Sixth Grade - ELA
• Literacy
1: Environment and Cycles
Unit 1: Weather and Climate
Lesson 1
Weather and Climate
Students are directed to watch the local forecast on television or online and note what the meteorologist says about specific events, which requires using information from a video source. Students are asked to find and use web sources (AccuWeather and the National Weather Service) that include interactive maps and forecast maps. Students must choose an audience and rewrite the forecast for that audience, converting information from the observed forecasts and websites into a tailored written product.
Lesson 2
Temperature and Seasons
Students place a point on the globe diagrams in the Seasons activity and label whether their home is angled toward or away from the Sun, using the illustrations to identify the correct season. In the Model the Seasons activity students use a lamp-and-globe visual model, draw their setup, label equator/poles/tilt, and answer questions linking where the Sun's rays strike to typical temperatures. In the Weather Journal students record numeric temperature and other weather factors in chart form over 14 days and are prompted to compare their thermometer readings to weather forecasts and video explanations.
Lesson 3
Wind and Air Pressure
Students use the Wind Chill Chart to compute perceived temperatures and frostbite risk and answer questions that require reading the chart and applying numeric temperature and wind-speed data. Students build an anemometer, count rotations, and use the provided "Estimated Wind Speeds" chart and compass rose to convert their measurements into wind speed and direction and record results in a weather journal. Students interpret weather-map symbols on an outline U.S. map (and review symbols in the textbook) to describe and predict regional weather. Students find a barometric pressure reading with an arrow on a weather website and use that visual indicator together with wind-direction guidance to predict upcoming weather and log it in their journal.
Lesson 4
Humidity
Students use the illustrated assembly diagrams to construct a wet/dry bulb hygrometer and follow labeled diagrams showing placement of the wet and dry thermometers. Students record dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures, calculate the temperature difference, and then locate the dry-bulb temperature and the difference on the printed Relative Humidity chart to determine relative humidity. Students consult the Heat Index table (a visual chart) together with their measured temperature and humidity to calculate the heat index, determine heat-stroke risk, and answer guided questions.
Lesson 5
Precipitation
Students watch a water-cycle video and take notes on the "Water Cycle Notes" page, linking the digital video information to written definitions. Students study a provided water-cycle diagram and then fill out a chart identifying each component (precipitation, runoff, evaporation, etc.) with examples from their local environment. Students refer to an image in the book (p. 43) for the Mountain Weather drawing, draw and label windward/leeward sides, and are directed to use a Google map of their address to help draw a local water-cycle diagram, combining map/diagram visuals with text-based explanations.
Lesson 6
Clouds
Students are instructed to use information from pages 52-55 of the book and provided websites to take notes in a Cloud Chart that has columns for Description, Altitude, Type of Weather, and Clues. They cut out illustrated cloud images from a "Clouds in the Sky" page and sort/paste them at the correct altitude, labeling and shading clouds according to the answer key. Students are directed to use a cloud identification flowchart and a "Making of a Cloud" video while filling in their weather journal and chart, and to use the clouds they see plus air pressure readings to predict weather.
Lesson 7
Wild Weather
Students are instructed to watch segments of the How Does Weather Actually Work? video (first 15 minutes, then a 42-minute segment) and to read pages 62–68 in the book Weather and Climate, linking video and print sources. Activity 1 directs students to research a type of wild weather using books, Internet sites, and YouTube videos and to complete the Wild Weather Search worksheet with description, cause, effects, and a famous occurrence. The Weather Journal asks students to go outside, observe cloud movement "just like what you saw in the video," and use that visual observation to predict upcoming weather.
Lesson 8
Geography and Climate Change
Students cut out written climate descriptions and paste them onto a map key, matching printed text descriptions to visual map patterns. Students watch videos about jet streams and ocean currents and then draw the four jet streams on their map and add arrows/colors to show directions, integrating information from digital videos and an image diagram into their map. Students use NOAA and other online resources to gather local climate data and then explain how their map, the videos, and the data together describe local and global weather influences.
Lesson 9
Climate Change
Students explore NASA's Climate Time Machine interactive maps and are instructed to "click through each section," move the slider to different years, and "Record What You See," drawing and labeling differences between past and present maps. Students read pages 75-80 in a textbook and answer guided questions about causes and evidence of climate change, then use the Student Activity Pages to annotate and color maps (carbon dioxide, sea level, sea ice, global temperature) showing changes over time. In the Greenhouse Effect activity students take temperature measurements, record observations, and discuss results, linking visual/experimental data to written explanations about greenhouse gases and warming.
Final Project
Presenting My Weather and Climate
Students are asked to analyze and explain charts on the Weather Journal Presentation Planning page by answering prompts such as "What information is on the chart?," "What patterns did you observe on your chart?," and "How was [sic] able to predict what the weather might be like in the future based on my data?". The test requires students to label and interpret a water-cycle diagram and to answer questions that rely on diagram interpretation. Students must display their weather journal during a live presentation and point to charts while explaining how the visual data supports their predictions and conclusions; the rubric explicitly assesses whether students "Explained the information included in journal" and "Described patterns I found in journal."
Unit 1: The Wanderer
Lesson 1
Charting the Course
Students are asked to use an atlas or Google Maps to locate and label the stops the crew makes on a provided map, directly connecting digital/print maps to the story's travel information. Students review a labeled sailboat diagram and a sailing-terminology list, and are prompted to draw connections between terms and components and to refer to the diagram when characters discuss actions in the novel. Students are asked to look online for pictures of sailboat interiors and compare those images to textual descriptions of life aboard, linking photographs with print descriptions.
Lesson 2
Preparations
The Character Development student page is a visual organizer divided into chapter ranges where students are directed to record words or phrases about Cody and Sophie after each day's reading, so students place textual observations into a chart-like timeline. The Reflective Journal page is divided into labeled sections (What Happened, Your Feelings, What You Learned), which asks students to organize their written responses into a structured visual format. The Vocabulary matching sheet presents words and definitions in a two-column matching layout and directs students to use page references in the book to find contextual evidence for definitions.
Lesson 3
Juggling
Students are instructed to use the pattern grid and graph paper to code the bead pattern by color, with directions stating 'Use the graph paper provided to code the pattern according to the color of the beads you will need in each row' and that each column/row represents a safety pin. The Dolphin Beads activity includes a color-coded pattern grid that students must read and follow alongside the written step-by-step instructions for assembling the pin. The Life Application video directs students to watch a how-to video and pause after each step to practice, requiring students to use visual steps in the video together with the written guidance to learn juggling.
Lesson 4
Grand Manan
Students are directed to use a "Relationships" page to describe how characters are related and to write in boxes how they interact and feel about one another, which requires transferring information from the chapters into a diagram. Students complete a Student Activity Page chart where they circle subjects, underline predicates, and record predicate adjectives, direct objects, and indirect objects in table columns. The Parent Plan includes image answer keys that show a chart categorizing sentences into columns labeled "Sentence," "Predicate Adjective," "Direct Object," and "Indirect Object," providing a visual organizer tied to the sentence-level work.
Lesson 5
Under Way
The Radio Code activity provides a visual chart (A = Alpha, B = Bravo, etc.) and directs students to "Decode the messages on the 'Radio Code' activity page," requiring them to use the chart to translate coded strings into English. The student directions also require students to write their own message on the back using the same visual chart and to teach a parent or sibling to decode it. An answer key for the Radio Code shows decoded phrases, confirming that students must integrate the visual chart with the printed coded messages to arrive at meaning.
Lesson 6
Marine Life
Students are given origami and nautical mobile activity pages that pair step-by-step written directions with diagrams for folding and construction, requiring them to follow visual diagrams alongside text. The nautical mobile task explicitly asks students to "draw the animals to scale" and directs them to online photo and video links (Getty Images, NOAA, YouTube) to use as visual references. Activity 2 also instructs students to "research some of the different types of whales and dolphins," which pairs research (print/digital text) with the provided visual resources for creating artwork.
Lesson 7
The Storm
The Identifying Voice activity includes three framed illustrations labeled Brian, Cody, and Sophie and directs students to cut out printed quotes and paste them into the correct box beneath each character, requiring students to use the images to organize textual excerpts. Page 2 of that activity provides separate sections for each character with space to write a quote and the character's thoughts/actions in response to a scenario, prompting students to pair written responses with the character visuals. The Similes & Personification pages include quoted text examples and ask students to label each as simile or personification and then write their own figurative descriptions, which asks students to relate textual language to visual cues on the activity pages.
Lesson 8
Changes
Students are asked to locate England and Ireland on a map of Europe, which requires using a map (visual information) alongside text. Students research one country using provided websites and then design a 4" x 6" postcard that includes an illustrated picture of the destination and a written message describing what they are doing on the trip, combining visual and written information. Students also use small images (treasure chest, sailboat, birds, storm scene, orca) as prompts to write descriptive sentences with prepositional phrases, linking pictures to text.
Lesson 9
Land Ho!
The student activity pages include a graphic organizer titled "THEMES" that displays three illustrated characters in photo-style frames with lines underneath where students are instructed to "List a way each character has changed as a result of the challenging voyage across the ocean." Another activity page directs students to "Provide evidence from the book to support both themes," pairing labeled theme boxes with lined spaces for textual evidence alongside header images and visual framing.
Final Project
Character Lapbook and Test
Students are asked to paste or draw images and then explain them (Character Artifact requires pasting a picture of an object that represents the character and writing why it was selected). Students create visual organizers that combine images and text (Character Tree directs students to draw a tree with descriptive words on branches and write descriptive sentences inside). Students illustrate story events in sequence (Important Events accordion book asks students to illustrate four main events and place them in chronological order), and the Student Activity Page and Lapbook Layout sheets provide graphic organizers and visual folding diagrams that students use while recording textual analyses.
Unit 2: Geography and Landforms
Lesson 1
Maps of All Kinds
Students watch videos about types of maps and then label pictured maps and explain what each map shows, requiring them to combine information from a video (digital text) with map visuals and written responses. Students read pages in The Geography Book and use printed road maps or Google Maps to create their own neighborhood map and key, integrating printed and digital map sources with their drawn visual. Students take or view panoramic photographs and complete a Venn diagram comparing their photos to their maps, and they examine five different maps to select which map(s) best answer specific written scenarios, integrating map visuals with written scenarios.
Lesson 2
What Is Geography?
Students are instructed to consult a globe or world map and virtual globes (Google Earth and other online maps) while creating a balloon globe (Activity 2). In Activity 3 students draw continents on an orange, peel it, lay it flat, and then compare their peeled orange map to the printed map on page 19. The Life Application and parent guidance ask students to locate places they hear about on a globe or world map and to compare the student's orange and balloon globes with printed maps. The vocabulary matching requires students to use the glossary and text definitions to link visual term cards with printed definitions.
Lesson 3
Landforms
Students watch videos on continental drift and then read related pages in The Geography Book before cutting and rearranging map pieces to model moving continents, connecting digital video information with a physical map. Students use numeric height data from the book to create a bar graph (one square = 500 ft) representing mountain heights, integrating textual data into a visual chart. Students read about deltas and then watch videos about deltas before answering guided questions, combining print and video sources to describe formation and human effects. Students use the National Geographic website to find real-world examples (likely including images or maps) and then draw and describe those features on activity pages, linking web visuals with written definitions.
Lesson 4
Representing Landforms on Maps
Students read specific pages in The Geography Book (pp. 31-32 and 54-55) and then apply those written instructions to estimate heights and to mark contours, connecting written procedures to visual outputs. Students use the "Measuring Mountains" activity page with a formula and an illustrated diagram to compute and record object heights, linking numeric measurements to a visual representation. Students trace a halved potato, use a contour key, and color-code the map to represent elevation changes, and they are invited to examine maps online or in an atlas to notice how cartographers show elevation.
Lesson 5
Human Geography
Students are asked to create dot maps from provided population data (Activity 1 Option 1) and to locate and plot cities and population figures for their state (Activity 1 Option 2), directly combining numeric/textual data with a map. Students use Prisoners of Geography pages to complete a graphic organizer that asks them to record Weather & Climate, Natural Resources, Major Landforms, and Significant Bodies of Water, integrating textual information from the book with mapped/visual categories (Activity 2). Students are directed to draw or illustrate family migration on a printable U.S. or world map and to use previous map-based activities to compare two environments and explain which place they would prefer to live (Activity 3 and Wrapping Up).
Lesson 6
Interacting with the Land
Students are directed to click a link to view a United States resource map and to find the map key. Students are instructed to research where important natural resources are found in their state, create a state resource map, and create a map key showing those resources. The Parent Plan explicitly says students practice using map keys, interpreting resource maps, and locating information from reliable sources as they create their map.
Lesson 7
Water Everywhere
Students watch a short watershed video and then use the EPA website and Nature Conservancy page to identify their watershed and the bodies of water associated with it, using digital visual resources to complete the "My Watershed" activity. Students use the provided Water Use Chart (a table with estimated gallons per use) to record tallies and calculate total daily water usage, combining the chart's visual/numeric information with their observations. Students visit their water system's website and the EPA private wells page to find and record the source of their home water, bringing together information from digital reports and print activity pages.
Lesson 8
World Map - Part I
Students locate and label Russia, China, and European countries using the maps and text in Prisoners of Geography (pp.16-22, pp.34-35), tracing rivers and adding map-key symbols from the book to their own World Map. Students use the book's maps and online images to choose a geographical feature, draw it on a postcard, and write a descriptive note about their visit, combining visual sources with written information. Students watch the documentary excerpt and listen to audio of the Von Trapp family and then answer questions comparing the movie and real performances, linking video/audio evidence to written responses.
Lesson 9
World Map - Part II
Students locate and use maps in the print book Prisoners of Geography to label and color their multi-page "World Map," drawing and labeling physical features using a map key. For the postcard activity, students consult maps in the book and look up images and information online, then draw the feature and write 4–6 sentences describing its location, importance, and characteristics. Students also assemble the nine-page map, aligning visual pieces and synthesizing multiple map pages into a single visual product.
Final Project
Local Geography Book
Students are asked in Part 1 to create a map or other visual representation (physical map, contour map, relief map, drawing, or panoramic photo) and to include it in their final book. In Part 2 and Part 3 students write detailed descriptions of landforms, waterforms, climate, and human activities that accompany the chosen place. The assembly instructions (Part 4) require students to insert their map/visual alongside the "Written Descriptions" and "Human Activities" pages, and the project rubric explicitly evaluates the accuracy and labeling of the map as well as the quality of written descriptions and sketches.
Unit 2: The People of Sparks
Lesson 1
The City of Ember
Students are instructed to watch the movie The City of Ember and then write or perform a movie review that describes characters, setting, and plot and discusses how the setting influences the story, linking visual information from the film to a written/oral text. The vocabulary activity requires students to locate definitions in print, draw an illustration for each word, and then record a sentence using the word, directly pairing student-created visuals with written definitions and usage. The materials also direct students to read movie reviews online to learn what to include, encouraging integration of digital review examples with their own viewing.
Lesson 2
Sparks
Students are asked to underline pronouns in a paragraph and then sort them into a provided table with columns labeled Objective, Subjective, Interrogative, Possessive, and Demonstrative, requiring them to transfer information from text into a chart. An image Answer Key shows the original text with words crossed out and replacement pronouns written above, which students can compare to their own edits. The Environment activity page asks students to write five predictions and then check boxes as they read, linking their written predictions with evidence from the print text.
Lesson 3
Discovery
Students are asked to keep a "New Environment, New Discoveries" learning log in which they record discoveries and illustrate them, filling labeled boxes in a graphic organizer and grouping similar items by category. The activity directions tell students to "illustrate their discoveries and describe them" and to label pages to designate categories, linking drawings with written descriptions. The lesson also refers to a chart showing rules for plurals that students study and apply in plural-noun activities.
Lesson 5
Roamers
In Activity 2 (Dreams in Color) students create a picture of a place they have dreamed about and then "write a short descriptive paragraph to accompany it," explicitly linking an image with explanatory text. The Student Activity Page (The Debate) includes a small illustration of a barrel and asks students to record arguments and supporting details on the same page, placing visual and textual elements together on a worksheet.
Lesson 6
Flags
Students are directed to illustrate the city of Ember and the city of Sparks, including landforms, bodies of water, and manmade structures, and then create a Venn diagram comparing the two cities. The directions explicitly tell students to "Use the log from Lesson 3 to help you remember some of the new discoveries" and to "also think back to the movie," asking students to draw on both print (the log) and digital (the movie) sources. The Student Activity Page includes a Venn diagram image and a comparison organizer that students must complete.
Lesson 7
Tomatoes
The Student Activity Page "Roamers" directs students to illustrate five items and to explain on the back why they chose each item, requiring students to pair drawings with written explanations. The page includes existing illustrations (truck, bull, mask) and instructions that prompt students to use visual representation to tell a story about themselves. The activity asks students to add information to Lina and Doon's learning log and to write a paragraph in the Media activity, providing opportunities to connect writing with created visuals.
Lesson 8
Unfairness
Students are directed to use Student Activity Pages that present information in table form (the "Synonyms in a Thesaurus" table and the "Town Government Systems" comparison table). In the synonyms activity, students record clues from the book's context into the "Clues in Context" column, linking textual evidence to the table. In the government activity, students are asked to record and compare features of American city governments and Sparks in a visual table.
Lesson 10
The Decision
Students complete a bubble map (the "Story Conflicts" graphic organizer) by identifying the conflict type in the center and recording evidence from the text in the surrounding bubbles, which requires placing textual information into a visual chart. Activity 3 Option 1 asks students to illustrate Sparks and write on the back five ways electricity will change lives, linking a student-created image with written explanations tied to the novel. Option 2 asks students to write experiment directions with illustrations, integrating visual diagrams with procedural text. Activities also invite students to act out or record performances that translate textual conflict into visual/digital form.
Final Project
Wars and Plagues or A New Environment
Students are asked to create and use several visual formats: a map showing countries/regions affected by a war or plague, a six-event timeline organizer, Venn diagrams comparing Ember and Sparks, and drawings/photographs to include in a newspaper article. Rubrics and activity pages require students to include two images in their newspaper report and to show a map and timeline as part of their research project. The New Environment option also asks students to draw a picture, make a flag, and produce a Venn diagram comparing environments.
Unit 3: Our Changing Earth
Lesson 1
The Rock Cycle
Students watch the "Rock Cycle" video and then read pp. 90-91 to get complementary information about the three rock types and the cycle. They are asked to answer a question that explicitly refers to a graphic on pp. 90-91 (e.g., explain one way sedimentary rocks can form according to the graphic). Students review the Rock Cycle chart and Rock Types page (visual examples) and use those visuals along with the video and reading to place real rock samples into igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary categories on the Categorizing Rocks sheet.
Lesson 2
Inside the Earth
Students are directed to read specific pages (pp. 58–65) and to "also look at the graphic on p. 41," linking a visual to the assigned text. Question #2 explicitly instructs students to identify the four main layers and their states "(see p. 41)," requiring use of the diagram to answer a content question. The model-making activities tell students to use diagrams on page 41 or 61 as a guide and offer an optional printable tectonic plates graphic to attach to their models.
Lesson 3
Igneous Rocks and Volcanoes
Students are instructed to watch two specified videos and use them as references while completing the Igneous Rock Observations activity, linking visual examples of textures to their written observations. Students use an interactive USGS map to click volcano icons, view photographs, and then read volcano pages to identify volcano types and eruption styles, using pictures alongside text to answer questions and create drawings. Students complete graphic organizers and matching activities that pair volcano shapes or rock textures (visuals) with written descriptions and classification categories.
Lesson 4
Earthquakes and Moving Plates
Activity 3 directs students to use an "Earthquake Shaking Hazards in the United States" map: students color the key, locate their state, and determine the earthquake hazard level for their state and adjacent states. The Student Activity Page descriptions explicitly identify a map with a legend (Less Hazard to Higher Hazard) that students must interpret to answer questions about local risk. The lesson also includes labeled images of clay, sand, and soil that students use as visual references when conducting the building stability experiment.
Lesson 5
Metamorphic and Sedimentary Rocks
Students are asked in Question #1 to compare metamorphic rocks to their parent rocks and are directed to "view the pictures on pp. 67, 29, and 88 for details," requiring use of photographs alongside text. Activity 2 directs students to examine real rock samples with a magnifying glass and to use the Rock Types chart and the reading to classify textures, explicitly combining visual examination, a chart, and print descriptions. Activity 5 and Activity 6 ask students to observe images via provided web links and a slideshow and to think about guided questions, integrating digital photographs with the written prompts and readings.
Lesson 6
Weathering
Students are asked to take a Weathering Walk and use photographs, sketches, or written descriptions to document at least seven examples of weathering, linking those visual records to identified weathering types. The Drip, Drip, Drip and Ice Cold Weathering activities require students to observe visual changes (colored water movement, dissolving sugar, briquette breakage) and record observations and conclusions. Reading assignments are paired with questions that prompt students to explain processes they observed, encouraging connection between the text and their visual observations.
Lesson 7
Erosion
Students read print text (pp. 72–75 and pp. 114–115) about erosion and then are asked to create visual representations such as a flip book or illustrated journal of a landform showing progressive erosion. Students are encouraged to look at pictures of landforms online to inform their flip book or journal and to illustrate changes in the provided boxes on the Student Activity Pages. Students design and record experiments using the Eroding Experiments page that prompts them to document procedure, results, and conclusions, including a comparison of which option had more or less erosion.
Final Project
Presenting the Rock Cycle
Students are directed to use the Rock Cycle chart and Rock Types chart and to "look for photographs, illustrations, and images online to help explain each answer" when designing slides. For the slideshow and video options, students must sketch visual templates, create visual aids, and then write descriptions or scripts that explain what each visual shows. Each project rubric explicitly evaluates inclusion and quality of visual aids (e.g., at least 6 slides/visual aids, visual aids that show rock-cycle relationships, and visuals that illustrate weathering, erosion, volcanoes, and plate movement).
Unit 3: Short Stories
Lesson 2
Short Story Genre
In Activity 3 students are directed to research Mars using linked NASA and ESA websites, read about the planet, and look at images of the planet, then record facts in their journals. In Activity 4 students are asked to record phrases and sentences from the stories that describe environments and then paint or sketch one environment based on the author's description, connecting textual description to a visual representation.
Lesson 3
The Dog of Pompeii
Students are asked to locate a map of Italy and find the city of Naples as part of the Getting Started activity, which requires use of a visual map to situate Pompeii. Activity 4 directs students to research Pompeii using books or online sources and provides links (National Geographic Kids and HISTORY.com) that include images and videos for background information. The Volcano Research page requires students to record ten important facts they learned from those sources, implying use of information found in the provided digital materials.
Lesson 4
Rip Van Winkle
Activity 1 instructs students to locate the Catskill Mountains on a U.S. map and to record words and phrases Irving uses to describe the setting, linking a map (visual) to the printed text. The lesson includes a labeled image of the Catskill Mountains and directs students to find pictures and information about the mountains online, requiring use of digital visual sources. Option tasks (paint the mountains or write trivia after researching an encyclopedia) ask students to combine visual/digital resources with the story's textual descriptions.
Lesson 6
Women in Short Stories
Students are asked to complete a Venn diagram (a visual organizer) to compare the two female characters, which requires them to represent textual information visually. The How to Draw a Great White Heron student page pairs step-by-step sketches with written instructions that students follow to create a drawing. The Birdhouse Feeder and Bird Wreath activity pages include labeled visuals and sketches that students use alongside written directions to build feeders.
Lesson 7
Your Choice
Students are instructed to use provided graphic organizers (Elements of a Short Story, Plot Diagram, and Story Conflict & Theme bubble map) to record character actions, setting details, main events, problem/climax/resolution, theme, and types of conflict. The Activities direct students to write words and phrases the author uses to describe the setting and to illustrate the setting on the back of the page, linking textual description to a visual depiction. The Plot Diagram and bubble map require students to place information from the written story into visual chart-like formats.
Final Project
Writing a Short Story
Students complete and use visual organizers such as the Plot Diagram (triangle-shaped organizer) to map problem, rising action, climax, falling action, and solution. Students fill out the "Main Character and Setting" sheet, list words/phrases describing the setting, and draw a picture of the setting on the back. The lesson instructs students to "refer back to the graphic organizers you completed yesterday" while writing their stories, explicitly linking the visual organizers to the written text.
2: Force and Power
Unit 1: Slavery and the Civil War
Lesson 1
Antebellum America
Students are asked to read the map in A History of US along with pages 162-163 and answer questions that require using map graphics and the left-hand ratio data to support conclusions about industry and population (Question #1 explicitly asks which region had more factories and "How do you know?"). Activity 2 has students chart 1860 city populations by placing dots on a U.S. map using numerical data, requiring them to convert numbers to visual marks and interpret regional patterns. Activity 3 directs students to revisit the map to gather details for creating travel brochures and to write economic and occupational descriptions, and the Skills list explicitly names organizing and interpreting information using maps, charts, timelines, and graphs.
Lesson 2
Slavery
Students watch a video ("The Life of an Enslaved Person") and read both secondary chapters and WPA slave narratives, combining a digital/visual source with print texts. Students record information from the video and readings into a KWL chart and topic-specific graphic organizers (Homes, Education, Food, Work, Freedom, etc.), linking what they see and hear to written sources. Students synthesize the information into a visual product by creating a quilt or mural that illustrates events and details drawn from the readings and narratives.
Lesson 3
Disunion and the Start of the Civil War
Students are instructed in Activity 1 to cut out, color, and add event cards to a Civil War timeline based on their reading, directly linking textual events to a visual timeline. Activity 3 asks students to make lists of pros and cons from the reading and optionally create a poster that uses powerful images and key words to explain their position, requiring students to combine visual elements with written ideas. The Things to Review section prompts students to discuss the cards they created and what they chose to draw to illustrate events, asking them to connect their visual choices to the significance of events described in the text.
Lesson 4
Leadership and the Civil War
Students are instructed to create Civil War leader trading cards that include a drawn or located image on the front and a written biography and impressions on the back, which pairs visual portraits with textual information. Activity 1 asks students to add dates and events to blank timeline cards, combining chronological visual organization with information from the assigned readings. The Parent Plan explicitly directs students to use the Library of Congress "Selected Civil War Photographs" collection or textbook photos as sources for images to include on their cards.
Lesson 5
The Wartime Experience
Students are asked to "pay particular attention to the images of Union and Confederate soldiers in camp" (Activity 2) and then to use those images along with the text (pages 76–85) to imagine and write a diary entry. Activity 4 directs students to explore an online article about daily life of a Civil War soldier, which implies reading digital text (likely with visuals) and applying what they learn to later tasks. Student Activity Pages include illustrations (e.g., images on the Writing Kit, Molasses Ginger Cookies, and Pack Your Haversack pages) that students consult while completing hands-on activities.
Lesson 6
Major Battles of the Civil War
Students are instructed to use A History of US: War, Terrible War 1855-1865 to identify key battles and then mark their locations on a supplied Civil War map, circle Union and Confederate victories, and write explanations of each battle's significance. Students add major battles from the readings to a visual timeline, placing events from the print text onto timeline cards. Students plan and sketch a monument, using textual details to create a visual design and are given links to National Park Service sites for optional virtual visual resources.
Lesson 7
The Homefront Experience
Students are instructed to use the Civil War Map pages and their ongoing Civil War timeline to record events and dates from the lesson readings, requiring them to combine map visuals and timeline visuals with printed chapter material. The Rising Prices/Option 2 student page presents a table of 1862 and 1865 prices and directs students to calculate percent increases using those table values, requiring students to use charted data alongside explanatory text. The Rising Price$ activity page includes a table and an example calculation that asks students to apply percentage computations to modern prices, integrating numeric tables with written instructions and historical context.
Lesson 8
Gettysburg and Beyond
Students are directed to read the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address, highlight important ideas or phrases in each text, and then use a three-way Venn diagram to note similarities and common ideas among the documents. Students are instructed to continue their Civil War Map and to use a Civil War timeline to record important events and dates from the lesson readings. Student activity page descriptions include visual representations (Venn diagram, map, timeline, and facsimile document pages) that students use while working with the printed primary texts.
Lesson 9
End of War and Reconstruction
Students are asked to add events from their readings to a Civil War timeline, using blank timeline cards to record information from print sources. In Option 1 of Activity 3, students review readings and then create two contrasting images (before and after emancipation) that reflect details from the texts. In Option 2, students complete a plot diagram organizer (a visual graphic organizer) to outline a historical-fiction story based on their textual research.
Final Project
Remembering the Civil War
Students are asked to include visual elements in their museum exhibits (posters, timeline, maps, historic photographs) and to write exhibit cards that explain the significance of those visuals. The documentary option requires students to plan still images or live-action video and to provide narration or voice-over that explains what viewers are seeing. The project directions explicitly suggest using Library of Congress maps and photographs and include activities like tracing Sherman's March on a printed map as an interactive visual integration.
Unit 1: Bull Run
Lesson 1
Background on the Civil War
Students color and label the "Map of Civil War States," using the map key to mark Union, Confederate, and border states and are instructed to refer to this map to determine which side book characters fought for. Students are asked to annotate the same map with how long each Confederate state had been in the Union before seceding, using admission-date text sources. Students cut out labeled event descriptions and paste them into a provided visual "Timeline: 1861," placing textual event descriptions into chronological positions and using timeline illustrations alongside the event text.
Lesson 2
Pink and Say
Students are asked to "select three images from the story" and recreate them using art materials (Activity 4, Option 1), and the parent notes explicitly ask the child to "locate vivid images from the illustrations in Pink and Say that show what life was like." Activity 4 (Option 2) asks students to create a Venn diagram comparing life during the Civil War to life today, which invites use of details from the book and its illustrations. The Student Activity Pages include facsimile letters and aged document images that students read to identify writers, audiences, and opinions (Activity 5).
Lesson 3
Joining the Ranks
Students cut out character symbols and paste them onto a colored map (Activity 1), using character information from the text to place each person in a specific home state and thereby link map visuals with the book's print descriptions. Students use the "Cast of Characters" page with images grouped North/South to compare visual iconography to textual accounts. In Activity 2 students read a Civil War speech, identify facts and opinions from the text, then examine contemporary pictures/posters and explain how each picture could have been used as propaganda to influence attitudes, explicitly relating images to the written speech.
Lesson 4
Ready for Battle
Students are asked to locate historical propaganda posters via the provided web links and to design their own Civil War propaganda poster using images, words, or a combination of both. Students must think about the characters and events they read in Bull Run and decide what type of poster would have influenced those characters. The parent guidance instructs students to explain the message the poster conveys and how it would influence the reader's thinking, linking the visual to the printed narrative.
Lesson 5
Nerves
Students are asked to refer to a map to "refresh your memory and identify the state where the characters live," which requires using a visual map alongside the text. In Activity 1, students study multiple Civil War photographs and are instructed to write a sentence describing how each photograph makes them feel and to give each photograph an appropriate title. Several Student Activity Pages present photographs with labeled spaces for titles and lines for written responses, prompting students to examine images and record observations in writing.
Lesson 6
The Battle Begins
The student pages include visual musical notation and lyrics for songs such as "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," and "Dixie's Land," presented alongside explanatory text. Students are instructed to practice or sing the songs using the sheet music and to find and listen to recordings online, which pairs visual notation with digital audio and printed lyrics. A historical photograph of Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore is presented with biographical text, providing an image alongside informational text.
Lesson 7
Fleeing and Death
Students are asked to complete the "Character, Conflict, & Change" activity page by rereading Toby's accounts and citing evidence from the book into the top and bottom boxes, which requires placing textual information into a visual organizer. The "Character Quilt" activity directs students to design quilt squares that label each square with a character's name and details, depict a memorable scene, and include a compass rose indicating position related to a character's origin, linking visual elements with textual character information. The activity pages include diagrams and example illustrations that students use as part of their analysis and creation.
Final Project
Argumentative Essay
Students are directed to "look closely at the 'Argumentative Essay Rubric' page before you begin writing" and later to "use the rubric to help you edit your essay," which requires them to read a charted rubric (categories and a 1–4 scale) and apply its criteria to their writing. The lesson provides a chart of transitional words and phrases and tells students to use those transitions in their paragraphs, which asks students to take visual/printed word lists and incorporate them into their text. Student Activity Pages include visual elements (rubric table and illustrated outline pages) that students must consult and complete as part of prewriting and revision.
Unit 2: Force and Motion
Lesson 1
Force and Motion Basics
Students are directed to read pages 1-5 and then read the timeline on pages IV-V to find important force and motion discoveries, requiring them to extract information from a visual timeline and relate it to the text. Students cut out and use scientist cards to match each scientist with a discovery and play a memory game that requires linking the card information (visual/layout) with written discoveries. Students complete a matching vocabulary activity that asks them to use the glossary (print reference) to match terms on the activity page, combining the activity page format with glossary entries.
Lesson 2
Forces
Students are asked to complete a Force Scavenger Hunt by looking at specific pages (9, 11, 12) of the book and recording examples in a provided table, which requires them to use a chart to organize information drawn from the text. In the Building Bridges activity students must sketch their original bridge, record modifications and the number of coins supported in a table, and are encouraged to attach pictures of their bridges, combining drawings/photos with written data. Students are also directed to watch a linked video about friction after considering questions about friction, exposing them to digital visual information related to the printed reading.
Lesson 3
Gravity
Students are instructed to watch specified videos (e.g., "Danger: Falling Objects!" and "What if We Lost Gravity for 5 Seconds?") after completing hands-on tests and then answer conclusion questions that ask them to explain results based on the video. Students record experimental observations in provided charts/tables (the "Look Out Below" and parachute results tables) and use those recorded data alongside readings from the book (e.g., "What Is Happening?" pages) to explain phenomena. The parachute activity also asks students to film tests in slow motion and then analyze the footage to support their conclusions.
Lesson 4
Laws of Motion
Students are asked to create a Laws of Motion poster that states each law and uses images or graphics (cutouts, online graphics, drawings) to illustrate and reinforce the written explanations. Students read Chapter 3 and watch a video, then answer questions that require using the video and text to explain Newton's first law and related vocabulary. In the Force Experiment students record mass and force data, plot those values on a provided graph, draw lines between points, and draw conclusions linking the visual graph to their written results.
Lesson 5
Magnetism
Students watch two videos about magnetic fields and are explicitly instructed to "use what you learned in the first video" to draw magnetic field lines for neodymium and marble magnets, showing use of digital visual information to guide a task. Students use printed activity pages and a compass to mark dots and draw field lines on 12 x 18 paper, then compare their drawings to printed example images and an answer key. Students also read Chapter 4 and web sections before the activities, connecting information from print texts with the video demonstrations and diagrammatic representations.
Lesson 6
Buoyancy
Students collect numerical data and record it in a provided data table (mass, water level, volume, density) and use the table to compute densities. The answer key and activity questions ask students to explain how they calculated densities using the table and to use vocabulary (displacement, volume, density, mass/weight) in their written explanation. The lesson includes a sample image of a calculation table and a linked video about buoyancy in gases that students are asked to watch.
Lesson 7
Forces at Work
Students are asked to watch a linked video (The Mighty Mathematics of the Lever) to understand the work calculation and then read Chapter 6 and web descriptions before answering questions, linking digital video and print text. The student activity pages include illustrations and diagrams (e.g., a screw, lever with fulcrum, cart diagram, and station hints) that students use alongside written challenge prompts. Station instructions tell students to use the visual hints and book pages (e.g., "Ramp It Up!" and "Pebbles Away!") while planning and building, encouraging use of visuals with written directions.
Final Project
Force and Motion Stations
Students are asked to identify which of Newton's laws is at work in each picture, requiring them to interpret visuals and relate them to textual descriptions of the laws. The Sample "Weight in Space" station includes planet images alongside numeric gravity multipliers and procedures that require students to use the visuals to compute and compare weights. Multiple-choice and short-answer test items include illustrations (golf ball, floating object, magnet, sheets of paper) that students must interpret to select or explain correct answers.
Unit 2: Albert Einstein
Lesson 1
Who Is Albert Einstein?
Activity 3 directs students to look at a map of Europe, add missing country names where only capitals are given, and put a star on each country where Albert Einstein resided, adding dates from the biography when available. The Student Activity Page includes a labeled map with capitals and blanks for countries, giving students a concrete visual to annotate. The Questions About the Genius page presents a photograph of Einstein with spaces for questions and answers, prompting students to connect the image to information they later find in the text.
Lesson 2
Einstein, The Boy
Students are asked in Activity 3 to cut, assemble, and record important events from the chapters onto a blank vertical timeline, taking dates and events from the print text and placing them in chronological positions on the visual organizer. The Student Activity Page descriptions show timeline images with year markings and a photograph, which students must use as the visual framework for their recorded events. The timeline directions explicitly tell students to include dates when provided and to focus on the most important events from the text.
Lesson 3
University Days and Beyond
Students are asked to "Add two to four of the most important events that occurred in the chapters to the timeline of Einstein's life," which requires extracting events from the print chapters and placing them on a visual timeline. In Activity 1 Option 1 students "locate the events on the second page that occurred during Einstein's childhood and young adult life" and cut-and-paste them onto the Biography Web graphic organizer. Option 2 asks students to determine four important events from reading and add them to the web, and the Student Activity Page descriptions explicitly include the Biography Web and a page of biographical event notes for students to use.
Lesson 4
Research and Discovery
Students watch videos about Einstein (Activity 4), take notes while viewing, and write a video summary using those notes (Activity 5). Students are asked to compare the book and the video accounts of Einstein's "miracle year" in discussion questions, explicitly linking information from a visual source (video) with print text. In Activity 2 (Bending Light) students observe a photograph of a pencil in a glass and perform the demonstration, answering questions that connect the visual observation to the written explanation of refraction.
Lesson 5
The Professor
Students are asked to draw the trampoline demonstration (Question 4) that represents the text description of gravity, requiring them to convert written explanation into a visual. Students fill a Biography Web by placing four major events on a graphic organizer, which requires placing textual events into a visual format. The Student Activity Page provides a labeled graphic organizer with illustrations and asks students to describe how math is used in different scientific fields, linking brief visuals with written responses.
Lesson 6
Fame
Students watch video documentaries about Einstein and read print sources (a biography and an encyclopedia entry) and are asked to compare the style and content of the three media. The Forms of Media activity asks students to answer questions about how videos differ from the encyclopedia entry and biography, which medium produced the greatest emotional response, and to explain how each source contributed to their understanding. Students are also asked to orally explain to a parent the benefits and limitations of videos, reference material, and biographies based on their answers.
Lesson 7
War
Students read Chapters 11 and 12 and add events from the text to a timeline, then are instructed in Activity 2 to fill a biography web with four major events from 'The War' and (for Option 1) cut out text events and glue them onto the web. In Activity 1 students design a bumper sticker or t-shirt, combining a catchy slogan (text) with a graphic (visual) to promote peace. In Activity 4 students watch a biography video and record at least three factual statements and two opinions, engaging with visual/digital content and noting information from it.
Lesson 8
Peace
Students are asked to "add events to your timeline" after reading the chapter, which requires translating printed text events into a visual timeline. The lesson also references that students "have watched some videos about his life" and provides web links to video series (PBS NOVA) and a PBS teacher guide, indicating students will view digital visual media alongside print texts.
Final Project
Biography Scrapbook
Students are instructed to locate and include at least three photographs of Einstein (early, mid-life, later life) and to add printed images from the Internet to scrapbook pages. Students create visual artifacts (a birth certificate, an award/certificate, visually styled quotes, and memorabilia) and assemble these items together with written pieces (an imagined letter and a journal entry) into a single scrapbook. The directions tell students to use their biography web and timeline to assist in finding information and to assemble the information in a way that makes logical sense.
Unit 3: World Wars I and II
Lesson 1
World War I Begins
Students are asked to examine and compare the New York Times front page image on page 4 with a modern newspaper, noting visual differences (headline length, lack of color, photographs). In the 'Life in the Trenches' activity students choose photographs from the book and answer prompts about whether the photos give a better sense than written descriptions, what hardships are visible, and how the images shape their understanding. The technology activity directs students to draw a selected wartime technology based on images from the reading or research and to describe its impact, linking visual representation with explanatory text.
Lesson 2
In the Trenches and on the Homefront
Students are directed to examine primary-source images (photographs, postcards, game pieces, and pages from books) shown on pages 28-29 of Where Poppies Grow and to use those items to think about what it was like to grow up during World War I. In Activity 2 students must compare the items shown with objects found today and plan a time capsule, describing and drawing items that represent contemporary life. The extension asks students to locate family primary sources (photographs, toys, books) and discuss what those items reveal about past life. The Wrapping Up section asks students to consider what kinds of primary sources an author could use to know about past events.
Lesson 3
The End of World War I
Students are directed to "Use the 'Treaty of Versailles' activity page to explore how the treaty was similar to and different from Wilson's original Fourteen Point Plan," which asks them to complete a table comparing key points. The Student Activity Page is described as an image containing a three-column table (Key Parts of Wilson's Plan; Reason Wilson Supported It; How was the Treaty of Versailles similar or different?) and two short-answer questions, and students are assigned readings (Hakim and Granfield) to provide the information to fill the table.
Lesson 4
World War II Before U.S. Involvement
The "World Leaders" student activity pages include black-and-white photographs of Hitler, Churchill, Mussolini, Roosevelt, Truman, and Stalin alongside labeled fields (Country, Affiliation, Form of Government, Important Actions, Goals) for students to fill in. The lesson directs students to "record information about leaders...based on her reading in The History of US," which links the printed text to the images on the activity pages. Students are asked to add information to these pages as they read, implying they will use the visual portraits together with the written chapters to complete leader profiles.
