3 to research Mars using specified resources and "record facts about Mars in your journal," which requires finding and noting relevant factual information. In Activity 2 students must provide three examples from the story that show the setting is a "Rational World" and three examples of "Non-rational Events," asking them to select concrete details and examples from the text. In Activity 4 students are asked to "record some phrases and sentences from the story" that describe an environment, which prompts them to collect quotations and descriptive details for later use.

Activity 4 (Pompeii Research) requires students to research the history of Pompeii and record ten important facts on the Volcano Research page, providing explicit practice gathering relevant factual information. The Descriptive Language activity asks students to locate and record phrases from the story that describe Pompeii through Tito's senses, prompting collection of concrete sensory details. The RAFT task asks students to adopt the role of a historian and create a poem or song in remembrance of Pompeii, which invites use of researched facts for an audience.

Students are asked to research information about the Catskill Mountains in an encyclopedia and then write ten trivia questions (Activity 1, Option 2), which requires locating and recording factual information. Students are prompted to write a paragraph imagining waking up twenty years in the future and to consider specific categories (environment, technology, people), which asks them to develop ideas with supporting details (Activity 2). Students must rewrite a scene as a script, identifying characters and writing lines and stage directions, which requires using concrete story details to develop the scene (Activity 5).

Students are asked to write a 6-8 sentence short story critique that must include specific references to the story, asking them to highlight what they enjoyed and discuss the author's intent. Students complete a Venn diagram comparing two characters, organizing similarities and differences based on text details. The lesson provides background facts about the great white heron (historical endangerment and Audubon Society) and comprehension questions that require factual answers drawn from the texts.

Students gather and record relevant facts and definitions when they list the steps for admission to the Union in their journals, note how long Confederate states had been members of the Union, and color/label the map to show Union, Confederate, and border states. Students collect concrete details and organize chronological facts by cutting out and pasting timeline events for 1861 and by using color-coded note cards to record causes, leaders, battles, mistakes, and outcomes during Battle of Bull Run research. Students read and analyze primary sources (diaries and prisoner accounts) and are asked to identify facts and opinions and discuss differing perspectives.

Students are asked in Activity 1 to identify factual information about the Civil War from the picture book and record those facts in a journal. Activity 5 requires students to read and analyze Civil War letters, identify the letter writers and recipients, determine their side and opinions, and work directly with primary-source content. Option 2 asks students to compare life during the Civil War to life today using a Venn diagram, which has students select and organize relevant facts. The reading comprehension questions also require students to recall concrete events and details from the story.

Students are given an explicit definition of propaganda ("Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude...") and must identify facts and opinions from a historical speech. Activity 2 directs students to record three factual statements and three opinion statements from the speech and to identify at least two possible propaganda statements. Students must also analyze Civil War images and write explanations of how each picture could have been used as propaganda, and they complete short-answer comprehension questions that require factual support (e.g., reasons Vernon was afraid).

Students are asked to read pages 21–40 of Bull Run and answer comprehension questions, providing a source text to draw from. Students write three or five sentences about the Civil War (Option 1 or 2), a directed writing task that requires composing content about the topic. Students design a Civil War propaganda poster, choose North or South, consider characters and audience, and are prompted (via parent notes) to explain the poster's message and how it would influence a reader; links to historical posters are provided as models.

Students are asked to describe Toby's feelings before and after Bull Run using the "Character, Conflict, & Change" page and to "cite evidence from the book to support your ideas," which requires selecting concrete details and quotations. The Character Quilt activity directs students to label squares with each character's main achievement and to depict memorable scenes, prompting students to include descriptive details and examples about characters. The comprehension questions require complete-sentence answers about character actions and meanings of quotations from the book, which asks students to use textual information in their responses.

Students are asked to "support the position with organized and relevant evidence" and to use information learned from books and their knowledge of the time period to support arguments. The argumentative outline and paragraph scaffolds require students to list arguments and multiple supports for each argument in Paragraphs 2–4. The rubric explicitly assesses whether writing "Provides relevant details and information" and the use of "knowledgeable sources."

Students are asked to take notes on Isaac Newton (6–10 facts) from research and then use those note cards to write a bio-poem, which requires selecting and recording factual details. Students answer comprehension questions in complete sentences about Einstein's life and ideas, and they generate three or four questions about Einstein and record answers as they read. The parent plan prompts students to summarize major events and discuss a quotation ("Imagination is more important than knowledge"), encouraging use of specific ideas from the text.

Students answer directed comprehension questions in complete sentences that require factual information about Einstein's childhood and views on education. Students match vocabulary words to definitions and then place those words in context sentences, demonstrating use of definitions and concrete examples. Students record positive and negative traits with explanations of consequences and create a timeline by recording important events and dates from the chapters, which requires selecting and recording relevant facts and details.

Students read Chapters 3 and 4 and answer comprehension questions in complete sentences, which requires them to identify and state relevant facts about Einstein's university experience and consequences. Students add two to four important events from the chapters to a timeline and place childhood/young adult events onto a Biography Web, which requires selecting, organizing, and presenting concrete details from the text. The lesson defines biography versus autobiography and has students learn word roots (definitions), supplying definitional tools and factual content they can use when developing their written responses.

Students are asked to take notes on important ideas and information while watching videos and then write a video summary that includes major topics, themes, or events (Activities 4 and 5). Students fill a "Biography Web" and add events to a timeline, locating and recording four major events from Einstein's "miracle year" (Activity 1). Students conduct the "Bending Light" demonstration and answer questions about what is happening, using a provided explanation of light refraction; students also review and use vocabulary definitions in sentences (Activity 2 and vocabulary activities). Activity 6 requires students to explain the theory of relativity to a family member using examples from the video or book and props, encouraging concrete examples and explanations.

Students answer specific reading comprehension questions in complete sentences (e.g., explaining how the science world responded to Einstein's papers and describing gravity as warping space-time), which requires them to state relevant facts and explanations. Students fill a Biography Web by selecting and organizing four major events from Einstein's life, practicing the selection and organization of relevant content. Students write one-sentence descriptions of how math is used in five scientific fields, producing concrete examples that link math to scientific topics.

Students answer comprehension questions that require using relevant facts and concrete details from Chapters 9 and 10 (e.g., why Einstein opposed war; reasons he was passed over for the Nobel Prize). Students add events to a timeline, showing selection and organization of factual information. In Activity 1 students select, memorize, and share three of Einstein's quotes, and in Activity 2 students read an encyclopedia entry and compare/contrast it with a biography and documentaries, explaining how each source contributed to their understanding.

Students read Chapters 11 and 12 and answer four comprehension questions in complete sentences, requiring them to write factual responses about Einstein (e.g., his disagreement with quantum mechanics, reasons for moving to America). Students fill a biography web with four major events for the section "The War," which requires selecting and recording relevant events. Students watch a documentary and record at least three statements that are facts (and two opinions), and they complete an online activity to understand E=mc², all of which require identifying and noting factual information.

Students are asked to write a biography (Option 1) by recording characteristics, accomplishments, important life moments, and notable features, which requires gathering facts and concrete details about Einstein. In Option 2, students must provide two examples from the book for each common biography element (shows effects on others, provides examples of behavior, illustrates individuality, notes author feeling, describes surroundings), which directs students to use specific information and examples from the text. Activity 1 and the Curiosity activity prompt students to locate information, answer research questions, and record answers, supporting development of a topic with gathered facts and details.

Students are asked to fill in a birth certificate using factual information and to locate at least three photographs from Einstein's life, which requires gathering concrete details. Students must include at least three of Einstein's quotes and design an award or certificate that explains what the award was presented for, demonstrating use of quotations and factual description. The Skills section explicitly directs students to conduct research from a variety of sources and to integrate main ideas and supporting details from multiple sources to expand understanding.