Lesson 5
Mobilizing for War
Students analyze World War II posters in Activity 2 by filling out the 'POSTERS OF WWII' page, identifying words on the poster, images used, colors, dominant elements, invoked emotions, and the artist's intended action. The lesson directs students to use a poster printed in the course book (page 158) and posters available online (National Archives link) to complete analysis and to plan and create their own poster. Students also record and interpret data in visual organizers for the rationing activities (tables for gasoline and tallies for food items).
Lesson 6
Wartime Skills
Students are given the Navajo Code alphabet chart (a visual chart) and instructed to "translate your name into code" using that alphabet, requiring them to use the chart alongside written instructions to produce a coded name. In Activity 2 students are asked to read the sidebar on page 159 about women in the war and to view the "We Can Do It!" poster on page 158, then respond to questions that require them to interpret the image in relation to the written information about women's wartime roles.
Lesson 7
War in the Pacific and North Africa
Students are instructed to assemble a large World War II map and to "review the readings from this lesson to help you identify the locations of the events listed below and, using colored pencils or pens, label them on your map," which requires using print text to place and mark visual information. The activity asks students to shade areas of Japanese expansion, label battles (Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal), draw borders for Morocco/Algeria/Egypt, and circle Sicily, linking specific textual events to mapped locations. Multiple Student Activity Pages and an Answer Key map show labeled battle sites and countries that students must match to the reading.
Lesson 8
War in Europe
Students are asked in Activity 1 to add specific World War II events (Allied capture of Palermo, Operation Avalanche, D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge) to the map they began in Lesson 7, using maps in A History of US as a reference. The lesson tells students to "know the locations and significance of all of the events listed on your map," linking geographic markings to textual significance. An included image (Answer Key) is a world map highlighting locations such as D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge that students can compare to their maps.
Final Project
A World War II Board Game
Students create 36 question-and-answer cards that pair category text with map silhouettes (EUROPE, JAPAN/The Pacific, U.S. HOMEFRONT) and glue Q&A cards to the back of the visual cards. Students design a gameboard that requires labeling spaces (e.g., EUROPE, PACIFIC, US HOMEFRONT) and decorating the board with images relevant to World War II. A unit test page includes a historical photograph with a caption placed next to questions about trench warfare, giving students a visual alongside print prompts.
Unit 3: Number the Stars
Lesson 1
Background on Denmark and World War II
Students are instructed to color-code a blank map of Europe using a provided chart titled "European Involvement in WWII," which lists countries under Axis, At War with Germany, German-Occupied, and Neutral. The Student Activity Pages include both the chart categorizing countries and an unlabeled map with a key, and students are told to use the chart to mark the map. An answer-key map is provided for students (or parents) to check the accuracy of the map-coloring against the visual key.
Lesson 2
Soldiers on Every Corner
Students are directed to examine the "Proofreading Symbols and Abbreviations Chart" and then rewrite a paragraph using the visual editing symbols, applying the chart's marks to correct printed text. The Student Activity Pages include an "Editing Symbols" sidebar and an editing passage where students must use visual proofreading marks to make textual corrections. Students complete an "Impact & Occupation Chart" with labeled columns and icons, using the visual chart structure to organize and record written responses about life under occupation.
Lesson 3
The Button Shop
Students examine multiple propaganda posters, are asked to "look carefully at each poster," note the techniques and messages, and write a sentence summarizing each poster's message. Students design their own propaganda poster and explain the images and text they used to communicate a message. Students use an "Editing Symbols" chart image to apply proofreading symbols to paragraphs, copying and marking text with the visual symbols and underlining/circling symbols found in a paragraph.
Lesson 4
In Hiding
Students are asked to use the Internet or other resources to find information about the Jewish religion and fill in a menorah-shaped graphic organizer (Activity 1). Students are directed to read Chapters 5 and 6 and record three problem/solution situations in a two-column problem/solution graphic organizer (Activity 2). The activities require students to take information from the book and external resources and place or organize that information into visual formats (menorah and problem/solution chart).
Lesson 5
In the Country
Students are instructed to act as a travel tracer and "describe where the characters have moved to and from and describe each setting in detail either in words or in map form," including page locations for each scene. Students must "explain what role the setting plays in the conflict of the story," tying the visual map or descriptions directly to textual evidence. In Activity 1, students use the provided graphic of proofreading/editing symbols to correct written paragraphs, applying visual symbols to interpret and revise text.
Lesson 6
Aunt Birte is Dead
Students are shown an image titled "Editing Symbols" that defines proofreading symbols (Sp, -s, S/V, T). Students are instructed to rewrite and edit paragraphs using those visual symbols ("mark the mistakes using the four abbreviations you learned today"). An "Answer Key" image displays an annotated passage with the proofreading symbols applied, which students are told to check against their own work.
Lesson 7
Run!
Students are assigned the role of illustrator and must draw a picture related to Chapters 11–13 and then explain what it represents, connecting visual work to the text. Students use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast Annemarie with a historical figure, recording similarities and differences in the graphic organizer. Students interpret an image of proofreading abbreviations (editing symbols) and apply those visual symbols to edit and correct a provided paragraph of text.
Lesson 8
Little Red Riding Hood
Students are asked to draw a picture of Annemarie in an environment described in the book and to link that drawing to two character traits with textual examples (Character Sketch), which has them represent textual information visually. Students are also asked to read two versions of Little Red Riding Hood and use a graphic organizer to show similarities and differences between Annemarie's story and Little Red Riding Hood, requiring them to place textual comparisons into a visual chart. The Little Red Riding Hood activity pages include illustrated story pages that students read alongside the text.
Lesson 9
A Magazine Article
Students are directed to find and print a couple of pictures during research and to include two pictures (either drawn or copied from the Internet) on the final copy of their magazine article. The magazine template and factoids page provide places for pictures, statistics, and graphics and instruct students to 'spice up your article with statistics and fun graphics.' Students are instructed to note the source (web link or title/author) for quotations and pictures, and they use a bubble map graphic organizer to plan and connect ideas visually.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
The Number the Stars test includes an image of a propaganda poster and asks students to identify whether Nazis or Americans would have used it, requiring students to interpret a visual and connect it to historical context in text. A Think-Tac-Toe card specifically asks students to locate Washington, D.C. and other landmarks on a map, which requires integrating map visuals with place-name information. Several tasks ask students to create a book jacket illustration and to use an online Holocaust Museum Center, linking visual creation or digital visuals with written summaries or research.
3: Change
Unit 1: Matter
Lesson 1
Elements and the Periodic Table
Students are asked to look at the periodic table on page 10 to decide which element is similar to nickel and platinum and to explain why, requiring use of the visual table with textual concepts. Student activity pages include pie charts and a labeled human-body diagram that present element distributions alongside explanatory text, and students are directed to read those texts and use the charts to locate common elements. Students are instructed to locate the 12 most common elements on their periodic table and to use the "Common Compounds in Nature" table (visual models and formulas) together with written descriptions to build clay models of compounds.
Lesson 2
Introduction to Metals
Students are instructed to watch a video overview and then read print pages and answer questions, explicitly linking video (digital visual) information with the printed book. Students locate each metal on a full-color periodic table and record its family, and they record observations in a chart and transfer those observations into a Venn diagram, requiring them to combine visual representations with text. Students are also asked to create a collage or informational poster that combines images (photographs/drawings) with textual facts about a chosen metal.
Lesson 3
Introduction to Metalloids
Students are instructed to "Look at a periodic table" and discuss the seven metalloid elements, which requires using a visual periodic table alongside printed discussion. Activity 2 directs students to refer to the "Metalloids" section of a video and to use a "Metals, Metalloids, and Nonmetals" activity page, integrating digital video content with a printed activity. The lesson provides an Interactive Periodic Table link for students to click elements and then create a poem or mini-book, requiring them to transfer digital visual information into written work. The "Playing With Putty" student page includes a chart where students record and compare room-temperature and frozen results, integrating experimental visual/data displays with explanatory text.
Lesson 4
Introduction to Nonmetals
Students are asked to look at a periodic table (page 10 or an online interactive table) and identify the eleven gaseous elements, linking the visual chart to facts in the text. Students are directed to use an online interactive periodic table and to search for pictures of element uses, integrating digital images with written research. The student activity page includes a small graph for recording data from the yeast experiment and students must write observations and conclusions that connect the graphical/experimental data with text explanations.
Lesson 5
Classifying as Solids, Liquids, or Gases
Students locate and color a "States of Matter Periodic Table" (a visual chart) using a provided textual list that names which elements are gases, liquids, or solids, directly tying the printed list to the visual chart. After coloring, students use that colored periodic table to fill in the "State of matter at room temperature" section on the "Metals, Metalloids, and Nonmetals" activity page, explicitly using the visual to complete a separate text-based worksheet. Several activity pages include diagrams (e.g., "Liquid Before" → "Gas After", freezer and microwave illustrations, Soap States observation boxes) that students examine and use to record observations and conclusions about state changes.
Lesson 6
Classifying by Density
Students are asked to use the density periodic table (a visual chart provided via a link) to solve the "Density Puzzles," including ordering liquids by density, choosing gases that will make a balloon float, comparing densities of metals/metalloids/nonmetals, and identifying mystery elements by matching density values. The lesson prompts students to "examine this periodic table carefully" and to answer questions about patterns in rows and columns, explicitly requiring use of the visual alongside textual explanations of density. Activities require students to watch a video and read paired texts and then answer questions, and to draw and label results (e.g., sketches of the cup and boxes showing molecule density), integrating observed visuals with written analysis.
Lesson 7
Classifying by Magnetic Properties
Students are instructed to copy and label diagrams of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic elements from the textbook (page 109) and create a similar diagram for a diamagnetic element, which requires using visual diagrams together with textual definitions. Students are directed to visit a webpage showing a magnet floating between bismuth plates, read the explanatory section, and draw the main image with poles and arrows, integrating the online visual with the written explanation. Students examine a color-coded periodic table labeled "Classifying Elements by Magnetism" and use that visual to fill in the magnetism properties for metals, metalloids, and nonmetals on an activity page, combining the chart information with what they learned in the written material.
Lesson 8
Classifying by Conductivity
Students are given an illustration that shows clips, a jar with electrodes, and a battery to guide setup and are asked to follow written procedures for the electrical experiment. Students record observations in an observations table (a chart) on the "It's Electric!" activity page and fill an observations table in the "Feel the Heat" activity to compare materials. Students are directed to read an article and a book page about specific elements and are given a web link to watch a video about superconductors.
Final Project
Mystery Elements
Students draw pictures of each mystery element and record observations in the "Mystery Element Observations" table (state, color, luster, heaviness, magnetism, malleability). Students use the "Solve the Matter Challenge" chart to compare their visual/experimental observations with lists of possible elements and cross off eliminated options. Students are instructed to compare test results and observations with information gathered throughout the unit and to use an interactive periodic table web link to research and confirm element identities.
Unit 1: Tuck Everlasting
Lesson 1
Getting Ready
Students create a Vocabulary Picture Dictionary (Activity 1) where they draw a picture on one side of a page and record the word's part of speech, definition, and a contextual sentence on the other side, using the image layout as a guide. The lesson includes an image of the Vocabulary Picture Dictionary layout that pairs a visual box with the vocabulary word and a separate page with the definition and sentence. In Activity 3 students use a Grammar Symbols Chart and colored symbols to identify parts of speech in sentences and play a Memory matching game that requires pairing visual symbols with word forms or definitions.
Lesson 2
The Wood
Students are asked to design a map of the book's setting based on the author's description, explicitly instructing them to reread the text and place the road, turns, and features from the story onto the map. An alternative option directs students to illustrate the setting and to underline three or four sentences from the book that helped them create the picture and to record a quoted phrase on the illustration. The lesson includes a visual prepositions chart and an annotated activity page (answer key) that students use to identify parts of speech in the sentence, linking visual grammar information to the printed sentence.
Lesson 4
The Tucks
Students are asked to place laminated part-of-speech symbols above each word on the activity page and compare their work to pictured answer keys that visually label each word. The student activity pages include images (a winding key, globe, cup) placed beside sentences, and the answer-key images show words labeled with parts of speech beneath them. The lesson also directs students to watch a linked groundwater video and to carry out a hands-on groundwater simulation where they observe water movement through layers.
Lesson 5
At Home with the Tucks
Students are asked in Option 2 to locate words and phrases from the text that describe the Fosters' and the Tucks' homes and then illustrate the two homes "based on the author's descriptions," which asks them to convert textual details into visual representation. The Juxtaposition student page provides two illustrated houses and prompts students to choose which house and family they would prefer and explain why, which asks them to compare images with textual understanding. The Parts of Speech activity and its answer-key images show words in sentences with labeled parts of speech, and students are instructed to place laminated symbols above words on the page, linking visual labels to printed text.
Lesson 6
The Man in the Yellow Suit
Students are asked to identify parts of speech on a Student Activity Page that is presented visually and to place laminated symbols above each word, and two image answer keys show the same sentences with words labeled by grammatical category. In Activity 2 students collect small natural items, place them in a clear jar, and explain aloud how each item represents a cycle or change described in the quoted text, linking physical/visual artifacts to the book's ideas.
Lesson 7
Fishing
Students encounter small illustrations (a globe, an oar, and a rocking chair) placed near specific similes and metaphors on the "Similes & Metaphors" activity pages. Students are asked to record the two things being compared for each underlined simile/metaphor and an answer key explicitly pairs several textual comparisons with corresponding illustrations. The vocabulary and summary page include nautical-themed graphics adjacent to text prompts that students use when writing summaries containing target vocabulary.
Lesson 8
The Gallows
Students are asked to produce a multimedia presentation and either a two-page print ad or a 30-second commercial that combine images/graphics with text to market the spring (Option 1 and Option 2). The Parent Plan skill list explicitly includes "Produce a multimedia presentation involving text and graphics using available technology," indicating students will create text+visual products. In the parts-of-speech activity, students place laminated symbols above words and use answer-key images that visually label each word's part of speech, pairing visual labels with printed sentences.
Lesson 9
The Plan
Students are instructed to record three examples of cause and effect from the novel on a provided graphic organizer and then use that organizer as an outline to write a cause-and-effect paragraph. The student activity page includes two visual organizers (cause-to-effect and effect-to-cause) with boxes and arrows that students fill in with information from the chapters. A sample paragraph shows how to turn the completed visual organizer into written text, linking the visual representation to the novel's events.
Lesson 10
The Water and the Toad
Activity 3 (Book Quote) asks students to choose a ten-word quote, memorize it, and draw or paint a picture that represents the quote, then write the quote beneath the image, which requires linking a visual representation to a textual passage. Activity 5 (Tuck Everlasting, the Movie) asks students to watch the movie or trailer and record three ways the movie differed from the book and three things they would change, which requires comparing and integrating information from a video with the print novel.
Final Project
A Debate
Students are directed to use a Student Activity Page that is a graphic organizer with labeled visual sections (Pros, Cons, a vertical box labeled "Spring of Immortality," and "Your Own Words") and to record three quotes or actions from the book beside these visual sections. Students are instructed to categorize textual quotes and character actions under the visual headings (Pros or Cons) and to record the character who made each statement. The Facilitator Duties page includes visual timing cues (STOP signs) that students use to pace debate responses, and the Sample Debate Questions page includes visual elements accompanying question text.
Unit 2: Civil Rights
Lesson 1
Life Under Segregation
Students are instructed to read pages 4–7 of Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round and then watch at least two minutes of a video that shows images of racial segregation. Question 1 asks students to interpret the painting on pages 6–7 and connects that interpretation to an incident described in the reading (Benjamin Mays's recollection). Question 3 directs students to identify places and activities that were segregated, noting examples shown both in the book and in the video, and the "Segregation in My World" activity includes a historical photo for students to consider as they list and describe segregated locations.
Lesson 2
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Students are asked to create a "Support the Boycott" flyer that requires them to choose "powerful words and phrases and eye-catching visuals" and to place meeting details in a labeled circular area, combining text and images. The speech worksheet includes visual elements (a bus illustration, silhouettes, and a speech bubble labeled "Slogan or Main Idea") alongside prompts for written arguments, encouraging students to pair visuals with their written content. The Research Workshop uses a graphic organizer (central triangle and connected ovals) for students to visually map what they know and connect those visual elements to written facts and questions.
Lesson 5
Music and Youth in the Movement
Students are directed to use printed lyrics and music from Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round to learn and perform protest songs (Option 2), which requires reading musical notation alongside text. The "My Protest Song" activity page provides blank music staffs and space for lyrics so students can compose melody and words, combining visual musical notation with written text. The "Young People Creating Change" page includes a small black-and-white photo of a diner sit-in, indicating that a photograph is present among the materials.
Lesson 6
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Students are asked to read Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round (pages 40-43) and the linked web text and are told they "may also want to view the slideshow of images," connecting a visual slideshow with print/digital text. Students are instructed to look at examples of stamps, coins, and bills for inspiration when designing their own postage stamp, coin, or paper money honoring Dr. King, and activity pages include a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. and framed spaces for visual designs. Students create visual artifacts (stamp, coin, bill, protest sign) that combine images with brief text such as monetary value or short slogans.
Lesson 7
Freedom Summer
Activity 2 instructs students to review their interview notes and what they learned about voting and then create a magazine advertisement that uses bold text and eye-catching graphics to encourage voting, explicitly asking students to combine words and visuals. Students are told to look at magazines and the provided Historical Advertising web link to study how advertisements use graphics and text, and are given options to select graphics or clip-art on the computer and combine them with typed text. The Student Activity Page includes a visual icon and the Voting Interview Form collects textual content students will incorporate into their ad.
Lesson 8
Conducting Your Research
The lesson explicitly allows students to use videos, photographs, and sound recordings as possible research resources (Option 2) and provides an "Other Sources" section on the Research Sources activity page for documenting non-book and non-website sources. The Part 2 instructions tell students to read sources to answer research questions and to record the source of each piece of information (e.g., "(Source #5, pages 26-27)"). The Post-Interview Field Notes page asks students to summarize important topics and reflect on the interview, which documents information from a non-print source.
Lesson 9
Legacies of the Movement
Students read a text that includes a timeline on page 58, exposing them to a visual chronology alongside print material. In Activity 1 Option 2, students gather 2–3 pairs of objects or pictures and explain how each image represents life before and after the Civil Rights Movement. In Activity 2 Option 2, students research a modern example of discrimination and create a flyer that combines images and text and provides at least two ideas for action. The A Lifetime of Activism student page is a graphic organizer (a quadrant visual) that students fill in to plan actions across life stages.
Final Project
Presenting Your Research
Students are asked to create a learning station poster that explicitly includes images, a timeline, and a key message, and to place books and images as resources for viewers. Students are instructed to make an illustrated book by choosing images to go along with interview text and to transcribe interview excerpts for use with visuals. Students are directed to consult the timeline in the back of the book while reviewing and the rubric evaluates the attractiveness of visual elements, showing that students will combine visuals with written and oral materials.
Unit 2: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Lesson 1
School's In
Students are asked to watch a primary-source video about peaceful protests and then record a three- or four-sentence journal response guided by questions such as "How were the communities depicted in the videos different than they are today?" The lesson includes a labeled historical image ("Segregated Lunch Counter") with a description of the sit-in scene that students can observe. Students also complete "Recognizing Discrimination" graphic organizers in which they record who was involved and how events in the novel were examples of discrimination.
Lesson 2
A Visitor
The brochure Option (Option 2) requires students to produce a map on the front page with three largest cities, two rivers, and two lakes labeled, to include graphics about climate, and to paste a picture of a Mississippi farm and write sentences about it. The Mississippi Facts sheet (Option 1) includes an outline map with major cities and a river labeled and asks students to record natural resources, weather/climate, population, and historical events alongside the map. The brochure image diagram visually models how students should arrange visuals and text across panels.
Lesson 3
The Bus
Activity 2 includes an image titled "Formal Letter Template" and explicitly tells students to "Follow the guidelines shown in the formal letter template below." Students are directed to write a 6–10 sentence formal letter that uses content from the novel (identify problems, explain why they are wrong, and recommend fixes) while following the visual layout shown in the template. The Student Activity Page and answer key also provide sample sentences that students must incorporate into their written work while using the template format.
Lesson 5
The Market
Students read a written summary of Jim Crow laws and are then directed in Activity 2 to "watch this video with a parent and discuss" the Jim Crow era (two video links are provided). The lesson also provides Student Activity Page images (conjunction and noun cards) that students handle visually as they draw cards and create sentences, linking card content with written sentence construction.
Lesson 6
Uncle Hammer
Students are asked to create a poster promoting positive race relations that must include a powerful slogan and images that appeal to people's emotions, and parents are prompted to have the child describe the poster and explain why it would be effective. The Expanding Sentences student page includes simple black-and-white illustrations (covered wagon, shack, bus, umbrella) alongside sentences, which students see as they rewrite and expand those sentences.
Lesson 7
Christmas
Students are directed to use the Student Activity Page titled "A Southern Christmas," which features a Venn-diagram style graphic organizer, to compare the Logan family's holiday (identified by chapter pages) with their own family's traditions. The instructions ask students to identify similarities in the center boxes and unique aspects in the side boxes, requiring them to draw information from the chapter text and their own knowledge and place it into the visual organizer. The recipe/activity pages include small illustrations of foods (e.g., sketches of a chicken leg, pie slice, mixing bowl) that accompany textual recipes.
Lesson 8
Taking a Stand
Students are instructed to read the "Integrated Bus Suggestions" flyer (a historical visual document), underline the three suggestions they think were most important, and explain their selections to a parent, which requires using information from the flyer to support reasoning. The lesson prompts students to "Consider how the statements promote peace yet encourage strength and pride," linking the flyer content to the historical context of the Montgomery Bus Boycott described elsewhere in the lesson. A web link to a video about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and pictorial elements on student pages (bus icon, cartoons) are also provided as visual/digital resources students can consult.
Lesson 9
Papa's Accident
Students are instructed to watch a linked video about sharecropping and to "pay close attention to the images of homes and clothing" and to "observe facial expressions and body language," which guides use of visual information from a digital text. Option 1 asks students to "Draw a diagram that visually explains the sharecropping system" and specifies the diagram should include both visual and textual elements. Option 2 asks students to locate a picture online, print it, and write a short quote beneath it that realistically portrays the life of a sharecropping farmer, and the Wrapping Up step requires students to explain sharecropping using their diagram or picture and quote.
Lesson 11
Trouble
The Student Activity Page is a chart titled "Symbol Meaning Example" that shows proofreading symbols, their meanings, and example applications. The Editing and Revising instructions tell students to "Use the editing symbols page to correct your paper" and to read through their rough draft to make changes and improvements. Students are explicitly asked to consult the visual chart while editing their written draft.
Final Project
Unit Test and Presentation for Change
Students are instructed to make four slides or posters, each including bullet points, charts or diagrams, and at least one graphic that relates to the information on the slide. The prompt tells students to base Slide 2 on examples drawn from the story and from Jim Crow laws and other related video and text presented in the unit. The rubric and parent guidance evaluate whether visuals supported the ideas presented and whether integrated use of color, transitions, or media helped the listener follow the presentation.
Unit 3: Chemical Change
Lesson 1
Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons
Students are directed to watch a digital video about atoms and then use textbook diagrams (for example, the gold-atom diagram on p. 11 and the phosphorus image) together with the periodic table (pp. iv–v) to determine numbers of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The "Filling Shells with Electrons" activity page asks students to fill in electron diagrams for oxygen, argon, and iron, requiring them to translate numeric information from the periodic table into visual shell diagrams. Students must create a collage or computer illustration of an atom using the periodic-table data and explain the parts of their model to a parent, integrating visual representation with printed numerical information and textual rules (e.g., how to compute neutrons).
Lesson 2
Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures
Students build and place gumdrop molecular models side-by-side (steps 4–7, Gumdrop Chemistry) and are asked to compare those models to textual definitions (e.g., "Place water and oxygen molecules side-by-side, highlighting difference between molecules and compounds"). The "Your Turn!" table presents visual models alongside substance names and formulas and asks students to mark each as element or compound, requiring them to use the images together with text. In the Metal Sandbox and Metal-Free Sandbox activities students record observations in tables and use illustrated procedures (magnet test, filtration) to explain how the visual/experimental results show a mixture rather than a compound.
Lesson 3
Physical Changes
Students are instructed to complete a table about solids, liquids, and gases using information from Chapters 4–6, explicitly using illustrations (hints reference page 71) to draw molecules and fill blanks. The Phase Changes activity has students define terms and draw arrows on a diagram (red for speeding up, blue for slowing down), requiring them to label and link textual definitions with a visual state diagram. An optional extension includes web links and a video of the Pitch Drop Experiment that students can view and relate to the text and diagrammatic descriptions.
Lesson 4
Chemical Changes
Students are instructed to read specified pages in the textbook and then watch a video before answering comprehension questions, requiring them to use information from both print and a digital visual source. Multiple activities give students structured visual data to complete and interpret, including a Temperature Observations Table for the Rusty Shapes experiment, observation boxes and drawing spaces for the "It's a Gas!" activity, and tables for recording color and timing in the Clean Pennies and Color Shift experiments. Activity prompts ask students to draw conclusions (e.g., whether a gas was produced or whether a reaction was endothermic/exothermic) based on their observations recorded in those charts and drawings, linking visual data to the explanatory text and definitions provided earlier.
Lesson 5
Acids and Bases
Students are instructed to review the pH chart on page 41 and to match pH test-strip color changes to that chart when testing household items, linking the visual chart to their experimental results. The Student Activity Page provides a table and a 0–14 pH scale graphic for recording predictions and actual pH values, which students use to compare written predictions with visual scale readings. In Activity 2 students use the image titled "Chemical Formulas for Acid / Base Reactions" and the Valence element cards to rearrange element symbols into product formulas, and the parent plan directs students to check their rearranged cards against the image showing the sodium acetate formula.
Final Project
Demonstrating the Concepts
Students are instructed to take photographs or video of demonstrations and to use that documentation in a poster or computer presentation (Option 1). Students are told to create posters that include graphic elements and text to illustrate what is happening and to provide instructions for experiments (Option 2). Rubrics and activity pages explicitly require diagrams, images, and incorporation of photos/videos into print or digital presentations, and a resource link is provided for slideshow tools.
Unit 3: The Giver
Lesson 1
The Community
Students are asked to look closely at the book cover, describe the man on the cover, and compare their observations to the back-cover description to make predictions. The Character Timeline graphic organizer requires students to record a word or phrase describing Jonas after each reading and thus link chapter text to a visual timeline. Option 2 asks students to draw themselves performing an assigned job and write 3–4 sentences beneath the picture, combining an illustration with written explanation.
Lesson 2
Baby Gabriel
Students are asked to record words or phrases describing Jonas on a timeline after reading Chapters 3 and 4, which requires placing textual information onto a visual organizer. In Activity 1 Option 2, students create a collage of images (drawn, printed, or cut from magazines) to represent their Utopia and then describe what makes it a Utopia. The Parent Plan asks students to explain the meaning behind their collage and discuss how artistic techniques (color, shadowing, etc.) appeal to viewer emotions, linking visual choices to conveyed messages.
Lesson 3
The Ceremony of Twelve
Students are instructed in Activity 2 to create a "Timeline of Change" by cutting colored paper, labeling each sheet with the ceremony at the top, writing a description of what happens, and adding a picture that reflects the change. The student instructions tell them to order the pages to create a timeline (a visual chart) and to record on the timeline words or phrases that describe Jonas. The lesson includes an example black-and-white illustration with caption of a Naming Ceremony that students can use as a visual alongside the text descriptions.
Lesson 5
Memories
Students complete multiple vocabulary web graphic organizers (for words like "descent," "excruciating," "assuage," and "admonition") by writing definitions, syllable counts, parts of speech, and sentences in connected visual bubbles. The "History: To Be Forgotten or Remembered?" page includes pictorial prompts (an outline of the Sphinx and a star/rainbow icon) and asks students to describe historical events and explain how those memories could help Jonas's community, linking visual elements with written explanations.
Lesson 6
Color
Students reread the sleigh ride description and select descriptive words and phrases from the text to record in a five-senses graphic organizer titled "Sled Ride." The lesson includes an Answer Key image that pairs sensory icons (nose, eye, hand, mouth, ear) with narrative details, which students use to check their chart. In Activity 2 students create a painted or sketched image of a childhood memory and then write a descriptive paragraph using the senses chart to guide word choice. Students are explicitly directed to move information between the printed text, a visual chart, and their own pictorial representation.
Lesson 8
Love
The lesson includes student activity pages with visual elements (a broken chain illustration, a seven-letter acrostic with distinct symbols next to each letter, and decorative icons on the bio-poem template) that students are asked to use when composing responses. Option prompts instruct students to "include symbolism and ideas" and to "use symbols and examples" when writing letters and poems to explain freedom. The Rules for Capitalization pages also contain visual icons (Eiffel Tower, city skyline, flying saucers) alongside text-based tasks that students must complete.
Lesson 9
Rosemary
Students are asked to locate paintings in online art galleries, print small images for each color, and paste them on the activity sheet next to written descriptions of feelings, directly pairing visual images with written text. The "COLORS & FEELINGS" student pages provide blank painting boxes and lines for students to record the feeling associated with each color, requiring them to combine visual selection with written explanation. The Parent Plan directs students to compare pictured images with verbal descriptions of feelings, prompting students to explain how the visual image aligns with their written response.
Lesson 10
The Plan
Students are asked in the Music Collage option to use words and pictures (drawn, cut from magazines, or printed from the Internet) and glue them on a sheet of art paper, while writing descriptive language to explain the concept of music. The Musical Selection activity prompts students to write titles of five songs and explain why they selected each one on a page that includes images (saxophone, guitar, musical-note border). The Get Active page includes visual icons (light bulb, chess rook) alongside instructions, and the collage directions explicitly tell students to consider how the community will interpret non-color images.
Final Project
The Final Chapter
Students are instructed to create a memory storyboard by drawing, painting, or pasting images and then writing at least three sentences for each image explaining the memory and how it changed them. The Memory Storyboard Rubric explicitly evaluates whether "Images enhance memory descriptions," tying visual elements to written explanations. Students are directed to use a "Character Timeline" and to add final thoughts, and to use a Plot Flowchart graphic organizer to plan events, requiring them to combine visual organizers with textual analysis and writing.
4: Systems and Interaction
Unit 1: North and South America
Lesson 1
Geography of North America
Students label and color blank outline maps using specific pages from the print text Prisoners of Geography, explicitly using those pages to identify countries, oceans, rivers, mountain ranges, and cities. Students cut out timeline events and place them on a timeline, then shade and number territories on a US map to show historical expansion, combining temporal (timeline) visuals with geographic maps. Students watch a video about Mexico and use online images alongside maps to create a postcard, drawing a geographic feature and writing about it using information gathered from maps and digital sources.
Lesson 2
North America Economies
Students watch videos and then answer specific comprehension questions, requiring them to extract information from visual media and record it in text. In Activity 1 students use a Student Activity Page with images for natural, capital, and human resources and cut/match pictured resources to the appropriate textual categories. In Activity 2 students record product names and countries of origin from labels and then are instructed to tally results and create a bar graph or chart representing those textual data.
Lesson 3
The Cultures of North America
Students watch videos about Mexican and Canadian culture and answer comprehension questions, which requires them to extract information from visual media. Students complete a three-ring Venn diagram that has labeled circles and writing lines, using the diagram to organize similarities and differences between the three countries. Student activity pages for the poppy and Day of the Dead crafts include illustrations, templates, and step-by-step visuals that students use while following written instructions.
Lesson 4
Geography of Central America, The Caribbean, and South America
Students use printed maps from Prisoners of Geography (pp. 64-65) as a guide to label and assemble their own map of Latin America (Activity 1). Students watch videos about Central America and the Caribbean and answer specific content questions, linking visual media to factual answers. Students use an online Caribbean map to color and label island chains (Activity 3) and complete an Island Data Disk that asks them to record images and text about resources, climate, industry, and environment.
Lesson 5
Governments in Latin America
Activity 2 tells students to watch the video 'Intro to Latin America - Political Development' and pause along the way to complete worksheet questions, requiring students to use information presented in the video to fill in blanks and answer short-answer prompts. The Student Activity Pages include visuals (flags, a portrait, illustrations of a raised fist) that accompany fill-in-the-blank and short-answer tasks, so students encounter visual elements alongside text prompts. Activity 1 directs students to an online 'Types of Governments' resource for research and matching vocabulary to definitions, which asks students to use information from a digital source to complete a print worksheet.
Lesson 6
Economic Systems of Central and South America
Students watch a video titled "South American Economy" and answer comprehension questions, linking information from a digital visual source to written responses. Students fill in multiple chart/table activity pages (Natural Resources & the Economy; Economy of _____) by researching websites and transferring findings into visual organizers. Students create a travel poster and/or a South American product collage that require them to combine images with descriptive phrases or discussions about the items they selected. The scavenger-hunt activity instructs students to read packaging labels and stickers (visual labels) and record that information in a written table.
Lesson 7
Central and South American Culture
Students are instructed to watch videos about Central American and South American culture and then answer specific comprehension questions, linking video content to written questions. In Activity 1 and Option 2 students view digital videos and online images of weaving and patterns, then chart a replica on graph paper and create an original design, explicitly using visual examples to produce a related printed product. In Activity 2 students use a printed word bank and an activity chart to identify and record foods from Central America that their family uses, integrating labeled lists with a filled chart.
Final Project
Embassy Reception or Trivia Game
Students are instructed to create a 3-part visual display that must include a map/section about the country's geography and images alongside written descriptions of history/government, economy, or culture. Student activity pages require students to draw the outline of a country and label the capital, major rivers, lakes, and landforms, and to collect and place images of resources, industries, festivals, and leaders on their display. In Option 2, students write trivia questions and then assemble a puzzle map from the backs of the cards, combining the visual map pieces with the printed questions and answers.
Unit 1: Esperanza Rising
Lesson 1
Tragedy in Mexico
Students are directed to create a Great Depression photo journal by choosing two firsthand accounts, finding and printing photographs that correspond with each account, gluing images next to the text, and citing the image sources. Students are told to look through the pictures at the back of the nonfiction book and answer a discussion question comparing how photos (primary sources) and the book (a secondary source) each help understanding. Students are also asked to locate and label geographical places on a provided Map of Mexico using an atlas or online map, and an answer-key map image is included for reference.
Lesson 2
Escape
Students read a printed poem about the phoenix and are presented with an image titled "Phoenix" that describes a bird rising amid flames. The directions tell students to "pay close attention to what the author tells us about the phoenix" and give an option to "describe how the phoenix might serve as a symbol for Esperanza's circumstances" and then illustrate a phoenix rising from its ashes. A web link about the phoenix is also provided as a digital resource for background information.
Lesson 3
Train Ride
Students are asked in Option 1 to draw the inside of the wealthy car and the poor car based on the author's description, translating print descriptions into visual representations. In Option 2 students use two web links (digital texts) and fill Venn diagrams comparing social and political systems, placing information from texts into a graphic organizer. Student activity pages include illustrated train images and Venn diagram pages that students complete using information from the chapter and the provided websites.
Lesson 4
Los Angeles
Students are asked to use a map of the United States with a scale to estimate the distance from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles, directly using map information with the migration narrative. Students are directed to watch linked Dust Bowl videos and view Dust Bowl photos, record quotes from those videos, and then create a poster that combines a printed/drawn Dust Bowl image with textual quotes. Students are instructed to describe settings in detail either in words or in map form and to give page locations where each scene is described, tying visual mapping to the printed chapter.
Lesson 5
Home Sweet Home
Students are asked to complete a "Comparison Chart" page that directs them to describe how Esperanza's new world is similar to and different from her home in Mexico and to "use words and illustrations to record your ideas." The Student Activity Page for the problem-solution paragraph provides a graphic organizer with labeled sections (topic sentence, explanation, solution, concluding sentence) where students write responses into a visual layout. The activities explicitly require students to place textual details from the chapter into visual formats (chart and organizer).
Lesson 6
Papa's Roses
Students are asked to take on the role of an Illustrator and draw a picture related to the chapter they read, directly linking visual creation to written text. In Activity 1 students write or cut vocabulary words from a list and paste them onto a detailed house illustration to label objects and the speech bubbles, tying printed Spanish vocabulary to elements in the image. In Activity 2 students draw a shrine and then write explanations beneath the picture describing each element and what it represents, combining visual representation with written information.
Lesson 7
Dust Storm
Students are instructed to refer to the chart titled "Using Transition Words" to combine and sequence sentences, using the transitions box as a visual aid. The Student Activity Page requires students to arrange numbered sentences into logical order and choose appropriate transition words from the provided visual list. The answer key and activities direct students to highlight transition words in the text and apply the chart to rewrite sentences with transitions.
Lesson 9
The Strike
Students are directed to use the "On Strike!" student activity page, a graphic organizer with fruit-shaped boxes listing reasons workers might strike, and to "record information from the book that could support the reasons." The instructions ask students to "summarize the examples found in the text and provide page numbers," explicitly requiring them to combine the visual organizer with textual evidence. The Student Activity Page description shows the visual layout students will use to locate and place textual information.
Final Project
A Dramatization
Students are asked to create a movie poster that includes a title and an image meant to encourage viewers, which requires translating story elements into a visual design. Students must draw two sets—"Set in Mexico" and "Set in California"—that should reflect the environment and culture of each community, connecting textual setting details to pictures. The Readers' Theater page includes an illustration (a bus with luggage) tied to the script, and students perform and write scripts that relate dialogue and action to that visual context.
Unit 2: Cells
Lesson 1
Microscopes and Cells
Students read background text about cells and then examine plant slides under three magnification levels, recording observations on the "Ready for Close Ups!" activity page where they label magnification levels and draw/illustrate what they see with the naked eye and at two magnifications. Students are asked to create computer or colored-pencil illustrations, share those illustrations with family, show the chosen slide, and explain whether the slide was clear under each magnification and why. The parent prompts and life-application ask students to make sketches of plants and household objects under the microscope and look for similarities among cells, linking visual observations to conceptual ideas about cells.
Lesson 2
Animal Cells
Students are directed to label an "Animal Cell Diagram" using information from the assigned reading and an online illustration, explicitly asking them to use both text and a visual reference. In Activity 2 students make microscope slides of cheek cells, draw what they observe, and answer which organelles from the diagram are visible, linking microscope images to the labeled diagram and reading. In Activity 3 students observe a paramecium slide, make a sketch, and are also directed to watch a video of live paramecia, combining video and slide observations with diagrammatic references. In Activity 4 students complete a "Cheek Cell and Paramecium" comparison chart and produce a presentation or illustrated report that requires facts and illustrations from both their observations (visuals) and the reading (print).
Lesson 3
Plant Cells
Students read pages 14–15 in a printed text and then use a labeled plant cell diagram (digital weblink and image) to complete labeling and drawing activities. Students are instructed to use illustrations from the reading and a web diagram as guidance when they draw and label a plant cell and when they plan materials for a 3D model. In the wrap-up students compare their 3D model with the two-dimensional diagram and explain similarities and differences and why they chose particular materials.
Lesson 4
Systems of Plant and Animal Cells
Students watch the linked video 'Levels of Organization' and are instructed to use the video and an online slideshow as a guide to sketch a four-level diagram and write explanatory sentences, directly combining visual (video/slideshow) and written information. Students examine the labeled plant-tissue diagram, then make microscope slides, observe, sketch the tissues, and answer questions that require connecting the diagram's visuals to textual descriptions of tissue function. In the Virtual Electron Microscope activity students compare light and electron micrographs, use textual clues to classify each image as plant or animal, and identify structures, requiring them to integrate photographic evidence with written clues and prior text-based knowledge.
Lesson 5
Large Systems of Life: Ecosystems
Students are asked to review a web text about grasslands and watch a short video on abiotic and biotic factors and then answer comprehension questions, requiring them to combine information from the video and the reading. Activity 3 directs students to use the reading and habitat images as references when labeling or illustrating organisms, populations, communities, biotic factors, and abiotic factors. Activity 4 has students make microscope observations and sketches of brine shrimp and Activity 2 has students record experimental results, both requiring students to integrate visual observations (sketches, images, and flowcharts) with written procedures and conclusions.
Lesson 6
Classifying Life
Students are asked to watch a linked video and read a webpage and then answer questions, requiring them to use information from both visual and print/digital texts. In Activity 3 students cut or print pictures of animals and write each animal's scientific name under the image on a collage, directly pairing visual information with text labels. In Activity 2 students take digital photos or draw sketches of household objects and then create multi-level classifications and Genus/Species-style names, combining images with written classification information. Activity 4 has students use a prokaryotic cell diagram as a reference to build a 3D model and then explain differences from a plant cell model, linking visual diagrams and models with explanatory text.
Final Project
Cells and Life on Earth
Students use a microscope to make sketches of fungi cells and write notes comparing organelles to plant cells (Activity 1). Students gather past sketches and complete a Venn-diagram-style poster (Activity 3) and a "Four Kingdoms" organizer that require combining labeled illustrations with written notes about similarities and differences. Students also label cell diagrams and match organelle functions on the assessments, integrating visual diagrams with textual answers.
Unit 2: The Tree That Time Built
Lesson 3
Prehistoric
Students are asked to watch video clips from BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs and a National Geographic video (Activity 1). The Student Activity Page includes illustrations of various prehistoric animals that students can view while completing the obituary activity. Students are instructed to research their chosen animal (Activity 2) and to excavate fossil replicas (Activity 3), which supply visual or tactile information about prehistoric life.
Lesson 4
Plants
Students trace a real leaf and write a shape poem inside the leaf outline, explicitly combining a visual outline with their written poem. Students are instructed to consider whether hyphenated adjectives create a visual image or sound when they find hyphenated adjectives in poems. The student activity pages include illustrations (dinosaur, dandelion, cartoon) that students encounter alongside text tasks.
Lesson 5
Amphibians and Reptiles
Students are asked to create a drawing of an animal using camouflage in its habitat and to write a two-line couplet to accompany the drawing (Camouflage Option 1), which requires combining a visual representation with text. In Camouflage Option 2, students carry out an experiment, record numerical results for visible dots on contrasting backgrounds, and write a conclusion connecting the visual data to the concept of animal camouflage. Student Activity Pages include illustrations and spaces for students to record observations and explanations alongside their drawings and written responses.
Lesson 7
Birds
Students are asked to "Draw a picture of an image the poem creates in your mind" and to "List words/phrases from the poem that help create the image," which requires linking visual representation to textual evidence. Activity 3 asks students to collect bird images from magazines, catalogs, and the Internet and to decoupage those images onto a shoebox while placing a selected or written poem on the lid, directly combining print/digital images with printed text. The Student Activity Page also includes illustrated birds and trees that frame the analysis activity, reinforcing visual-text connections.
Lesson 8
Mammals
Students are asked to create an illustration or painting to accompany a selected poem and to have the tone, colors, and subject reflect the poem. The parent prompts ask students to read the poem aloud and explain which words and phrases influenced their picture. The Life Application and field-trip suggestion ask students to observe animals and use those observations as inspiration for new poems, linking visual observation with written work.
Lesson 9
Preservation
Students are asked to draw a Venn diagram (Activity 4) to compare and contrast two poems, using a visual organizer to synthesize information from the texts. In Activity 3 students make a model of an endangered/extinct species and create a display that places their poem on cardstock beside the model, pairing a visual representation with print text. The Student Activity Page prompts students to record examples of poetic language in labeled visual categories (metaphors, similes, personification, etc.), using a graphic layout to organize textual analysis.
Final Project
Poetry Lapbook
Students are instructed to add pictures cut from magazines, create their own drawings, or print pictures from the Internet to fill blank spaces and make the lapbook reflect the nature theme. Students are asked to draw an illustration on the outside of the Matchbook mini-book and illustrate the back side of the Pop-Up Book with a picture of their animal. The rubric and assembly steps require students to arrange mini-books and artwork inside the lapbook so visual elements appear alongside their poems.
Unit 3: Incas, Aztecs, and Maya
Lesson 1
Incas, Aztecs, and Maya History and Geography
Students are directed to look at photographs of artifacts in the DKfindout! reading and answer a question about which artifact interests them and what they wonder about it, requiring attention to visual details. Students use the map on pp. 4-5 of the reading to fill in a "Map of the American Continents" page, choosing colors for each civilization and completing a map key to show geographic regions. Students build a visual timeline by adding dated timeline cards to a binder, placing events from the readings on the timeline, and use a linked video for an additional digital visual overview of the societies.
Lesson 2
Daily Life of the Incas, Aztecs, and Maya
Students label and match text descriptions to a triangular "Incan Society Pyramid" diagram: the activity provides a visual diagram with empty boxes, a Word Box of terms (Emperor, Princess, Ordinary People, etc.), and cut‑out descriptions to paste onto the pyramid. In Activity 1, students draw a scene from daily life and then use their readings to fill in descriptive text about the same scene. The optional Britannica link directs students to view pictures of Chichen Itza as an extension for connecting images with informational text.
Lesson 3
Three Cities
Students cut out city pictures and match them to civilization names, then write three words or phrases that describe each city, combining visual cues with written labels. Students add dated timeline cards (visual cards) into a timeline binder, placing visual items into the correct text-based date ranges. Students watch virtual field-trip videos and are prompted to discuss unique features of each city and relate what they saw to readings and guided questions. Students view a picture and short text about the Aztec Sun Stone and then create their own sun stone based on that visual and descriptive information.
Lesson 4
Sharing Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations
Students use the Mayan numerals chart and activity page to translate Arabic numbers into visual Mayan symbols and solve arithmetic problems, directly combining a visual chart with printed numeric prompts. Students watch a video about Mesoamerican codices and study codex images in the printed book, then use those visual examples together with text (story ideas and Mayan numbers) to design and explain their own folded codex. Students also refer to an illustrated answer key that pairs symbolic representations with numeric equations, practicing reading and applying visual information alongside written calculations.
Lesson 5
Religion and Celebration
Students are directed to read pp. 30-31 about ancient ceremonies and then fill out the 'Ceremonies in the Past and Today' graphic organizer, transferring information from the text into labeled visual sections. The Student Activity Page is a visual organizer with prompts for "Ancient Ceremony" and "Modern-Day Event" and a comparison section, which requires students to place textual information into a visual format. Students are also instructed to locate the picture of the mosaic mask on p. 49 and use that image and the mask template to guide cutting, sizing, and placement of construction-paper "mosaics."
Lesson 6
Warfare and Gold
Students are directed to read specific pages (pp. 32–33 and 50–51) of DKfindout! Maya, Incas, and Aztecs and to use the images on those pages when completing activities. The Student Activity Pages include illustrations (weapons grid and Incan artifacts) that students cut out, order by importance, draw, and answer questions about, explicitly linking visual items to written prompts. Students are also asked to watch a linked Britannica video about Incan gold, providing a digital visual resource alongside the printed text.
Lesson 7
The Incas
Students practice reading a quipu diagram that shows hundreds/tens/ones columns and use it to identify numbers, fill in blanks, and perform addition on the Quipu activity page. Students create their own quipu and must explain how their cords and knots represent data, linking a constructed visual device to numeric information in writing and oral explanation. Students cut out and order labeled illustrations of the textile production process, write about the significance of fiber work, and draw a tapestry design, using pictures and labels alongside written responses. Students add a dated timeline card to a timeline binder, matching a visual card to the appropriate chronological section.
Lesson 8
The Maya and the Aztecs
Students watch videos (e.g., "How They Did It - Growing Up Aztec" and "Mayan Civilization for Kids") and are instructed to pause the video and paste events onto an "Aztec Children Timeline" graphic organizer, directly linking video visuals to a printed timeline. Students add yellow timeline cards with dates to a timeline binder and are told to match the card dates to the timeline page, integrating card information with the visual timeline. Students view a music/video that shows artifacts and artwork and then refer to book pages (pan pipes on page 21, drum on page 39) and complete related activities, linking visual artifacts with print descriptions and tasks. Students watch the Mayan video and then complete a vocabulary/response activity page using information from the video, combining digital visual content with written text responses.
Lesson 9
History and Archaeology
Students watch assigned videos (with transcripts) and are instructed to take notes and then write two paragraph summaries of the fall of the Aztec and Incan empires, requiring them to turn visual/digital information into written text. Students select an image of an Incan artifact from a book or online, draw a sketch, and answer guided questions (when/where/methods/usage/cultural insight) on the Incan Archaeology page, tying visual observation to historical interpretation. Students add visual timeline cards to a timeline binder, matching card dates to timeline date ranges, which requires aligning visual timeline elements with chronological text information.
Final Project
Time Machine
Students are asked to study and review the maps they created as part of test preparation and to pay attention to how groups worked with their natural environment, linking map information with textual descriptions. Both Option 1 and Option 2 unit tests require students to label or shade maps showing where the Maya, Aztec, and Inca lived, using textual knowledge to place regions on a map. The time-machine journal and the drawing page ask students to combine written journal entries with drawings or references to sites and city descriptions, drawing on DKfindout! and previous lessons.
Unit 3: Secret of the Andes
Lesson 1
The Andes Mountains
Students are asked to locate and draw the Andes Mountain range on a labeled map of South America, label the range, and shade the countries it passes through while shading Peru differently because the story is set there. The lesson includes a link to a video about the environmental and cultural influence of the Andes with the directive to "think about how the environment (clothing, food, shelter, etc.) shapes the culture of the people." The opening prompt asks students to explore the Andes Mountains to gain geographic context for the upcoming book.
Lesson 2
The Valley
Students explore Incan culture on provided websites and record findings on the "Elements of Incan Culture" chart, which prompts them to use words and pictures. Instructions tell students they can draw or print out and paste pictures they find, and the activity pages include images (artifact, llama, quipu) alongside labeled sections for students to fill with text. The chart/graphic organizer requires students to combine visual elements and written notes about holidays, clothing, religious practices, government, technology, and more.
Lesson 3
People Below
The Student Activity Page "Writing a Lyric Poem for a Minstrel" provides a visual graphic organizer with four labeled boxes (Event 1–Event 4) and instructs students to divide their story into events to form stanzas, which students use to structure their writing. The verbals worksheet includes small illustrations (panpipes, plants) and the organizer page is described as acting as a graphic organizer to help structure the writing process.
Lesson 4
The Journey
Students are asked to create a Wildflowers Photo Journal where they draw or collect images of wildflowers and list each flower's name, and to use a guidebook to identify flowers they discover. In the Peru Photo Collage option, students locate pictures of the Andes and Peru (including printing images from the Internet) and are instructed to include different cultural elements they researched in Lesson 2. The Student Activity Page provides framed spaces for students to place images and text together, supporting a visual-plus-text project.
Lesson 6
Llama Training
Students are instructed in the Guide to Incan Landmarks to color pictures "according to the images of the places you find below and online" and then "give an interesting description of each site and the historical significance" using the provided websites as sources. Student Activity Pages include illustrations (Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley, Temple of the Sun, Maras Salt Mines, Cuzco) with lined spaces for students to record observations or descriptions tied to those images. The Parent Plan and Skills list ask students to "synthesize research into a written or an oral presentation," which directs students to combine visual sources and digital/print information into a single product.
Lesson 7
The Temple
The lesson includes a linked digital video ("Inca Creation Myth") that students are instructed to watch and then retell the myth to their family. Students are told to use two visual aids to help with their retelling, which requires selecting or creating visuals to accompany the oral/narrative presentation. The Student Activity Page also includes an Aztec-style illustration alongside the text, which students view while working on the reading task.
Lesson 8
The City
Students are given a chart of transition words and phrases (labeled 'Using Transitions') that they are expected to consult while writing a book review, which requires them to use that visual chart as a reference. The lesson also provides web links including a YouTube video ('The Rise and Fall of the Inca Empire') and other digital articles and instructs students to use these websites to learn more about the Spanish conquest when completing the poem or brainstorming activity.
Lesson 9
Belonging
Students are asked to create a 5-slide digital slideshow that must be "visually engaging" and include "a lot of pictures to reinforce the information" with 2–3 sentences or bullet points per slide, requiring them to combine images and text. The Llama Craft pages include step-by-step drawings and a finished picture alongside written instructions, which students use together to complete the craft. The About the Author activity page contains a photograph of the author plus a list of facts that students must turn into an informative paragraph, exposing students to both photographic and textual information.
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Egypt and Mesopotamia
Lesson 1
Civilizations
Students read pages 6-7 that describe features of civilizations and then use the pyramid image on page 7 to fill out the "Social Structure" diagram by cutting and pasting labels into the correct sections. Students answer follow-up questions that require them to use the visual pyramid alongside the reading (e.g., why a pyramid is a good diagram and why scribes rank above craftspeople). Students also prepare and review a timeline binder and timeline cards, noting the left-to-right visual layout and how cards will be attached to represent events alongside textual descriptions.
Lesson 2
Archaeology
Students use the Dig Site Map to mark artifact locations on a labeled grid and record depth and site descriptions, linking a visual map with written notes. Students complete the "Analyzing Artifacts" pages by drawing each artifact and writing detailed descriptions, material guesses, ages, and uses, combining pictorial and textual information. In Option 2, students explore online digs that provide maps, pictures, and field reports and are directed to use those visual materials along with written information to choose and analyze artifacts. The lesson also directs students to watch documentary videos and to notice tools and techniques, connecting visual media to written observations.
Lesson 3
Mesopotamia
Students are asked to examine images and captions on specified pages (Questions 2) and to describe a picture and generate a question about it, explicitly connecting visual examination to the upcoming reading. In Activity 1 students use the book's maps (pp. 10 and 36) to create and label a map of Mesopotamia and then answer written questions that draw on both the map and the reading. Activity 8 requires students to include a map on a research poster and to write sentences linking environmental resources and cultural elements to that map. Additional tasks ask students to place timeline cards on a visual timeline and to copy cuneiform examples from the book into clay, further tying images to textual information.
Lesson 4
Ancient Egypt
Students are instructed to use the map on page 14 and online maps to complete a labeled and shaded "Geography of Ancient Egypt" map, and to consult that map as they read to locate cities and understand movements of settlers, traders, and armies. Students add dated timeline cards to a timeline binder by finding the corresponding pages and dates in their text, linking chronological visual information to printed pages. Students examine images of Egyptian paintings (pages 12-17 and an online slideshow) to note how figures are depicted and then create their own artwork using those visual conventions; students also complete trading cards that pair ruler images with dates and "known for" facts from the text.
Lesson 5
Egyptian Religion and Myths
Students view and use images from online galleries of Egyptian gods and are instructed to draw or describe how each god was portrayed and record details (Activity 1). Students cut out images and matching explanations about mummification and glue them in sequence to create a flowchart that combines pictures and text to show embalming steps (Activity 4). Students read or watch myths (including a YouTube link) and then create a picture-book retelling or a storyteller performance that pairs written/oral narrative with illustrations (Activity 3). The reading directions also ask students to pre-read by paying attention to headings, sub-headings, and images and to write questions and short summaries, prompting attention to visuals alongside text.
Lesson 6
Daily Life in Egypt
Students are asked to use the "Nile River" graphic organizer to record ways Egyptians used the Nile, either by writing answers or drawing pictures, linking information from the reading and a web article to a visual organizer. In Activity 3 students fill in tables on "Life and Work in Ancient Egypt" using pages 14–15 and provided web links, transferring textual information about jobs, tools, and resources into a visual chart. In Activity 2 students use images of hieroglyphic writing from the reading and online hieroglyph resources as models to create their own hieroglyphic text, applying visual examples to produce written work.
Final Project
Expedition or Web-based Tour
Students are asked to label a blank map with the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates, which requires using a visual map together with their geographic knowledge. In the archaeological option, students must draw or print photographs of artifacts on the "Share Your Findings!" pages and write descriptions explaining what each artifact tells about the culture, linking images to explanatory text. In the web-based tour option, students review websites (recording URLs and descriptions on "Web-based Review Pages") and write 2–3 sentence introductions to each site that explain what visitors will learn, which requires connecting online visual/digital resources with written explanations.
Unit 1: The Hydrosphere
Lesson 1
The Hydrosphere and the Nature of Water
Students are asked to read Chapter 1 and watch a linked video and then answer questions that require using examples from the chapter or the video (Question #3 explicitly asks for an example from the chapter or the video). Students use Student Activity Pages and illustrated investigation guides (Surface Tension Investigation and The Pepper Problem) to make observations and record visual outcomes of experiments. Students build or draw molecular models and then use those visual models to explain how polarity, cohesion, and surface tension produce the observed behaviors.
Lesson 2
Density, Salinity, and Water Behavior
Students record and analyze data in a table (mass, volume, density) and use those numerical results to calculate density and explain patterns. Students shade and label a diagram showing where each solution would settle, and they interpret an illustrated layered glass to determine which solutions are least and most dense. Students observe colored ice or drops in cups and answer 'Things to Ponder' questions that require combining what they saw in images/diagrams with their measurements and written explanations.
Lesson 3
Oceans and Ocean Currents
Students watch a demonstration video in Activity 1 and then color a drawing of the container to match the layers and use a key to label which layers are most and least dense, directly tying the visual to the concept of density and salinity. In Activity 2, students observe how food coloring disperses in cups of different temperatures and then draw models showing particle motion, linking their visual observations to written explanations about temperature and molecular movement. In Activity 3, students cut out and assemble an Earth–Sun model, place sunlight arrows and ocean-current arrows on a diagram, and use the diagram together with text about unequal heating and thermohaline circulation to explain global ocean circulation.
Lesson 4
Freshwater and Groundwater
Students are asked to analyze a bar chart titled "Freshwater Withdrawals" and to answer Part 2 questions that instruct them to use the chart and an article to describe patterns in water needed to produce different foods. The activity directions require watching a video and pausing to answer questions, then reading an article and using the chart to respond to specific prompts about drought-tolerant crops and water use. The water-table model activity asks students to draw and label a diagram and then use that drawing to explain processes (e.g., how gravity and the Sun move water), linking a visual model with written explanations.
Lesson 5
Aquatic Ecosystems
Students cut out organism cards and glue them into a food pyramid, draw arrows to show energy flow, label producers/consumers/decomposers, and predict population changes based on the visual model. Students build a food web that connects marine and terrestrial organisms, use an arrow key and colored pencils to trace the movement of a pollutant through the food web, and then answer questions that require using the diagram as evidence. Students read Chapter 5 and use provided web articles and videos as digital texts to research problems, then combine those print/digital sources with their diagrams and game cards to develop inquiry questions and explain cause-and-effect relationships.
Lesson 6
The Water Cycle
Students watch a linked video about the water cycle and are instructed to "pay attention" to how water changes form and then answer targeted activity questions, requiring them to relate the video content to written questions. Students read Chapter 6 and are directed to use the diagram in that chapter as a guide when drawing the water cycle on their Ziplock-bag model, linking a printed diagram to a physical visual model. Students compare and explain how their bag model, the video, and the written descriptions represent the same processes (evaporation, condensation, precipitation), explicitly connecting visual and text-based information.
Lesson 7
Weathering and Erosion
Students watch a video about how rivers shape the land and then analyze a river diagram/map to identify where erosion and deposition occur, marking the outside bends RED and inside bends BLUE. Students complete the "Erosion and Weathering in Action" activity by sketching their sand landscape, labeling features (weathering, erosion, deposition, sediments), and writing observations that connect their visual traces to written explanations. The Investigating the River activity asks students to use the diagram and video evidence to answer text questions about where erosion and deposition happen and how water speed affects those processes.
Lesson 8
Water Pollution
Students examine Graph 1 (Fresh Water and Salt Water) and Graph 2 (Dissolved Oxygen and Pollutants) and are asked to "answer the questions... using evidence from the graph," directly prompting use of visual data to support explanations. Students watch a video about modern farming and answer specific questions, then use observations from a hands-on runoff model (three cups) to record and explain changes in water quality, linking visual observations to written responses. The parent/skills sections and wrap-up explicitly direct students to use evidence from graphs, investigations, and the video to construct explanations and design solutions.
Lesson 9
Water Treatment, Conservation, and Clean Water
Students are prompted to make and interpret visual observations in multiple activities: the Water Filtration Challenge asks students to observe sedimentation, draw their filter design, and compare filtered vs. unfiltered water; the Water Quality Experiment directs students to compare color and odor by holding samples against a white background and record observations; The Great Leak Investigation requires students to collect drops, measure amounts, and complete a table of estimated water lost over time.
Final Project
Local Water Investigation
Students are asked to use maps and Google Image Search to identify whether their chosen water source is freshwater or saltwater and to identify plants, animals, and insects by comparing images and names. Students create labeled visual models (a cross-section ecosystem drawing) and a food web (poster or digital slide) and must use those visuals alongside written explanations and oral presentations. Students observe a collected water sample visually (clear, slightly cloudy, murky, brown) and link those observations to written analysis about contamination and impacts on organisms.
Unit 1: The Pearl
Lesson 2
The Scorpion
Students use the "Parts of Speech" student page (a table/chart) as a visual reference to identify functions and sample words while they label sentences from The Pearl. Students use laminated parts-of-speech symbols (visual icons) or drawn symbols to mark nouns, verb phrases, adjectives, and adverbs in printed sentences. Students underline and label specific sentences from the text, applying the visual key to integrate symbol/chart information with the written sentences.
Lesson 3
The Pearl
Students are asked to record Steinbeck's "Strong Verbs" and "Vivid Adjectives" from the second paragraph of Chapter 2 into a two-column "Verbs and Adjectives CHART," converting textual details into a chart format. Students are given Option 1 to draw the ocean floor based on Steinbeck's description and Option 2 to write a poem borrowing descriptive language, and parents are instructed to "look for evidence of Steinbeck's descriptions" in the student's drawing or poem, prompting comparison between visual work and the text.
Lesson 4
Related Research
Students are asked to create a travel brochure that must contain pictures, text, and a map (Brochure Outline lists "map," "food," and picture/text requirements). Students complete a Student Activity Page graphic organizer that pairs images (globe, fish, beach umbrella, whale, maracas) with sections for geography, food, places to see, nature, and culture. For the pearl-diving option, students must prepare a one-page script and use at least two visual aids (pictures, charts, props) and decide when to use them during an oral presentation; presentations are assessed on the effectiveness of visual aids.
Lesson 6
For Sale
Students are asked to use a graphic organizer titled "The Pearl" that shows a central image of a pearl and five spokes where they list different ideas for what the pearl symbolizes, directly pairing a visual web with textual interpretations. Several Student Activity Pages include illustrations (pearl in an oyster, buildings, flower, shell) alongside prompts, and students are instructed to brainstorm and list symbolic meanings on the web. The web activity requires students to translate ideas from the print text (the novella) into entries on a visual diagram.
Lesson 7
The Attack
Students are directed to use the provided Student Activity Page (a table) to record what each character wants and to draw a symbol in a column that reflects the nature of those wants. The activity asks students to consider whether wants are good/evil/valiant/self-centered and to answer a concluding question connecting the chart to the story's theme of greed and contentment. The page description and instructions require students to translate text-based character analysis into a visual format (table entries and symbolic drawings).
Lesson 10
Writing a Parable
Students are directed to fill out a graphic organizer titled "The Elements of a Short Story," which uses labeled boxes and a visual diagram with arrows (Introduction → Rising Action → Climax → Falling Action) to connect story elements. Students are instructed to use a Parable Rubric presented as a four-level grid to evaluate Content/Organization, Voice/Word Choice, and Conventions. Students are told to use an Editing Symbols page that shows symbols, meanings, and examples to mark and revise their drafts.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students are asked to design a new book cover that requires them to illustrate a significant moment and include a written summary and author details, combining an image with textual information. In the "Speech Symbols" activity students must illustrate each symbol and explain its significance in the story, explicitly linking visuals to textual meaning. The "Compare/Contrast" task directs students to use a Venn diagram to organize similarities and differences between texts, using a visual organizer to integrate and display textual comparisons.
Unit 2: Africa Today
Lesson 1
Overview of Africa
Students read pages 204–207 of the textbook and then answer guided questions about Africa's terrain and problems. Students assemble, color, and label a large poster-sized map of Africa using the map pages and the map on page 205 as a guide. Students are directed to use a provided web map (visualcapitalist.com) to gain a sense of Africa's size relative to other countries, and they use a map key to identify mountains, deserts, rainforests, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls.
Lesson 2
Northwestern Africa
Students read Geography of the World and then use that information to label, trace, and color a map of northwestern Africa (Activity 1), showing deserts, coastal areas, and other features. In the brochure option (Activity 2, Option 2) students draw an illustration that represents the environment and economy and write sentences and a paragraph connecting the visual to textual descriptions of climate, resources, and exports. When creating the current events journal (Activity 3) students use labeled regional divider maps and file print or digital news items alongside their written summaries, and a satellite map link is provided for students to check their map work.
Lesson 3
Northeastern Africa
Students label and color maps in Activity 1, marking countries and capitals and adding rivers, lakes, and geographical features. In Activity 4 (Option 2) students are instructed to use the lesson readings and a referenced book on ancient Egypt to illustrate modern and ancient Egypt maps that show people, buildings, boats, Nile uses, and crops. The 'Cultures of Sudan' student page provides a Sudan map outline with Khartoum and Juba and asks students to use resources to complete a table comparing north and south in climate, languages, religions, and housing.
Lesson 4
West Africa
Students read assigned pages (220-231) and then label and color a map of West Africa, tracing countries and adding rivers, lakes, bays, mountains, deserts, and major cities to represent textual information visually. Students complete a two-column Student Activity Page chart that lists climate, landscape/terrain, natural resources, agricultural crops, and examples of people interacting with the environment for northern and southern West African countries, using information from the reading to fill each section. Students are also directed to use Geography of the World and provided web image links (National Geographic Kids) as sources to support their map and chart work.
Lesson 5
Central Africa
Students label and color a map of Central Africa in Activity 1, using brown for deserts, gold for grasslands, and green for rain forests, and add rivers, lakes, and cities. Activity 2 directs students to use Geography of the World and web resources (including a 1920 map of European colonies) to record colonial history on student sheets, requiring them to combine information from print and digital texts with map-based resources. Activity 4 provides a visual activity page (Challenges of Government) where students fill in numeric and descriptive data (life expectancy, people per doctor, natural environment notes) drawn from the textbook.
Lesson 6
Central East Africa
Students label and color countries and geographical features on a map (Activity 1), combining map visuals with written location and feature information. In Activity 2 students are asked to refer back to the assigned reading and incorporate images (cut-outs or print-outs) and captions into a four-page brochure that pairs landscape and wildlife pictures with descriptive text. Activity 4 asks students to create a poster and a spoken announcement that incorporate researched information and visuals; the Student Activity Pages provide boxed spaces for images and lines for accompanying text.
Lesson 7
Southern Africa
Students read pages 246-253 and then label and color a map of southern Africa (Activity 1), using textual descriptions to place countries, capitals, and geographic features. Students complete a Venn diagram (Activity 2) that visually compares apartheid in South Africa with segregation in the United States, integrating prior knowledge and assigned readings. Students fill a chart (Activity 4) by writing definitions from pages 270-271 and placing each of the eight countries into the appropriate system-of-government boxes, linking textbook text to a tabular visual organizer.
Final Project
African News Report
Students are asked to include maps, charts, graphs, or images with each news story (Option 1) and to sketch or write ideas for visuals on the "Final Project Notes" page. Lapbook tasks require students to create a map mini-book and to include graphs or images (e.g., a graph showing percentage of exports) in the Environment/Natural Resources and Economy mini-books. Rubrics for the printed newspaper, broadcast, and lapbook evaluate the inclusion and usefulness of images and the visual appropriateness of the presentation.
Unit 2: The Atmosphere
Lesson 1
What Is the Atmosphere?
Students are asked in Activity 2, Part 2 to create a simple drawing diagramming the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere and to use arrows labeled with examples from the reading to show interactions, directly tying a visual representation to print text. The student activity pages prompt students to label where energy is absorbed, reflected, and converted using information from the reading, and to sketch observations outside with arrows and labels showing how energy moves. The Air Takes Up Space investigation includes an illustrated procedure that students use to record observations and explain how bubbles and water behavior provide visual evidence supporting the written explanation that air takes up space.
Lesson 2
Layers of the Atmosphere
Students read Chapter 2 and are instructed in Option 1 to collect information from the text and record altitude, temperature, unique characteristics, and importance on a labeled diagram/activity page. In Option 2 they build a 3D stack model and must label each layer and include one important feature from the chapter, then use the model to identify temperature patterns. In Activity 2 students cut out visual icons (weather, airplane, ozone layer, meteor, ISS, aurora) and sort them into layers, then choose three placements and explain their reasoning using evidence from Chapter 2.
Lesson 3
Air Pressure and Density
Students are directed to "Read about air pressure in Chapter 3" and "watch the following video" and to use both the reading and the video to answer questions, which requires integrating visual and print sources. In the "When Air Masses Move" activity, students examine a five-day weather data table (chart) and are asked to identify patterns, explain cause-and-effect using evidence from the data, and predict Day 6, directly requiring integration of tabular visual data with textual reasoning. Students also complete a modeling task and interpret an illustration showing high (H) and low (L) pressure with arrows, connecting that visual model with particle-level text explanations of pressure, density, and temperature.
Lesson 4
Energy from the Sun
Students use online global maps (snow cover, vegetation, deserts, oceans) and a blank world map to identify and shade surface types, then label locations and record them in a table that links surface type, latitude (near equator or poles), and an energy level (High/Medium/Low). The Surface Heating & Albedo Investigation includes a data table for recording starting and final temperatures for black paper, white paper, and aluminum foil, which students analyze and explain using the vocabulary absorption, reflection, and albedo. Multiple Student Activity Pages ask students to "look at your completed map and data table" and to "use evidence from your model" to answer questions that require combining map-based observations with text explanations about sunlight angle and surface properties.
Lesson 5
Heat Transfer in the Atmosphere
Students are asked to look closely at diagrams (e.g., the "Air Currents and Winds" diagram and the sea breeze/land breeze side-by-side diagram) and explain or draw arrows showing air movement. In Activity 3 students compare what they observe in a hands-on convection experiment (visual movement of colored water and balloon inflation) with the diagram and answer questions connecting the visuals to the text. Students watch videos (Intro to Conduction, Convection & Radiation; SEA BREEZES) and respond to text questions asking them to identify examples of conduction, convection, and radiation from the video.
Lesson 6
Wind and Global Circulation
Students create and label a world map, shade temperature zones, draw arrows for rising/sinking air, curve surface winds into Trade Winds, and add a Jet Stream (Activity 1 and Student Activity Page). The instructions explicitly tell students to "Answer these questions using your map" and to "use maps and diagrams to identify repeating patterns in global wind circulation" (Skills and Part 4/Part 5). In Activity 2 students draw paths on a rotating paper model and then use those drawn paths to explain the Coriolis effect (student questions and Answers to the "Questions to Ponder").
Lesson 7
Air Masses and Weather Systems
Students watch a video about weather fronts and then use a U.S. weather map and key to identify cold, warm, stationary, and occluded fronts, answer map-based questions, and make weather predictions (Activity 1). Students read tornado and hurricane case study texts and examine linked photographs and satellite/radar descriptions to explain storm formation and prediction (Activity 2). Students use an interactive snowfall data tool to analyze charts, calculate averages, and draw conclusions about snowfall patterns in Buffalo (Activity 3), and an optional activity has students use a local forecast to locate fronts and sketch their town relative to those fronts.
Lesson 8
Human Impact on the Atmosphere
Students examine labeled graphs of atmospheric CO2 levels and global average temperature in the "Climate Data Analysis" activity and answer guided questions that ask them to describe trends and compare the two graphs. In Activity 3 students observe and record visual evidence from agar dishes (petri-dish images/descriptions) and then connect those observations to textual explanations about particulate matter and human sources of pollution. The student activity pages explicitly ask students to use evidence from the graphs to explain relationships (e.g., between greenhouse gases and temperature) and to write questions and reflections that integrate the visual data with the chapter reading.
Final Project
Atmosphere Escape Room Challenge
Students are asked to "Using the terms in the word box, label this Diagram," and to answer "What does this diagram demonstrate?", requiring them to read the word box (text) and apply those terms to the visual convection diagram. Students must "Draw a simple light wave below and label the amplitude" and then "Describe how the difference in sunlight intensity might relate to amplitude and energy of light waves," connecting a student-produced visual to written explanation. The unit test also asks students to "Fill out the chart" linking conditions (text) to impacts on atmospheric pressure (visual chart), and the Escape Room Walkthrough has students arrange clue cards and read visual clue cards to produce a code that links visual sequencing with textual answers.
Unit 2: A Girl Named Disaster
Lesson 1
Nhamo
Students are instructed to locate Mozambique on a world map and to click the provided satellite image link to examine geographic features. Students are asked to shade and label Mozambique, Lake Cabora Bassa, the Zambezi River, bordering countries, the Indian Ocean and the Mozambique Channel, and to place a star indicating Nhamo's village in relation to those features. Students are directed to use the maps that accompany the book and to browse linked country pages for additional digital information to combine with what they read.
Lesson 2
Sickness
Students create a Vocabulary Picture Dictionary where they paste each vocabulary word alongside a visual symbol, diagram, or simple picture and glue the actual definition and sentence on the back, explicitly pairing visuals with printed text. The Student Activity Page provides empty boxes for drawings next to each word and spaces for definitions and sentences, requiring students to match images with written information. As Investigators, students are instructed to gather background information that may include "pictures, objects, or materials that illustrate elements of the book" and to record that information in their journal.
Lesson 4
Escape
Students read the printed "History and Peoples of Mozambique and Zimbabwe" section and then complete activity pages that pair that text with visuals. They color and label the Mozambique and Zimbabwe flags and use an outline map of Great Britain and Portugal to identify historical connections. Students answer content questions that require referencing the flags/maps (e.g., "What country fought the war against the Frelimo?", "What tribe took over the government in Zimbabwe?") and fill graphic organizers comparing tribal and European influences.
Lesson 5
Lake Cabora Bassa
Students are assigned the role of Travel Tracer and asked to describe where characters have moved to and from and to describe each setting in detail either in words or in map form, with an explicit suggestion to use a map from Lesson 1. The lesson provides a visual brainstorming option (an IDEA WEB student activity page and a linked Cluster Diagram PDF) for students to generate and organize ideas before writing. Students are asked to record their ideas in a journal and to explain what role the setting plays in the conflict, which can connect visual (map/web) information to their written explanations.
Lesson 6
Abandoned Farm
Students are asked to fill out a visual "5 W's" graphic organizer by answering Who, When, Where, What, and Why about their event, copying details from the text into the hexagon chart. Students are also instructed to complete a "Personal Narrative Story Elements" diagram that maps setting, characters, rising action, climax, and resolution, using textual details to populate the visual layout. Students read and use a "Personal Narrative Rubric" table to align their written work with specific criteria, linking the rubric chart to their draft planning and writing.
Lesson 7
Baboons
Students are asked to "look back at your map from Lesson 1 and locate the lake," connecting a map to the narrative setting. Students take on the role of an Illustrator and must draw or paste pictures related to chapters 21–23 in their journals. In Option 1 students research baboons and design a museum plaque that requires a picture of baboons in habitat plus 8–10 written sentences; in Option 2 students create a guidebook that requires printing/pasting pictures and writing 1–2 sentences for each animal.
Lesson 8
Survival
The lesson includes an explicit image titled "Calabash" with a descriptive caption and two web links to online calabash collections that students can view. In Activity 1, students are instructed to draw an outline of their gourd, sketch a design, and use paints to create an artistic calabash piece, referencing decorative calabashes. The activity prompts students to consider the different ways Nhamo used natural materials and mentions decorative uses across cultures, which connects visual examples to the topic.
Lesson 10
A Rude Awakening
Students are asked to create a storyboard with six important scenes, drawing a picture for each scene and writing a sentence that describes the action, explicitly linking images to written descriptions. Students making the postcard must draw the island to reflect the geography described in the chapters and write a 4–6 sentence note explaining survival, journey, and changes, tying visual depiction to textual details. The instructions require that storyboard scenes accurately reflect culture, geography, and Nhamo's struggle, requiring students to integrate visual choices with information from the print text.
Lesson 11
Out with the Old
Students are directed to read and use the Student Activity Page, a table of proofreading symbols, meanings, and examples (Activity 5). Students are told to consult the "Editing Symbols and Abbreviations" sheet and apply those symbols to mark errors on their printed or digital drafts (Activities 6 and 7). The instructions explicitly ask students to use the visual guide to identify and correct punctuation, capitalization, and grammar errors in their personal narrative.
Lesson 12
A New Beginning
Students are asked to select or design 2–3 visual aids or props to enhance the meaning and action of their personal narrative and to gather materials for those aids. Students are instructed to use their visual aids or props at appropriate times during practice and the final oral presentation, and the presentation checklist explicitly notes using visual aids to enhance retelling. The student activity/test pages include decorative illustrations (giraffe, cheetah, leopard) and images of answer-key pages that present visual elements alongside text.
Unit 3: Australia and Oceania
Lesson 1
The Rainbow Serpent
The lesson notes that the version of the Rainbow Serpent story "was accompanied by artwork" and refers students to the explanation of Aboriginal symbols on pages 60-61 as inspiration. Option 1 asks students to create a picture book, drawing, painting, or dramatization, which requires pairing images with text when retelling the story. The Student Activity Page and comparing activity ask students to record details about the story and may be completed alongside the provided illustrations.
Lesson 2
Overview of Australia and Oceania
Students cut out and assemble a six-page poster map and then label the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the Great Barrier Reef using the maps on pages 258-259 and 265 as references. In Option 1, students use Geography of the World to fill a three-column chart comparing countries' governments and economies, directly putting textual information into a visual table. In Option 2, students extract area and population figures from Geography of the World, record them in a table, calculate population density, and answer comparative questions based on those visual data.
Lesson 3
Australia and Papua New Guinea
Students are instructed to label and color a map of Australia and Oceania using information from their Geography of the World readings, linking textual descriptions of landforms and population patterns to a visual map. Students create a timeline by using reading dates and placing illustrated timeline cards in order, combining text-based dates/events with images. Students fill a Venn diagram comparing the Australian and U.S. governments using information from readings and online sources, and an image of the Venn diagram answer key is provided. Students also research and design a poster about Australian exports, using textual research to produce a visual presentation.
Lesson 4
Stories of the Yorta-Yorta People
Students are directed in Activity 1 to research an Australian animal using print and online sources and to complete an activity page that includes a space for a picture and an explanation of how the animal is adapted to its environment. In Option 2 (Uluru) students are asked to explore the Uluru park website and then design a bumper sticker and button, linking information from the site (digital text) to a visual persuasive product. The Life Application and web links include an animated video and park webpages that students may visit alongside the reading in Stories from the Billabong.
Lesson 5
New Zealand
Students create and label a map of New Zealand (Activity 1), using geographic features and place names to represent information visually. Students view images of Maori art and artifacts from online sources and then answer questions that connect the visual object to written information about materials, age, use, and cultural significance (Activity 2). Students complete a table that links specific outdoor activities to New Zealand's natural features (with a faint map background) and to their own local environment, using visual and textual information together to explain why activities are possible (Activity 3).
Lesson 6
Peoples of the Pacific Ocean
Students label and color a map of Australia and Oceania, add rivers, lakes, bays, mountains, and list capitals, directly using a visual map alongside written place names. Students read pages 264–265 (which include a map showing the Galápagos location) and are asked to note its proximity to South America, integrating map information with the text. In the Galápagos activities, students create a field guide page or an annotated diagram that requires them to include or draw an image and write habitat, adaptations, size, and feature explanations, linking visual features to written descriptions. The activity instructions also ask students to cite URLs when pasting images, connecting digital visuals with their written research.
Lesson 7
Polar Regions
Students are asked to label and annotate two maps: the Arctic map (labeling places such as Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Svalbard, Barrow, etc., and shading Alaska and Svalbard to represent oil/gas and coal reserves using the map key) and the Antarctica map (marking U.S. research stations, the deepest point of ice, Vinson Massif, Vostok Station, and other non-U.S. stations). The activity directs students to use pages 267 and 269 of Geography of the World and the provided map keys/answer images to confirm the accuracy of their maps, and Student Activity Pages show map visuals that students must interpret and complete.
Final Project
Celebrating Australia and Oceania
The Parent Plan skills explicitly require students to "Create maps, charts, graphs, databases, and models as tools to illustrate information about different people, places, and regions in Australia and Oceania." In Option 2 students must produce a map of the museum interior, a mural, and a brochure that combine visual elements with written explanations (overview, government, economy, natural environment, cultures). In Option 1 students may create visual timelines, posters, or web pages and must introduce each artistic part with short remarks to add informational details. The unit test asks students to label a world map and includes a map answer key, connecting geographic visuals to written responses about settlement and culture.
Unit 3: The Lithosphere
Lesson 1
Shifting, Drifting, and Spreading
Students draw and label the isostasy rebound model in the two boxed pictorial sections ("Covered in Ice" and "As the Ice Melts") and write descriptions of how much of the block is underwater. In the Sea Floor Spreading activity students use a printed student page with two instructional images (slitting and threading) and color and pull paper strips to reveal matching magnetic stripe patterns. Option 2 directs students to print images from a U.S. Geological Survey webpage and assemble a shoebox model, and parent prompts ask students to explain what slits and stripe patterns represent, linking the images and model to the reading.
Lesson 2
Plate Interactions
Students read Chapter 1 - Part III (print text) and then are directed to view a USGS tectonic plates graphic and a PBS interactive to learn how plate boundaries behave. In Option 1 students must use the "Plate Boundaries" page to explain in their own words or to illustrate each type of boundary, and in Option 2 students use images from the web interactive to build clay models and demonstrate plate interactions. Day 2 requires students to look at a photograph of Sichelkamm Mountain and explain how the mountain was formed and how the photo shows evidence of folding.
Lesson 3
Rocks and Minerals
Students are directed to the Rock Cycle web image and the "Visualizing the Rock Cycle" student page where they draw arrows and label the diagram with terms (Weathering/Erosion, Deposition, Heat/Pressures, Magma/Lava, Compaction/Cementation, Melting, Cooling). Students are asked to read Chapter 2 and then use the rock identification tables and picture galleries on linked websites to match observations of their samples to labeled photos and charts. The Student Activity Pages provide tables and prompts that require students to record observational data (color, luster, hardness, grain size) and use those visual charts/keys to determine rock or mineral type.
Lesson 4
Seismic Waves
Students are asked to read Chapter 3 and then watch a NOVA video about P- and S-waves and a short IRIS animation showing earthquake ground motion, with an accompanying explanation of what the circles and colors represent. Students are prompted to draw or paste an image on the "Earthquake Hazards" activity page and to sketch and describe their own seismograph on the "Seismograph Design" page. Students are instructed to answer questions after reading and viewing, and to share or explain their design or findings to a parent.
Lesson 5
Earthquake and Volcano Research
Students are asked to include images in their final products: the slideshow option explicitly instructs students to "include images you found online," the poster option requires using the image drawn or printed and summarizing information around it, and the written report option directs students to use the image as the cover. The Student Activity Pages for both options prompt students to print or draw a picture representing the event. The Life Application and web links point students to photographs, webcams, and videos that they may incorporate into their work.