Students read background passages that present relevant facts about World War II (countries invaded, dates, casualty figures) and definitions for key vocabulary terms. Students complete a map activity categorizing European countries by Axis, Allied, occupied, or neutral status, using factual information. Students read an informational e-book about Denmark and are asked to create an acrostic that highlights important aspects of the country, selecting content from that reading.

Students are asked to complete an "Impact & Occupation Chart" that requires them to think of different areas of life (Jobs, Food, Family, Education, etc.) and write possible impacts, which prompts generation of concrete examples and information. Students may also write a "Before and After Occupation" poem describing significant changes in their community, which asks them to articulate specific changes and details. Students summarize Chapters 1 and 2 in a four- or five-sentence summary, practicing selection of main ideas from a text.

Students read an explicit definition of propaganda and are asked to analyze several historical propaganda posters, summarizing the message of each poster in a sentence. Students design their own propaganda poster, deciding the message, images, and text to communicate that message, and are instructed to explain the poster to their family. Students locate and mark important passages to read aloud and copy and correct a paragraph using proofreading symbols, which requires attention to wording and specific textual details.

Students are asked to research Jewish culture and religion using the Internet or other resources and to record findings in a menorah graphic organizer, which requires collecting relevant facts and details. Students must describe three problem/solution situations from the chapters, explaining each problem and how characters solved it, which prompts use of concrete details from the text. The parent prompts ask students to share and discuss the information they recorded and to predict problems and solutions, encouraging elaboration of collected information.

Students are asked to read Chapters 7 and 8 and then "describe where the characters have moved to and from and describe each setting in detail either in words or in map form," which requires concrete descriptive details. The task requires students to "be sure to give the page locations where each scene is described," which directs students to cite textual locations (evidence). Students must also "explain what role the setting plays in the conflict of the story," which asks for analysis and use of relevant information to develop the topic.

Students are asked to read a biographical web page about Barbara Rodbell, retell her story to a parent, and answer a journal question connecting her message to historical and contemporary contexts, which requires using factual information from the source. The parent-plan skills ask students to paraphrase major ideas and supporting evidence, and the literary-luminary task asks students to choose passages (quotations) and explain why they selected them aloud. These activities require students to identify and use concrete details or quotations from texts when explaining meaning.

Students are asked to brainstorm a list of historical figures who made sacrifices and to choose one to compare/contrast with Annemarie using a Venn diagram, recording differences and at least two similarities. The directions require students to record the name of the individual, create a symbol, and note specific aspects in the left, right, and center portions of the diagram. Parent prompts ask the child to explain the Venn diagram and to share the illustration and explain what it represents.

Students are asked to list two of Annemarie's traits and provide examples from the text on the Character Sketch page, requiring them to select and cite textual evidence. Students must describe the problem Annemarie faced and explain how her traits helped her solve it, which asks for concrete details and causal explanation. In the Little Red Riding Hood activity, students read two versions and use a graphic organizer to show similarities and differences, practicing comparison and organization of relevant content.

Students are asked to research Denmark's involvement in World War II using provided trusted websites and additional sources, with explicit instructions to put information in their own words and to look for a memorable quotation and pictures to include. Students use a bubble map organizer that requires three supporting details for each of three subtopics, guiding them to record concrete details and examples for each paragraph. The final magazine template includes designated sections for QUOTE and FACTOIDS and directs students to include two pictures and cite the source (web link or title/author). The rubric and parent plan explicitly state that students should "include specific facts, details, and examples" and guide evaluation based on organization and inclusion of supporting details.

Students are asked to write extended products that require factual development, such as researching Alexander Hamilton and writing an essay, writing an article as if reporting for a newspaper, creating a scrapbook about the Han Dynasty, and composing a letter from a historical perspective from the Think-Tac-Toe cards. The book-jacket activity requires students to write a summary including main character, setting, beginning/middle/end and a front flap reflection on what they learned. The "Number the Stars" test asks students to explain plans and events (e.g., explain the plan Uncle Henrik and Mrs. Johansen carried out) and to describe how characters showed bravery, which requires use of concrete details and facts.

Students create a Vocabulary Picture Dictionary in which they write each vocabulary word, note its part of speech, record the provided definition, and copy a sentence that uses the word. Students compose a pros-and-cons list weighing whether to drink the "Everlasting Life" water and then decide whether to take a sip. Students write a paragraph imagining their life ten years in the future after drinking the water, which asks them to describe how life has changed and whether they regret the choice.

Students are asked to underline at least three or four sentences from the book that describe the setting and to record a phrase or sentence from the book at the top of their picture (using quotation marks). In the map option, students must reread descriptive passages and design a map that includes the road, turns, and things found along the road based on the author's description. The question tasks ask students to record phrases or sentences where the author describes the setting and to answer factual comprehension questions (e.g., what three things happen in the prologue).

Option 1 directs students to write paragraphs describing the Fosters' and the Tucks' homes using the author's descriptions and to put quotation marks around any words or phrases taken directly from the text. Option 2 asks students to locate and record words and phrases the author uses to juxtapose the two homes and to place quotation marks around those text excerpts. Reading questions (e.g., Q2) point students to find answers in a specific chapter, reinforcing use of textual details as support.

Students read and respond to targeted comprehension questions that require use of facts from the text (e.g., identifying what happened to the horse and Jesse's wish for Winnie). In Activity 2 students read extended quotations about cycles and change and are asked to collect natural items and explain the significance of each item as a representation of a cycle or change. The lesson also asks students to explain themes and to discuss whether Tuck's theory is correct, prompting them to use examples from the novel in their explanations.

Students are asked to "write a summary of the chapters you read today that includes all the vocabulary words," and six vocabulary words are provided with definitions for use. The Skills section lists "Summarize the main ideas and supporting details in text," and multiple comprehension questions ask students to explain characters' motivations. Students also identify and create similes and metaphors, practicing use of descriptive language in writing.

Students are instructed to record three examples of cause and effect from the novel and to select one example to write a cause-and-effect paragraph. The activity requires students to fill a graphic organizer that asks for a single cause with three effects or a single effect with three causes, and to use that organizer as an outline for their paragraph. A sample paragraph is provided that models using story events and details to explain relationships between causes and effects.

Students are asked to record three quotes or actions from the book that describe characters' feelings about living forever and to list three positive and three negative responses, putting quotes beside the character names. Students must write a two-minute opening argument that explains the importance of the issue, states their position, and explains why their argument is valid, and they must prepare answers to opponent questions and three clear, specific questions of their own. The activity explicitly directs students to summarize their own thoughts in a "Your Own Words" section and to prepare reasoned responses within timed two-minute answers.

Students are asked to record examples of discrimination and explain how each is an example using the "Recognizing Discrimination" graphic organizers for chapters 1–12, which requires citing concrete events and details from the text. Students view primary-source interview footage about the Civil Rights Movement and then write a three- or four-sentence journal response explaining what they learned, referencing events and interviews. Students study and practice vocabulary by matching words with definitions and using the words in sentences, giving them explicit practice with definitions and concrete word usage.

Students are asked to research Mississippi and record specific factual information on a "Mississippi Facts" sheet (natural resources, weather and climate, population, three historical events, map, and product/farm examples). In Option 2 students must create an informational tri-fold brochure that requires a map, labeled natural resources, a written climate description, statistics and facts (population, governor, capital, number of representatives), and short written descriptions of farming and historical events. The Dialect Guide provides word meanings (definitions) that students use to interpret text, and the Option 1 comparison questions ask students to explain how Mississippi is similar to and different from their state (analysis).

Students are asked to write a 6–10 sentence formal letter to the head of the school board explaining what the county is doing wrong, why it is wrong, and what should be done to correct it. The task requires students to identify at least two problems that need to be addressed and to include specific sentence structures in the body of the letter. The Parent Plan supplies a list of concrete examples of injustices (e.g., worn-out textbooks, little funding, no school buses) that students are expected to identify and use in their letters, and a formal letter template guides organization.