Lesson 6
Geologic Time
Students are asked to read Chapter 5 and use linked web pages that include a diagram and geologic time-scale images (the Rock Layers NPS page and the Geologic Time Scale link). In Activity 1 students construct a physical or written rock-layer model (using colored paper, clay, or drawn fossils) and are instructed to analyze the stack to reconstruct events and highlight significant events. Students must share and explain their model to a parent, explicitly explaining what parts are missing and what the remaining parts can tell a scientist about those sections. The Parent Plan reiterates that students should include differentiated layers, fossils, and effects of crust movement and then describe how these visual features indicate geologic history.
Lesson 7
Pedosphere and Soil
Students are instructed to read the "Twelve Soil Orders" page and "look at the maps provided," then note which soil orders are most common in their state, requiring them to combine map visuals with textual descriptions. Students measure sand/silt/clay in a jar, calculate percentages, and consult a texture triangle graphic to determine soil type, integrating a chart with their experimental data. Students watch the "How Soil Savvy Are You?" video and answer questions about types of erosion and prevention methods shown, integrating visual information from a video with written responses.
Final Project
Our Lithosphere and Pedosphere
Students are instructed to decide what illustration or photograph would be appropriate for each booklet spread and to create or take those images. Students are directed to write the text for each page, paste printed photos or glue drawings onto the activity pages, and fold/assemble the booklet so visuals and text appear together. Students must share the booklet with their family and explain why they took or drew each image, linking the visuals to the written explanations.
Unit 3: The Hobbit
Lesson 1
Bilbo Baggins
Students are instructed in Activity 2 to tape together the Setting Map pages and trace Bilbo and the dwarves' journey on the map with a red pencil, explicitly connecting locations on the map to events in the text. They must circle Hobbiton, write "Chapter 1" next to it, and record a short sentence describing what happened at that location on the Events of the Journey pages. The answer-key images show chapter labels placed on the map and short chapter-event summaries, supporting the student task of linking map visuals to specific printed chapter content.
Lesson 2
Trolls
Students are directed to chart the journey on a "Setting Map" page, drawing a dotted line from Hobbiton toward Elrond based on that day's reading, which requires placing textual events on a map. On the "Events of the Journey" page students write a simple sentence describing the first night's camp, linking the written narrative to the map. Activity 2 asks students to create a collage using pictures from magazines or the Internet to represent aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien's life after reading linked biographies, and to explain each image's significance.
Lesson 3
The Elves
Students chart today's journey on the "Setting Map" page by marking where the group arrived in Chapter 3 and where their journey takes them in Chapter 4 and writing descriptions of what happens at those locations. Students complete the three-column "Foreshadowing and Flashbacks" table by recording chapter/page numbers and citing examples of foreshadowing and flashbacks from the text. These tasks require students to place textual events into visual organizers (a map and a chart) and to link specific text passages to visual representations.
Lesson 4
Gollum
Students are asked to use the "Setting Map" page to draw the path to the other side of the Misty Mountains and end at the Goblin Gate, and then write a brief description of what happens in the chapter on the "Events of the Journey" page, which requires using the map together with the chapter text. Students are also given an "Anglo-Saxon Runes" chart that pairs rune symbols with Latin letters and instructed to write a note using the runes and provide the chart so a reader can decode the message, which directly connects a visual chart with written text.
Lesson 5
Wolves, Goblins, and Eagles
Students are asked to read Chapter 6 and then draw the path from the Goblin Gate to the Eyrie on the "Setting Map" page, requiring them to translate textual route information into a visual map. They are also asked to write a brief description of what happens in the chapter on the "Events of the Journey" page, linking the written narrative to their map. These tasks require students to use visual (map) information together with print text to represent and report events.
Lesson 6
Skin-Changer
Students are asked to draw a path from the Eyrie to the Carrock, then to Beorn's house and to the Forest Gate, circle each location, write the chapter number, and briefly describe what happened on the "Events of the Journey" page. Students are also instructed to record examples of foreshadowing or flashback on their chart. In the creative activity, students draw a sketch of a new fantastical creature, build a model, and write a descriptive paragraph that is displayed alongside the visual model.
Lesson 7
Spiders
Students are asked to draw a path from the Forest Gate to the spiderwebs in Mirkwood and to label the chapter number, which requires them to place events from the text onto a map. Students are instructed to write a short sentence about the chapter's events on an "Events of the Journey" page and to record an example of foreshadowing on a chart, linking textual details to a visual organizer. The activity pages include a map-based task and chart work that require students to connect spatial and charted visual information with the printed chapter text.
Lesson 8
Elvenking
Students are asked to "Continue the path from the spider webs to the Elvenking's halls on your 'Setting Map' sheet," recording chapter numbers and writing sentences on the "Events of the Journey" page, which requires linking map locations (visual) with narrative events (text). The Problems and Solutions activity provides pictures beside each problem (Gollum, tree, spider, dungeon) and space for students to write the solution and problem-solver, requiring students to connect the images to textual explanations. The answer key includes a four-row table with small illustrations paired with written solutions, modeling how visual elements correspond to textual information.
Lesson 9
Men of the Lake
Students are asked on the "Setting Map" page to trace the journey down the river from the Elvenking's halls to Long Lake and to draw a line up river to the Lonely Mountain while recording chapter numbers. Students are asked on the "Events of the Journey" page to write short descriptions of the events in these chapters and to record examples of flashback or foreshadowing on a chart. The Student Activity Page also includes an illustration (a mountain) that students see alongside directions to mark and describe locations.
Lesson 10
The Dragon
Students are asked to review challenges using the "Setting Map" page and to "Mark the chapter numbers next to the Lonely Mountain," then "Briefly summarize these chapters on the 'Events of the Journey' page," which requires linking map locations to chapter text. In Option 1 of Activity 2, students are instructed to take pictures, collect visual examples from the community, online sources, and print media, then "classify them" and "share your findings," which requires pairing photographs with written analysis in a journal.
Lesson 12
The Arkenstone
Students are instructed to "identify the elements of the quest from The Hobbit using illustrations" and to "draw your own illustration or print and paste pictures from the Internet that represent each aspect of the quest." The activity includes two Quest Cube templates (visual nets) that students cut, fold, and assemble, placing images on each face labeled with quest elements. After completing the cube, students must "consider how each idea represented on the cube contributes to a central theme in the book and the mood of the story" and "explain to your parent how each element affects the theme and mood of the story."
Lesson 13
The Battle
The lesson includes Activity 1 in which students are told to "Read a couple of the following early reviews or responses to The Hobbit" and to summarize the critic's response. One of the provided reviews is presented as an image titled "Rayner Unwin" with a caption and a transcribed handwritten letter that students are expected to read. The activity asks students to identify literary elements the reviewer alludes to, which would require reading the review material (including the image/caption) alongside the novel text.
Final Project
Responding to Literature
Students are asked to review their "Setting Map," "Events of the Journey," and other labeled pages when studying for the unit test, indicating use of map-style and timeline visuals alongside text. The Part 3 Prewriting Web provides a graphic organizer (central circle with branches labeled for ideas, an important lesson learned, and how the characters changed) that students fill in to plan their writing. The Literary Response Outline pages give structured, visual templates for organizing an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion that students complete before drafting. Several Student Activity Pages include labeled illustrations and visual aids that students reference while answering questions.
Unit 4: Ancient Asia
Lesson 1
The Caste System of Ancient India
Students are directed in Activity 1 to refer to maps in Life in the Ancient Indus River Valley (p.6) and Geography of the World (p.167) to shade the Harappan region, draw and label the Path of the Aryans, and mark ancient and modern cities using the map key and coordinates. The Student Activity Page provides a labeled map (rivers, Himalayas, Harappan areas, and a map key) that students must use alongside printed reading to place and identify geographic features. Activity 4 has students add visual timeline cards (with dates) into their timeline binder, linking visual chronology with the written dates and readings.
Lesson 2
Life and Culture in Ancient India
Students locate and add red timeline cards (visual cards with dates) to specific pages in a timeline binder, matching the visual cards to the printed timeline entries. Students explore a museum/art website option and complete a Website Review form that asks for the site title, creator, a brief description, ratings including "Images are interesting and eye-catching," and a short written review. Students may also choose to illustrate a poem they write, which asks them to combine visual art with their written work.
Lesson 3
Life in Ancient China
Students create a detailed composite map by using the map on page 6 of Life in Ancient China and pages 174–175 of Geography of the World to outline borders, label rivers, cities, and the Great Wall, and complete a map key. Students add red timeline cards to a timeline binder by noting dates on the cards and attaching them to the appropriate pages in the binder, matching visual timeline cards with textual date entries. Students copy five sections of the Tao Te Ching into a handmade booklet and add illustrations for each passage, pairing visual illustrations directly with printed text to show meaning.
Lesson 4
Culture in Ancient China
Students are instructed to illustrate a map on the Student Activity Page titled "The Silk Road" to show the flow of goods between China and the West, using a map that labels regions and bodies of water. The parent directions require students to show an accurate list of goods heading from China to the West and from the West into China, explicitly referencing page 13 of the print text for those exports and imports. Students must also locate and add timeline cards to their timeline binder by finding the page that includes each date and affixing the card in the correct place, matching visual timeline cards to the printed timeline pages.
Lesson 5
Life in Ancient Japan
In Activity 1 students are instructed to explore maps of ancient and modern Japan, label major islands and cities, and "list all of the natural resources that you have learned about from your reading," directly tying the map to the printed text. In Activity 3 students label Japan, China, and Korea on a trade map and draw colored arrows annotating goods traded between regions, using names of goods drawn from the reading. In Option 1 and Option 2 students complete or create graphic organizers/flow charts about shifts in power that require them to pull dates, names, and descriptions from pages 10–17 and place that information into a visual representation.
Lesson 6
Culture in Ancient Japan
Students are asked in Activity 3 to use the map on the "Trade Between Japan, China, and Korea" activity page and information on pages 19–25 to write down cultural components and technologies that traveled from China to Japan. Activity 5 Option 1 requires students to label and illustrate a map of the Mongol invasions, drawing invasion routes and typhoon clouds based on pages 28–29. Activity 2 offers a table (Option 1) and a three-circle Venn diagram (Option 2) that students must complete using information from the readings. Activity 1 directs students to locate dates in their binder pages and place timeline cards accordingly, aligning textual dates with a visual timeline.
Final Project
Puppet Show or Presentation
Students are required to create a three-slide multimedia presentation with each slide containing at least one relevant image and an accompanying written script that elaborates the slide text. Planning pages for the slides include sections for image ideas and map outlines (India, China, Japan) that students fill in as they organize main points and script details. The rubrics and puppet-show requirements also ask students to use scenery/maps/images to make location clear and evaluate whether images are relevant and interesting.
Unit 4: Ecosystems and Ecology
Lesson 1
What Is in an Ecosystem?
Students read pages 1-6 of Changing Ecosystems and are instructed to use the provided "Survey Table" chart to record components (name/description, abiotic/biotic, P/C/D, and location) based on their observations. Students are directed to create a diagram (Option 1 or 2) that represents relationships among organisms and uses arrows to show the flow of matter and energy, explicitly including both biotic and abiotic factors. The materials point students to illustrations on pages 2-3 of the booklet and an external web link as visual models to combine with their written notes and observations.
Lesson 2
Diversity within Ecosystems
Students are directed to read print text and "also refer to the biome graphics on p. 5 of the Changing Ecosystems booklet," which requires consulting a visual alongside written information. Students use provided tables (Table 1 and Table 2) and a Survey Table to record and organize ecosystem data, filling chart fields with textual and categorical information. Students are instructed to include images of the ecosystems when presenting findings on their website or portfolio, and the website option shows a sample page with embedded images alongside explanatory text.
Lesson 3
Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Students are asked to use the energy pyramid graphic (referenced as "the energy pyramid shown on p. 9") when exploring biomass and trophic levels and to apply that graphic to calculations in Activity 1. The lesson directs students to view a "Photosynthesis Infographic" and an online interactive (Food Chain Challenge), providing digital visual resources alongside printed readings. In Activity 2 students perform a water-transfer demonstration that they then compare quantitatively to the textual 10% energy-transfer claim, explicitly asking them to integrate the results of a visual/hands-on model with the written claim.
Lesson 4
Ecosystem Relationships
Students are directed to watch at least one short video on symbiotic relationships and an optional video on niches, and a National Geographic video on parasites is recommended, giving them visual media to consult. The parent plan points students to an online "Ecological Niches" page that explicitly contains a chart summarizing types of interactions. The student activity includes structured tables (Environment 1 and Environment 2) and an activity sheet where students record organism information, which can be used alongside the videos and chart.
Lesson 5
Ecological Succession
Students are instructed to read printed pages and watch a video about ecological succession, then create a slideshow or portfolio that uses images to show stages of succession. The activity requires them to arrange images in order, add captions or descriptions, and include both primary and secondary succession examples. The Student Activity Page and portfolio instructions explicitly ask students to paste or draw images and write descriptions that connect the visuals to the stages of succession.
Lesson 6
Natural Hazards and Natural Disasters
Students are asked to write a paragraph explaining how a new volcanic island might be repopulated and publish it on a Weebly page or in a portfolio, directly pairing text with their visual work. In Activity 1 Step 2, students must create or find at least five images that represent stages of primary succession, add captions/descriptions, and assemble them in a slideshow or portfolio page. In Step 3, students locate 2–3 images showing volcanic destruction and add them to the same digital presentation, explicitly combining photographs with written captions and explanations.
Lesson 7
Succession and Natural Disasters
Students are instructed to find and include two to three pictures of an area before and immediately after a disaster and a contemporary picture, placing them in a slideshow or portfolio alongside written text. Students must add brief captions that describe what is going on in each picture in terms of stages of succession and match graphics with descriptions identifying which stage each graphic represents. Students must also write a paragraph explaining why changes occurred and a prediction paragraph describing what the ecosystem will look like in 20–30 years, integrating the visuals with their explanatory text.
Lesson 8
A Carbon Journey
Students are directed to read Exploring Ecology (read p.14–15) and to "look carefully at the diagram on p. 14" that shows how carbon is cycled, and to watch the "Carbon Cycle Song" video for additional information. Students are instructed to use the information from the text and the video to create either a short story/poem or a comic strip, and the comic option requires students to include informational captions in speech bubbles. The student activity pages include comic-strip templates and a six-panel sample that explicitly links panel illustrations (visuals) with dialogue/captions describing photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and other carbon-cycle processes.
Lesson 9
Ecosystems and Their Environments
Students are directed to review specific pages in Exploring Ecology and Changing Ecosystems and to use the diagram on p. 2 of Exploring Ecology to help choose which biome to consider, showing use of a visual alongside print text. Students are given Student Activity Page tables (Ecosystem Characteristics) to record factors, changes, and results, and are instructed to gather information from the readings and the Internet to complete those tables. An optional video about tardigrades is provided as a digital visual resource that students may watch in addition to the print readings.
Lesson 10
Cause and Effect in the Ecosystem
Students are directed to review written material (the lesson introduction and a page from Changing Ecosystems) and to watch a video before answering questions, which requires integrating information from print and digital sources. The Student Activity Page provides a chart (predictions; daily height and color observations; results) that students must complete by recording and comparing visual data across days. Questions to Ponder and post-experiment prompts ask students to compare results with predictions and explain what the vinegar represents, linking the charted observations to conceptual ideas from the reading and video.
Lesson 11
Matter and the Food Web
Students are asked to review print pages and an optional short video and then develop a food web that includes graphic depictions showing what is happening to matter and energy. The instructions require students to create diagrams (paper or digital), use images from the Internet, represent matter and energy with different-colored arrows, and upload graphics to a Weebly page or paste them into a portfolio. The activity refers students to specific illustrations in the provided texts and an online resource to model their diagrams.
Lesson 12
Adaptability and Survival
Students are instructed to locate and save specific visuals: an illustration of the organism, a map of its range, pictures that show the region's geography/climate, images of food sources and predators, and pictures representing causes of extinction. They must include these visuals in a presentation or portfolio with captions and a paragraph explaining how the extinction could have been prevented. The instructions explicitly call for a map element (including a Google Maps option) and for images to provide information about environment, food web, and causes, tying images to written explanations.
Lesson 13
Invasive Species
Students are instructed to take or find a picture and place it in the Student Activity Page's Picture/Drawing Area alongside written fields for the plant name, areas where it occurs, and a description of its impact. Students are asked to create a Weebly page or portfolio page that combines text and graphics to present their findings. Unit test tasks require students to create diagrams (an ecological pyramid, stages of primary succession, and a carbon cycle diagram) and provide written explanations for each diagram; students also watch a video and review printed pages as sources of information.
Unit 4: A Single Shard
Lesson 1
Korea
Students are directed to find a map of Asia (print or online), locate Korea, label and color countries and seas, and complete a map key, which requires using visual map information alongside written directions. Students are instructed to locate pictures of Korea online, pay attention to geography (habitats, landforms, weather), read linked websites, and record information on the "Elements of Korean Culture" chart, deciding whether each piece of information belongs under "Today" or "Centuries Past." Student pages include an unlabeled outline map and comparison charts (housing, religion, clothing, food, jobs, transportation, geography and weather, traditions) for students to populate with information gathered from images and texts.
Lesson 4
Food and Pottery
Students encounter a grayscale image of kimchi alongside the written recipe and are expected to use the visual to identify the final product while following textual preparation steps. The pottery activity includes an image of a sieve that illustrates the straining/draining step, and students are instructed to perform those same steps with written directions. The pronoun activity page contains small envelope illustrations paired with example sentences about a package, which students can use alongside the written explanation of who/whom.
Lesson 5
The Royal Emissary
Students are asked to cut out and sequence labeled steps for making pottery from a Student Activity Page that includes small icons representing each action. One activity page includes a cartoon illustration of a pottery piece and kiln alongside numbered lines for listing steps. Students must use information from Chapters 4–6 to identify and order the steps, which places visual icons near the textual step descriptions.
Lesson 6
Village Life
Students are asked to watch videos and read interviews/bios of Linda Sue Park and to "take notes in your journal that reflect the important information she shares," then answer questions on the Linda Sue Park page and write a paragraph about how the author's experiences influenced her writing. The student activity page includes a photograph of the author and the pronoun section includes an illustration (a plate of cookies) accompanying the text. Students therefore use information from videos/photographs alongside printed biographies and questions.
Lesson 7
Opportunity
Students are given a labeled image titled "Creating Your Minibook" that shows four illustrated, numbered steps with arrows and tools (pencil, scissors) indicating actions. The written mini-book directions require students to fold the paper into three panels, draw dotted lines, cut four flaps, fold the flaps, label each flap with an opportunity, and record responses beneath each flap, which directs students to use the image and text together to complete the task. The activity asks students to share the mini-book, implying they must produce a final product based on integrating the visual steps and the written instructions.
Lesson 8
Korean Pottery
Students are directed to visit museum web pages (Metropolitan Museum, Asia Society, Wikipedia) and to "see pictures and explanations" of Korean celadon pottery, asking them to consider how the artwork reflects Korean culture and geography. Students are asked to use those images and descriptions as inspiration to decorate and color a kimchi pot, matching celadon color and incision detail. The Student Activity Page pairs a small illustration (a cart) with related sentences, reinforcing the connection between a visual and the text about movement.
Lesson 9
Words of Wisdom
Students read a page of quotes and are asked to "explain each of Crane-man's quotes" in writing, and one option (Memorable Quote) directs students to neatly write a selected quote on art paper and "create a drawing, painting, collage, or other visual image to illustrate the quote." The parent directions ask the child to share the artwork and "explain how the image reflects the quote." The Student Activity Page also includes an illustrative image (a globe and a wind image) alongside the quotes.
Lesson 11
Relationships
Students are asked to create a Relationship Web graphic organizer that visually links Tree-ear to other characters and to write adjectives and two supporting sentences on the connecting lines, citing characters' thoughts, words, and actions from the text. In the Relationship Words option, students cut words from magazines (visual artifacts) and glue them between Tree-ear and other characters, then must support those word choices with examples from the book. The instructions explicitly require students to use the visual organizer or pasted words together with textual evidence to describe relationships.
Final Project
Comparison and Contrast Writing
Students see and use illustrated folding diagrams and an example layout on the Brainstorming activity to set up and organize their comparison chart. Students view a visual example of seven pottery shapes on the end-of-unit test and a proofreading-symbols chart that pairs visual symbols with meanings and text examples. Students are directed to "look at the example if you need help" and to use the organizer pages that visually structure introduction, body, and conclusion notes.
Unit 5: Asia Today
Lesson 1
Russia East of the Ural Mountains
Students are instructed to cut out, assemble, color, and label a large map of Asia using the map on pages 132-133 and the Gazeteer on pages 284-295 as guides. The map activity requires students to identify and label many physical features (Ural Mountains, rivers, seas, Lake Baikal, etc.) and to color countries to show geographical features, directly linking map work to the printed text. Option 1 asks students to use information from the day's reading to complete a Natural Resources and the Siberian Economy activity page, and Option 2 directs students to use the Geography of the World text to fill a comparative chart about Daily Life in Eastern Siberia and then produce a drawing or visual representation.
Lesson 2
Turkey and Cyprus
Students read the textbook pages and then label and color Turkey and Cyprus on a map, linking map location to the written descriptions. Students complete the "Governments of Asia: Data" chart by extracting form of government, major industries/exports, adult literacy, and life expectancy from the book's fact boxes and images. Students use the data pages to construct bar graphs (types of government, industries/exports) and plot literacy rates versus life expectancy on a grid, then answer analytical questions comparing values across countries.
Lesson 3
The Middle East
Students are assigned to read pages 146-159 and then label, trace, and color Middle Eastern countries on a map, adding rivers, lakes, mountains, deserts, or major cities to show geographical features. The Parent Plan skills explicitly include creating maps, charts, and graphs as tools to illustrate information about regions. The Current Events journal asks students to collect news from print, radio, television, or Internet sources and to attach or include those articles (and suggests video and audio sources), providing space to record country, summary, and environment information alongside the attached source.
Lesson 4
Central Asia
Students label and color a map of Asia, adding capitals, rivers, lakes, mountains, deserts, and other geographic details (Activity 1), which requires them to translate written descriptions into a visual map. In Option 1, students design a poster that pairs visual images with carefully chosen words to explain an environmental issue. In Option 2, students write a 30-second radio or TV script and use a six-box storyboard to sketch images that correspond to key script points, explicitly linking visuals to written/digital text.
Lesson 5
The Indian Subcontinent
Students read assigned pages in Geography of the World about the Indian subcontinent and then label and color a map of Asia with countries, capitals, and physical features, directly using a visual map alongside print text. Students complete a hands-on monsoons experiment, record data on a Results activity page (tables for water amounts and absorption times), and reflect on how those data relate to monsoon flooding described in the readings and parent discussion. Students create postcards that require them to draw or paste images of natural environments or cultural features and write a descriptive message on the back, combining visual and written information about the countries they studied.
Lesson 6
East Asia and Japan
Students read pages from Geography of the World and then label and color a map of Asia, using the printed text as a source for place names and geographic features (Activity 1). Students use information and photographs from the book and an online slideshow to create an illustrated flow chart that depicts the steps of rice production, combining images and short descriptions (Activity 2, Option 1). Students complete comparison charts for ancient and modern China (and optionally Japan), filling government, economy, and culture cells using print resources, which places textual research into a visual organizer (Activity 4). Students design a Japanese garden on a scaled grid using printed design elements and text descriptions to represent natural features (Activity 3).
Lesson 7
Mainland Southeast Asia
Students are asked to label and color a map of Asia and add geographic details (rivers, mountains, cities), using information from the assigned reading (pages 188–195) to ensure accuracy. The "Farming in Mainland Southeast Asia" activity requires students to write descriptions for river valleys and uplands and create a labeled sketch that illustrates agricultural practices, integrating a visual with written explanation. The "Resources and the Economy" chart and the flapbook option ask students to extract economic information from the text and place it into a graphic organizer or draw/paste pictures under flaps, explicitly combining textual information with charts/pictures.
Lesson 8
Maritime Southeast Asia
Students read pages 196–201 and then label and color a map of Asia (identifying Indonesia, Brunei, East Timor, and the Philippines), using the textbook to place capitals and geographic features. In the Measuring Indonesia activity, students convert listed distances to a scale, measure and mark those distances in a large space, and are encouraged to take photographs of the marked points. In the culture activity, students cut out text boxes of facts and paste them into a two-column chart comparing Indonesia and the Philippines, directly transferring printed information into a visual organizer. A web link to an interactive Indonesia map is provided as a digital visual resource students may use alongside the readings.
Lesson 9
The Indian Ocean
Students read pages 202–203 of the textbook and are directed to label and color countries and capitals on a map, using the map on page 203 as a reference. Students are asked to record threats from Geography of the World and the "Environmental Threats in the Indian Ocean" activity page and then create a poster that visually presents that information. The student activity pages include visual cues (icons for monsoon rains, pollution, tourism) and an example poster image that students can use while combining text and visuals.
Final Project
A Tour of Asia
Students must label a provided map of Asia on the unit test, identifying at least one country from each region, which requires using a map visual together with written country names and regional knowledge. Students are required to include a picture for each country's tour page in their tour book, provide an image source, and write descriptive text (activities, government, economy, natural environment) alongside the image. The final project planning and rubric explicitly ask students to review maps and evaluate visual presentation/aesthetics, reinforcing the expectation that visuals (maps/images) be combined with written information.
Unit 5: Earth Cycles and Systems
Lesson 1
Matter and Energy
Students are instructed to "Watch the following video about the Sun and then answer these questions," and then answer specific content questions about the Sun's energy source and forms, which requires using information from the video. Students complete and record measurements in the Student Activity Page table titled "Defining Matter," filling columns for Mass, Number of Pieces, Change in Mass, and Explanation, and then respond to the "Questions to Consider" that connect the recorded data to concepts of matter and energy. These tasks require students to use visual information (video and a data table) together with written questions and prompts.
Lesson 2
Energy and Its Source
The Student Activity Page includes illustrations of a hand and a person interacting with a lamp that accompany the written instructions and questions about Parts 1–3. The worksheet titled "Heat from the Sun" uses these images as visual aids while students record timings and explain how heat is transferred. The Parent Plan and activity steps refer to the visual diagrams as guides for the hands-on and thought experiments.
Lesson 3
Energy Flow in Ecosystems
Students are directed to read pp. 8-10 and to "look at the energy pyramid on p. 10," then answer questions that require using the pyramid to explain why energy levels form a pyramid and to discuss limitations of such diagrams. In Activity 1 students must draw an 'Ecosystem Energy Diagram' that incorporates text terms (energy, producers, consumers, decomposers), arrows, and size differences to represent decreasing energy/mass, requiring them to translate textual information into a visual model. The materials also include a student activity image and a linked video that students can use alongside the printed text to understand energy flow.
Lesson 4
Matter and Plants
Students are instructed to review print pages (pp. 8–11/8–12) and then watch a video, with explicit direction to "pay attention to how energy flows among living things," connecting the digital visual to the text. In Option 1, students must draw a diagram that traces plant growth and explicitly include water, carbon dioxide, and energy/sunlight, using information from the reading/video to represent what happens to each component. In Option 2, students cut out and organize illustrated life-cycle panels and label blanks with terms (beginning of cycle, carbon dioxide, water, oxygen, energy, producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer), directly integrating illustrations with printed labels and concepts.
Lesson 5
Carbohydrates, Plants, and Energy
Students are directed to review textbook pages that contain graphics about producers of carbohydrates and to consider those graphics as they read. Students perform a potassium iodide test, observe color changes (visual evidence), and record those observations in a table that requires a written explanation of whether a substance contains carbohydrates. The Student Activity Page provides a chart format where students link predicted outcomes, visual test results (color changes), and textual explanations.
Lesson 6
Intro to Earth's Cycles
Students are directed to read pp. 12-16 in Exploring Ecology while paying attention to information about the water, nitrogen, and carbon cycles and to "look carefully at the diagrams associated with each cycle." Activity 1 requires students to read descriptions, examine illustrations in the book (pp. 16-21), and create a Venn diagram that uses both the written descriptions and the cycle diagrams to determine connections among the three cycles. The student activity pages include Venn diagrams and element cards (e.g., Carbon with atomic number and mass) that students cut, arrange, and use as visual evidence to categorize shared and unique cycle characteristics.
Lesson 7
Oxygen Production and Life
Students are given diagrams and a Student Activity Page that depict the sun, a plant, a tree, a squirrel, and O2 and are instructed to fill in the photosynthesis and cellular respiration equations on the page. In Option 2, students cut out and organize labeled drawings (H2O, CO2, Sun, Carbohydrate, Diatomic Oxygen, Plant, Rabbit) and then use those arranged visuals to answer written questions about interdependence and oxygen cycling. The Reading and Questions refer students to the energy pyramid (p. 10) and ask them to consider how the visual pyramid relates to oxygen cycling and organism abundance.
Lesson 8
The Carbon Cycle
Students are instructed to review specific pages in the Exploring Ecology text and then answer questions that draw on that reading. Students use the Observing Decomposition worksheet (a seven-day table) to record daily visual observations from the experiment and to fill in a Prediction and Results table that links their reading-based predictions to what they visually observe. Students also complete a Decomposer Observations table where they record organisms (organism name, location, description) found in the field and connect those entries to the types of decomposers described in the text.
Lesson 9
The Water Cycle
Students are directed to "first look over the diagram, and then read the brief summary underneath," and to click terms in the diagram, which requires using the visual alongside the text. Question #3 asks students to describe how arrows in the chart show water in motion and storage, prompting students to combine information from the chart with textual explanations. The student activity page and the solar-still image ask students to explain how the still models the water cycle and what the plastic sheet represents, requiring them to connect the photograph/model to written concepts about evaporation, condensation, and the atmosphere.
Lesson 10
Energy, Food Chains, and Food Webs
Students are asked to review the printed pages (pp. 9-11/9-12) about energy and relationships and then develop a graphic representing those relationships, connecting the reading to a visual food web. The activities require students to annotate provided food-chain diagrams by "writing the process that is happening between each type of organism," forcing them to add textual/process information to a visual. Students must include photosynthesis and respiration equations, show energy transfer on the web, and may create a legend (symbols/colors) to represent substances, integrating chemical/process information with their diagram. The activity pages (producers/consumers organizer and five-circle food web) explicitly direct students to place textual information into a visual organizer.
Lesson 11
The Nitrogen Cycle
Students read the print/digital "Nitrogen Cycle" pages and then use the interactive web link to "Track the journey of a nitrogen atom," clicking images and text labels for more information. Students complete a Student Activity Page that contains a detailed diagram of the nitrogen cycle and fill-in-the-blank prompts asking them to label stages (Nitrogen fixation, Ammonification, Nitrification, Denitrification), molecules (N2, NH3, NH4+, NO2-, NO3-), and color atoms. Students also use a plant diagram activity to identify which nutrients (N, P, K) help each part of a plant, using web links or research to support their answers.
Final Project
A Sustainable Farm
Students are asked to create a large, detailed map of their farm and label crops with brief explanations of why each was chosen. Students must include diagrams of the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles (copying from the print booklet or creating their own) and write explanations of how their sustainable farm incorporates each cycle. The project requires labels linking sustainable farming techniques to specific fields or crops (e.g., explaining crop rotation on a corn/soybean field).
Unit 5: Independent Study
Lesson 1
Independent Study Introduction
Students are directed to read a CNN article described as a visual guide about the Dakota Access Pipeline and to use a Point of View handout to consider different stakeholders' opinions. Students complete a chart that asks them to record each group's point of view, which requires extracting information from the provided article (which includes visual elements). Students are asked to develop a visual aid for an oral presentation and the Independent Study Rubric specifically evaluates selection and effectiveness of the visual aid.
Lesson 2
Bias and Propaganda
Students are asked to watch two advertisement videos (Mac vs PC and Pepsi Generation) and identify the propaganda techniques used in each, and to find two advertisements in television, magazines, or newspapers and analyze intended audience and effectiveness. Students read linked materials about propaganda techniques and a U.S. leaflets article, and respond to questions about which techniques were used and why the leaflets were distributed. The Detecting Bias activity has students compare two written news articles and record examples of bias techniques, connecting textual analysis with the propaganda techniques discussed.
Lesson 4
Finding Information
Students are asked to collect information in a Gathering Grid that includes a column titled "Photograph of Birmingham News" and a sample entry that describes the photograph as "visual evidence of oil spill; emotional and physical effects illustrated," showing that students record visual sources alongside textual sources. Activity 2 requires students to use at least four different types of resources (reference books, websites, audio/video, and periodicals), and the Resource List page visually separates audio/video and photographs as resource types. The Note Cards and Gathering Grid activities instruct students to record information from each resource in corresponding boxes or cards, which places visual items (photos, videos) in the same organizer as print/digital texts for the same research questions.
Lesson 5
Writing the Essay
The Student Activity Pages include illustrations (a bird, oil barrels, a drill silhouette, a wind turbine, and circular images) placed next to specific supporting reasons and opposing points, and one example outline explicitly notes these images as accompanying sections. The lesson's Wrapping Up asks students to "begin thinking about visual aids you will use to present and enhance your presentation," and the activity descriptions state that visual elements "support the text."
Lesson 6
Presentation
Students choose and create a variety of visual aids (e.g., slideshow/digital story, PowerPoint, movie, poster, tri-board) to support their presentations. Students plan the steps and materials for producing the visual aid and create images or diagrams (e.g., a series of well-selected images, a visually appealing diagram) to explain their position. Students practice referencing the visual aid during an oral presentation and are told to add information to help the audience understand the visual content rather than reading directly from it.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: Greece and Rome
Lesson 1
Early Greece
Students are instructed to create and label a two-page map of ancient Greece using the map on p.22, placing Crete, Knossos, Mycenae, and Troy and coloring the map key. Students add purple timeline cards (First Settlement of Greece, Beginning of the Bronze Age, The Minoans, Mycenaeans) to a visual World History Timeline, placing dates and events on a left-to-right timeline. Students read pages 22–23 and answer questions that reference images in the text (for example, identifying the mask shown on p.23), and they are given video links (Introduction to the Minoans; Theseus and the Minotaur) and a Mycenaean art image resource to use alongside readings.
Lesson 2
Ancient Greece
Students are instructed to add cities (Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Delphi) to a map using a second color to indicate these labels came from the readings and to update the map key, explicitly directing them to refer to the map on p. 42. Students add major battles (Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, Plataea) to the same map with a third color and may add dates, linking reading about the Persian Wars to mapped locations. Students complete a Venn diagram graphic organizer comparing Athens and Sparta using information from the textbook and linked videos, and they examine pottery images (ostraka) while comparing Athenian and modern democracy. In the naval battle activity students use a printed "Naval Strategy" graphic and cut-out trireme models to move pieces and demonstrate four named tactics, connecting the graphic to written descriptions and videos.
Lesson 3
Everyday Life in Ancient Greece
Students are directed to look at images and descriptions on pages 44-45 (an image and description of a typical Greek home is on p.45) and to click images of family members on the BBC site to learn more. The Activity 2 directions point students to a Met Museum artifact ("Education Scenes on a Drinking Cup") and a Getty page about games, asking them to use those resources to plan a child's day. Student activity pages include illustrated figures of Greek gods and a faint map background on the "A Kid's Day in Ancient Greece" schedule, providing visual context to support written responses.
Lesson 4
The Hellenistic World
Students watch a short video and view images of Greek columns (Activity 2) and are instructed to sketch each column style to refer to during the activity, directly linking digital/visual information to their work. Students color and label parts of a temple diagram (pediment, frieze, columns) and draw different column types based on those visuals, using the images as sources for distinguishing architectural features. Students add dated timeline cards to a physical timeline by finding the corresponding pages in their binder (Activity 3), linking textual date information with a visual timeline, and students use a statue image and reading from pages 46-47 to brainstorm and sketch a monument to represent Alexander's achievements (Activity 1).
Lesson 5
Ancient Rome and the Roman Republic
Students are instructed to reread the textbook section about Romulus and Remus, then watch a short video and fill in a compare-and-contrast chart that draws on both sources (Activity 1). Students watch a video about Caesar and Brutus and then use information from the video and readings to create a pros-and-cons list or write and deliver a persuasive speech (Activity 2). Students add dated purple timeline cards to a written binder timeline by finding the corresponding page and attaching the card in the correct chronological place (Activity 3).
Lesson 6
The Roman Empire
Students are asked to use an online map to outline the Roman Empire (Activity 1) and label cities such as Rome, Pompeii, Carthage, Alexandria, Byzantium, and Jerusalem. In Activity 3 students trace at least three water shipping routes and land routes on their map and then explain what kinds of goods Rome imported via those routes. The Parent Plan and activities also reference a visual chronology of emperors and timeline cards, and the lesson suggests an optional video with images to support understanding of expansion.
Lesson 7
Everyday Life in Ancient Rome
Students are directed to view videos (e.g., "A Day in the Life of a Roman Soldier" and "Four Sisters in Ancient Rome") and to use web links as sources for Activities 1 and 3. In Option 2 students are explicitly told to "look up images of typical clothing, buildings, etc. to make your illustrations as accurate as possible," and in the mosaic extension students are told to compare the text on page 53 with an example mosaic on page 57 and a Getty Museum link. Students are also asked to complete a Religion in Rome chart, transferring information from readings into a tabular form.
Lesson 8
The End of the Empire
Students use a digital map to outline the Roman Empire in 235 AD and optionally shade the area between that outline and an earlier outline, requiring them to compare map visuals with prior printed map information. Students add purple timeline cards (with dates and events) to a written binder timeline, matching visual timeline placement to textual dates. Students cut out labeled factor cards (e.g., "High taxes and inflation," "Visigoths") and place them into the visual columns "Internal Factors" and "External Factors," linking textual causes to the graphic organizer.
Final Project
A Greek and Roman Menu
Students are instructed to "review the events you added to the timeline," which indicates they will use a visual timeline alongside textual content while preparing for the unit test. The project options explicitly ask students to create visual artifacts that pair with text, such as a diorama, comic strip, movie poster, design of Greek pottery, and advertisements for homes in ancient Rome and Athens. The rubric requires that the three-part project include an Appetizer (explaining governments), a Main Course (accurate information, writing quality), and a Dessert (information about a famous person, legend, or play), supporting activities that combine written and visual work.
Unit 1: Force and Motion
Lesson 1
Force
Students cut out and match illustrated force cards to written descriptions on the "Name That Force" activity, explicitly pairing visuals with text. Students paste labels into the four-quadrant "Fundamental Forces" diagram, aligning textual descriptions with atomic illustrations. In Target Practice students create and label diagrams, add arrows to show direction and magnitude, and write which forces affected the ball, integrating pictorial representations with written explanations; an optional video playlist provides digital visual resources.
Lesson 2
Newton's Laws of Motion
Students create and use visuals in several activities: Activity 3 asks students to create a graph (Number of Cards vs Distance Traveled) from experimental data and use it to draw conclusions about mass and force. Activity 4 asks students to draw a picture of the balloon rocket and use arrows to show forces, then to explain the motion using the three laws. The mini-book activity requires students to match written law descriptions with definitions and to draw illustrations that represent each law. The Coin Challenge includes an image of the glass-card-coin set-up that students observe and then explain in writing.
Lesson 3
Graphing Motion
Students are given data tables and instructed to plot displacement-time and velocity-time graphs, label axes, and connect points, directly tying tabular (print) data to visual charts. Students calculate velocities from slopes and use those calculations to answer questions about motion, explicitly integrating numeric/textual information with the graphs. Students match labeled points on graphs (A–H) to a written bicyclist narrative and answer questions that connect graph features to Newton's laws, combining visual and textual explanations.
Lesson 4
Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration
Students collect numeric data in organized tables (elapsed time, lap time, distances) and use those tables to calculate average velocity and acceleration. Students create displacement-time and velocity-time graphs by plotting their recorded data and are instructed to connect the dots. Students are explicitly prompted to compare their graphs with their numerical calculations ("look at both his graph and his calculations") to decide whether motion was constant or irregular. Sample charts, sample calculations, and sample graphs are provided for students to use as reference and comparison.
Lesson 5
Centripetal Force and Terminal Velocity
Students are instructed to read pages 20-24 and then watch two short videos (skydivers and the Apollo 15 moonwalk) and then answer questions that require relating the videos to the text (e.g., Question #2 asks whether the feather and hammer would land the same time on Earth and requires using the moon video and text about air resistance). Student activity pages include labeled diagrams of the accelerometer and the bucket swing that students use to make predictions, record observations, and write explanations relating the illustrations to Newton's laws. The bucket activity explicitly asks students to describe forces from two different observer perspectives using both the scenario illustrations and written explanation space.
Lesson 6
Work
Students record experimental measurements in tables (Activity 1 'Force and Work' and Activity 3 'Ramp It Up') and use those table entries to calculate work using the formula Work = Force x distance. The answer key and parent plan include an image of a sample table comparing weight, force, and work that students can compare to their own data. In the pulley activities students complete a multi-column 'PULLEY SYSTEM COMPARISON' table and use the numeric entries (input/output forces and distances) together with textual definitions to compute mechanical advantage and work input/output.
Lesson 7
Newton in the Milky Way
Students use a labeled diagram (Acceleration Ramp Guide) to set up and run an experiment, record exit locations in a chart, and plot results in the provided graphing area. The "Analyzing the Data" page directs students to align points, measure distances, and graph results using different colors and labeled axes. The parent/answer-key materials include sample charts and a line graph that students are expected to compare with their own data. Activity 2 asks students to review a web page and video about Kepler's laws and to draw an illustration of a planet's orbit and answer questions that link the visuals to conceptual ideas.
Final Project
Demonstrating Newton's Laws
Students create three-panel comic strips with spaces for drawings and written explanations that require them to combine visual panels with text to explain Newton's laws. Students cut, fold, and place labeled visual flags (shapes with conceptual definitions) on their mini-golf holes and then give a family tour, verbally and/or in writing linking each visual label to the physics concept. The unit test and short-answer activities require students to draw and label a diagram illustrating centripetal and centrifugal force, integrating the diagram with written labels and explanations.