Students practice adding concrete descriptive details in the "Expanding Sentences" activity by inserting adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and more vivid verbs to make sentences more informative and specific. The reading and discussion prompts ask students to explain historical facts (e.g., that racism stemmed from slavery) and to interpret Mama's quotation, giving practice with using a quotation as a basis for discussion. In Activity 2 students must create a poster promoting positive race relations, which asks them to select a powerful slogan and images to convey information and persuade an audience.

Students are asked to select eight unknown words from chapters 7-12, locate their definitions, and use those definitions to create a crossword puzzle, which requires identifying and recording precise definitions. Students complete a Venn-diagram style 'A Southern Christmas' organizer comparing the Logan family's traditions and their own across categories (Family, Food, Gifts), which requires selecting concrete details and examples. Comprehension questions prompt students to cite specific events and facts from Chapter 7 (e.g., what the children received for Christmas, why Stacey gave T.J. his coat).

Students are given a clear definition of sharecropping in the "Things to Know" and the Activity 1 background, and they are directed to watch a video that provides historical facts and images. Students must produce a diagram with visual and textual elements that explains the sharecropping system or locate a historical image and write a realistic quote portraying a sharecropper's life, both requiring concrete details and examples. Students are instructed to incorporate information from their reading or research when revising and to add details and descriptive verbs in the editing/revising activities.

The organizing-pages prompt students to introduce the setting with time and a historical context, which directs students to include relevant background facts. The paragraph prompts ask students to bring characters to life, describe major problems or struggles, and recount suspenseful events, which encourages inclusion of concrete details and illustrative examples. The book-report rubric asks students to 'show rather than tell' and to use strong verbs and engaging, descriptive sentences, guiding students to develop their ideas with vivid detail.

Students are asked to finish the rough draft of a report and to read through their rough draft to make changes that improve the paragraph, combining sentences and adding details. Students are instructed to use editing symbols from the Student Activity Page to correct punctuation, spelling, tense, pronoun, fragment, and run-on errors. Students are prompted to read their revised and edited book report aloud and to focus on content and voice as part of revision.

Students are instructed to create four slides/posters that require presenting the problem, providing examples of discrimination (based on the story and Jim Crow laws), proposing concrete suggestions for change, and describing how the community will improve—tasks that demand facts, examples, and concrete details. The lesson asks students to review vocabulary words and the "Things to Know" sections and includes end-of-unit test questions that require definitions (sharecropper, boycott, Jim Crow laws) and an explanation of the Civil Rights Movement. The PowerPoint Organizer and the Presentation Rubric direct students to include main points, important details, and visuals that support their ideas, reinforcing development of the topic with relevant information and examples.

Students answer reading questions in complete sentences, including a definition question asking what a Release Ceremony is. Students are asked to record words or phrases on a timeline to describe Jonas in Chapters 3 and 4 and to list three criteria for establishing laws and three criteria for home rules in a journal. After creating a collage or poem about a Utopia, students must describe what makes it a Utopia to a parent, which requires giving reasons or examples.

Students are asked to summarize chapters and record words or phrases that describe Jonas, which requires selecting and organizing supporting details. In the "Community Rules & Laws" activity students must record a positive and negative effect for each rule and write a sentence explaining whether the rule should exist, which asks them to develop a topic with concrete examples and reasoning. In the "Stages of Life Timeline" students label each ceremony, write a description of what happens, and add illustrations, requiring them to produce descriptive details and examples for each age group.

The lesson defines a euphemism in the "Things to Know" section and provides multiple examples and an answer key that students can use as models. Activity 1 directs students to record the actual meanings of listed euphemisms on a two-column Student Activity Page, requiring them to provide definitions or predictions and match examples to meanings. The Reading and Questions section asks students to answer factual questions in complete sentences about plot details (e.g., punishment, Jonas's job), and the Italics activity asks students to identify and transcribe italicized words or phrases as examples.

Activity 2 asks students to think of three historical events, write three to four sentences describing each event, and explain how each memory could help Jonas's community, prompting students to provide examples and explanations. The Vocabulary Web activities require students to write definitions and use each word in a sentence, which practices developing a topic with definitions and concrete example sentences. The reading questions require written answers in complete sentences and a character timeline, which ask students to select and record relevant words or phrases from the text.

Students reread the sled description and select descriptive words and phrases to organize by the five senses on the "Sled Ride" chart, explicitly identifying sensory details and concrete imagery. Students use a "Childhood Memory" senses chart to plan and then write a descriptive paragraph, using precise verbs, nouns, adjectives, and sensory details to develop their topic. The Parent Plan lists as a skill that students should "develop written responses supporting details and precise verbs, nouns, and adjectives to paint a visual image," reinforcing practice with concrete details and examples.

Students are asked to "explain freedom" in a letter to Jonas' community and to "include symbolism and ideas" and "explain the benefits of freedom and why it is worth the pain," which requires stating definitions and concrete examples. Option 2 directs students to write before-and-after poems and a bio-poem that prompt specific examples of life before and after freedom and details about Jonas (who loves, who needs, who is afraid of). The Student Activity Pages provide structured spaces for before/after comparisons, an acrostic using aspects of FREEDOM, and a bio-poem template that require students to produce concrete details and examples to develop their topic.

Students are asked to explain and justify five musical selections by writing the title of each song and "explain why it would be a song you would share," which requires them to produce explanatory sentences and use descriptive language. The Music Collage option asks students to "use descriptive language in your written description" to describe the concept of music for people who have never heard it. The Parent Plan lists a skill to "write responses to literary or expository texts that demonstrate an understanding," implying students will produce explanatory writing about the chapters.

Students are asked to write descriptive narratives: the Memory Storyboard requires at least three sentences per image describing each memory and how it changed them, and the Final Chapter requires a 3–5 page chapter using descriptive language, imagery, and symbolism. Rubrics for both projects evaluate "use of imagery," "effective descriptive writing," and whether the chapter/story engages the reader and follows a plot, which encourages inclusion of concrete descriptive details and examples. Planning tools (Plot Flowchart, Draft frames) direct students to organize events in sequence and elaborate on selected events in detail.

Students read the informational book What Was the Great Depression and answer specific questions that require listing reasons for the Depression, defining shantytowns, explaining how the Depression affected farmers, and explaining Roosevelt's three "R"s (providing definitions and explanations). In Activity 1 students assemble a Great Depression photo journal by selecting two firsthand accounts, pasting the accounts, choosing and citing images that correspond to those accounts, and thereby use concrete details and primary-source quotations/examples. In Day 2 students act as a Cultural Commentator and record cultural customs, homes, clothing, beliefs, food, and other concrete cultural details in a journal.

Students take a Wordsmith role in which they locate and record specific passages they find "interesting, powerful, funny, puzzling, or important" and then read them aloud and discuss why they selected them. In Activity 1 students practice using quotation marks by inserting exact quoted text from the chapters, labeling titles of short works, and composing two original sentences that use quotation marks for specified purposes. In Activity 2 Option 1 students are asked to describe how the phoenix might serve as a symbol for Esperanza's circumstances, which asks them to explain a topic related to the text.

Students are asked to gather and organize factual information in Option 2 by filling two Venn diagrams comparing social/class systems and political systems of Mexico and the USA using two provided web sources. Students are asked to redraw and label the wealthy and poor train cars based on the author's descriptive details, requiring them to identify and use concrete details from the text. The lesson provides possible answers and specific factual statements (for example, about land redistribution, term limits, and class disparities) that students can place into their diagrams.