Unit 1: Greek Myths
Lesson 1
Ancient Greece
The Student Activity Page presents a Greek alphabet chart in a four-column table showing Greek letters, names, English equivalents, and pronunciation, which students are instructed to use. The "Decoding Greek Messages" activity explicitly directs students to "Use the Greek alphabet chart to decode the message" and provides Greek text that students must translate. The Answer Key image gives the decoded English sentence, allowing students to check their integration of the visual chart with the printed Greek text.
Lesson 2
The Gods and Goddesses
Students read printed pages about each god and then use the illustrated "God Cards" to match pictures to text by outlining specified cards, cutting out description boxes, and gluing the correct descriptions beneath each picture (Option 1). In Option 2 students write short descriptions on the blank lines beneath each deity's illustration, using information from the reading. Students also create and place labeled leaves on a Mount Olympus family tree diagram, transferring relationship information from the text into a visual organizer.
Lesson 3
The Stories
Students are directed to view images of Greek pottery via provided web links (Artemis, Dionysus, Pandora's Box, slideshow) and to try to make their pot illustrations look similar to those found on the artifacts. Students use cut‑out cards that pair images and short descriptive text (Go Greek cards and flashcards for Zeus, Dionysus, Artemis, Poseidon, etc.) and read the descriptions aloud during the card game. Students are asked to think about gods' stories and associated symbols when decorating a vase or creating an acrostic, linking visual motifs with narrative information.
Lesson 4
Minor Gods, Nymphs, Satyrs, and Centaurs
Students are instructed to brainstorm five uses for fire on the "Fire Web" page (a visual web organizer) and then write a descriptive paragraph about living without fire, linking ideas from the web to writing. The Student Activity Page includes a drawing (an oval with an image and the word "Lace") alongside lined space labeled "Life Without Fire," which places a visual element next to a written task. The lesson provides links to online PDFs (script format and a play adaptation) that students are directed to use as resources for their writing and play activity.
Lesson 5
Mortal Descendants of Zeus
Students are directed to use the "Conventions of a Myth: Perseus" student activity page to describe conventions, and that page includes illustrations (Perseus holding Medusa's head and winged sandals) alongside prompt lines for responses. The Parent Plan answer-key image pairs a visual (black-and-white drawing of Perseus with Medusa's head) with text elements that label the hero, gods, monster, problem, and assistance, and states the illustration serves as a guide to understanding myth structure.
Lesson 6
Vainglorious Kings
Students read Icarus at the Edge of Time, a picture book illustrated with Hubble Space Telescope images, and then complete a chart comparing that visual/modern retelling to the traditional myth (Activity 3). Students are instructed to watch a filmed version of Daedalus and Icarus, pause to take notes, and analyze how features unique to film (sound, music, images, camera techniques) enhance or change the story (Activity 4). The provided Student Activity Page chart directs students to integrate details (theme, setting, method of flight, role of invention, etc.) from both the visual retelling and the print myth.
Lesson 7
The Trojan War
Students read pages 178–189 of the text and are instructed to summarize/retell the story using cut-out characters and props. They color, cut out, assemble, and place figures (Greek soldiers, Achilles, Paris, Helen, gods) and construct a Trojan horse and city walls to represent events from the printed story. Students are told to start their summary at a specific paragraph and to place soldiers in the horse and roll them through the city walls during the retelling, explicitly linking the printed narrative to the visual props. Assembly directions and Student Activity Pages provide the visual pieces students must use while narrating events from the text.
Final Project
A New Twist on an Ancient Myth
Students are asked to use the editing symbols page (a three-column chart of proofreading symbols, meanings, and examples) to make corrections to their draft, explicitly applying visual reference marks to their written text. The Part III Roots activity presents a visual matching chart/word box where students match root words with English meanings, requiring them to combine the visual word list with textual definitions. The directions tell students to use the two "Conventions of a Myth" pages to organize ideas for their retelling, linking illustrated template pages with their written planning and drafts.
Unit 2: The Middle Ages
Lesson 1
Introduction to Medieval Europe
Students read pages 1-14 of a print text and then use a map activity that tells them to label Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, etc., create a code/key for 13 groups, and draw arrows from places of origin when the reading indicates migration. Students assemble and annotate a multi-page timeline, attach dated timeline cards (e.g., 350 AD, 476 AD, 1050 AD), and color-code time periods based on the reading. Students complete a feudalism pyramid graphic organizer, filling hierarchical roles and indicating flows of services and property using words from a word box tied to the reading.
Lesson 2
Monarchs
Students are instructed in Option 2 to create word clouds from the full text of the Magna Carta and from at least one other political document, then answer questions that link the prominent words in the clouds to groups, ideas, and differences between texts. Activity 1 asks students to add dated monarch event cards to a timeline, placing textual events into a visual chronological display. The "A Monarch's Power" student page presents a two-column table (Before/After the Magna Carta) that students complete, requiring them to compare textual descriptions using a visual table format.
Lesson 3
Knights and Warfare in the Middle Ages
Students plan a siege by cutting out illustrated groups of soldiers and siege weapons and gluing them onto a pictured castle, drawing arrows and numbered steps, and then writing a paragraph that references weapon descriptions on pages 28–30 and 42–45. Students add dated cards (e.g., "Cavalry (Early 11th century)") to a visual timeline, linking events/dates with text explanations. In the Castle Defense Game students use labeled attack and defense cards (with images and short captions) and must match visual cards to written descriptions of defenses and attacks during gameplay.
Lesson 4
Castles and Feasts
Students are asked to create a castle floor plan (Option 1) by deciding geographic placement, surrounding countryside, castle shape, towers, walls, and the placement of keep, kitchen, Great Hall, and bedchambers using descriptions from the assigned reading. The parent notes explicitly tell students to design a medieval castle "using the descriptions in today's reading as a guide." Option 2 asks students to design a tapestry image that "reflects some aspect of medieval culture," and web links to online image resources (Life in a Castle, Metropolitan Museum slideshow, Bayeux Tapestry) are provided for reference.
Lesson 5
Village and City Life
Students add dated purple cards to a medieval timeline, connecting textual dates and events to a visual timeline. Students use the provided 'Map of the Bubonic Plague' link to click points on a map and relate geographic spread to the reading about the plague. Students complete Student Activity Pages that present diagrams, tables, and checkboxes (e.g., the "Impact of the Plague" tables, the "Personal Hygiene" comparison table, and the "Inside a Medieval Cottage" floor plan) and must use information from the readings to fill in and analyze these visuals.
Lesson 6
Religion in Medieval Life
Students are directed to view the National Gallery painting "Saint George and the Dragon" online, read the overview beneath the image, and then create an original work of art or a poem informed by that visual and its accompanying text. In the St. Francis option, students may recopy a poem and illustrate it with images found in magazines or online, including crediting sources, which asks them to combine visual material with printed text. Several student activity pages (for example, Medieval Pilgrimage and The Crusades) include illustrations that accompany writing prompts asking students to explain benefits or perspectives related to the reading.
Lesson 7
Monasteries
Students read text about monasteries and Gothic cathedrals that explicitly references visual elements (e.g., stained-glass windows, arches, flying buttresses). In Activity 2 students are asked to create a mock stained-glass window that can "tell a story," and in Option 1 they create an illuminated letter "similar to those that monks ... might have incorporated into medieval texts," linking visual art to written works. Question #3 asks students to describe Gothic architecture features, requiring them to identify visual characteristics from the reading.
Final Project
A Medieval Fair or Map
Students are asked to create a detailed medieval map or 3-D model and to "explain each part of the map and its connection to what you've learned about the Middle Ages," linking map features (homes, church, castle, trades, defenses) to course content. Village and Town planning pages prompt students to write explanations on feudalism, the role of the church, guilds, the plague, and daily life for specific map locations. The rubrics require clarity in a verbal walk-through and inclusion of information about occupations, religion, defense, and feudal/guild systems, and the unit test asks students to draw a chart/pyramid to show power relationships.
Unit 2: Light and the Eye
Lesson 1
Lines of Light
Students read printed explanatory text about light and reflection and then follow the Student Activity Page that includes diagrams (index card diagram, comb setup, mirror on clay, diagram showing flashlight and reflected rays). Students build the ray-making tool guided by those diagrams and observe how rays reflect, then answer analysis questions about how the angle of incidence relates to the angle of reflection. The follow-up prompt explicitly asks students to compare what they learned from the demonstration (visual/observational information) with what they read.
Lesson 2
Translucence and Shadow
Students read print and online text sections ("Opaque, Transparent, and Translucent Objects" and "Shadows") and then use Student Activity Pages that include visual formats (a three-column "Household Materials Hunt" chart and "Shadow Stories"/"Shadow Study" tables with clock illustrations) to record observations. Students draw and label shadows at different times of day and use a flashlight to create and illustrate shadow patterns, linking their drawings to textual concepts (umbra/penumbra, transparent/translucent/opaque). The lesson also directs students to an archived website about sundials and optionally to view photographs of sundials in the collection.
Lesson 3
Refraction and Lenses
Students follow the Lens Bend Demonstration that includes an annotated diagram showing how rays bend through a lens and answer observation questions relating the diagram to the physical demonstration. In the magic-trick activities (Reappearing/Disappearing Penny) students are prompted to explain why the trick works using diagrams or written explanations and to draw a diagram of angles of vision on the "Shhh! Here's How It's Done" page. The Camera Obscura and materials pages include images of materials and step-by-step visuals that students use while constructing and testing their pinhole camera.
Lesson 4
How Human Eyes Work
Students watch videos (How Your Eyes Work; Camera Obscura) and are instructed to use information from the videos to identify and label parts on pre-drawn and student-drawn diagrams. Students read printed texts (Light and the Eye; KidsHealth article) and answer comprehension questions about the retina, rods and cones, and pupil function that align with the visuals. Students assemble a 3-D model and list which parts are visible or hidden, then explain why the image on the retina is upside down, linking the camera obscura video to the written explanation of how the eye focuses light.
Lesson 5
Animal Eyes
Students watch a referenced video about binocular vision and then perform the Binocular Vision experiment, using diagrammed steps to compare performance with one eye versus both eyes. Students are instructed to view images (via an Internet search) to determine where an animal's eyes are located and then sort at least 20 animals into predator/prey or other visual categories on the provided activity pages. Students are directed to read specified pages of a digital booklet (Animal Eyes PDF) and use that print/digital information together with images to create categories and explain how eye types help animals.
Lesson 6
Color and Perception
Students watch the "Why Is the Sky Blue?" video and then answer specific comprehension questions about the content, requiring them to use information from the video. In the "Picture the Sky" activity, students take or paint a photograph of the sky and then explain in writing why the sky appears that color, with Option 2 asking them to use web links (digital texts) to support their explanation. In the Rainbow Tray and Spectrum Peek activities students create visual spectra (drawings) from observations and then write descriptions and conclusions linking those visuals to printed explanations about light and color.
Final Project
Tools of the Eye
Students are instructed to use the Periscope page diagram to write down materials and procedures, and to follow that diagram when assembling the tool. The Tools for the Human Eye activity pages require students to create and label a diagram, describe how the tool changes vision, and record observations linking what they saw to the written explanations. The unit test and multiple-choice item include an image (tree shadows) that students must interpret and answer in writing, showing use of visual information alongside textual questions.
Unit 2: Tales from the Middle Ages
Lesson 1
Medieval Times
Students are instructed to examine a map of a medieval manor in the book and record specific observations (jobs, clothing, homes, inventions, military defense, and comparisons to modern neighborhoods) on the "A Medieval Manor" activity page. Students return to the same map in Activity 2 to locate peasants, knights, and lords and to infer where different groups lived, using those visual cues to write 3–4 sentence commentaries from the perspectives of a knight, a lord, and a peasant. The Student Activity Pages and the provided answer key explicitly connect map details to written analysis of feudal relationships and daily life.
Lesson 2
Beetle
Students read vocabulary words in contextual sentences and then complete a crossword puzzle that requires them to place words into a visual grid, linking textual clues to the visual layout. An image of the completed crossword (Vocabulary Answer Key) is provided, showing students compare their filled-in visual puzzle with a printed visual answer. The Researcher role asks students to gather and print related information about the book's setting, which could include maps or images to read alongside the text.
Lesson 4
Special Delivery
The lesson asks students to "Use the Venn diagram provided on the page, 'A Memorable Event,' to compare the event in your life to Alyce's delivering of the calves," directing students to place information from the text into the graphic organizer. Students are instructed to list two ways the events were similar and three ways they were each unique, requiring them to extract story details and record them in the overlapping and nonoverlapping sections. The Student Activity Page description explicitly identifies a Venn diagram labeled "Alyce: Delivering of the Calves," which students complete to organize textual information visually.
Lesson 7
An Angel or a Saint
Students are directed to use the "Livestock and Economics" activity page (a visual grid/organizer) to draw three domesticated animals and write examples of how each influenced medieval economics, linking pictures with written explanations. The "Make Your Own Sheep" page includes step-by-step images that students follow to assemble a craft and then write three sentences explaining the relationship between peasants and animals. Students are also asked to read monologues from Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!! and then use one of the visual/written options to represent and explain the role of livestock.
Lesson 8
Newborn Hope
The Relationships Student Activity Page is a two-column graphic organizer (Beginning / End) in which students must describe Alyce's relationships and "Provide details from the book to support your answers." Students write textual evidence into the visual chart to compare changes in relationships. The Student Activity Pages (including the HOMOPHONES page) are presented as images that students interact with to complete tasks.
Lesson 9
Cast of Characters
Students are instructed to "fill out the chart on the four 'Cast of Characters' pages," recording each character's name, a 1–2 sentence summary of the monologue, an example of descriptive language, and relationships to other characters. Multiple Student Activity Pages are provided as tables/graphic organizers that list character names and provide spaces for students to summarize action and note descriptive language and relationships, which students are directed to complete as they read the printed monologues.
Lesson 12
Glassblowers, Tanners, and Snigglers
Students are given and shown a visual "Painting Sentences" worksheet (image) that labels parts of a sentence (How, When, Where, Painted Predicate) and prompts them to relate those parts to characters and monologues from Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!. Students are instructed to reread characters' monologues and then use the worksheet's visual prompts to expand basic sentences (e.g., "Alice sang") into more detailed, book-related sentences.
Final Project
Life in the Middle Ages Think-Tac-Toe
Students are asked to produce and label visuals such as the "Castle Blueprint," where they must draw a detailed castle diagram and label important features and their purposes. Multiple activity pages (Food, Shelter, Jobs/Responsibilities, Village Life, Struggle for Survival) provide large blank areas for drawings paired with lines for written explanation, requiring students to combine images and text. The Story Cube template and Homophone Cartoon require students to place story elements or meanings on faces/panels and use those visuals as part of a written or oral product.
Unit 3: The Age of Discovery
Lesson 1
Why Was There an Age of Discovery?
Students assemble a multi-page transatlantic map and are instructed to use the maps in the reading to draw in and label Henry the Navigator's voyages, Granada, and Istanbul, directly linking textual descriptions to map features. Students add dated timeline cards (e.g., 1433, 1453, 1492) to a timeline, connecting events described in the reading to a visual chronological display. In Option 3, students complete a graphic organizer by drawing two-headed arrows and writing the ways motivations (religion, wealth, competition, glory, knowledge) are connected, turning textual ideas into a visual synthesis.
Lesson 2
New World Empires
Students are instructed to add cities to a map using the map on pages 52-53 and to add timeline cards, requiring them to use map visuals alongside text chronology. In Option 1, students are told to use the map of Europe (page 53) and textual descriptions of the Inca and Aztec empires (pages 16-17) to complete a comparison chart or Venn diagram. In Option 2, students watch a Cahokia video and take structured notes on topics (environment, agriculture, trade, mounds, leadership, beliefs), explicitly combining information from a film with written note-taking and subsequent discussion.
Lesson 3
European Explorers
Students are asked to add places and draw routes on maps (Activity 1, Day 2, Day 3) — for example, drawing Columbus's first journey using the map on page 23 as a guide and adding Cortés's and Pizarro's routes. In Activity 4 students examine etchings on the "Spanish Conquest" activity page while reading pages 26–29 and record clues about reasons for Spanish success, marking which factors they think were significant. In Activity 6 students create explorer trading cards that pair portraits/maps with facts they fill in from the reading and then use those cards in a review game.
Lesson 4
The Consequences of Contact
Students use the "The Connected World" map page to draw arrows between Europe, Africa, and the Americas and label what moved in each direction, explicitly linking items from the assigned reading to the map. In Activity 4 Option 1, students use the "Contact and Loss" table to calculate deaths by multiplying population estimates by mortality rates, integrating numerical/tabular data with the textual discussion of demographic impact. Option 2 asks students to create a two-sided visual showing impacts on each continent, requiring them to translate information from the reading into a visual representation.
Lesson 5
Copernicus and Changes in Science
Students are asked to draw diagrams of the medieval and Copernican models using descriptions on pages 11 and 37–39, tying visual models directly to the printed text. Students can create a scrapbook (or perform) that requires placing images or maps and writing short explanations linking those visuals to Copernicus's life and discoveries. Students add dated cards to a timeline, placing visual chronology alongside textual information from the readings, and several activity pages include maps and place names (e.g., Toruń, University of Kraków) for use with the text.
Lesson 6
Galileo
Students read chapters about Galileo and then add dated event cards (Galileo born, Bruno's death, Galileo's trial) to a timeline, which requires placing textual information into a visual chronology. In Option 2, students view an online timeline (digital visual) and read primary source documents, directing them to use the timeline alongside the texts. An optional PBS documentary video is provided with a prompt to write down new or interesting information, which asks students to combine information from a video with what they have read.
Lesson 7
Isaac Newton
Students read explanatory text about Newton's laws and then watch linked demonstration videos (Swinging Drink Tray; Rocket Balls) and perform the experiments, connecting the visual/digital demos to the printed explanations. In the Telescope and Microscope options, students make direct visual observations (sketch the moon or microscope view) and answer questions that ask them to compare what they see with the naked eye and to explain the significance of the instrument after reading the book pages. The timeline and thermometer/barometer activities require students to place visual timeline cards or read a weather forecast and then record findings on activity pages, linking visual artifacts or digital forecasts with written responses.
Final Project
Discovery Research Project
Students are asked to create or find a map showing an explorer's route and to "show, on the map that you created for this lesson, the route taken by that explorer" as part of their final presentation. The project rubric explicitly requires inclusion of a map showing the explorer's route (criterion 3) and the unit test includes an unmarked world map for students to label locations such as the Aztec and Inca empires and European countries. The answer key includes a labeled map image that students must use to connect geographic visuals with factual answers on the test.
Unit 3: The Solar System
Lesson 1
The Latest View of Our Solar System
Students are instructed to review pages 9-11 and 56 of the textbook and then use a three-column Student Activity Page to sort the 13 planets by type, which requires using textual descriptions to place planet names into the chart. The activity asks students to sketch each planet and paste or place those sketches under the correct heading, linking the visual sketches and the graphic organizer directly to information from the text. Option 2 asks students to read descriptive prompts (size, composition, density, surrounding objects) and place those descriptions into the Terrestrial/Gas Giant/Dwarf sections, explicitly combining textual descriptions with the charted visuals.
Lesson 2
Our Sun
Students are directed to look at a diagram (p.15) and a photo (p.14) and to use a provided table of yearly sunspot counts to plot a line graph of average monthly sunspots from 1950–2023. Students connect points, label maxima and minima on the graph, and use the graph and their calculations to answer questions about patterns and whether sunspot frequency constitutes a cycle. The activity also directs students to read related text (pages 14–15) and an online article with a visualization to gather further information about the solar cycle.
Lesson 3
Earth, the Third Planet
Students are instructed to review images from the "Earth's Tilt Is the Reason for the Seasons!" article and copy those images into a slideshow (Option 1) or draw their own images for an animation (Option 2), directly combining visuals and digital text. The Planetary Passport asks students to print a photo of Earth or draw an image and place it alongside tabular information they fill in, linking a photograph/visual with written data. The Modeling the Seasons activity requires students to sketch Earth–Sun positions in four labeled boxes based on a modeled demonstration and the article images, using visuals to represent and communicate information from the reading.
Lesson 4
Satellites and Telescopes
Students read web articles and are directed to "read the first paragraph and the graphic" on the telescope page, showing they must combine text and a diagram. Students answer a question about a Mars topographic map asking what the colors represent (elevation), requiring them to interpret map visuals alongside explanatory text. In Activity 1, students create a topographic map from clay and then add spectral analysis by matching colors on their map to what an ultraviolet telescope or reflectance curves would indicate, directly combining visual map data with textual/analytical information.
Lesson 5
Meteorites and the Moon
Students read print material about the Moon (pages 23-24) and then create and record drawings of moon phases while observing a lit Styrofoam ball in the "Me in the Middle" activity. Students use the Moon Phase Calendar web images to match current moon phase images to their observations and answer questions about motion. Students design a slideshow, animation, or physical model that incorporates photographs/images (e.g., NOAA images) and animations to show tidal bulges, how the Moon orbits, and why there are two high tides per day, which requires combining visual materials with learned text information.
Lesson 6
Other Terrestrial Planets
Students read specified pages in a printed book (pages 17–19 and 27) and use that textual information to complete the "Planetary Passport: Terrestrial Planets" table, filling entries for diameter, density, distance from the Sun, orbital and rotational periods, temperatures, moons, color, and unique features. The activity directs students to shade boxes that planets have in common with Earth and to print or draw a photo of a planet, requiring them to combine visual elements with textual facts. In the "From Earth to Eris" board game pages, students view planet images and fill question-and-answer cards (e.g., diameter, density, orbital/rotational periods) using information from the reading.
Lesson 7
Gas Giants
Students are instructed to complete the "Planetary Passport" table by filling in numerical and descriptive fields (diameter, distance from the Sun, hours in a day, moons, temperatures, rings, appearance) using information from the assigned reading, and to circle shared features among planets. In Activity 1 students must create a vacation poster or short story that combines visual/graphic elements with specific textual information from the book about atmosphere, gravity, and geographic features. The "From Earth to Eris" board game cards include illustrated planet images alongside questions that students answer using the text (orbital period, rotational period, diameter, density). Painting and assembling the Planetarium Solar System Model also requires students to apply textual descriptions of appearance and color to physical visual representations.
Lesson 8
Dwarf Planets and Asteroids
The "Planetary Passport: Dwarf Planets" activity provides a table for students to fill in diameter, distance from the Sun, discoverer, rotation/orbital periods, moons, rings, temperature, and apparent color for each dwarf planet. The passport explicitly asks students to research the listed dwarf planets, compare their characteristics, and draw or paste pictures from the internet or an astronomy guide. The "From Earth to Eris Board Game" pages include illustrated cards for Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris and direct students to create questions and fill answers on the cards, linking images with factual responses.
Lesson 9
Men on the Moon and Beyond
Students are asked to read web pages and watch the "NASA Spin off Technologies" video on Day 2 and then answer questions about technologies, requiring them to use information from both video and text. In Activity 1, students write the materials and procedure for a model spacecraft, draw or attach a photo of the craft, and evaluate whether it succeeded, combining a visual (photo/drawing) with written descriptions. Option 1 and some activity pages include illustrations (e.g., sound wave and ear) and direct students to use two websites to answer specific questions about cochlear implants, linking visual and textual/digital sources.
Final Project
Solar System Model and Test
Students draw and label illustrations that show the relative sizes of Earth and the Sun, the distance between Venus and Earth, and Earth's orbit, including measurements in feet and inches. Students compare the grocery bag model and the stand model in writing and sketches, explaining advantages and disadvantages and describing how their suggested museum model will show sizes, distances, and orbits. Students place planet cards on the "From Earth to Eris" game board and answer text questions associated with each planet space, combining the visual board layout with written question cards.
Unit 3: The Prince and the Bard
Lesson 1
Introduction to The Little Prince
Students are asked to examine the cover of The Little Prince and explain their inference about setting based on the image (cover looks too small to be Earth). Students are instructed in the Persuasion Techniques activity to collect advertisements (visuals) and paste them into a table alongside written descriptions and examples. The Life Application directs students to watch TV advertisements and examine magazine ads and decide what each ad is trying to persuade them to buy and which techniques are being used.
Lesson 2
Meeting the Little Prince
Students are instructed in Activity 2 to use the provided "Friend Venn Diagram" page to take what the narrator says (page 10) and either illustrate or write phrases describing what a child and an adult would want to know about a friend. The activity directs students to place ideas from the book in each circle, add two additional child questions and two additional adult questions, and put common questions in the overlapping center. The Student Activity Page description and parent guidance list specific textual items (e.g., voice, games, age, family, money) that students should transfer from the print text into the visual diagram.
Lesson 4
Earth and Other Planets
Students are asked to use the book's illustrations to create a clay model of a planet and its inhabitant, explicitly considering the planet's size, what it is close to, and what the little prince says is on that planet. Students complete a "Planet Problem" worksheet that requires them to describe the planet and list what else is on the planet, linking visual features to written descriptions. Students then write letters proposing solutions that draw on their model and notes, combining visual information with textual argumentation.
Lesson 6
Saying Goodbye
Students are asked in Activity 2 to create a drawing (a visual) and also to write a short description explaining what the artwork shows. The Student Activity Page includes an illustration of a fox and patterned borders that students can use for assistance, and students are prompted to use the "Persuading the Fox" pages to support their work. Students must describe in writing the little prince's departure and their feelings about the fox alongside their drawing or poem.
Lesson 8
Beginning A Midsummer Night's Dream
Students are instructed to create a character collage using magazines or Internet images and to include images that represent the character's problems, personality, objects they would like, and at least one image showing what the character tries to persuade someone to do. The Student Activity Page asks students to draw an image of their character and to complete prompts about character traits, challenges, and persuasion, linking visual work to written responses. Students are also invited to look at the parallel visual layout of the original Shakespearean text (left) and the modern translation (right) to compare how lines correspond.
Lesson 11
Watching the Play
Students read the modern translation of Act 4, Scene 2 to the end of the play and are invited to compare it with the original wording on the left-hand side. Students watch a 25–30 minute animated version of A Midsummer Night's Dream (a linked Vimeo video). Students are asked to discuss whether the animated version included the key scenes, which scenes were omitted, and whether the animation does a good job of telling Shakespeare's story, prompting comparison between the video and the printed text.
Unit 4: Elizabethan Europe
Lesson 1
Europe at the Time of Elizabeth's Birth
Students are asked in Activity 4 to consult their reading and other sources, including a YouTube video and History Channel entry, to gather information for a biographical poem about Martin Luther, which requires using video (visual) and print/digital texts together. Several student activity pages include visual elements—a black-and-white portrait of Martin Luther, a graphic organizer for brainstorming, and illustrated role-play pages—that students view while completing written responses and reflections.
Lesson 2
The Renaissance and Elizabeth's Childhood
In Activity 3 students use a printed map to draw and label Silk Road routes, trace Marco Polo's journey, attach event squares (Gutenberg, Crusades, Italian Renaissance, etc.), and place those events in relation to a timeline and prior unit texts. In Activity 4 (Digital Art Field Trip) students visit online museum sites, view Renaissance artworks, record title/artist/year/website, and write explanations about why each image is interesting and why they included it in their tour. The student pages and answer key explicitly show maps and high-resolution images (and web links to videos and zoomable art) that students must interpret and connect to written responses and timeline cards.
Lesson 4
Religious Turmoil
Students are instructed to "review those pages and use them to color the 'Religious Map of Elizabethan Europe'" and to choose colors for Protestant and Catholic countries, directly linking the printed reading to the map activity. The Student Activity Page description includes a labeled map with a key (Protestant and Catholic symbols) that students color based on the reading. Activity 1 requires students to add specific Reformation figures and an Act of Uniformity card to a timeline, connecting text-based biographical information to a visual timeline.
Lesson 5
International Affairs
Students are asked to trace the voyages of John Hawkins or Francis Drake on map activity pages using details from the reading (draw arrows, label years, and mark overland crossings). In the Triangular Trade activity students draw arrows between England, West Africa, and the West Indies and paste squares showing what was bought and received based on the text about Hawkins. Students also add dated events to a timeline, placing textual events into a visual chronological display.
Lesson 6
Defeating the Spanish Armada
Students read Chapter 8 about the Spanish Armada and then cut out and assemble a map game board showing England, the Strait of Dover, Plymouth, and other labeled locations. Students move ship tokens on that map (moving the Armada north and east toward Calais, scattering north when FLAMING SHIPS is drawn, and turning south around Scotland) while following rules that mirror the narrative events described in the reading. Students add the defeat of the Spanish Armada to a timeline, and are prompted to reflect on how tactics (flaming ships) and weather (bad storms) changed the odds—explicitly linking the map movement and game outcomes to the chapter's account.
Lesson 8
The Making of the Modern World
Students are asked to use the "Medieval vs. Modern Chart" page (a two-column graphic organizer) and to review readings from specific books to fill in comparative information, which requires combining information from text with the chart. In Option 2 students cut out labeled idea boxes and paste them into the appropriate chart cells, explicitly moving text-based ideas into a visual organizer. In Activity 2 students use the "Elizabeth I" activity page with labeled images (Reformation, Renaissance, Age of Discovery, Scientific Revolution) and draw lines and write connections between those visual elements and textual themes from their readings.
Final Project
An Elizabethan Lapbook
Students create a Map of Elizabethan Europe mini-book where they label countries and specific locations and affix the map to their lapbook, directly connecting geographic visuals with written labels. Students make a Historical Events lift-the-flap mini-book and write 1-2 sentence summaries on the inside of each flap plus a sentence about how each event was important to Elizabeth I, integrating visual tabs/flaps with textual explanations. Students build a Timeline mini-book and attach dated rectangles with brief descriptions to a string, and complete a Triangular Trade mini-book by drawing arrows to show flows and writing a sentence about the trade's importance, all requiring combining diagrams/visuals with explanatory text.
Unit 4: Technological Design
Lesson 1
What Is Technology?
Students are given student activity pages that include images and labels (e.g., camera, map, teleconference, cell network) and are instructed to place these visual items into four text-defined categories (Artifact/Hardware, Methodology/Technique, System of Production, Social-Technical System). One option explicitly asks students to cut out boxes with images and visually sort them under the appropriate categories, requiring use of the visuals alongside the written definitions. The directions and key require students to consult the textual "Things to Know" definitions to decide how each pictured item should be categorized.
Lesson 2
Technological Innovator
Students read printed biographical pages (Introduction and pp. 1-10, and pp. 11-22) about Leonardo da Vinci to develop historical context and ideas about proportion. Students view and use the "Technology Through the Centuries" chart image to label each listed invention with one of four technology categories (Artifacts, Methodology, Systems of Production, Social-Technical Systems). Students answer comparative questions that require using information from the chart together with the readings (e.g., identifying trends across centuries, differences between da Vinci's time and the 20th–21st centuries, and how technology impacted tasks).
Lesson 3
Meaningful Technological Designs
Students are asked in Part 2 to include three pictures or illustrations for their chosen technology (the original device, an improved design, and a 21st-century version). The telephone example includes a labeled three-panel collage with descriptions for each panel and an explicit sentence stating, "The image serves to show the progression of telephone technology over time." The answer key and activity directions list specific kinds of illustrations students could include (e.g., mercury or aneroid barometer, early A/C units), indicating students will collect visual materials tied to their written report.
Lesson 4
Necessity vs. Luxury
Students use the Student Activity Page tables (20th and 21st Century Technological Advances) that list items in a chart format and fill the columns labeling type of technology and whether each is a necessity or luxury. Students are directed to choose items from those charts and then research using safe online sources to answer structured questions about whether the design solved a societal problem and why it became important. Students must write explanations linking the chart entry (the visual list) to information gathered from print/digital sources to justify their necessity/luxury judgments.
Lesson 5
Necessity Is the Mother of Invention
Option 2 instructs students to draw a diagram and provide a written set of directions, explicitly telling them to "Use the diagram provided in the book and make notes to go along with the production of the device." Option 3 directs students to consult two different designs in the book (pages 92–96), make one, and use it to collect wind-speed data, which requires using a visual design together with written procedural text. The reading task directs students to specific pages in the book (including pages with procedural illustrations such as 27–31 and 92–96) that students must reference while completing activities.
Lesson 6
Da Vinci's Inventions
Students are instructed to read pages 77–91 about da Vinci's inventions and to "use the 'Standards' chart as a guide" when evaluating designs, linking the text reading to the visual rubric. Student Activity Pages include diagrams (parachute, ornithopter, helical air screw) and tables labeled "Rating" and "Evidence" that require students to record observations and support ratings using information from the book. The Standards image (rubric) explicitly lists criteria (Scientific Principles, Risks, Benefits, Constraints, Testing Protocols) for students to apply when making evaluations.
Lesson 7
Contemporary Design Approaches
Students are given Student Activity Pages for the hand-held vacuum, television, and computer that include illustrations or photographs of old and new devices and a table labeled with categories (Scientific Principles, Risks, Benefits, Constraints/Limitations, Testing Protocols) and a column for Evidence. Students are instructed to consult the provided websites and "complete the evaluation on the activity page," which requires them to record ratings and evidence drawn from those digital texts. The Engineering on a Budget activity directs students to "research the need or problem using the Internet" and to examine current solutions, encouraging use of digital resources alongside the worksheet visuals.
Lesson 8
Engineering
Students are instructed to model selected solutions in two dimensions (as a diagram) and three dimensions (as a physical model), which requires creating visual representations of their designs. Students are directed to use the Student Activity Page table to record trial results, reasons, and modification recommendations, so they will place experimental data into a visual chart. Students will prepare notes and an engineering presentation that draw on their prototypes, diagrams, and recorded test results to explain how solutions meet the design constraints.
Lesson 9
Modeling an Idea
Students are asked to watch the video "The Earthquake Machine" and to consider specific questions about how the model helps explain the science, how each component contributes, and why a model is used instead of pictures or words. The Student Activity Page includes an illustration/diagram of the brick-with-rubber-bands-and-string setup that students use alongside written procedures to build and test the model. Students are prompted to use the video as a reference while building and troubleshooting and to publish results by completing activity pages and discussing findings with a parent.
Final Project
Final Exam and Model Bridge
Students complete activity pages that include evaluation tables (columns labeled Rating and Evidence) for criteria such as Scientific Principles, Risks, Benefits, Constraints/Limitations, and Testing Protocols. Students are asked to categorize technological items in unit-test tables (organizing inventions by type across centuries) and to read sources (web links and book pages) to provide evidence. Students are instructed to produce diagrams and rough sketches of bridge designs and to use information from websites in their presentations and evaluation pages.
Unit 4: Newton at the Center
Lesson 1
Features of Non-Fiction
Students are directed to focus on graphic elements such as captions, charts, graphs, index, and table of contents (Introducing the Lesson). The activity asks students to read the "Featuring Non-Fiction" pages, highlight main ideas and the names of each feature, and then fill in definitions for each feature. The student pages explicitly list graphics (graphs, diagrams, charts, photographs, illustrations, captions) and explain that captions and graphics help provide a better understanding of the text; the Parent Plan states students will "Explain the function of the graphical components of a text."
Lesson 2
Newton and Math
Students are asked to analyze the graphic on page 163 by answering guided questions (e.g., "What does the graphic show?" and "Is the graphic part of the main idea or a detail?") and to use those notes to give a 2-minute oral summary that includes both the main idea and what is shown by the graph. In the ellipse activity, students summarize directions and diagrams and then have a parent attempt the task using only the student's written or oral summary, followed by the reflective prompt "How would the diagram help?" Sentence-diagramming exercises include labeled diagrams that students study and then reproduce or use as models when they diagram example sentences on their own.
Lesson 3
Newton and Light
Students plan and create Visual Aids (cardstock/poster board or PowerPoint) that show how to analyze or mark up a sentence and what a completed sentence diagram looks like, and then use those visuals in an oral presentation (Activity 1). Students are instructed to use today's reading as inspiration for the sentences used in the presentation and to use their PowerPoint slides or visuals to have a parent diagram sentences inspired by Chapter 15. The Life Application asks students to create a spectrum with a prism or observe a rainbow, linking a visual phenomenon to the reading about light.
Lesson 5
Newton's Contemporaries
Students are given a labeled image (Graphic 8) that diagrams sentence structures and shows how interrogatives and "there is/there are" constructions are positioned. Students are instructed to circle the correct verb in sentences and then diagram each sentence, using the pictured diagrams as models. The parent plan includes answer-key diagrams that students can compare with their own diagrams to confirm how the visual relates to the sentence text.
Lesson 6
Math and Science Take Flight
Students are instructed to "use the diagrams, captions, and text provided for each demonstration to create your own numbered list of instructions," explicitly requiring them to combine visual information (diagrams/captions) with written directions. The materials include multiple sentence-diagram images (Graphic 10, 11, 12) that students study and replicate, tying the visual diagrams to the written sentences they diagram. Activity 2 directs students to read a printed page and view online resources (including videos on the floating ball experiment and the NASA aerodynamics page) and to take notes from both the visuals and the text.
Lesson 7
Using Newton's Work
Students are asked to print out a painting from the Metropolitan Museum and use it with their K-W-L chart to give an oral summary (Day 3, Activity 5) and to paste that image and write a caption when they create a 1–2 paragraph sidebar about the artist (Day 4, Activity 6). Option 1 of the verb-tenses activity asks students to create a graphic (timeline or chart) that uses text and images to communicate differences among tenses. Activity 2 directs students to read a web page and optionally watch a video about simple machines, then use vocabulary cards and discussion questions to test understanding, linking visual media with written material.
Unit 5: Modern Europe
Lesson 1
Introduction to Europe
Students cut out and assemble a poster-sized map of Europe, then label countries, capitals, seas, and color regions while using the map on pages 78-79 as a guide. Student Activity Pages provide multiple map visuals (blank and partially labeled maps of regions such as Scandinavia, Western and Eastern Europe, and surrounding seas) that students fill in and analyze. In the EU scavenger-hunt activity, students use the print Geography of the World book to find facts (like which countries use the euro) and refer to a small map on the worksheet; Option 2 asks students to read a digital EU booklet and play an online quiz that combines text and interactive visuals.
Lesson 2
Scandinavia and Finland
Students are asked to use a map (the map on page 82 and small maps on country pages) to label and color Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland and to add rivers, lakes, bays, and mountains, directly tying map visuals to textual reading. The Quick Guide country pages require students to read printed text about population, languages, government, geography, climate, economy, and culture and then to draw or paste an image (with a cited source) that represents the country. Activity 2 provides an organizer/diagram that explicitly connects geographic features (fjords, forests, lakes/coastal areas) to economic activities (shipping, fishing, lumber, tourism), asking students to draw arrows and write notes linking visuals and text.
Lesson 3
The British Isles
Students read pages 87–90 of the Geography of the World and are instructed to use the map on page 87 as a guide while they label and color the United Kingdom and Ireland on their European map. Student activity pages ask learners to fill out Quick Guide entries and to analyze how geography and natural resources influence the economy, linking map/geography information with written responses. Option activities ask students to view a Parliament video or read a PDF and to take notes while doing so, explicitly combining information from visual/digital media with written notes.
Lesson 4
The Low Countries, Germany, and France
Students read pages about the Netherlands, Germany, and France and then fill out Quick Guide pages and map labels, using printed text to identify capitals, geography, and resources. Students add and color countries on a European map to show geographical features, integrating visual map work with their written notes. Students watch multimedia videos or read online environmental policies and then create a poster or a newspaper that pairs images/illustrations with brief text summaries and cites image sources.
Lesson 5
Spain, Portugal, and Italy
Students are asked to read pages 100–105 and then fill out "Quick Guide" pages for Portugal and Italy, using textual information to complete fields such as geography, population, and cultural examples. Student activity pages include maps that highlight Portugal and Italy and images (flags, Colosseum, statues, tile art) that students can view while completing the Quick Guide. Activity 1 requires students to label and color a map of Europe and optionally add rivers, mountains, and cities, linking map visuals to geographic information from the reading.
Lesson 6
Switzerland and Austria
Students read pages 106–108 of a geography text and then fill out "Quick Guide" pages for Switzerland and Austria, using information from the print text while referring to small maps and flag illustrations on the activity pages. In Activity 1 students label and color a map of Europe to show countries, capitals, and geographic features, explicitly using the map visual to represent information about terrain and features. The International Scenarios and Dealing with Global Issues pages present logos and small maps that students match or use alongside written descriptions and optional website research, connecting visual symbols to organizational functions described in text.
Lesson 7
Slovenia, Croatia, Belarus, Baltic States
Students label and color a map of Europe (Activity 1), placing countries and capitals and adding geographic features, which requires using map visuals alongside text information. Students complete a Belarus country page that includes a flag and a highlighted map while they record population, geography, and government details from the reading. Students create a three-article newspaper (Activity 3) that asks for a headline, source, 2–3 sentence summary, and an illustration or image with a citation, and students use a Venn diagram with country silhouettes to compare governments (Activity 6).
Lesson 8
Central Europe
Students are asked to read pages 114–119 and then fill out Quick Guide pages for Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary that include maps and images (flags, clothing, buildings) alongside fields for population, geography, and economy. Activity 1 requires students to label countries and capitals on a map of Europe and to color countries to show geographical features, which links map visuals to written geography notes. The country activity pages prompt students to answer questions such as how geography and natural resources influence the economy, encouraging use of the map/visuals together with the written reading.