Students read informational pages and videos about the Dust Bowl and are instructed to record interesting quotations from eyewitnesses or narrators in their journals. Students create a poster titled "The Dust Bowl" that requires them to print or draw a picture and paste quoted descriptions on the poster, using those quotations as content. Students describe settings in detail (including page locations) and explain the role of setting in the story's conflict, and they use a map scale to estimate migration distance, which requires inclusion of concrete geographic details.

The Activity 1 prompt requires students to "Explain why the problem exists" in the next two or three sentences and to "Provide a solution to the problem and details related to the solution" in the following two or three sentences, and the Student Activity Page gives separate boxes for these sections. The example problem-solution paragraph models explanation and solution with story-specific details. The Parent Plan skills explicitly tell students to "offer persuasive evidence to validate the definition of the problem and the proposed solutions," and the Literary Luminary task asks students to choose passages and explain why they selected them.

Students are prompted in Activity 2 to draw a shrine and "explain the elements of the shrine, what they represent about your life, and why they are an important part of who you are," which asks for development of a topic with explanation and examples. The Introducing the Lesson and parent prompts ask students to "describe what Esperanza encountered" on arrival and to "describe the agricultural labor system," which require students to provide descriptive details and explanations about specific topics. The Spanish vocabulary activity asks students to label objects and match words with meanings, giving opportunities to use definitions in context.

The 'I Am' poem activity asks students to write lines such as 'I see,' 'I hear,' 'I touch,' and 'I worry,' prompting students to produce concrete sensory details and character traits about Esperanza. The Connector role asks students to record connections between the book, their life, and historical or community events, which requires students to provide examples and relate events to broader contexts. The parent plan identifies a skill to 'elaborate information and ideas in speaking and writing,' and the transition activities require students to combine and sequence sentences to form coherent paragraphs.

The Cesar Chavez activity asks students to choose one of Chavez's quotes, write it down, explain its meaning in their own words, and relate it to Esperanza's story, which requires selection and explanation of a quotation and making a textual connection. The Line Locator reading task asks students to find three to five lines or short passages, copy them or record their locations, and explain why they are examples of good writing or important to the story, which asks students to identify and analyze concrete passages and provide written explanations.

Students are instructed in the "On Strike!" activity to examine each listed reason for striking and "record information from the book that could support the reasons," summarizing examples and providing page numbers. Students are directed to listen to two primary-source interviews about migrant camp life and labor issues to gather first-hand accounts they can use as supporting information. Parent prompts and discussion questions ask students to explain examples from the text that support reasons for strikes, and the text includes quotations and concrete details (for example Miguel's quoted line about how Americans view them) that students can use as evidence.

The lesson gives explicit instruction on using quotation marks and punctuation for dialogue, including rules about tags, paragraphing for new speakers, and placement of commas and periods. Students are directed to create and record conversations between characters, write dialogue that includes descriptions of how characters speak and what they are doing, and read dialogue aloud to develop voice and tone. The Student Activity Page provides concrete procedural details (recipes) that require following specific ingredients and steps, modeling use of concrete details and examples.

Students are asked to write a movie trailer script that highlights main events, talks about characters and obstacles, and includes lines related to major themes (adjusting to a new culture, social class). Students write and perform readers' theatre scripts, sometimes using dialogue taken directly from the book and describing actions in parentheses, and they must produce a 12–15 line scripted scene. Students create visual materials (movie poster and sketches of sets) that require representing setting, environment, and cultural details.

Students are asked in Activity 1 to brainstorm and write a list of ways living things depend on the sea, with the Parent Plan listing factual examples (food chains, the water cycle, climate effects, transportation, food). The lesson provides explicit definitions for personification and metaphor in "Things to Know" and asks students to find and record examples of metaphors and personification from the poems on the Student Activity Page. The Parent Plan also supplies an answer key with examples that students can record (e.g., "The sea is our mother," comparisons of mud to sky, shell to house).