Lesson 9
Ukraine, Moldova, Caucasian Republics
Students read pages 120-123 and then complete country "Quick Guide" pages and map tasks that require them to use a shaded map of Europe and a flag icon while writing population, language, government, and geography/climate notes. Activity 1 asks students to label countries and capitals on a map, color regions to show geographical features, and optionally add rivers, lakes, and mountains. Activity 2 requires students to describe climates, natural resources, and geographical features and then show connections between those features and industrial, agricultural, and tourist economies on a structured activity page; an answer-key flowchart visually links geographic features to economic impacts.
Lesson 10
Southeast Europe
Students label and color a map of Southeast Europe (Activity 1), adding countries, capitals, and physical features and optionally drawing rivers, lakes, and mountains. Students use the provided "Latitude and Longitude" map and answer coordinate-based questions that require combining numeric/location text (e.g., 42.42 N, 23.26 E) with map visuals (Activity 4). Students create postcards (Activity 3, Option 1) or a newscast (Activity 2, Option 2) that ask them to pair images or maps with written summaries or oral reports, and they are instructed to include or print images and provide URLs when used.
Final Project
A Quick Guide to Europe
Students are asked to label a blank map of Europe on the unit test and on the unit-long map (Activity 3), using a provided web link to identify current EU member countries and mark them on the map. The unit test includes map-based items where students label countries by letter, match geographic features (Alps, fjords, steppes, Caucasus) to descriptions, and use the map image as part of their answers. In Activity 5 students assemble a Quick Guide that combines map images and other visuals with a written 5–6 sentence introduction discussing geographies, governments, economies, and cultures.
Unit 5: Energy
Lesson 1
Introduction to Energy and Matter
Students watch a video and read pp. 1–3 of a book and then answer content questions that draw on those print and digital sources. Students use the Mechanical Energy Coin image and illustrated Student Activity Pages to match energy terms with pictures and definitions, and they cut/sort boxes on activity pages to categorize sources versus forms of energy. In Activity 3 students fill a four-column table recording a phenomenon (often observed visually), the form of energy, and the evidence, linking visual observations to labeled concepts.
Lesson 2
Energy Transfer
Students watch assigned videos and are directed to compare what they see in the videos with the textbook reading (e.g., rewatching the video to think about chemical potential energy and tracing the path of energy). Students record observations from a slow-motion video of their Newton's Cradle and answer specific questions about when potential energy becomes kinetic and how energy is transferred to the third bead. Students label and trace energy types on a pinwheel diagram (Follow the Energy!) by filling in boxes and coloring arrows to show thermal, radiant, mechanical, and chemical energy, directly combining diagram information with text explanations.
Lesson 3
Electricity
Students watch two videos on electromagnetic induction (Activity 4) and a video on how electromagnets work (Activity 3) and are instructed to use those demonstrations to model the process themselves. In Activity 5 students are asked to "Trace the transformation of energy in a power plant by completing the 'Inside a Power Plant' activity page" and are told to refer to pages 24-25 of the book for help; the Parent Plan explicitly says students will "trace the flow of energy in an electric plant with the diagram on the activity page." The power-plant activity includes an image/diagram labeled "Inside a Power Plant" and an answer key that connects the visual (generator, coiled wire, magnets) to the text explanation.
Lesson 4
Radiant Energy
Students are directed to read Chapter 10 and then watch a linked video and answer content questions, requiring them to combine information from print and video. They use an interactive simulation where they read accompanying text and drag a dot through the electromagnetic spectrum, directly linking textual descriptions to a visual representation. Students study labeled illustrations (the soccer-ball wave diagram and the photovoltaic cell diagram) and complete a cut-and-paste activity in which they order and color parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, connecting text descriptions to the diagram.
Lesson 5
More Renewable Power Sources
Students are directed to read specific textbook pages on wind, hydropower, and geothermal energy. They are then told to "look at the diagram and watch the short video" and to answer the follow-up questions. A web link to the video "Iceland's Secret Power" is provided as a digital visual resource related to geothermal energy.
Lesson 6
Nuclear Power
Students are instructed to "Read Chapter 7 (pages 57-62) of Energy... and review the chart at the following web link," which requires them to consult a visual chart alongside the printed chapter. Question #3 explicitly asks students to answer "Based on the chart you read, what benefits might fusion reactors have..." requiring students to use chart information to respond. An optional Activity 2 provides a video link about fusion that students can view and connect to the text.
Lesson 7
Fossil Fuels and Biomass
Students are asked to create a poster that may include printed images, drawings, or magazine pictures and to present how the fuel was formed, extracted, used, and its advantages/disadvantages. One creative option asks students to produce an infographic or comic that shows processes (for example, how plants are turned into coal), which combines visual elements with explanatory text. The lesson provides web links to an interactive page and a slideshow with photographs that students can consult alongside written chapters.
Lesson 8
Powering Our World
Students watch the Energy 101 video and use a power-grid simulation that requires them to read the diagram, identify cities/substations/plants, read the description and Quick-Start Guide, and complete challenge scenarios. In Activity 2 students research state electricity data, create a pie chart from those data, and compare/contrast five energy sources using information from specific book pages. Option 1 directs students to examine web charts (country energy profiles) and read accompanying explanatory text; Option 2 asks students to label or map a plant and make a poster or video that pairs photos/maps with written notes.
Final Project
Energy Conservation
Students are asked to label the electromagnetic spectrum diagram (Part 2 of the unit test), directly integrating vocabulary with a visual wave diagram. Students analyze utility bills and online yearly charts, compare monthly/seasonal usage, and use those visual/digital data to identify the top 3–5 ways their family uses energy and record them in the "Home Energy Consumption" chart. Students use outputs from the online Energy Use Calculator and the Home Energy Audit (print or recorded results) and then transfer that visual/digital information into their written chart and final presentation.
Unit 5: British Poetry
Lesson 1
Rhythm and Meter
Students are instructed to use the symbols from page 11 (visual notation) to mark stressed and unstressed syllables in poem lines and vocabulary, directly applying visual symbols to printed text. A linked video ('Rhythm and Meter') is provided for students to watch for help understanding stress patterns, and answer-key images show lines with visual stress markings that students can compare to their own work. The activity pages require students to mark up printed poem excerpts using those visual markers and then read the marked text aloud.
Lesson 3
Graphic Elements
Students analyze typographic and layout 'graphic elements' (capitalization, punctuation, line length, word position) and record examples in a three-column 'Graphic Variations' table, showing they connect visual formatting to poem meaning. Students choose a poetic line and a prose statement from an online biography and place them side-by-side on the 'Prince Albert Remembered' page, then illustrate the event or emotion, linking a visual depiction to textual ideas. The student activity pages provide structured visual organizers (a table and a two-column comparison page) for students to combine visual and textual representations.
Lesson 4
Figurative Language
Students are instructed to take at least five photographs on a nature walk and then review those photographs to make notes on the "Walk Like a Poet" page, linking each photo to metaphor, simile, personification, or other figurative language. The student activity page features a table specifically designed for analyzing photographs with columns for photograph description, metaphor/simile, personification, and other figurative language. Students are directed to choose one photograph, write a poem inspired by it, and paste the printed photograph under the poem on the "Figurative Language" page.
Lesson 5
Allusions
Students are asked to look at the image on page 105 and read its caption, noting that the photograph is staged and that the man pictured was not injured. Students must create a staged photograph to represent their repetition poem about a contemporary event, choose framing that fits the poem, print it, and glue it to the Repetition Poem page. Students also generate phrases from news articles to use in their poems, linking information from print news to the visual image they create.
Lesson 6
Tone
Students are asked to write a poem using graphic elements (e.g., word position) and to analyze how graphical elements (capital letters, line length, word position) affect meaning, as listed in the Skills. Students are directed to change the position of lines (for example, one speaker's lines left and one right) to make speaker identity clear and to add their poem to the Conversation page. Students are provided a Student Activity Page (decorative border and blank center) for placing their poem, which requires combining visual layout with text.
Final Project
Autobiography of a Poet
Students are instructed in Activity 1 to cut out boxes and paste each poet's name and a description of genre/technique onto a multi-column timeline that links years and historical events with poets and poetic techniques. The Student Activity Page descriptions show a timeline chart with columns for Years, Historical Events, Poets' Birth and Death, and Poetic Genre or Technique that students fill in. Activity 2 asks students to look at the cover for Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood and consider the themes in the image and artistic style when designing their own book cover, tying visual elements to textual themes.
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Revolution
Lesson 1
Founding of the Colonies
The Mapping the 13 Colonies activity asks students to find each colony on a map, write its name and founding date, and use the timeline and maps in Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself! as a guide to shade British, French, and Spanish territories — requiring students to use print timeline information to complete a visual map. The America: The Story of Us activity instructs students to watch the episode, take notes on new information, pause to ask questions or look things up, and discuss the video with a parent, which has students integrate information from a digital video with their notes and readings. The included answer-key image is a map that pairs colony locations with founding and royal-colony dates, reinforcing the connection between visual maps and textual dates.
Lesson 2
Southern Colonies
Students read print and digital texts (We Were There, Too! passages and National Park Service web articles) and then place information from those readings into visual organizers: they add dated cards to a year-long timeline, complete a two-column pros/cons chart (Tobacco vs. Silk/Flax) based on web articles, and fill a Venn diagram comparing Equiano's voyage and the Mayflower. Student activity pages include an outline map of Virginia and sketches (Native American portrait, European ship, tobacco plant) that students can use while completing the "Should You Go to Virginia?", timeline, and comparison activities. These tasks require students to combine information from print and digital readings with maps, charts, and graphic organizers.
Lesson 3
The Middle and Northern Colonies
Students create and analyze a word cloud made from the Mayflower Compact and answer prediction, observation, interpretation, and analysis questions that link the visual word cloud to the original text. Students review a detailed table (chart) listing reasons, people, and economic activities for the 13 colonies and then use that chart to complete a Venn diagram comparing colonies founded for different purposes. Students add event cards to a timeline, placing information from readings into a visual chronological display.
Lesson 4
Daily Life in the Colonies
The Student Activity Page "Colonial Goods" presents images (a sheep, a barrel, a tree, a horseshoe) alongside a two-column table for students to fill in the good and its source, prompting students to use the pictures to identify items. Students are directed to read Chapters 3 and 4 and answer questions about clothing materials, imported goods, and how items were obtained, which provides print information that relates to the images. The provided answer key maps specific goods to sources (e.g., wool — grown/made at home; horseshoes — bought from a local craftsman), indicating students are expected to connect visual items to textual/ contextual information.
Lesson 5
Town and Country
Students read Chapters 5 and 6 and then use the Student Activity Page "Colonial Occupations," which is a table (a chart) listing occupations with columns for "What They Did," "Rank," and "Reasons." Each occupation in the table is accompanied by a small illustrative icon, and students are directed to fill in the chart, prioritize occupations, and provide textual explanations for their rankings. The Colonial Crafts activity page includes illustrations (food items, a tin lantern, tools) and an optional task asks students to create a colonial sign using pictures, connecting visual design with written purpose.
Lesson 6
Leading Up to Revolution
Students watch Episode 2 of America: The Story of Us (a video) and then answer comprehension questions and write a 4–5 sentence movie review or a 3–4 sentence trailer script, requiring them to use information from the visual media in written form. In Activity 2 students view NCpedia's digital timeline of resistance (a visual timeline) and complete a two-column table by writing what each act did/why Britain enacted it and why colonists objected. In Activity 3 students add cards #19–29 to a year-long timeline, placing textual event information onto a visual chronology.
Lesson 7
Independence
Students are directed to print and annotate the Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence that shows deletions (strikethrough) and additions (italicized bracketed text), choosing sections to compare and mark. Students are asked to visit Library of Congress exhibit pages that include documents, works of art, and images and are invited to click on links or images to learn more before discussing connections. Students add cards #30-31 to a timeline, placing textual information into a visual chronological display.
Lesson 8
Fighting the War
Students are asked to read first-person and biographical texts about Revolutionary War soldiers and then create an illustration of a chosen incident, explaining what the image shows and how it helps a viewer understand a soldier's life (Option 1). Students add Cards #32-35 to a timeline, placing textual events into a visual chronological display. Students take virtual tours of Revolutionary War sites and complete a brochure by synthesizing information from multiple National Park Service and other web pages (digital texts) into structured, visual brochure pages.
Lesson 9
A New Nation
Activity 2 explicitly instructs students to use what they learned from unit readings and the America: Story of Us miniseries to consider groups' hopes for a new nation, requiring students to combine video (digital) information with print material. The Student Activity Page provides a two-column visual organizer where students write slogans for different social groups, integrating those ideas into a visual chart. Activity 1 asks students to create index cards with images or words on one side and questions on the other, prompting students to represent researched information visually alongside written facts.
Final Project
Living History
Students are instructed to use a prop or image they created during the unit for at least one part of their five-minute presentation to demonstrate specific ideas. Students are scored on rubric criteria that explicitly evaluate "Use of demonstration or image to illustrate ideas" (Option 1 rubric item 8 and Option 2 rubric item 8). Students are also invited, if they have time, to watch historical video episodes to refresh their memory, providing an opportunity to connect video content to their presentations.
Unit 1: Atoms
Lesson 1
Invisible Matter
Students are asked to read printed pages (Eyewitness Chemistry pp. 16 and 18) and answer content questions while using the provided "Liquid and Gas Particles" image to help answer the activity questions. The activity directs students to sketch the milk jug at several time intervals and to use the particle image when explaining what is happening to the water and why. The vocabulary activity requires students to create illustrations for each term and then match those illustrations to printed definitions, linking visual representations with text.
Lesson 2
Atomic Structure
Students watch a linked video about atoms and then answer text questions about what the video shows (e.g., nucleus location, particle charges). Students refer to the Sample Atomic Model diagram and the Student Activity Page diagram to build physical atomic models and to determine electron configurations for oxygen, fluorine, and sodium. Students use textual research from provided web links to place scientists' discoveries onto a visual timeline and match vocabulary terms to accompanying illustrations in the Vocabulary Review activity.
Lesson 3
Properties of Matter I
Students are directed to read pp. 22-26 in Eyewitness Chemistry and to view a linked video ('Malleability and Ductility') as part of the activity. Students use the Student Activity Page, which includes tables and charts for malleability, ductility, luster, and conductivity, to record predictions, before/after measurements, and observations. Instructions explicitly tell students to determine material properties 'based on your examination of the aluminum foil and copper wire (and the information in the video)' and to 'predict' and then record 'Before' and 'After' conductivity data, combining visual/digital input with print and hands-on data.
Lesson 4
Solid, Liquid, Gas: What's the Difference?
Students are asked to watch the first 2 minutes and 30 seconds of a video and then answer content questions, requiring them to combine information from the video with written questions. The activity uses a provided "Modeling Different States of Matter" activity sheet that includes jar illustrations and an "Attributes of Classical States of Matter" table that students refer to while placing punched-paper dots to represent particles. In Option 2, students use textbook pages and other resources to complete a three-column chart (solid, liquid, gas) and then create a diagram/illustration using the colored dots, explicitly linking textual descriptions with visual representations.
Lesson 5
Properties of Matter II
Students watch a linked instructional video and then answer text questions about mass, weight, and volume. Students use the "Three-Dimensional Shapes" graphic (image with formulas) to obtain volume formulas and apply them to problems on the Volume of Regular Shapes activity page. Students use displacement diagrams and a weight/volume table (visual table) to record measurements and then compute density by combining the table data with the density formula (D = m/v). Students cut and match vocabulary cards to pictures and formulas, explicitly pairing visual representations with written definitions.
Lesson 6
The Recurring (Periodic) Table of Elements
Students are instructed to read a periodic table webpage and review periodic table images (pp. 22–23 and pp. 25–26) and then answer specific questions that require combining information from the text and the periodic table image. Students use the Carbon Example graphic to identify parts of an element tile and then fill in an Organization of the Periodic Table chart using values from the visuals and the reading. Students complete an electron-shell configuration activity by writing numbers into n=1, n=2, n=3 columns based on information from the periodic table images and the reading, and they must use those tables to identify inert gases and trends. Finally, students create a visual aid (e.g., Venn diagram or table) that synthesizes textual properties and periodic-table location to compare a metal and a nonmetal.
Lesson 7
Classifying Matter
Students are directed to "look carefully at the 'Sample Compounds' table and use the information presented to complete the table on the 'What Is a Compound?' activity page," requiring them to read the visual table and extract element symbols and subscripts. The lesson presents a chemical-equation image for sucrose combustion and asks students to "Consider the following chemical formula for what you observed with the sugar," prompting students to connect the visual formula with their experimental observations. Student activity pages and the answer key present tables and worked examples that students must read and use to answer specific questions about element composition and changes.
Lesson 8
Final Project
Students are asked to use the periodic table (a visual chart) and the provided online periodic table link to find element properties and fill in the "Getting Specific with an Element" chart. Students complete and use visual activity pages and tables (Survey chart, Survey Details table, Atomic Cards template) to record observations and material properties from their home items. The unit test and study pages include diagrams (atom illustrations, electron-shell charts) that students must read and use to answer questions and create a model of an atom.
Unit 1: Abigail Adams
Lesson 1
Getting to Know Abigail Adams
Students are asked to analyze the cover image (list three words describing the woman pictured and describe the shadowy image on the back cover) and to consult the book's front and back matter via an online link to view the front cover. Students read and respond to a family tree diagram (completing it and discussing how the Quincy family tree influences their view of the book) and fill a chronology page with five key events and dates. The Exploring the Book activity and related student pages prompt students to use these visual elements (cover, family tree, timeline, back-cover information) together with chapter titles and summaries.
Lesson 3
Unrest and War
Students are directed to explore a primary visual source in Activity 2, Option 1: they must visit the Library of Congress page for Paul Revere's engraving and "write a well-formed paragraph in which you state your argument about what the artist might have thought" supported with 2–3 specific examples from the image. The activity introduction tells students they will "explore primary sources of various kinds" and then write an account based on their research, linking the visual task to the unit reading about the Boston Massacre. The student activity pages also include illustrations (e.g., horse-drawn carriage) that students may analyze as part of the exercises.
Lesson 5
Remember the Ladies
Students are asked to complete several graphic organizers that require combining reading with a visual chart: the Exploring Roles page directs students to list at least five items in three columns (John's Job, Shared, Abigail's Job) based on Chapters 4–10. The Household Responsibilities activity asks students to interview parents and fill a two-parent chart (Parent #1 / Shared / Parent #2) that they then compare to historical divisions described in the text. The lesson includes an image/answer key that shows a three-column diagram of roles, which students can compare to their own charted responses.
Lesson 6
Separation
Students are instructed to "Consult the editing symbols page for symbols that you can use while editing the paragraph," and a Student Activity Page provides a proofreading symbols chart with symbol, meaning, and example. The paragraph-editing activity requires students to apply those visual proofreading marks to correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling in a printed paragraph. A vocabulary crossword grid and word bank require students to place vocabulary words into a visual puzzle that connects to the reading.
Lesson 8
Genre
Students are asked to summarize a scene from the nonfiction biography (Chapters 15–16) based on known facts and then retell that scene using provided graphic novel templates (Option 2). The activity directions tell students to "retell the story in graphic novel format" and to draw and color artwork, combining written words and sequential art. Multiple student activity pages (panels/templates) are provided so students will place text and images together to convey the same historical content.
Lesson 10
Presidential Politics
The Federalists and Republicans Student Activity Page is a three-column, six-row table labeled "Characteristics," "Federalists," and "Republicans." Students are instructed to "Review the first three pages of Chapter 19 and refer back to the rest of the reading as needed as you complete the chart," which directs them to transfer information from the text into the table. The provided answer key maps specific claims from the reading (e.g., leaders, views on the French Revolution, whom they endorsed) to the chart, confirming that students must extract textual details and place them into the visual organizer.
Lesson 11
Later Life
Students are instructed to look up descriptions in Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution and then view photographs and virtual tours on linked websites (Adams National Historical Park, WhiteHouseHistory, and Google Arts & Culture). After examining those print descriptions and digital images, students choose to either create pencil sketches of Peacefield and the President's House using details from the readings and websites or complete a Venn diagram comparing the two homes with information drawn from both text and images. The activity directions explicitly tell students to use details from the readings and websites to inform their artwork or organizer.
Lesson 12
Remembering Abigail Adams
Students are instructed in Activity 1 (Option 2) to search the Internet for pictures of memorials for notable colonial figures and then use those images together with biographical themes to design a memorial prototype. The Student Activity Page "Voice and Mood Summary" includes illustrations for active vs. passive voice and for different moods that students use to understand grammatical concepts. The Identifying Mood and Voice pages ask students to apply a color-key and visual cues to a paragraph about Abigail Adams, requiring them to mark textual examples using the provided visual key.
Unit 2: Civics
Lesson 1
The Origins of American Government
Students are instructed to cut out phrases from primary-source excerpts and glue them into a three-column chart labeled Limits / Rights / Responsibilities, directly placing printed text into a visual organizer. Option 2 asks students to use three highlighter colors to mark passages in the Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, and English Bill of Rights to show limits, rights, and responsibilities, integrating color-coded visuals with the printed texts. The Parent Plan includes an image answer key that is a table showing how specific excerpts map into the visual categories, modeling integration of visual and textual information.
Lesson 2
The Constitutional Convention
In Activity 3, students watch a video about The Federalist Papers and are directed to consult the "House and Senate" graphic while they read or consider Federalist No. 10, then use an activity page to brainstorm modern factions — requiring students to combine the video/text explanation with the visual comparison of representation. In Activity 1, students read the LOC essay "Identifying Defects in the Constitution" and complete a three-column table linking potential modern problems to limitations under the Articles; the answer-key image is a grid that compares modern problems with specific weaknesses, which students are expected to use to inform their responses.
Lesson 3
The Constitution of the United States
Students are instructed in Activity 1 to cut out boxes from Page 2 and paste them into the appropriate sections of a Constitution organizer, and an answer-key diagram visually links each part (Preamble, Articles, Amendments) with a brief explanation. In Activity 2 Option 1 students cut out scenario boxes and glue or tape each scenario next to the amendment that applies, and small illustrations (a scale of justice, a gavel, a document) are included to enhance understanding. The lesson also directs students to an interactive Library of Congress website (Option 2) and an iCivics game (Option 3), both digital resources that include visual/digital elements for students to explore and then take notes or print a detailed report.
Lesson 4
The Executive Branch
Students cut out job descriptions and paste them into squares next to department names and seals on the "The Executive Branch" activity pages, and they fill in current cabinet members' names using the White House websites linked in Option 1. Several student pages show visual elements (department seals/logos, a sketch of the White House, a faint Presidential Seal, an illustration of the U.S. Capitol, and a Statue of Liberty silhouette) that appear alongside textual prompts and questions. Option 2 directs students to view presidential schedules on presidential library websites and to compare/record observations from those online documents.
Lesson 5
The Legislative Branch
Students read Article I of the Constitution and overview pages on the legislative process (White House and House websites) and are then asked to create a visual explanation. The Visual Project requires students to make a flow chart (a chart/visual) that shows all steps in the legislative process, including committee referral, votes in both chambers, and presidential options (sign, veto, pocket veto). Activity 1 also directs students to digital resources (House site, kids-clerk, optional Schoolhouse Rock video) to gather information before making their visual or musical product.
Lesson 6
The Judicial Branch
Students are asked to map a possible path for a case to reach the Supreme Court using web-based resources and games (Activity 1), which requires interpreting web diagrams and game visuals alongside explanatory text. In Activity 3, students draw colored arrows between illustrated buildings for Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches and write how each check or balance operates, directly combining visual mapping with written explanations. In Activity 2, students assemble a mini-book by gluing the Landmark Cases page (a printed visual) to construction paper and lifting flaps to record written answers beneath each title; the Landmark Cases student page also includes an illustrative sequence of diagrams that students use while answering questions.
Lesson 7
State Government
Students are instructed to find and insert images into their booklet, including a picture of the state capital and an image of the governor and the governor's residence (students may print, draw, or paste these). The booklet pages require students to record textual information (state name, capital, population, governor biography, legislature structure, representatives, and judicial details) alongside the images. The lesson directs students to use online research (including a provided state government link) or library research to gather both visual and textual materials for the same project.
Lesson 8
Local Government
Students are asked to create a Z-fold brochure that combines written descriptions of local government with an image on the front (drawn, photographed, or printed from an online source). The Student Activity Pages include illustrated step-by-step folding instructions and small drawings (e.g., scissors, person holding a phone) that students use when assembling and completing the brochure. Activities direct students to use online local government websites and other sources to gather information that will appear alongside their chosen image(s).
Lesson 9
Citizenship
Students are instructed to use the five political party websites to identify each party's position on selected issues and to summarize those findings in a provided chart, which asks them to transfer digital text-based information into a visual organizer. In Option 2 of Activity 2, students must use party website content to design two bumper stickers or buttons that visually represent each party's stand on an issue, converting print/digital positions into visual products. Activity 3 directs students to consult online news and government sites (e.g., NPR, Google News, WhiteHouse issues) to gather information for an action plan, which may require synthesizing digital sources into their written and planning pages.
Final Project
Government Lapbook
Students are asked to include a mini-book that contains a flowchart (or song) explaining how a bill becomes a law, which requires creating a visual representation of procedural information. Students are instructed to print or cut out photos (for example, the U.S. Capitol, state flag, or representatives) and place those images alongside their mini-books inside the lapbook. The Student Activity Page for assembly includes diagrams and visual aids that students follow to fold and arrange the lapbook components, and video instructions are available to support that process.
Unit 2: Chemical Reactions
Lesson 1
Atomic Theory and Chemical Formulas
The lesson includes a two-panel image that visually shows the setup for Reaction 1 and Reaction 2 (balloons, bottles, funnels, and quantities) and a Student Activity Page with a labeled chart (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes) and a legend for coding observations. Students are instructed to use the image/setup and follow written step-by-step directions to perform the experiments and to record observations in the provided chart, referring to the Observation Guide for how to describe temperature, volume, and reactions. The match activity page also includes an illustration and a procedures list that students follow and then record Yes/No results for ignition.
Lesson 2
Chemistry and Patterns
The lesson includes a labeled image of the baking-soda-and-vinegar chemical equation with a caption that tells students to "look carefully" and to notice that the same number of each atom appears on both sides, directing them to interpret the visual with the text idea of conserved atoms. The text explicitly tells students to "look at the combination of baking soda and vinegar" and to consult the periodic table when viewing chemical equations, prompting students to connect the equation image with the textual explanation. The Student Activity Page provides a table (columns and rows) for students to record predictions and observations, which asks students to organize visual/tabular information alongside their experimental notes.
Lesson 3
Understanding Reactions
Students are directed to read and use a table image that explains subscripts and coefficients to count atoms and molecules in Activity 1. The Student Activity Page asks students to use chemical equation diagrams (e.g., Na + Cl2 → NaCl, 2H2O → 2H2 + O2) to fill in numbers of atoms before and after and to classify reaction types. In Activity 2 students examine molecular diagrams of water and rust and an electrolysis diagram and then create their own drawings that combine the chemical equation with molecular images. The Parent Plan/Answer Key image gives visual breakdowns of equations that students are instructed to compare with their work.
Lesson 4
Combustion and Extinguishers
Students view a labeled fire-triangle diagram and are asked to match parts of the triangle to conditions inside or outside the bottle. Students use instructional diagrams showing the candle, wire, and cut bottle as a guide while they set up and perform the extinguisher experiment. The Student Activity Page includes a drawing of the bottle and a data table where students record measurements and observations that connect the visuals to the written procedure and experimental results.
Lesson 5
Acids and Bases
Students are instructed to use the pH Color Code web image to color the pH scale on their activity sheet and then use that visual color scale to estimate pH ranges for substances they test. The Student Activity Page includes a pH scale diagram and a table where students record observed indicator colors and translate those colors into pH ranges and acid/base classifications. The Parent Plan includes an answer-key image table that students can compare their recorded colors and pH estimates against.
Lesson 6
Physical and Chemical Properties, Part I
Students use a side-by-side table and illustrations in Activity 1 to place an 'X' marking processes as physical or chemical changes, directly combining the visual table with written definitions. In Activity 2 students read textual hints and examine chemical-equation images (with reactants/products and state notations) to decide the states of matter for products. Activity 6 asks students to read a text explanation of specific heat and also interpret a bar graph comparing time-to-heat for water and gold, connecting the visual data to the written concepts. Activity 5 requires students to watch a video of a catalyzed reaction and then identify signs of a chemical reaction described in the text.
Lesson 7
Physical and Chemical Properties, Part II
Students are directed to refer to and use multiple images and diagrams (the electrolysis diagram showing ion movement, the Creating a Circuit diagram, and magnetic loop/electromagnet illustrations) while performing activities. Students consult a periodic table (a visual) to classify elements as metals, metalloids, or nonmetals. Students complete and record observations in tables (battery voltage table, electromagnet strength tables, solubility prediction/results table) and answer questions that link those recorded data to the written explanations about conductivity, magnetism, and solubility.
Lesson 8
Periodic Characteristics
Students are instructed in Activity 1 to write the symbol and name of each element in given reactions and, using a copy of the periodic table, record each element's material (metal/nonmetal/metalloid) and group number. The Student Activity Page provides tables for reactants and products and a supplementary pH chart, and students are asked to use the pH information to determine whether reactions produced salts. In Activity 2 students make visual observations of salt crystals forming on black paper and answer questions that connect those visual observations to the chemical equations and reaction evidence.
Lesson 9
Scientific Argumentation
Students are shown labeled images of chemical equations for the reactions (reactants and products are identified) in Activity 2. The Student Activity Page includes illustrations of materials and steps for the experiment that students are directed to follow and observe. These visuals appear alongside explanatory text about reactants, products, and the instability of carbonic acid.
Lesson 10
Synthetic or Natural?
Students are instructed to read pages from Eyewitness Chemistry and to use specific web links to gather information, then complete the provided 'Beneficial or Not?' table with Category, Risk, Benefit, and Value columns. In Activity 1 students categorize a list of common items under "Natural" or "Synthetic," completing a student activity page that is presented as a chart. The activities require students to pull information from print (the assigned reading) and digital texts (the provided links) and place that information into visual organizers (tables).
Final Project
Chemistry in Action
Students are instructed to include a visual element in their final presentation (charts, graphs, poster board) and to optionally create a PowerPoint that combines slides of chemical name/formula, benefits/risks, natural counterpart, and the executive decision. The unit materials provide multiple data tables (e.g., the Lesson 6 density/specific heat table and the pH indicator table) that students must read and use to answer questions about density, specific heat, pH, and reaction outcomes. Students are asked to create drawings (e.g., making a solution before/after) and to interpret a diagram of a closed system when answering test questions, requiring them to connect those visuals with written explanations.
Unit 2: Animal Farm
Lesson 1
What Is a Theme?
Students are asked to review the front cover and any images, the back cover, author biography, preface/foreword/introduction, and the table of contents as part of a pre-reading activity. The student activity page asks learners to describe the cover art and to state, "Based on the back cover, what do you think this book will be about?" Students also respond to questions about what they learned from the preface/introduction and what they noticed in the material surrounding the novel.
Lesson 2
Major's Dream
Students are asked to use colored boxes, circles, and underlines on the Parts of Speech activity page to visually mark subjects, verbs, prepositional phrases, and other grammatical elements within printed sentences. An answer-key image visually labels each word or phrase in sample sentences, which students can consult to compare visual labels with the text. The Late-Night Meeting activity page includes small illustrations of characters and an optional extension asks students to draw characters and convey personality visually alongside textual examples.
Lesson 3
The Rebellion
Students use a 'Characters as Leaders' activity page that is a four-column table to record strengths, weaknesses, and textual examples for multiple characters, placing textual evidence into a visual organizer. Students review the Seven Commandments and the Bill of Rights on a dedicated activity page and answer comparative questions that require them to reference two written documents presented on the page. Several student pages include illustrations (a pig, a barn, and ducklings) alongside exercises, which places images adjacent to the written tasks.
Lesson 4
Work on the Farm
Students complete Activity 1 using the Student Activity Page "Farm Work After the Rebellion," a four-column graphic organizer (Question / Manor Farm / Animal Farm / Similarities) and are instructed to "write out your thoughts... using specific examples from the text to support your points." The activity description and answer key show students pulling details from Chapter 3 to fill the table rows (what work, who did it, how jobs were completed, who benefited). The Student Activity Page explicitly asks students to compare textual information and record it in the visual chart.
Lesson 5
The Battle of the Cowshed
Students are instructed to reread Chapter 4 and "create a map of the physical location of the battle based on specific evidence in the book," attending to order of events, locations, and landmarks. They must add individuals and their movements using colors and symbols, and map where everyone was at the beginning, middle, and end of the battle. After finishing, students must show the map and talk a parent through what happened, connecting the visual to the textual narrative.
Lesson 6
Comrade Napoleon
The activity asks students to research the Russian Revolution and "create a short timeline, making connections to Animal Farm," which requires producing a visual (timeline) that links historical information with the text. Student Activity Pages prompt students to record dates (visual-amenable information), roles, connections to Animal Farm, and specific evidence, encouraging students to synthesize researched facts with novel content. The lesson directs students to use print and digital research sources (encyclopedias, library, or provided BBC web links) to complete the timeline and worksheets.
Lesson 7
Changes on the Farm
Students read Chapter 6 of Animal Farm and answer questions about how work and leadership changed under Napoleon. Students use a printed graphic organizer titled "Leadership on the Farm" with three illustrated sections (Mr. Jones; Napoleon and Snowball; Napoleon) to record observations about work, sacrifice, productivity, happiness, power, and fairness. Students can compare their entries to an illustrated answer-key diagram that links textual descriptions to the visual organizer.
Lesson 9
The Battle of the Windmill
Students are asked in Activity 1 Option 1 to draw or paint a re-imagined scene and then write 2–3 sentences describing how the personification of animals changes the scene, which asks them to pair a visual with explanatory text. Activity 2 explicitly allows students to include an enclosure such as "a chart showing the possible profits" as a supporting document for a business letter, and the Student Activity Page includes an "Enclosure" line for attaching that document.
Lesson 10
Boxer's Fate
Students are asked to create a visual plot diagram (using a provided template or an original design) in which they list key events in order, highlight especially important moments, and write 1-2 sentences stating the theme beneath the diagram. Students are also given a bubble-map style Student Activity Page (and a sample image) that requires placing a central theme in a circle and noting specific incidents in surrounding evidence bubbles, explaining how each incident connects to the theme. Instructions explicitly direct students to use specific incidents from the text as the content of the diagram and bubbles, tying textual evidence to the visual organizer.
Lesson 11
The Farmers Pay a Visit
Students are asked to "Fill in the table with information about how the Seven Commandments changed during the course of the book," which requires extracting textual details and recording them in a chart. Students are also instructed to "go back to his Plot Diagram from Lesson 10, complete it, and revise or add to his ideas about theme as needed," which requires updating a visual organizer using information from the final chapter. The activity pages include an illustration and a structured table that students must use alongside their reading responses and reflective questions.
Final Project
Animal Farm Letter
Students view and use an instructional diagram titled "Outline-Related Buttons" to learn how to set up and adjust levels in an outline (I, II, III; A, B, C) and to identify the Numbering, Increase Indent, and Decrease Indent buttons. Students mark pronouns and antecedents on test sentences and draw arrows from pronouns to antecedents, visually linking grammatical elements to the text. Students may create or incorporate letterhead images into their written template, placing sender name and address as part of a formatted document.
Unit 3: The Antebellum West
Lesson 1
America in 1800
Students read the Preface from A History of Us and answer questions about the text, and they watch Episode 3 of America: The Story of Us and discuss it with a parent during and after viewing. Students create and color a map of America in 1800, labeling states, territories, and lands claimed by other countries and are instructed to save the map for comparison in future activities. Parent prompts ask students to review reading responses and to discuss the video and the map together.
Lesson 2
The Early Presidents
Students read biographies on the White House Historical Association website (digital text) and then cut and paste facts under portraits and fill in names and years to create a chronological timeline poster (Activity 1), directly combining portraits and dates with textual information. In Activity 2 students add timeline cards to a visual timeline, placing textual/date cards into a visual spatial representation. In Activity 5 students complete a graphic organizer (chart) to record supporters, issues, and policies, linking charted visual organization with information gathered from readings.
Lesson 3
The Beginnings of Westward Expansion
Students are instructed to consult the "American Indian Map" sheet and use the map to complete the "American Indian Crossword Puzzle," which requires reading a map (visual) and converting its information into text answers. Students are directed to visit web resources that include a short webpage and a short video and then answer comprehension questions, requiring them to combine information from video and print sources. In the Daniel Boone activity, students read Boone's account (text) and then plan and create a movie poster using visual elements informed by that account, with a sample poster image provided as a model.
Lesson 4
The Louisiana Purchase
Students create and complete a map of the Louisiana Purchase by labeling states, identifying northern/eastern/western boundaries, and drawing the Corps of Discovery route using a provided map and an online map as guides. Students explore interactive online resources (an interactive Lewis & Clark timeline and archived National Geographic journey log) and then add information from those digital resources to their own timeline or top-10 list. Students add locations of tribes to their map and include related images on timeline entries, using visual materials (maps, images, interactive timelines) together with print readings (Chapter 1 and web pages).
Lesson 5
The War of 1812
Students are assigned to watch a PBS documentary (Activity 1) and then—after reading four short essays—either write a movie review from a chosen perspective (Option 1) that asks how well the film represented that perspective or complete a chart comparing perspectives (Option 2). The movie-review prompt explicitly directs students to combine what they saw in the film with the viewpoints in the essays when judging representation and bias. The Monroe Doctrine activity also presents bolded text alongside a portrait/coin image that students summarize, providing at least one instance of a visual paired with textual material.
Lesson 6
The Trail of Tears
Students read personal narratives (WPA interviews and Private John G. Burnett's account) and are instructed to illustrate a scene from one narrative and write a brief summary explaining what the account helped them understand, which requires linking visual depiction to textual information. Students add cards #47-50 to a class timeline, which asks them to place textual events into a visual chronological display. A video link (National Park Service) is provided as an additional visual resource students may watch to learn more about the Trail of Tears.
Lesson 7
Border Conflict and the Mexican War
Students are asked to "spend some time viewing both images, and then complete the 'Manifest Destiny Paintings' activity page," which directs them to list adjectives the works evoked and to identify "what specific aspects of the art evoked those terms." Question 3 on the activity asks "What do you think the artist was trying to say about Manifest Destiny? How can you tell?", prompting students to use visual details as evidence. The lesson also links to a Capitol mural page (with associated text) and locates the paintings in the textbook near the chapter readings about Manifest Destiny.
Lesson 8
The Gold Rush and Further Expansion
The Student Activity Page includes a table/chart where students record why different groups moved west and a chart called "Why Head West?" that students are told to use in preparing a monologue. Instructions explicitly direct students to use summaries from both journeys on the chart along with readings from We Were There, Too! to create a 3–5 minute first‑person monologue. Activity 2 directs students to read first‑person accounts from a Library of Congress digital collection and then complete a writing task, which students are expected to combine with the chart information.
Lesson 9
Life in the Mid-Nineteenth Century West
Students are instructed to select 10–12 historical photographs (from specified online collections) and choose one to analyze in depth. In Option 1, students complete an Image Analysis activity page that prompts them to observe objects, setting, people, and to answer questions about what the picture tells them about the West. The lesson provides links to external resources on analyzing photographs and asks students to add selected images to their analysis or creative writing.
Final Project
A Westward Migration Story
Students are asked to create storyboards in which each panel includes an illustration and text explaining what is happening, and planning pages explicitly require panels showing historical context and federal policies that impact the character. In the art-gallery option, students must locate images online, print them, record the image URLs, mount images, and write 1–2 sentence gallery cards describing each image's significance. Rubrics for both options require that images be accompanied by explanatory text, citations, and that students orally explain and connect images during a guided tour.
Unit 3: Energy and Matter
Lesson 1
Introducing Energy
Students are asked to use multiple images and diagrams (candle diagram, conduction/convection pot diagram, radiation/rock and snake diagram, and a solar panel diagram) alongside explanatory text to understand energy transfer. Students are directed to watch two videos and then answer questions that compare video content with textual explanations about fusion and solar energy. The Student Activity Page shows bottle diagrams and a data table that students use while conducting the Solar Energy experiment and then write a 3–5 sentence justification that includes evidence from their recorded data. The marshmallow fusion activity explicitly instructs students to consult a provided periodic table (a visual) while performing the hands-on model and identifying elements.
Lesson 2
Convection and Conduction
Students are directed to "Refer to the 'Set-up 1 and Set-up 2' image" and to an illustration on the second "Conduction" page when performing Activity 1 and Part II, showing they must use the diagrams to assemble the experiments. Student Activity Pages include a table for Part I (Prediction; Time) and a table for Part II (Spoon Type; Prediction Order; Actual Order) where students record data from the visual setups. Students are asked to answer questions such as "Which set-up heated faster? Why?" and "What do both Parts I and II of this activity illustrate about conduction?" that require linking observations from the images/tables with textual definitions of conduction and convection.
Lesson 3
Energy Transfers
Students are explicitly asked in Activity 2 Option 1 to cut out labeled images and place the illustrations in the correct order based on written descriptions, linking diagrams (battery, electrons, sparks, atoms) to text descriptions. Option 2 asks students to write brief atomic-level descriptions for each image, requiring them to explain visual sequences in words. The Reading and Questions section directs students to reread pages about matter and energy and to 'pay careful attention' to the role of matter, connecting the printed/digital reading to the activity visuals.
Lesson 4
Electromagnetic and Sound Waves
Students collect temperature data and are instructed to graph temperature vs. time, create a legend, and label axes, directly using a visual (their graph) to represent experimental results. Students are asked to re-read specified pages and watch two short videos about waves and then answer content questions, linking video/digital information with text. Students use the provided amplitude/wavelength illustration and the six wave diagrams to compare pitch and volume and to answer specific questions that require reading the visuals alongside the written definitions.
Lesson 5
Kinetic and Potential Energy
Students match vocabulary words to images and definitions in the Vocabulary Review activity, directly linking pictorial representations to written definitions. Students follow labeled diagrams to build the rubber-band car and use a chart to record numeric measurements, integrating schematic visuals and tabular data with written procedural text. Students view the provided roller-coaster interactive animation and observe how potential and kinetic energy change while relating those observations to the written explanation and comprehension questions. Students draw pictures of the Diet Coke/Mentos demonstration and then read the textual explanation to determine whether their prediction was correct, combining visual observation with printed explanation.
Lesson 6
Energy and Machines
Students are asked to match names and written descriptions of the six simple machines to images (Option 1), and to label parts of complex-machine illustrations (bicycle, pruning shears, lawn mower) using a provided word box (Option 2). Students use a lever diagram and an accompanying table to record measurements and then compute mechanical advantage using the formula, integrating the visual diagram and table with written instructions and calculations. A web video link is provided for students to view digital visual information about simple machines and hover-over definitions, which students are directed to use as they write descriptions and complete matching tasks.
Lesson 7
Conservation
Students interact with the Pendulum Lab simulation and are prompted to click the Energy box and observe the colored bars on the energy graph before and after releasing the pendulum. The student worksheet asks them to explain what the KE, PE, thermal, and total bars represent and to relate changes in those bars to friction and gravity (Moon/Jupiter) settings. Activity 1 and the student pages also ask students to sketch the pendulum motion and identify pieces of the system, tying the diagrams and sketches to written explanations about conservation and energy loss.
Lesson 8
Energy Sources and Sustainability
Students use a labeled image grid of energy sources and sort visual cue cards into renewable, non-renewable, and inexhaustible piles, linking pictures and labels to category definitions. Students enter their address into the Project Sunroof map, record the map's usable-sunlight and roof-area data, and sketch and color the sunniest roof areas to combine map visuals with numeric information. Students use an online household-appliance power chart and the solar power calculator visuals (roof overlays showing panel layouts and kWp estimates) and integrate those visual outputs with textual instructions and numeric calculations to decide system size and cost.
Final Project
Harnessing the Wind
Students read digital articles about turbines, coal plants, and hydroelectric power and are instructed to summarize that information in writing or by drawing a simple diagram on the "Turbines and Electricity" page. Students analyze and use wave and sled illustrations on the final exam to answer questions about amplitude, frequency, potential energy, and kinetic energy. The Presentation Guidelines require students to draw a diagram showing how a wind turbine works (or use their model) and to explain how wind energy is transformed into electricity, linking visuals with explanatory text. The sustainability section asks students to match labeled pictures of energy sources with descriptions (renewable vs. nonrenewable) and to explain their answers.
Unit 3: Einstein Adds a New Dimension
Lesson 1
Expository Writing
Students identify and use graphics and sidebars in Activity 1, where front/back matter and graphics (photos, drawings, charts, tables, captions, and text boxes) are defined and students match sidebar colors to page numbers and explain each color's function. In Activity 2 students sketch a graphic that communicates the five types of expository writing based on a digital PowerPoint slide (integrating digital visual information with textual concepts). In Activity 3 students skim pages and explicitly use the presence of sidebars, charts, maps, and diagrams to decide whether the text is expository or narrative.
Lesson 2
Descriptive Writing
The lesson instructs students to use reading strategies that include reading the main narrative and then reading sidebars, picture captions, and graphics so they do not skip visual information. Activity 2 asks students to choose a picture or graphic from the book and write a descriptive paragraph that covers the most important points, uses spatial transition words, and could be checked for accuracy against the image. The parent-check guidance tells students to compare their written description to the picture before looking, reinforcing alignment between visual and textual representation.
Lesson 3
The Curies' Discoveries
The lesson includes visual elements students encounter and can mark: vocabulary pages include a sketch of a luminous candle and the text notes that sidebar definitions appear in green text. Option 2 (Highlighting and Explaining) asks students to highlight and annotate pages (pp. 86-95 and 98-103) and provides a sample image of a highlighted page that includes a small picture of pitchblende with annotations. Students are instructed to use clues in the text such as sidebars and bold type and to mark or comment on those elements directly on the page or photocopies.
Lesson 4
Process Writing
Students are given a visual titled "Process Writing Transition" that lists transition words and are told these transitions are helpful in guiding the flow of writing. Students are also provided with multiple graphic organizer pages (Planning and Organization) with labeled boxes and numbered steps that students fill in to plan and organize their process or sequence writing. The wrapping-up activity asks students to have a reader follow their written instructions, implying use of the visual organizers to produce coherent text.
Lesson 5
Envisioning Fission
Students are directed to read Chapter 23 and complete a "Chapter 23 Timeline" by taking notes on the most important scientific and world events for each year and recording scientific events above the timeline and world events below it. The student activity page provides a timeline chart format and an example (1932) that students replicate for years 1933–1939. Instructions require students to extract information from the print chapters and place it into the visual timeline organizer.
Lesson 6
Cause and Effect Writing
Students view and use a Cause/Effect Writing Transition chart that lists transitional phrases to express cause/effect relationships. Students complete Planning and Organization graphic organizers (Part II and Part III) to record topics, list specific causes/effects, and outline topic sentences and supporting details. The Skills statement prompts students to include graphics, charts, tables, or multimedia when useful to aid comprehension, and the sample planning images show how students map visual organizers to their written points.
Lesson 7
Relativity
Students are asked to design a poster that uses a combination of text and graphics (drawings, photographs, or Internet images) to explain a scientific concept and to define unfamiliar terms for an audience. The Domain-Specific Vocabulary activity requires students to write definitions and provide an example or draw a picture for each term, directly pairing visual representations with written definitions. The Parent Plan Skills list explicitly includes integrating quantitative or technical information expressed in words with a version of that information expressed visually.
Lesson 8
Comparison and Contrast Writing
Students are directed to "See the 'Comparison/Contrast Writing Transition' graphic" and the lesson includes that image listing comparison and contrast transition words for students to use. Students are instructed to use the "Planning and Organization" pages and the "Sample Planning and Organization" images to generate ideas and create an outline for their writing. A web link to a video titled "Einstein's General Theory of Relativity" is provided as a digital resource students may watch to clarify the text.
Lesson 9
Avoiding Plagiarism
Students are asked to read an image caption (from p. 324) and rewrite it to maintain meaning while being shorter, and the answer key expects students to include factual information from that caption (e.g., that the picture is an engraving from Jules Verne's book). The student activity pages note visual elements (an illustration of a sailing ship and an illustration of a man's face) and instruct students to use the caption text in paraphrasing practice. The lesson also provides optional videos (YouTube link and a Measuring the Universe video) that students can watch to learn additional information.
Lesson 10
Problem and Solution Writing
Students are directed to use the "Problem/Solution Writing Transition" graphic, a chart listing transition phrases, to link ideas in their writing. Students are also instructed to use the graphic organizer on the "Problem/Solution Planning" page to brainstorm, list pros and cons, and organize their solutions before writing. A video link (Monsters of the Cosmos) is provided as a digital visual resource students may view to supplement understanding of the reading.
Lesson 11
Citing Sources
Activity 2 asks students to cover a graphic in The Story of Science, read the adjacent text, then uncover the graphic and explain how the graphic improves understanding, directly having students integrate visual and textual information. Students are instructed to revisit a prior writing assignment and create an accompanying graphic (photograph, drawing, chart, table, diagram, flowchart, Venn diagram) and to include captions when appropriate, which requires them to combine visual elements with their expository text. The Parent Plan skills and the activity directions also point students to using spreadsheet or presentation software (Excel, PowerPoint) to create charts/graphs, supporting integration of visual and quantitative information with written text.
Final Project
Research Paper
Students are asked to plan a graphic for their research paper (Activity 8) and to create a final graphic that "illustrate[s] or add[s] to the understanding of your paper" and include a caption if appropriate (Activity 11). The Research Rubric explicitly includes "Presentation - Inclusion of graphics like diagrams or charts accompanying the paper," so students are expected to produce a visual to accompany their text. The Unit Test review and earlier activities mention captions and diagrams as elements of expository writing to be familiar with.
Unit 4: Antebellum America
Lesson 1
North and South, 1820
Students are instructed to view Episode 4 of America: The Story of Us (a video) and to read the Reading and Questions and Activity 1 before watching. Students are told to pause periodically and answer guided questions from the Reading and Questions section while information is fresh. Students fill in a Venn-diagram graphic organizer as they watch, noting things unique to the North, unique to the South, and things the two regions share, thereby linking what they see in the video to printed prompts and background text.
Lesson 2
The Rise of Capitalism
Students create a digital word cloud from Andrew Jackson's veto message and then read the cloud and answer questions about which words stand out and what those words indicate about Jackson's concerns, directly linking a visual representation to the primary text. Students place timeline cards (#53-59) onto a visual timeline after reading each card, combining textual information on the cards with the timeline's visual chronology. In Option 2, students cut out statements and sort them into a two-column chart of "Supporters" and "Opponents," using the chart as a visual organizer tied to the essay and source text, and they compare their answers to an illustrated answer-key chart image.
Lesson 3
Technology and Infrastructure
Students are instructed to "locate the Erie Canal on a U.S. map and think about which U.S. citizens the Canal would benefit," which requires using a map alongside textual information. Students are told to "think back to the video you watched in Lesson 1" and to consult a PBS webpage with clickable images, prompting them to combine video/image content with reading. Students are asked to create an advertisement and are explicitly allowed to "use the Internet to print out pictures" to include images with their text.
Lesson 4
Immigration and Migration
Students use a census table listing places of birth and numbers of foreign-born residents in 1850 and are instructed to create a color-coded map that draws lines from each country to the United States (Option 2), directly converting printed numerical data into a visual representation. The Student Activity Page includes a historical photograph of immigrants and several maps (Europe and Asia) that students view as part of the mapping task. In Option 1, students examine 5–7 nineteenth-century images with accompanying titles/descriptions and then write a poem that draws on the emotional information in those visuals.
Lesson 6
Art and Literature
Students are directed to look over John James Audubon's drawings in the reading or to explore his Birds of America website, giving them access to visual artworks tied to the text. In Activity 2, Option 1, students use step-by-step written instructions to reproduce a realistic bird drawing based on those visual models. In Activity 2, Option 2, students observe a live creature, draw it (including environmental details), and write 2–3 sentences describing their observations, linking their visual work to written description.
Lesson 7
The Agrarian Economy and Slavery
Students are instructed in Activity 2 to use a table of population data ("Slavery By the Numbers") to plot a line graph and then answer questions that require interpreting trends shown in the graph. In Activity 4 students select images of artifacts from online museum collections and write descriptions explaining the historical significance of each artifact for a booklet. The "Stages of Cotton Production" activity has students move text into a table comparing pre- and post-cotton gin processes, linking pictorial elements and labeled columns with historical descriptions.
Lesson 8
Building Tensions
Students read assigned chapters and then add cards #68-72 to a visual timeline, connecting textual events to a chronological graphic. Students complete a two-column "Should Slavery Expand?" activity page, writing arguments from the readings into the columns (a chart-like visual organizer). Students also create a sign or flyer that visually summarizes at least one main textual argument, requiring them to translate written ideas into a visual message.
Final Project
A Poster Session
Students are required to include visuals and data on their posters: the rubric item #8 demands at least one map, graph, or table supporting main points, and rubric item #5 requires a variety of images. Option 1 directs students to include for each bullet point either data (table/graph/chart) or an image and to include at least one topic with data; the Planning Page asks students to place "Possible Data or Images" alongside written categories. Part 4 instructs students to refer to the images, data, and information on their chart while they present and to answer questions using those visuals.
Unit 4: Biochemistry
Lesson 1
Introduction to Biological Chemistry
Students are instructed in Activity 1 to "look over the illustration and add distinct characteristics about carbon mentioned in the excerpt," requiring them to combine the image (diamond, pencil, atomic model) with the written excerpt. Activity 3 asks students to "look at the images carefully, read the descriptions, and then complete" questions that require using the visuals (diamond, graphite, methane models) together with captions and text. Activity 4 asks students to "create a diagram or flow chart that follows the path of a carbon molecule" based on the written description of the carbon cycle, and Activity 1 Part 2 directs students to conduct an internet search (digital text) and record characteristics from both the search and the provided excerpt.
Lesson 2
Building Blocks
Students are presented with activity pages that pair illustrations (sugar bag, oil bottle, DNA strand, egg/meat) with textual descriptions and are asked to write the appropriate biomolecule name, requiring them to use the images together with the text. The Carbohydrate Chemical Formula image displays the formula ((CH2O)n) alongside explanatory text that students read and use. In the lab activities students visually observe outcomes (paper bag translucency for lipids; iodine color change for starch) and record those observations in provided tables, linking visual evidence to the written explanation of results.
Lesson 3
Organic and Inorganic Molecules
Students are asked to read and use a Nutrition Facts label image (orange juice example) and to compare the number of grams of fat, carbohydrate, and protein to classify a food as a protein, lipid, or carbohydrate. The Diet Survey requires students to record items from their food journal and note inorganic compounds (sodium, minerals) by reading labels and ingredient lists, integrating label visuals with textual ingredient information. In Activity 1, students research inorganic substances using web texts and produce an image that represents an object or food containing the substance, linking visual representation with research findings.
Lesson 4
Feedback
Students are instructed to "Use the information above and the illustrations on the 'Cell Feedback' page to help you complete the chart," which requires reading explanatory text and interpreting labeled diagrams (hypotonic, isotonic, hypertonic) to fill a table about solute concentration, water flow, and cell shape. The Hunger Feedback activity presents paired illustrations (hungry vs. satiety) alongside a three-column table where students must identify hormone release and bodily responses based on the images and accompanying text. The Osmosis in Action pages include diagrams of three cups and a Claim/Evidence/Justification structure where students record observations from the visual setup and connect them to written predictions and explanations, and a video link is provided as an additional digital visual resource.
Lesson 5
Exposure and Feedback
Students match vocabulary terms to pictures in Activity 1 (Vocabulary Review), directly linking images of lungs, blisters, watery eyes, a gas mask, and cells with the corresponding terms. Students use internet sources to complete a structured chart in Activity 2, bringing information from digital texts into a table format. Students use text-based case descriptions together with accompanying case illustrations in Activity 3 to identify agent types and make diagnoses, using the chart from Activity 2 as supporting information.
Lesson 6
Immune Response, Part I
Students use labeled visuals and videos in multiple activities: Activity 1 directs students to refer to a virus diagram (labels: nucleic acid, protein coat, glycoproteins), assemble a physical model, and watch a video about viral invasion to answer conceptual questions. Activity 2 has students fill a table contrasting linear and exponential growth, then graph those data on graph paper and compare to a provided graph image. Activities 3 and 5 require students to read tables of pathogen and WBC counts (and answer-key tables/images) and use those visuals together with the text rules to calculate infection outcomes. Activity 6 asks students to match images to text statements and set a white blood cell meter, requiring interpretation of pictorial information alongside written descriptions.
Lesson 7
Immune Response, Part II
Students are instructed to watch videos (The Immune Response; How Does the Immune System Work?) and then use vocabulary from the lesson to label illustrations and answer questions (e.g., "Use information from the video and vocabulary from the lesson to answer the following questions" and label T-cell illustrations). In Option 2 students draw illustrations for nine labeled boxes (macrophage, pathogen, antigens, T-cells, etc.) based on video content and then summarize the immune process as a list or flow chart, combining visual information with written notes. In the Mystery Ailment activity students read interview text, examine character portraits and a table of activities/locations, and mark Y/N in the data table to identify the source of the illness, requiring them to combine visual portraits/tables with written interview content.
Lesson 8
Intake and Health
Students are instructed to use information from the reading and online research (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements) to fill in a multi-column "Nutrient Amounts" table, cutting and pasting boxes onto the visual table. Students are asked to view and analyze alcohol advertisements and linked videos, then record target audience, ad strategy, and descriptions in a chart and answer questions about themes and trends. The Alcohol Research option directs students to read digital fact sheets (CDC, PBS) and answer questions, linking information from digital texts to their written responses.
Final Project
Analyzing Your Food Journal
Students organize their food-journal data into charts for carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins and color-code entries to group biomolecules. They create multiple bar graphs (Biomolecule Servings; separate graphs by meal; Calories per Biomolecule) with labeled axes and a legend, and they use those graphs to answer analytical questions about which meals and biomolecules contribute the most calories. Students also incorporate web-based sources about fats and include graphic breakdowns and images in a final presentation comparing their diet to Mayo Clinic recommendations.
Unit 4: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Lesson 1
Introduction to Mark Twain and the Novel
Students use an online historical map to locate, shade, and label free and slave states (Activity 1) and then refer to and trace Huck and Jim's journey on a focused map, numbering the sequence of places as they read (Activity 2). Students watch a video on linguistic profiling and read the PBS article on regional dialects, answering journal questions that connect audiovisual and web content to the novel's characters and language (Activity 4). Students also read online articles about slavery and record summaries and rules for slaves, connecting those printed digital texts with the geographic maps and the events in the novel (Activity 5).
Lesson 2
Point of View
Students are asked to use the "What's the POINT" table to record titles of texts and check a column indicating the author's point of view, which requires transferring information from reading into a visual chart. The "Identifying Point of View" practice pages present short passages with small illustrations beside them while students choose the correct narrative perspective. In Activity 2 students sketch the same objects from two different seats and compare the drawings to analyze how perspective changes visual interpretation.
Lesson 3
What is Narrative Writing I
Students are instructed to briefly watch a PowerPoint presentation (a video) that reviews types of writing and to pay attention to slides on narrative writing. Students review visual student pages: the "And You Can Quote Me on That" quote boxes and the "Show, Don't Tell" sheet and use those visuals to identify emotions and explain what quotes reveal about characters. Activities ask students to use the list of feeling words from the visual sheet to produce journal sentences or a narrative showing characters' emotions.
Lesson 5
Expository Writing
Students are directed to view a "Types of Writing" slide show (digital video link) and take notes, and to use a provided Venn diagram (visual graphic organizer) to record characteristics of Huck and Jim. The activity instructions require students to populate the Venn diagram with evidence from the novel and then write a paragraph using that evidence to support comparisons and contrasts.
Lesson 7
Persuasive Writing
Students are directed to read a digital article about the Huckleberry Finn editing debate (a web link) and then to use an online Persuasion Map graphic organizer to plan their paragraph. The instructions tell students to record their evidence in the "Facts or Examples" section of the Persuasion Map and to print the planner if desired, requiring students to transfer information from the digital text into a visual organizer.
Lesson 8
Hiding the Money
Students are instructed to create three collage posters that combine printed or photocopied sections of sample texts with illustrations, titles, and graphic symbols to represent each piece of writing. The activity explicitly tells students they may "print out or photocopy a section of the sample text and glue it to the collage," "write out part of the sample text," and "use a graphic symbol, picture, or illustration to represent the written piece," which requires combining visual elements with text. The Student Activity Page for the raft includes step-by-step diagrams paired with written instructions, and students are directed to watch and use two linked videos (the "Types of Writing" slideshow and the "Huck Finn Raft" video) as part of completing the tasks.
Lesson 9
Irony
Students watch three videos that define and exemplify the three types of irony and record examples from those videos on an "Irony Chart." Students then create their own original examples for each type of irony and later identify and categorize examples of irony from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by cutting and gluing text-based examples onto the same type-of-irony chart. The parent/answer-key materials include an image of a chart that maps video and novel examples into situational, dramatic, and verbal categories.
Lesson 11
Mark Twain's Influence
Students are directed in Activity 2 to visit two YouTube links from the HBO documentary Unchained Memories and to take notes on those narratives, explicitly comparing and contrasting conclusions about slaves' lives and dialects with the character Jim from the novel. The Parent Plan and wrap-up ask students to make connections between the slave narratives (video) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (print). The Student Activity Page provides a Story Map graphic organizer that students use to plan and organize their written narrative, linking a visual organizer with their written text.
Lesson 12
The Movie Adaptation
Students are instructed to watch the 1993 film adaptation and "take notes as you watch the film, observing any changes the director or actors have made regarding the character, plot, language, setting, or dialect of the novel." The lesson asks students to compare and contrast the movie with the novel, decide whether director/actor choices were good, and consider why changes were made. The wrap-up and parent discussion prompts explicitly require students to identify how the movie and novel are similar and different and explain the impact of those differences.
Final Project
Cultural Biography
Students are asked to create a cultural biography poster that requires them to draw a central sketch/symbol or include graphics and to place quotes, a bio poem, vocabulary sentences, and expository sentences alongside those images. In the story blocks option, students write text on cube faces and then decorate and assemble cubes with illustrations and designs, with specific faces labeled for quotes, figurative language, characterization, and point of view. The parent/skill notes explicitly reference integrating multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information and strengthen claims.
Unit 5: Civil War
Lesson 1
Sectional Differences
Students complete Activity 3 by coloring a detailed 1860 U.S. map (free states, slave states, and territories) using lists and a color key, then answer discussion questions that require using the map together with textual summaries of compromises. In Activity 4 students read excerpts of Lincoln's and Douglas's speeches and fill a comparison chart, linking the printed speech text to the portraits and organized boxes to show each man's views. In Activity 1 students match stakeholder statements to pictured politicians (cutting/gluing or listing which stakeholders align with each leader), explicitly pairing visual portraits with textual stakeholder descriptions and biographical summaries.
Lesson 2
Moving Toward War
Students are instructed in Activity 3 to complete the "North and South by the Numbers" chart by using data from a linked online article, filling the chart (a visual) with blue/red pencils to represent North and South. The student activity includes a bar graph and an answer key with numeric percentages for railroad tracks, banks, manufacturing output, agricultural engagement, urban population, and percent of males who fought, which students must use to compare regions. Students then answer three open-ended questions that require them to use the chart/graph data together with the article text to explain differences in firearms and food production and to infer how those differences could influence the outcome of a war.
Lesson 3
The Start of the War
Students are asked in Activity 3 to create an illustrated timeline of the Fort Sumter events, placing five specified events in chronological order and adding an illustration for each. The instructions allow students to draw or to look up and print relevant images (including maps or images of the fort and leaders) and require writing one sentence beneath each image summarizing the event and recording the URL for any online image. Several student pages include portraits and illustrations (e.g., portraits of Davis and Lincoln, an illustration on the Davis notes page) that accompany the textual excerpts and scenarios.
Lesson 4
Early Days of the War
Students read print text (pages 18-29 of Fields of Fury) and then complete a Student Activity Page that includes maps for the First Battle of Manassas and Fort Donelson and images for Hampton Roads and Shiloh. Students are prompted to record important people, outcomes, and the significance of each battle and to write notes for Union and Confederate sides on the same pages that contain maps and images. Students also create battle cards (including numeric evaluations of each side) and add those cards to a timeline and a final strategy game, which requires using the visual cards together with textual information.
Lesson 5
Wartime Strategies
Students encounter multiple visuals tied to specific battles: a map showing strategic locations for the Battle of New Orleans, illustrations for the Peninsular, Shenandoah, and Seven Days campaigns, and a photograph of the Antietam battlefield. The activity directs students to 'use the information from today's readings to continue to add to his set of Civil War battle cards,' with each card containing an image plus prompts for important people, outcomes, significance, and responses for Confederate and Union sides.
Lesson 6
The Emancipation Proclamation
Students are given a map of Vicksburg on the Student Activity Page and are asked, "Why was the capture of Vicksburg strategically important?", which requires using the map together with the reading. The lesson directs students to online photographic portraits and a recruitment poster for the 54th Massachusetts and instructs them to use the readings and online resources to consider reasons men joined and to write a letter home. The battle card activity includes images for Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and asks students to record outcomes and important people, encouraging students to use the provided visuals alongside the text.
Lesson 7
Gettysburg and Beyond
Students are asked to watch the Civil War episode of America: The Story of Us and "remain an active viewer, thinking about what you are seeing on the screen and how it relates to what you have read and learned throughout the unit." Students use information from the assigned reading to "add to [their] Civil War battle cards," including adding or creating images for those cards. Students add cards #82-94 to a visual timeline of U.S. history, combining chronological cards (visual artifacts) with textual information from readings.
Lesson 8
The War's End
Students are asked to use information from the readings to complete Civil War battle cards that include images (Activity 1), which requires connecting text about battles to the images on each card. The Petersburg section of the Student Activity Page includes a map illustration and students answer prompts about important people, outcomes, and significance, linking map visuals with textual content. In Activity 2 students must create a movie poster or a stitched sampler based on firsthand accounts, translating textual descriptions into a visual representation. The timeline and reconstruction activities also ask students to place cards and ideas in a visual sequence, combining text-based facts with a visual timeline.
Unit 5: Microbiology and Cell Theory
Lesson 1
Cell Theory
Students label the sample animal cell diagram (Activity 1) by matching a word box to parts of the drawing and may refer to pages 4–5 and 18–21 of What Is Cell Theory to check their answers, integrating diagram information with printed text. Students use the Microbiology and Cell Theory Coloring Book (printable digital link) to view and annotate diagrams, connecting digital/print visuals to vocabulary. In Activity 2 students examine the "Cellular vs. Non-Cellular" table image and write C or N plus supporting evidence, requiring them to combine visual information from the table with their textual understanding of what constitutes living (cellular) matter.
Lesson 2
Introduction to Plant and Animal Cells
Students read pages 22–25 and answer text questions that ask them to compare plant and animal cells using definitions from the Things to Know section. In Activity 1 students color, cut out, place, and label organelles on plant and animal cell diagrams (coloring book and Student Activity Page) while referring to illustrations as needed. In the chromatography activity students follow pictorial step-by-step images, observe separated pigment bands, label the pigments shown on the activity page, and answer questions connecting those visual results to text about chloroplasts and photosynthesis.
Lesson 3
The Structures of Eukaryotic Cells
Students are asked to view three videos (digital texts) and then answer content questions that require using details from those videos about organelle function. In the "Which Way Will Water Move?" activity students inspect six labeled cell diagrams showing inside/outside water percentages and determine direction of water movement, integrating the visual diagrams with written explanations of osmosis. In the "Match It Up!" and "Specialized Organelles" pages students match organelle pictures to written descriptions and label a two-dimensional cell model with brief textual descriptions, linking images and physical models to explanatory text.
Lesson 4
Protists
Students are directed in Activity 2 to "compare the diagrams on pp. 7-8 of your Microbiology and Cell Theory Coloring Book to help you complete the chart" and to mark "yes" or "no" on the Student Activity Page table based on those diagrams. The Student Activity Page is a visual table of organisms and cell components that students use to record and synthesize visual information about structures. In Activity 1 students are told to "Refer to 'Size Image 1'" and "Refer to 'Size Image 2'" and then carry out measurements and marble-rolling trials that tie the images to the written explanation about surface-area-to-volume ratios.
Lesson 5
Prokaryotes
Students are asked to compare images of a prokaryotic and a eukaryotic cell in the Microbiology and Cell Theory Coloring Book (pp. 9-10), color shared parts the same, and write notes to highlight similarities and differences. The activity directs students to use the information they collected to write a paragraph describing size, shared organelles, and organs unique to each cell, linking the visuals to written descriptions. The lesson also asks students to watch the "Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic Cells" video and read specific pages to review structural differences, and to compare construction-paper pieces to visualize size differences.
Lesson 6
Understanding Microbes
Students are instructed in the Reading and Questions section to read the "Viral Attack" article, watch the "Flu Attack!" video, and examine the "Inside Viruses" scientific illustrations, then "use the information found in them to answer the following questions," which requires combining visuals and text. Activity 1 provides a labeled diagram of an enveloped virus and directs students to create a scale model (rice piles) to visually represent size differences between viruses, bacteria, and cells. Activity 2 asks students to use internet research (including linked visual resources) to evaluate the characteristics of life and decide whether viruses are living, which requires integrating visual and textual evidence to support a conclusion.
Lesson 7
Specialized Cells
Students locate the illustration of specialized cells on p. 11 and choose one cell to research, optionally searching online for images to guide coloring and to paste or draw into the "Specialized Cell" activity page. Students research the chosen cell using print pages and the Human Cell Atlas link and then record its functions and unique properties in the activity organizer alongside the image. Students examine diagrams of relaxed vs. contracted muscle and biceps/triceps and then build a physical model that connects the visual diagrams with written explanations of contraction and relaxation.
Lesson 8
Mitosis
Students are instructed to watch a video ("Mitosis: The Amazing Cell Process...") and read pages 30–31 of What Is Cell Theory? and then answer questions, requiring them to use the video and the text together. In Activity 1, students color, number, and label the "Stages of Mitosis" diagram and are told to use pages 30–31 to check their work, directly pairing a visual diagram with printed explanatory text. The Optional Extension asks students to photograph or film their clay models and create a PowerPoint or narrated video that inserts pictures and uses text to explain each step.
Lesson 9
Biological Hazards and Infectious Disease
In Activity 2 (Doctor, Doctor) students cut out image cards and match each picture to its corresponding vocabulary card (parasites, contagions, mutagens, carrier, vector), directly pairing visual representations with textual definitions. The Patient Diagnosis activity presents a table of illnesses with illustrative images next to each illness and asks students to use that table and the image cues to determine a diagnosis and recommend treatment. The Antimicrobial Properties materials include images of the five cupcake liners and a student examining cups, which students use to visualize and set up the experiment and later compare visual results with their written hypotheses.
Lesson 10
On Their Shoulders
Students cut out and use cards that have pictures on one side and explanatory text on the other; they fold and view only the picture side, recall the facts associated with each picture, and then check the text on the reverse. Students color or highlight parts of the pictures or text to emphasize key information and then place cards in chronological order, connecting visual cues with historical facts. Students also draw their observations in five petri-dish illustrations on the "Results" page and then write a conclusion using those drawings as evidence.
Final Project
Outbreak Prevention
Students examine a chart of the "21st Century: Leading Infectious Causes of Death" and use those numbers along with a symptom list to narrow possible diagnoses (Activity 1). Students view electron-microscope images and multiple labeled illustrations of viruses and bacteria and compare those visuals to written symptom descriptions to identify the SARS virus (Activity 3). Students label cell diagrams and protist/virus images on the unit test and create images or models that represent prevention strategies, requiring them to link visual representations with written explanations (Unit Test and Activity 5).
Unit 5: Elijah of Buxton
Lesson 1
Introduction to the Novel
Students are directed to locate Ontario and North Buxton on online maps and to zoom out to understand the town's location relative to Detroit, linking map information to the novel's setting. Students are instructed to watch the Buxton School House Tour video and an author interview video and to read the author's note and biography, combining visual/video sources with printed background. The interactive Underground Railroad web activities and PBS/Pathways links give students multimedia sources to consult alongside written summaries and the novel chapters.
Lesson 2
The Preacher
Students encounter visual elements such as portraits on the "Slavery: Two Views" activity page, a senses web graphic organizer on the "Showing Emotion" page, and an outline of a paper basket on the "Welcome to Buxton" activity page. Students are instructed to use the senses web to brainstorm descriptive sensory details and to draw or assemble items in the welcome basket and write descriptions for each item. These activities require students to produce or use visuals alongside written responses.
Lesson 3
Creating a Character
Students are asked to cut or print a picture from a magazine or the Internet and glue that image onto a booklet cover, then fill labeled pages with written details about the character (Creating a Character activity). The "Getting to Know Elijah" student activity page centers a drawn illustration of a person with surrounding sections where students must record textual evidence for physical appearance, thoughts, quotes, and others' actions toward the character. The optional monologue activity invites students to film their performance, which would create a video representation of the character to share with a parent.
Lesson 4
Tone and Mood
Activity 2 (Accounts of Slavery) directs students to read quotations and view linked images (a photograph, an engraving, and a sketch) and to write words or brief phrases explaining what they learned about the experience of being a slave from each text or image. The optional Slavery Reflections task asks students to create a poem or original artwork "using the information you've learned" from the novel and the supplementary readings and artwork. The mood/tone activities also ask students to identify "words or images" that contributed to the reader's mood, and a video link is provided to support interpreting visual/digital media.
Lesson 5
Colorful Language
The Student Activity Page explicitly notes that visuals (a horse for idiom, clock imagery for puns, small illustrations like a beak and flames) accompany the definitions and examples of figures of speech. The Figures of Speech in Elijah of Buxton activity asks students to identify figures of speech in six numbered text examples that include small illustrations. Option 1 (Visual Display) directs students to create a six-box poster that pairs the name and a written example of each figure of speech with an illustration, requiring students to combine visual elements and written text.
Lesson 6
Symbolism
Students are shown images on the Student Activity Page (Liberty Bell, Emma's doll, Mr. Taylor's dagger) and asked to write each item's symbolic value in the story, requiring them to connect the pictured item to textual meaning. Students create a sculpture that represents a personal symbol and then write 2–3 sentences explaining its symbolism, linking a visual product to written explanation. Students read Chapters 11–12 and answer questions about symbols (e.g., the Liberty Bell ringing tradition), which asks them to relate the visual symbol to events and ideas in the text.
Lesson 8
Transitions and Characters
Students are directed to use the printed "Transitions List" reference pages (a visually organized chart of transition words) to complete exercises that require selecting transitions for sentences and identifying transitions in bold within passages. Students read Chapters 15–17 and then record character similarities and differences by filling a visual graphic organizer (Elijah and Huck / Elijah and Cooter) that includes labeled character blocks and shared-lines in the middle. The Activity pages include sentences with blanks and images where students must consult the visual transition lists to integrate that visual information with the written sentences.
Lesson 11
Story Reflections
Students are asked to create a plot diagram and fill in the main conflict, seven rising-action events, the climax, three falling-action events, and the resolution, which requires them to transfer story details from the text onto a visual organizer. Students are directed to complete a theme web for "Freedom," recording instances from different parts of Elijah of Buxton in the boxes surrounding the central circle, which requires mapping textual evidence to a visual diagram. The Parent Plan explicitly guides students to choose specific events and examples from the book to populate both the plot diagram and the theme web, reinforcing the activity of integrating text with these visuals.
Final Project
Personal Narrative
Students are instructed to plan the sequence of their narrative using a plot diagram on blank paper, identifying conflict, climax, rising and falling action, and resolution, which requires them to create and use a visual organizer to prepare their written text. The Student Activity Page includes an image of a rubric that students can view to evaluate and revise their work, giving students a visual reference tied to their writing. The unit includes digital resources (a review sheet link) that students can use alongside written study materials.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: History of Your State
Lesson 1
Your State's Natural History
Students find and use state and physiographic province maps (Activity 1 links and Activity 2) to identify geologic provinces and draw dividing lines on a printed county map, then label each province and list two features. Students label biomes on their state map (Activity 3) using information from National Geographic and other web texts. Students add images to their geologic history page (print or draw images from web galleries) and respond in writing about why an image represents their province; Visual Journal pages ask students to attach or sketch photographs and write descriptions. The Field Journal and Visual Journal require students to record observations in text alongside photos/sketches, tying visual records to written ecological descriptions.
Lesson 2
Flora and Fauna
Students are instructed to add images to each journal page by drawing a sketch, attaching a photo they took, or printing an image found online and to neatly print the URL of the website where the image was found. The activities require students to use field guides, library research, or online sources to fill in scientific names, descriptions, and locations for each plant or animal. Several activity pages prompt students to record "Where, in your state, is it found?" and other textual details alongside the image boxes on the same page, placing visual and textual information together in the journal.
Lesson 3
Native Populations
Students are directed in Activity 1 to use two online maps to locate a tribe in their state and then use library or internet texts to research that group, linking the map location to their textual research. Activity 2 requires students to add the names of native peoples to their state map, placing researched textual information onto a visual representation. Activity 3 asks students to create a model or artwork based on their research, requiring students to translate information from print/digital sources into a visual product.
Lesson 4
The History of Your State
Students are instructed in Activity 1 to identify images or links that could be used in a digital poster or printed for a physical timeline and to save or print those images. Activity 5 requires students to include for each of four sections a date, 3–4 explanatory sentences, and either an image or a website link (or both), and Option 1 specifically allows embedding web links in a digital poster. Option 2 requires students to print images, place them on the timeline, and write the URL under each image, tying visuals directly to textual descriptions.
Lesson 5
State Leaders
Students are asked to "Print out and paste a picture of this leader" on the Student Activity Page, which requires placing a photograph or image alongside their written notes. Activity 2 tells students they can "print out a picture of an existing space" or "draw your own picture" of a public space to use with their dedication speech, and a sample image is provided as an example. The student pages also prompt students to list sources for websites and books, tying the visual material to their written research.
Lesson 6
Your State by the Numbers
Students extract numerical data from three historical population tables and plot those points on a provided graph, then connect the points to show population growth. Students use the Census Bureau QuickFacts digital table to answer demographic questions on the activity page. Students record county population data, create a four-category map key based on the largest county population, and color counties on a map to display population differences. Students are also asked to locate a chart of state revenues and expenditures and compare those figures over time.
Lesson 7
Your State's Economy
Students are directed to use the first table on the Wikipedia page "List of U.S. states by GDP" to complete the Gross State Product section of their mini-book, requiring them to extract numerical information from a table and put it into their print product. Option 2 asks students to collect data about at least 25 local businesses, categorize them, and "create graphs" showing types of services and ownership percentages, which has students convert collected information into visual graphs. Student activity pages prompt students to list and illustrate at least three natural resources and to describe their economic roles, so students pair drawings/illustrations with written explanations.
Lesson 8
Your State and the Arts
Students locate images of artworks from their state using online sources, print those images, and write the source URL beneath each image. Students mount the printed images, complete an art card for each image with fields (title, connection to state, artist, date, medium, what you like), and display the images with the corresponding text cards. Alternatively, students copy or memorize a poem and create an illustration to accompany the text, pairing visual work directly with printed words.
Final Project
A Warm Welcome
Students are asked to create a mural that includes maps, photographs, timelines, and labeled images (e.g., "Images of at least one interesting geographic or natural feature," "use maps or timelines to show important ideas," and "add a written note near that part of the mural"). The video option directs students to combine images with narration (e.g., "You can use images throughout your video" and "film yourself talking about these ideas and show images from your previous work as illustrations"). Both options include rubrics that assess inclusion of geographic maps, photographs, and image-based illustrations alongside written or spoken content.
Unit 1: Genetics and DNA
Lesson 1
The Importance of DNA
Students are asked to refer to a labeled graphic of traits (earlobes, widow's peak, dimples, tongue rolling) when completing a family traits chart and to highlight shared features, directly combining the image with their written entries. Students are directed to read specific pages of a print book about DNA and to watch linked videos (including a DNA extraction demonstration) and QR-linked images to support understanding. Students watch the extraction video and follow the visual procedure in Activity 2 while using the written, italicized explanations to answer follow-up questions, linking the visual demonstration to textual explanation.
Lesson 2
Inheritance
Students read print material (pages 6–11) and answer comprehension questions about Mendel and inheritance. Students fill out Parent and Sibling charts that include illustrations for earlobes, dimples, handedness, and tongue rolling and use those charts to form hypotheses about dominant versus recessive traits. Students flip coins, record allele combinations in an Allele Expression table, calculate percentages, and create a color-coded pie chart to represent TT, Tt, and tt outcomes. Optional videos are provided to supplement the print text, linking visual media to the concepts in the reading.
Lesson 3
Generations, Probability, and Change
Students are instructed to study a pedigree diagram (squares for males, circles for females, shaded symbols for trait expression) and answer questions that require using the diagram to determine relationships and inheritance. Students use Punnett square diagrams (sample Bb x Bb and additional crosses) to fill in allele combinations and calculate percentages of homozygous/heterozygous and dominant/recessive outcomes, linking the visual grid to written allele rules. Students record and analyze data in tally-sheet tables from coin-flip trials and then use those numerical visuals to infer probabilities and connect those results to genetic trait predictions.
Lesson 4
Reproduction and Change
Students are directed to "read pages 58-60... and examine the diagrams on pages 64-65," and to watch linked videos (e.g., "Genes vs. DNA vs. Chromosomes") and then answer comprehension questions, requiring them to combine visual and textual information. In Activity 1 and 3, students build and manipulate a physical chromosome model and then "see what happens as you reorganize the chromosomes," explicitly linking the hands-on visual model to Punnett-square explanations. The Crossing Over student page and other diagrams are referenced for clarification while students simulate recombination, so students use diagrams and animations together with printed text to explain meiosis and genetic variation.
Lesson 5
From Generation to Generation
Students read a web article about ten human genetic traits and use that print/digital text to fill in the "Investigating Genealogy Chart," describing each trait and marking dominant or recessive. Students collect observational data from family members and record those observations in the "Family Survey" table, then use the completed chart to trace how traits pass across generations. In Option 2 students interpret a provided table-image of family trait data and discuss explanatory questions linking the table's visual data to textual genetics concepts.
Lesson 6
Diversity and Adaptation
Students view a labeled image of Galapagos finch beaks with a caption that links beak shape to feeding adaptation. Students use the "Variation vs. Adaptation" activity page that includes animal images and instructs them to cut out descriptions and sort them into a two-column chart. Students complete the Bird Beak Experiment tables (three cycles) where they record amounts eaten, calculate total nutrition points in a chart, and use those numeric results to decide whether a bird "survived."
Lesson 7
Inheritance and Environment
Students read a chapter and web articles and then use that information to complete investigative charts (Activity 1 "Investigating Disease" and Activity 3 "The Influence of Environment") that require extracting textual facts and recording them in table form. In Activity 4 students complete and interpret Punnett square diagrams and calculate phenotype percentages, and they are asked to draw illustrations of phenotypes to represent genetic results. The medical diagnosis activity asks students to gather textual answers from a parent and document them on a structured patient-history/physical-exam page, integrating narrative information into a visual record.