Students are asked to research a prehistoric animal and write an obituary (Activity 2), including specific fields such as name, date died, cause of death, native location, description of how the animal lived, and species name, which requires gathering relevant facts and concrete details. Students are directed to read examples of obituaries in newspapers or online to prepare their writing, providing models of informational structure. Activity 3 has students excavate fossils and follow kit directions, giving hands-on experience with fossil evidence that can supply factual information about prehistoric life.

Students are asked to brainstorm in a journal a list of ways that humans and animals depend on plants and vice-versa (Activity 2), which prompts them to generate relevant facts and examples such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, food, shelter, photosynthesis, and life cycles. The parent notes and answer key explicitly list factual items students might include, indicating students produce concrete examples and factual content. Students also research hyphenated words and explain word-formation choices, which practices locating and recording specific information.

Students are asked to research a different endangered or extinct species and then "write a poem" that "should give details about the animal" (Activity 2), which requires gathering information about the animal. Students are directed to "learn more about" a selected poet and use biographical information to write an acrostic that "represents the poet, his or her life, and literary contributions" (Activity 5). Students are also instructed to locate poems and "identify any examples of poetic language" and to record factual details on activity pages (Activity 6).

Students are directed to explore linked Incan culture websites and add information to an "Elements of Incan Culture" chart, focusing on the most important information and creating an overall picture. Student activity pages require them to record information about specific aspects (Holidays/Celebrations, Clothing, Religious Practices, Animals, Government, Transportation, Family Roles, Technology) using words and pictures. The Parent Plan instructs students to locate and explore relevant sources and systematically record gathered information.

Students are asked to use the "Writing a Lyric Poem for a Minstrel" organizer to summarize a story in one sentence and to divide the story into 3–4 events, jotting down ideas and details for each stanza. The parent plan and skills sections tell students to "develop a topic with supporting details" and to use precise verbs, nouns, and adjectives to paint a visual image. The historical option asks students to retell an important American historical event and to stick to the highlights, which requires selecting and organizing informational points.

Students are asked to research wildflowers in their state and create a "Wildflowers of ___" guidebook that includes drawings and names, which requires gathering information and organizing it into a small book. An alternative project asks students to locate pictures of the Andes and Peru and create a photo collage that should include different cultural elements researched in Lesson 2. The Student Activity Page provides framed templates for students to place images or write information for these projects.

Students are asked to create a "Guide to Incan Landmarks" book in which they must color images, use provided websites as sources, and "give an interesting description of each site and the historical significance it has for the culture," which requires gathering and reporting information. The Skills section explicitly lists locating and exploring relevant sources, systematically recording gathered information, and synthesizing research into a written or oral presentation. The reading comprehension questions also require students to answer with concrete details from the text (e.g., how llamas are used, what Amautu teaches Cusi).

Students are asked to write a short book review that must contain a brief plot summary and at least one example, using example transitions to illustrate a feature of the book. In the preserving culture activity (Option 1) students brainstorm cultural aspects to preserve and must explain why each item is important, requiring them to provide reasons and supporting details. Option 2 directs students to research the Spanish conquest using provided links and to include accurate historical information in a poem, prompting use of factual content.

Students are instructed to "take these facts and turn them into an informative paragraph," using a bulleted list of facts about Ann Nolan Clark to develop an author paragraph. Students are asked to read reference materials about llamas and then create a five-slide presentation with slides such as "How llamas have been used throughout history" and "Interesting facts about llamas," requiring 2–3 sentences per slide. Parent guidance tells students to use enough facts to make a good paragraph and to reword information while keeping details the same, indicating intentional use of relevant facts and examples.

Students are instructed to "add interesting and important details," to "appeal to the reader's senses," and to "use dialogue," which leads them to include concrete details and quotations. The rubric's Ideas category explicitly asks for "Geographic impact examples" and "Cultural identity discussion," prompting students to develop topic with relevant examples. The graphic organizers ask students to record What/When/Where/Why, describe three key events and how Cusi felt, and to restate what the narrator learned, guiding students to develop the topic with relevant facts and concrete details.