Lesson 8
Cloning
Students are directed to read pages 98–107 about genetic advances including cloning and are given optional videos (DNA Fingerprinting, How Does Gene Therapy Work?, The Story of Dolly the Sheep) to view. Activity 1 directs students to online articles and presentations to "understand exactly how animal cloning works," which requires viewing visual explanations. Activity 2 requires students to create a brochure that includes an Internet picture and to "refer to the reading and interactive exploration from Activity 1" when briefly explaining how the cloning process works. Activity 3 includes a grayscale illustration that students are prompted to discuss as part of weighing pros and cons.
Final Project
A New Organism
Students use charts and tables in Part 2 (environment tables with shaded cells for beneficial traits) to select and record coat length, coat color, mouth type, legs, and vocalization. Students use a pedigree chart and Punnett squares on the unit exam and in Part 7 to write crosses, fill in offspring genotypes/phenotypes, and answer questions about inheritance. In Part 6 and Part 7 students are directed to combine information from the tables (visuals) with text instructions (e.g., shaded cells indicate beneficial traits; rules for die rolls and heterozygous mates) to decide which offspring survive in a new environment.
Unit 1: The House of the Scorpion
Lesson 1
Cloning
Students are instructed to watch a PowerPoint presentation (Activity 2) and then refer back to that presentation when identifying persuasive strategies in written paragraphs (Activity 3), explicitly linking visual information from the slideshow to analysis of printed text. The lesson includes images (examples of a source card and a note card) that students can view as models for organizing research notes and source information.
Lesson 2
Revising and Editing
Students are instructed to pose a toy, write each vocabulary word on a piece of paper, take pictures of the scenes, print the pictures, and use those picture cards to study word meanings, which requires combining photographs with written vocabulary. The Student Activity Page is a reference chart of proofreading symbols (symbol, meaning, example) and students are told to use those editing symbols on their essays, which requires applying chart information to revise and edit written text.
Lesson 3
Cast of Characters
Students are asked to create a family tree of the Alacrán family using art materials or a computer drawing program, which requires producing a visual representation. Students must write a brief description of each character next to his or her name, linking textual character information to the visual diagram. The materials point students to the "Alacrán Family History" page in the front of the book as a sample, prompting use of a printed visual alongside chapter information.
Lesson 4
Rhetorical and Logical Fallacies
Students are asked to create a visual print advertisement (Option 1) or a 30-second film commercial (Option 2), which requires combining images, spoken or written text, and other visual elements. Parent Plan sections explicitly instruct students to create a visual advertisement that includes at least three logical and rhetorical fallacies, and to share or present the ad (print or filmed) to a parent. The advertising task therefore has students produce and use visual/digital media alongside written or spoken persuasive text.
Lesson 6
Societal Comparisons
Students are asked in Activity 1 to use the provided "Comparing Societies" graphic organizer (a labeled chart with boxes for similarities and differences) to record observations about Opium and the United States. The Student Activity Page describes the visual layout (two society labels, a central "Similarities" box, and two "Differences" boxes) that students must fill in with textual evidence from the chapters. In Activity 2 (both options) students are prompted to create a visual representation of a dystopian setting and to accompany it with a written paragraph, explicitly pairing a visual with explanatory text.
Lesson 8
Family Crest
Students read Chapters 22–24 of The House of the Scorpion and are asked to imagine and choose which character trait El Patrón would emphasize. They use a provided Student Activity Page template to draw a family crest, selecting colors, shapes, symbols, and a motto to communicate that attribute. The lesson provides a web link to examples of family crests (digital visual resources) and asks students to share and discuss the symbols and design choices with a parent.
Lesson 10
Opium and Aztlán
Students read Chapters 28-30 and are instructed to use the "Opium and Aztlán" activity page to list words and phrases describing the two physical places and then place those ideas into a Venn diagram to compare Matt's life in Opium and Aztlán. The Student Activity Page description explicitly includes a Venn diagram and labeled sections with icons (Opium and Aztlán) that students must complete, requiring them to combine text-based details from the chapters with the visual organizer.
Lesson 11
Wisdom and Love
Students are asked to "create an artistic rendition of Tam Lin or Celia" that must "include some words, phrases, or quotes from the character as well as some images you associate with that character," which requires combining textual excerpts and visual elements. Students are also prompted to consider specific textual excerpts and religious symbols and then reflect in a journal before producing the poster, which connects printed text to planned visual representations.
Lesson 12
El Día de los Muertos
Students are instructed to "find, print, or draw a picture" of a person and glue that picture into a clear ornament, then "share your ornament with a parent and explain the importance of the items you included," which requires linking visual choices to explanatory text. The Student Activity Page pairs descriptive text about El Día de Los Muertos (customs and symbolism) with illustrations of skulls and a skeleton, so students read textual explanations while viewing related images.
Unit 2: Industrialization, Urbanization, and Immigration
Lesson 1
Urbanization and Migration
Students are asked to use the provided "Growth of American Cities" data table to create a graph and then answer analysis questions about trends and comparisons, directly tying numeric/visual representation to the written data. Students are directed to view Chicago maps and a population map via web links to learn how the city grew, connecting map images to the historical narrative. In Activity 2 students view Jacob Lawrence's paintings (and images of migrants' letters) and then write commentary or a first-person letter that ties visual evidence to textual accounts of the Great Migration.
Lesson 2
Indian Wars in the West
Students watch a documentary episode and use note-taking pages to pause, record, and summarize visual information from the film. Students compare paired "before" and "after" photographs and write observations and answers that link the photos to printed readings about boarding schools. Students design an informational sign for Wounded Knee that must include both words and images (for example, photographs, a timeline, or a map) using information from the video and linked web sources.
Lesson 3
New Technologies
Students watch at least five short Edison motion pictures online, select three that would interest rural children ca. 1900, and write a newspaper-style advertisement describing why those films would appeal to that audience, which requires using video content to produce written text. Students use the Air and Space Museum Artifact Gallery to examine images of Wright Brothers artifacts and then answer prompts explaining which artifacts they find interesting and why they would include them in a museum exhibit, linking visual artifacts to explanatory text. Parent notes and activity instructions also ask students to explore interactive websites and may use images or words for activity responses, requiring students to draw on digital visuals alongside printed biographical information.
Lesson 4
New Industries
Students read first-person print accounts ("Rose Cohen" and "Joseph Miliuaskas") and answer comprehension questions from those texts. Students watch the documentary episode "Cities," are instructed to take notes on sections of the film, and to write questions about topics they want explored further. Activity 3 explicitly directs students to combine what they read and what they saw in the film ("You read...and, in the film you watched, you saw...") when imagining and role-playing the experience of a sweatshop worker.
Lesson 6
Social Problems
Students are directed to view at least ten historical photographs (Jacob Riis or Lewis Hine), print the photo they choose, and paste it onto an activity page for analysis. The activity pages ask students to use prior knowledge and information from the website (dates, location, captions, or titles) and to describe details of the image, its setting, and the people shown. The Lewis Hine page explicitly instructs students to use historical knowledge to imagine plausible responses about the person's life outside of work.
Lesson 7
Politics
Students are given numerical economic conditions in the Grangerism activity (input costs, price per bushel, acres and yield) and asked to calculate profit per bushel and to consider changes when storage and transportation costs change. The Parent Plan includes an image that shows step-by-step equations and worked calculations of profit and shipping costs per bushel that students can use to perform or check calculations. In the Populism activity students view a small illustration (a clenched fist) alongside a textual list of party positions and use that text to evaluate which groups would support the party.
Lesson 8
World War I
Students are directed to view and analyze World War I propaganda posters (Activity 3) using a structured worksheet that asks them to identify the poster title, goal, slide number, and which appeals (patriotism, sympathy, heroism, etc.) the visual uses. In Activity 1 students select and read a scanned newspaper article about the Lusitania from the Library of Congress (with zoomable images), summarize it in 3-4 sentences, and write reactions from both American and German perspectives. The lesson also begins by asking students to watch a linked video and then read accompanying texts, which requires them to consider visual media alongside printed primary and secondary sources.
Final Project
A Dramatic Performance or Scrapbook
Students are asked to include maps, photographs, immigration documents, and other images on scrapbook pages (e.g., a map showing the character's home country, a photo for the cover, and photos/drawings for Home and Work pages) and to write one or two sentences summarizing each page and its items. Students must print images in period-appropriate form and may pull images from earlier collections of historical images, explicitly tying those visuals to their imagined character. Students also add dated event cards (#100-116) to a visual Timeline of U.S. History and must be prepared to discuss each scrapbook item and answer questions linking visuals to the narrative and facts.
Unit 2: Living Organisms
Lesson 1
Levels of Organization
Students are instructed to watch a video on "Levels of Organization" and then describe each level in writing on the activity page, connecting what they saw in the video to textual descriptions. The Levels of Organization activity page asks students to provide names of corresponding organs or tissues, to sketch visuals, and to cut and place provided pictures into categories (cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms). In Activity 2, students use online resources (leaf structure, limb/skeleton pages) to research and document visual and textual information about a leaf and an animal limb.
Lesson 2
Structure and Stability
Students are directed in Activity 1 to use the provided websites and a graphic to describe tree parts and then label or create a diagram (including a cross-section) and sketch a leaf, combining visual diagrams with textual definitions. Activity 2 requires students to watch a video and read two articles and then answer questions that draw on information from both the video (visual/digital) and the articles (print/digital). The student activity pages and answer key include labeled diagrams that students annotate, shade, and compare with online descriptions.
Lesson 3
Plant Reproduction
Students view and use labeled diagrams (Lima Bean Anatomy; Lima Bean After Germination) and a video (Seed Germination) while they dissect, sketch, and label seed parts. Students are instructed to read print text (pages 32-35) about life processes and then compare their sketches and dissections to the printed diagram and web diagrams. In Activity 3 students watch a video on flower reproduction and may use an online flower diagram, then create a mostly visual presentation or a labeled model that shows fertilization and locates flower parts.
Lesson 4
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Students read a printed paragraph about life in the rainforest and fill a two-column chart labeled "Biotic Factors" and "Abiotic Factors," describing impacts and making predictions (Activity 2). Students use Student Activity Pages that include tables for Soil Type, Amount of Light, and Amount of Water with columns for "Prediction" and "Day 1"–"Day 4" to record and compare observations from their experiment (Activity 1). Students are asked to sketch one of the seeds and to record visual observations (drawings and table entries) to support their answers and conclusions.
Lesson 5
Nutrition
Students are instructed to use the lesson description to label a chloroplast diagram (Part II of the "Photosynthesis" page), directly tying textual descriptions to a visual diagram. Students are told to watch a video and fill out the accompanying activity page, pausing as needed, which requires integrating information from the video with printed prompts. For the animal digestion project, students must include a picture or diagram of the animal's digestive system in a brochure or report and explain the journey of food, requiring them to combine visual materials with written explanations.
Lesson 6
Respiration
Students cut out images from the "Photosynthesis vs. Respiration" page and arrange and paste them to represent each process, adding arrows and optional labels. Students create their own diagrams (Option 2) that depict inputs, outputs, and organelles and may use printed or digital images. Students watch linked videos about cellular respiration and then produce visual representations or diagrams based on what they viewed. Students sketch the inflating balloon, measure circumference over time, and record numerical observations alongside chemical equations on the "Activating Yeast" activity page.
Lesson 7
Stimulus and Response
Students are instructed to create a bar graph from their experimental data in Activity 1, directly turning numeric results into a visual chart. Students are directed to view and use images/diagrams (Graphic 1, Graphic 2, Figures 1-3) to set up and interpret experiments (e.g., identifying anterior/posterior and box shading). Students watch a video on tropisms and view a slideshow about animal perception, then research and produce a presentation or diagram in the "Sixth Sense" activity, and the Parent Plan explicitly lists "Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic."
Lesson 8
Behavior
In Activity 2 (Option 2) students are instructed to create an informational poster that includes both images and words, with explicit directions to "print out pictures from the Internet, create drawings or diagrams, or a combination of the two." The lesson provides web links (one with videos) and a Student Activity Page for taking notes about an animal's communication, which students can use as sources for images and media to include on the poster. The poster directions tell students to be brief in descriptions and to use graphics when possible, encouraging combining visual and textual information.
Lesson 9
Ecological Relationships
Students are asked to print the Galapagos Journal pages and color-code/underline examples and circle organisms that benefit, linking colored visual marking to textual examples. Multiple Student Activity Pages require students to match definitions with corresponding drawings or to match pictures and phrases, directly pairing visual illustrations with written definitions. The lesson asks students to find the Seed Anatomy After Germination page, dissect a seed, sketch what they see, and label the diagram, requiring students to create and label a visual to represent printed information. A video link is provided for students to watch about organism interactions, giving a digital visual resource alongside the written terms and activities.
Lesson 10
Structural Similarities
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill: "Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table)." Students are instructed to read descriptions of organisms, make lists of traits, mark traits in a table (Activity 2), and then create a cladogram from that table. Image captions and the Answer Key require students to interpret diagram elements (e.g., "Molt Exoskeleton," "Vertebrae") and use those textual labels to place organisms on branching diagrams.
Final Project
Exploring Living Organisms
The slide-presentation option explicitly instructs students to use a combination of text and graphics, to consider where pictures, diagrams, maps, or other graphics would help communicate information, and to make slides understandable based only on the text and graphics. The booklet option requires students to include a hand-drawn illustration or printed picture on the Overview page and to create an illustrated cover different from other images used. The "Things to Study" materials and unit test include labeled diagrams (tree, bean, flower) and a labeling task for a flowering plant, requiring students to read and use visual diagrams alongside textual prompts.
Unit 2: Watership Down
Lesson 1
Preparing to Read
Students use a labeled map with a grid and key to identify and record numbered places and events, placing each location on the map and coloring it. Students are instructed to refer to the map and to use a colored pencil to recreate the rabbits' journey as they read the novel, directly linking the visual map to the printed text. Students use sentences taken from the novel to choose the correct definition and part of speech for vocabulary words when completing the Vocabulary Cube, connecting textual context to a visual/tactile representation.
Lesson 2
Foreshadowing
Students are asked to view a film clip (Option 1) and identify 2–3 ways the filmmaker foreshadows the Wicked Witch of the West, requiring analysis of video evidence. In Option 2 students examine the illustrations at the start of Where the Wild Things Are and list visual clues that foreshadow the story. The Rabbit Research activity directs students to read a digital article about the European rabbit and record facts on a rabbit-shaped graphic organizer, linking digital text with a visual organizer. Multiple character-card pages (with illustrations) require students to use the drawings as part of filling in character information from the reading.
Lesson 3
An Epic Journey
Students are assigned the Travel Tracker role and asked to "record the rabbits' journey by drawing picture postcards of each setting" from Chapters 9–13, which requires producing visual representations tied to the text. The Student Activity Page provides a two-column graphic organizer (Fantasy and Epic) where students must "record an example of the use of each characteristic in Watership Down," linking text evidence to a visual chart. The Parent Plan lists specific settings students should show in their travel tracker, directing which textual locations to represent visually.
Lesson 4
Comparing Rabbits
Students use the "Strange Rabbits" Venn diagram to place characteristics from Chapters 14–17 into Hazel's group, Cowslip's group, or both, requiring them to map textual details onto a visual organizer. Students use the Latin roots/prefixes/suffixes chart on the "Latin Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes" page to determine meanings of italicized words by combining the table information with sentence context. In Option 1, students cut out phrase boxes and glue them into the Venn diagram, physically sorting textual statements into the visual chart.
Lesson 5
Quotes and Creatures
In Activity 2, students research a provided list of plants and animals, record whether each is a producer or consumer and its diet, and then use that information to create a food web poster or a computer-generated diagram. The student activity pages include spaces to record the textual research and a linked example food web for reference. The Parent Plan skills explicitly list integrating quantitative or technical information expressed in words with a visual (e.g., diagram or graph).
Lesson 6
Dramatic Irony
The lesson asks students to create a visual depiction of dramatic irony (Option 2), directing them to "draw a picture of the scene, making clear to the viewer what is really going on while the character is unaware," which requires students to represent narrative information visually. The lesson also provides video read‑aloud links for children's books and asks students to find examples of dramatic irony in those stories (Option 1), allowing students to use digital visual/media presentations alongside textual analysis. The student activity pages include illustrated passages and prompts that ask students to state "what the reader knows," "what the characters believe," and the "effect on the reader," tying reader comprehension to specific pictured or staged scenes.
Lesson 7
Rabbit Societies
Students cut out descriptive boxes from a second page and glue them into the Rabbit Societies chart to record leaders, positive and negative traits, and overall group qualities. Students design campaign signs and community flags that translate textual descriptions of Hazel and each rabbit society into visual slogans, symbols, colors, and logos and then explain their choices to a parent. Vocabulary activity pages include illustrations alongside passages that students use when determining word meanings from context and recording dictionary definitions.
Lesson 9
Characters
Students are assigned the "Graphic Artist" reading role and instructed to create an illustration or series of sketches that relate to Chapters 32-34 and to be prepared to share and explain the drawing. Students use Character Planning activity pages where they draw each character in a box and then write personality descriptions and quotes, directly pairing visual representation with textual character details. Sample character images and prompts ask students to produce and connect pictures with written descriptions and dialogue.
Lesson 10
Setting
Students are asked in Activity 1, Option 1 to create a Venn diagram comparing Efafra and Watership Down and then write a 2–4 sentence reflection explaining how details of the physical spaces give clues about the places. Activity 1, Option 2 asks students to create artwork of both settings and to accompany it with a 2–4 sentence reflection linking visual details to textual meaning. Activity 2 directs students to draw and label a map for their story setting (and to refer to the provided "Simbaya Map" page that pairs a map with a paragraph describing survival/navigation), and to consider how map features connect to characters and possible events.
Lesson 11
Conflict and Escape
As Travel Tracker, students are instructed to read Chapters 38–40 and "make a simple map of the rabbit's journey by drawing pictures of each setting the rabbits encounter in their escape," directly tying a map to information in the text. Activity 1 provides a sample plot diagram image and asks students to "create a plot diagram for your story that outlines the conflict, the rising action, the climax, and the falling action," requiring students to represent narrative elements visually. Activity 2 (Option 1) asks students to "create a visual display that explains your concern for your environmental issue without using words," connecting visual work to ideas presented in the novel.
Lesson 12
Dramatic Enactment
Students cut out and use the "Rabbit Cut-Outs" pages to create characters and practice enacting scenes, directly combining these illustrations with written scripts and the novel text. The Student Activity Page descriptions explicitly present labeled character illustrations and note they "might be used for character identification or discussion," linking the images to textual character work. Activity directions ask students to consider adding music, lighting, and set design when bringing a scene to life, which requires students to pair visual/performative choices with the printed dialogue and narrative.
Lesson 13
A Fantasy Story
Students are told to consult the "Fantasy Short Story Rubric" page and to "use the rubric to consider its content, organization, word choice, and conventions," which requires them to read a visual chart and apply its criteria to a sample story and their own writing. Students are instructed to create and use index-card flash cards by gluing a Latin root, prefix, or suffix on one side and the meaning on the other, then use those cards to study and connect visual cards with written meanings. The study guide and several Student Activity Pages present grids and labeled boxes (e.g., Latin roots/affixes grids, vocabulary boxes) that students are directed to use when preparing for the unit test and when matching roots to definitions.
Unit 3: The Great Depression and World War II
Lesson 1
The 1920s
Students are directed to explore the Kennedy Center "Drop Me Off in Harlem" interactive, including an interactive map and multimedia files, and to read short biographies linked from the site. Students are asked to "note the connections between that person and other people and places in Harlem" and then to create a visual network chart (circles and connecting lines) that maps those relationships. The lesson includes a Sample Chart image of a network diagram and instructs students to synthesize information from the biographies and intersections into their own visual chart.
Lesson 2
The Great Depression
Students analyze multiple photographs from the Library of Congress (Activity 2) using guided questions that ask what the photo shows about the Great Depression and how photos differ or are similar. Students research and record photo metadata (title, photographer, date, URL) and write short descriptions for each selected image (Option 2). Students also watch a related video episode and take notes, read print passages about the Dust Bowl and personal accounts, and are prompted to review and discuss their notes and photo exhibit with a parent, connecting visual observations to written and video information.
Lesson 3
The Start of World War II
Students are directed to visit the Northwestern University Library World War II Poster Collection online before creating a recruiting poster, which requires them to view digital visual examples. Students are asked to create a recruiting poster (Option 2) following instructions and to add cards #124-126 to a timeline of U.S. history (Activity 2), which requires placing visual timeline elements alongside textual information. The activities require students to produce and arrange visual artifacts (posters and timeline cards) that relate to the reading about early World War II events.
Lesson 4
1942
In Option 2, students camouflage a bicycle, have a friend take surveillance photographs, and then print or email the images to others to see if they can find the hidden object. The activity asks students to use digital photographs and to have others analyze those photos. The lesson also prompts review and discussion of what the student learned from the camouflage and surveillance-photo task.
Lesson 5
The Homefront
The Student Activity Page provides a two-column table for brainstorming ("Ideas for Helping" / "How I Would This Action Make a Difference?") that asks students to organize information drawn from the assigned readings. The page also includes a sketch illustrating the "Buy War Bonds" idea that students can view alongside the texts. Activity 3 asks students to use their family's grocery receipts to explore rationing, prompting students to compare visual numeric data from receipts with the written explanation of rationing.
Lesson 6
1943
Students are instructed to take timeline cards (textual information) and identify the location for each timeline card topic, then write the title and date on the appropriate locations on a large world map (Activity 2). The directions tell students to consult the map at the front of World War II for Kids, online sources, or an atlas, which requires using print and digital texts together with the map. Multiple blank student activity map pages are provided for students to mark and label events from their timeline, showing concrete tasks that pair visual mapping with textual timeline entries.
Lesson 7
Victory in Europe
Students watch a World War II episode of America: The Story of Us and use a provided note-taking page to record visual information from the video alongside their thoughts, pausing as needed. Students read print selections from a chapter of World War II for Kids and answer questions that require integrating those textual details with what they observed in the video. Students add timeline cards to a Timeline of U.S. history and are explicitly instructed to add those events to their World War II map, combining printed timeline information with a geographic visual representation.
Lesson 8
The Holocaust
Students are asked to select three pieces of art about the Holocaust, record title/artist/year/medium, and answer reflection questions such as "What does this artwork show us about the Holocaust?" and "What did you find particularly moving or powerful about this image?" Students are directed to spend about 20 minutes exploring the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum website, visit specific sections, and complete a "Field Trip About the Holocaust" activity page asking which exhibits/resources would be useful and how a museum visit could enhance understanding. Students also take guided notes on Chapter 6 as they read, providing a print-text source they can connect to the artworks or museum website.
Lesson 9
Victory in the Pacific
Students read assigned print selections about the end of World War II and then complete a provided chart titled "The Atomic Bomb," filling columns with "Facts and Advice/Estimates Available" and whether those facts support using the bomb. Students also add cards #133-139 to a Timeline of U.S. History, converting textual information from the readings into visual timeline entries. Both tasks require students to take information from the readings and place or summarize it in visual formats (chart and timeline).
Final Project
Before and After World War II
Students are instructed to include a mixture of written content and images in their museum exhibits and to include interactive features such as audio recordings or video clips (Option 1 describes headphones, laptop, tablet interactive features). Option 2 requires a 2–4 sentence summary plus at least two images for each poster and at least one brief non-image primary source per poster, and the rubrics explicitly evaluate inclusion of images and proper citation. The project directions and provided web links (e.g., Library of Congress, National Archives, photo collections) ask students to use online photographs and other digital resources as part of their displays.
Unit 3: A Dynamic Planet
Lesson 1
The Dating Game
Students use a table of parent/daughter isotopes and half-lives to calculate rock ages in the Radiometric Dating activity and answer related questions. Students study a labeled cross-cutting relationship diagram to order layers and create age ranges for sedimentary zones. Students cut out and sort fossil illustrations in the Relative Dating activity and glue them into age order, and they are directed to watch a linked video on rock types and to review a graph on page 179 to support dating methods.
Lesson 2
Plate Tectonics
Students examine a labeled world map of tectonic plates that shows plate names and movement directions and use that map information alongside the lesson text about plate motions and rates. In the Deep Time activity, students place dated events on a 7.5 m timeline, find or draw small images for each event, and space them according to a numeric scale, integrating visual icons with textual dates and descriptions. In Mapping Your World and Activity 4, students cut out plate-tectonic timeline cards and add at least five cards created from a National Geographic video to the printed timeline, explicitly combining video (digital) information and printed timeline materials. The transform-fault demonstration asks students to follow diagrams and manipulate paper so they can observe how the visual model corresponds to the written explanations of transform boundaries.
Lesson 3
The First Four Billion Years
Students are instructed to "Look at the image of the four eons on page 180" and to compare it with the "Deep Time" timeline they created, requiring them to use a visual timeline alongside printed text. In Activity 2, students cut out illustrated timeline cards and place them on a scaled timeline (50 cm = 1 billion years, etc.), directly combining visual cards, numeric scale, and chronological information. In Activity 3, students watch time-lapse videos (digital visual texts) and then write a paragraph describing what they observed and how it relates to slow Earth processes, integrating video evidence with written responses.
Lesson 4
The Age of Visible Life
Students create a large Geologic Column timeline using measurements and labels from the student activity page and the diagram text, directly translating period names and scaled time (1 cm = 5 million years) into a visual display. Students cut out illustrated timeline cards (with text descriptions) for Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic events and add them to the timeline, aligning textual event information with the visual column. Students are instructed to tape the Geologic Column and Deep Time timelines on the wall and to review them alongside the assigned reading, comparing the visual progression with the print descriptions and answering related questions.
Lesson 5
Digging for Clues
Students label a provided "Layers of Change" diagram by matching fossil images to eras using a word box and their Geologic Column timeline. They answer directed questions that require interpreting the diagram (Which layers are oldest? How do the fossils change?) and relating those observations to their reading about the fossil record. In Option 2, students draw and label fossils in blank rock layers using their timeline or online research, and in Activity 2 students excavate a physical geologic column and record which beads (fossils) are in each layer, tying the visual/model information to the principle of superposition and the text.
Lesson 6
Natural Selection
Students are asked to use the Student Activity Page "Generations," a table showing numbers of generations for various animals across time spans, to calculate and compare generation counts (Questions 1–6). Students are directed to "take a look" at pictures of pigeons and images of dog breeds and a phylogenetic tree to see visual examples of artificial selection. Students will watch a 44-minute segment of the NOVA documentary "What Darwin Never Knew," linking video content to the topic of natural selection and evolution.
Lesson 7
Survival of the Fittest
Students are asked to read pages 18–25 of a textbook and then watch a five-minute video on sickle-cell anemia and a 45-minute documentary segment, providing multiple visual/digital sources to use alongside the print text. Students record counts in labeled tables (White, Green, Red Environment) on the activity page and document observations across generations, producing a visual record (tables) of experimental results. The activity prompts students to relate those observations to concepts from the reading (for example, the peppered moth example on page 21) and to answer questions about genetic variation and selective pressures using their tabled results.
Lesson 8
Convergent Evolution
Students are prompted to examine a picture of a giraffe and an apatosaurus and note shared features, linking visual observation to the written concept of convergent evolution. Option 2 directs students to create a multi-panel poster that includes photographs or hand-drawn images alongside detailed anatomical sketches and brief descriptions, requiring students to pair images with explanatory text. Activity 2 asks students to watch a 30-minute PBS documentary, providing a digital visual source to be used alongside the assigned reading and research.
Final Project
Fast Forward
Students are directed to use the "Fast Forward" timeline sheets to organize events and to use those sheets as reminder notes while giving a five-minute dramatized presentation, which requires them to combine a visual timeline with spoken and written content. Option 2 requires students to create a talk and a slideshow presentation and the rubric explicitly states presentations should include "visually appealing graphics, pictures, or diagrams." The student activity pages and unit test include visual elements (timelines, rock strata sketches, fossil images) that students must reference when preparing and explaining content.
Unit 3: The Book Thief
Lesson 1
The Author and Narrator
Students are asked to create a collage of images (Activity 4) using drawings or images found online or in magazines and then write three sentences explaining how the colors/images represent their feelings, which requires combining visual materials with written explanation. In Activity 2 (About the Author) students may design a poster that can include a printed picture of the author alongside factual text about the event, combining photograph and informational text. In Personification Option 2 students are asked to illustrate three personifications and write brief descriptions, pairing original visuals with written descriptions.
Lesson 2
Similes and Metaphors
Students create a mini picture dictionary in which they put a vocabulary word and a symbol on one side and the written definition on the other, directly pairing visual symbols with textual definitions. The Similes and Metaphors activity (Part D) asks students to write their own simile or metaphor based on a provided picture and to include details from the image, requiring students to use visual details to generate and support written language. The student pages include an illustrated how-to image for making flashcards and a train illustration that students are instructed to use as a prompt, showing that students work with provided visuals alongside text.
Lesson 3
Burning Books
Students are directed in Activity 2 Part A to select three Nazi propaganda posters from an online archive and for each identify the target audience, the poster's goal, and what makes it effective—analyzing visual elements and stated purposes. In Part B they must record examples of propaganda they find in the book, linking visual artifacts to incidents and text from today's reading. The lesson also includes an infographic ("Understanding Nazi Ideology") that students are asked to use (and is referenced in the answer key) to identify goals promoted by the Nazis, tying the image's information to the book's historical references.
Lesson 5
The Accordion Player
Students read the "Laws Passed by the Nazis" activity pages that include visual elements (a swastika and a Star of David are specifically noted). Students are instructed to read the law excerpts and answer questions that ask them to connect the laws (print text) to examples in The Book Thief (e.g., identifying Hitler Youth examples in the novel). The Optional Extension provides links to USHMM and PBS pages that include pictures and video interviews about Kristallnacht.
Lesson 6
The Standover Man
Students are directed to "think about what images you can use" and to "use the 'Storyboard' pages to help you sketch out the illustrations you want on each page and the text that will go along with them," which requires pairing visuals with written text. The activity instructs students to create a 10–15 page illustrated story, to work on illustrations and then add text, and to bind the pages together, demonstrating production of integrated visual-plus-print materials. A provided video link (Charcoal 101) offers a digital visual resource for students to consult as they create illustrations.
Lesson 7
The Seven-Sided Die
Students are asked to view a print ad (Link A) and a 30-second television commercial (Link B) and identify which logical fallacy each uses (Activity 1, Part I, items 1 and 2). Students are directed to analyze posters from Lesson 3 and to examine written propaganda alongside those visuals in Activity 2, asking them to identify emotions appealed to and logical fallacies. The student activity pages require students to use the list of named fallacies (text) to categorize and explain arguments found in photographs/ads and videos.
Lesson 8
The Thief Strikes Again
Students watch two short video clips of Hitler speaking and at a rally and are instructed to take notes on what might have been compelling about his delivery and the rally elements. Students are asked to explain what Max was trying to communicate in his two drawings and to record examples of propaganda on the Propaganda page, considering how Max's drawings interpret propaganda. The Student Activity Page asks students to respond to labeled illustrations and to create their own sketches and descriptions, engaging with visual representations alongside the written text.
Lesson 10
The Trilogy of Happiness
Students view a 1943 newsreel video and read linked articles (a PBS piece and an Ernie Pyle column) and then answer questions that ask them to compare the informational content and propaganda aspects of the footage. Students complete a relationship web graphic organizer that requires them to interpret a visual diagram (the web) and write about the significance of relationships between characters. The War Journalism questions explicitly prompt students to consider how the video (visual information) conveys facts and persuasive elements alongside the written texts.
Lesson 11
The Word Shaker
Students are asked to "pay close attention to what items in the pictures may refer to" in Max's story, prompting them to connect picture elements with textual allegory. In Option 1 students create an illustration of a scene from an excerpt and must explain why they chose that scene and how their illustration relates to the excerpt. The "Primary Sources vs. Historical Fiction" activity uses a two-column graphic organizer that students fill with advantages/disadvantages and then provide textual examples, which requires organizing visual information alongside text-based evidence.
Lesson 12
The Teddy Bear
The lesson includes a labeled flowchart image ("Liesel's Journey") that combines pictures, directional arrows, and short text explanations to show events and connections in a narrative. In Activity 1 students are instructed to create a map or diagram of a person's journey, using words and images, and to choose important details that communicate significance; Option 2 specifically asks students to print a map of Germany as a background and place explanatory cards at locations. Option 1 directs students to conduct an interview (textual information) and then communicate that interview as a diagram or map, and the instructions encourage using images from the Internet or computer design software.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students are asked to watch the movie or trailer and explicitly compare how the movie differs from the book, noting whether characters look as imagined and whether the movie impacts viewers the same way the book does. The Propaganda Posters activity requires students to choose three WWII posters, copy or print them, and answer prompts about how each poster is propaganda, what emotions it tries to generate, what logical fallacies appear, and how color, design, and symbols add to the message. The Teaching Figuratively and Propaganda tasks also ask students to create visual products (handouts, posters, slideshows, radio pieces) that connect visual elements with textual explanations or historical context.
Unit 4: Global Conflict and Civil Rights
Lesson 1
The Post-War World
Students are directed to view 45 historical photographs on The Atlantic site, read the introductory paragraph and captions, and answer questions about what each image helped them understand. Students review images of material damage on linked sites and are asked to use those images to fill in the 'Material Damage' row of a chart that also contains numerical data (pre-war population, war-related deaths, GDP). Students calculate deaths as a percentage of pre-war population and graph GDP changes from 1938 to 1945, and they compare historical and modern advertisements by analyzing images and accompanying text.
Lesson 2
The Cold War and Communism
Students are asked to view the episode "Superpower" and take notes, answering guided questions that connect the video content to written responses. Students read short historical articles from the U.S. State Department and answer comprehension questions that tie print texts to the larger Cold War narrative. In Option 1, students read portions of the Truman Doctrine speech and then view political cartoons, being asked to "think about what the cartoonist was trying to say" and to create their own cartoon reflecting their interpretation. In Option 2, students explore an online Marshall Plan exhibit and historical posters and then design a poster that communicates themes from the readings and visuals.
Lesson 3
The Cold War
Students are provided a map outline of Cuba on the "Decision Making in the Cuban Missile Crisis" activity page and prompted to research events and analyze decisions, which can involve geographic reasoning. Students are given the option to plot ship locations on a map using Scribble Maps as an extension, asking them to place visual geographic data alongside their analysis. Students can read the transcript of Kennedy's speech and also listen to or watch a video/audio recording, then answer analysis questions that invite them to use both the speech text and its audio/video presentation.
Lesson 4
Civil Rights
The Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks student activity page is a graphic organizer with columns/rows and a faint outline of a bus that students are instructed to fill in with information from their readings. The newspaper-clipping student page provides a vintage-article layout with an image and asks students to write a headline and two paragraphs, pairing written text with a visual format. A web link to a National Archives exhibit is provided for Rosa Parks and includes documents students can click to view.
Lesson 5
Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides
The Student Activity Page is a graphic organizer that asks students to compare the "I Have a Dream" speech with another speech, prompting them to record similarities and differences in a visual chart while using printed speech texts. Activity 2 asks students to add cards #147-151 to a timeline of U.S. history, requiring students to place textual event details onto a visual chronological display. Option 1 asks students to create an artistic visual representation of Dr. King's vision after reading and listening to the speech, translating textual ideas into a visual product.
Lesson 6
The Ballot
In Activity 1 students are asked to look through online photo collections, choose a photograph that shows opposition to the Civil Rights Movement, print it, and complete a Student Activity Page that asks them to describe the photo and explain its significance. The activity explicitly prompts students to state where they found the photo online and what they know about when and where it was taken, the photographer, or the people shown. The worksheet asks students to explain what the photo tells them about reactions to the movement and to consider different perspectives (activist, opponent, neutral college student).
Lesson 7
New Directions and Other Social Movements
Students read the SCLC web page and the Black Panther 1966 platform and then record similarities and differences in a Venn diagram, using the graphic organizer to combine information from those textual sources. Students are directed to watch a video about Cesar Chavez after reading a brief biographical box, then choose an activity that requires using quotations and images (collage) or information from the readings/video (speech). The collage option explicitly asks students to print 2–3 Chavez quotations and arrange them with images, combining visual elements with textual quotations.
Lesson 8
Korea
Students are instructed to view video interviews ("Veterans Remember" and an optional PBS documentary) and to read web-based resources about the Korean War. Students are told to "watch and read" and to write down notes on memories they observe, linking video content with written material. Students receive a Student Activity Page that includes a simple map of the Korean Peninsula and are asked to add Cards #152-157 to a visual timeline, providing geographic and chronological visuals alongside text.
Lesson 9
Vietnam
Students are asked to watch a video based on the recollections of Vietnam veterans and to review 2-3 audio/video interviews, memoirs, photos, and other materials from the Library of Congress. Students add cards #158-160 to a visual timeline of U.S. history, and parents are instructed to pause the video and discuss what is learned from it. Students read webpages from the U.S. Department of State and answer comprehension questions based on those texts.
Lesson 10
The Culture of the 1960s
Students view primary-source protest leaflets and posters from university archives (Activity 1) and are asked to examine and use those visuals. In Option 1 and Option 2 of Activity 1, students create fliers that combine images/graphics with headlines or a 3–5 sentence discussion, explicitly requiring selection and placement of visuals to support a written message. In Activity 2 Option 1, students watch a 1960s television episode and complete a written review that includes the prompt "What can you learn about the 1960s from this program?", which asks them to connect visual/video evidence to written historical interpretation.
Final Project
A Time Capsule
Students are asked to gather images printed from the Internet and historic documents (protest posters, speeches, photographs) as artifacts for the time capsule. The Student Activity Page prompts students to describe each artifact/document and explain "What will it help future archaeologists understand about this time period?" The Time Capsule Rubric requires inclusion of seven artifacts with descriptions, and students must prepare remarks and discuss each object during a dedication ceremony.
Unit 4: Human Body Systems
Lesson 1
Our Bodies
Students are explicitly told to "use the graphics and their labels and descriptions to help you better understand" the adult-level readings, directing them to integrate illustrations with print. Students complete Activity 1 by cutting out images and placing them beside labeled body systems and drawing arrows between systems, linking pictures with written descriptions. In Option 2 students write brief descriptions next to illustrations and match words from a word bank to the correct system, combining visual icons with text. Activity 2 directs students to look up decisions on the KidsHealth website and relate online (digital) information to the Making Decisions pages, connecting digital text to the activity visuals.
Lesson 2
Cells, Tissues, and Organs
Students are directed to examine graphics, read image callouts and captions, and relate those visuals to the surrounding text (e.g., the instructions for pp. 26–29 that tell students to read the graphics and callouts along with the main text). Students sketch their own observations of a carrot (whole, lengthwise, crosswise) and compare their sketches to labeled diagrams, integrating what they see with botanical text about dermal, ground, and vascular tissues. Students view the Earthworm Visual Dissection Guide PDF and identify and label internal and external anatomy, using the labeled image to check their answers.
Lesson 3
Musculoskeletal System
Students are asked in Activity 1 to use diagrams on pp. 40-41 and 64-67 to identify which bones and muscles produce specific movements and to record their observations, requiring them to combine visual diagrams with text descriptions. In Activity 2 students match illustrated mechanical joint diagrams to body joints, directly linking visual images with textual joint-type labels. In Activity 3 students cut, place, sketch, color, and label skeletal and muscular parts using book images as guides, which has them integrate visual placement with written labels and descriptions. The Student Activity Pages include illustrations and ask students to draw and label structures and describe how muscles acted on joints, prompting use of visuals together with explanatory text.
Lesson 4
Cardiovascular System
Students are instructed to use the image on pp. 146-147 of The Concise Human Body Book and a website diagram to color and label the major parts of the cardiovascular system, using red and blue pencils to indicate oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. Students are directed to use the diagram and descriptions on p. 151 to label a heart diagram and draw arrows tracing blood flow through the heart. Students are also guided to refer to a "Heart Pump" illustration when building the simple pump model and then explain how the valve works in both the model and the human heart.
Lesson 5
Respiratory System
Students color, cut out, paste, and label respiratory parts using the "Body Parts" pieces and the Respiratory System Diagram, and are directed to use the image on pp. 162-163 of the textbook as a guide. Students build a respiration flowchart by cutting and arranging boxes that represent steps of inhalation and exhalation, using textual hints and a linked web page for guidance. Students use a red cabbage pH-color chart (linked image) to interpret experimental results, connecting the color changes to textual explanations about carbon dioxide and acidity.
Lesson 6
Digestive System
Students color, cut out, and paste organ illustrations onto a body outline and label each component using the diagram on pp. 212-213 of The Concise Human Body Book as a guide (Activity 2). Students create a comic strip that combines images and text/dialogue about a food particle's journey (Activity 1), with an option to use digital comic software and online images. The provided "Food Journey" graphic organizer and the sample red blood cell comic both show students combining pictorial panels with explanatory captions.
Lesson 7
Urinary System
Students read pages 240–247 in The Concise Human Body Book and are instructed to use the image on pp. 242–243 as a guide when they color and label the urinary system diagram. Students create a comic strip (‘Journey of a Water Droplet') that requires them to represent steps described in the text (absorption in the large intestine, blood travel to the renal artery, nephron filtration, paths to renal vein or ureter, bladder signaling, urethral elimination). The lesson also provides a linked video about the excretory system/nephron, which students can use alongside the print text and diagrams.
Lesson 8
Endocrine System
Students are instructed to use pages 132-135 of the textbook together with a chart on the Johns Hopkins website to match each hormone with its function and the gland that produces it. Students color, cut out, and paste gland images onto an endocrine system diagram, drawing in small structures using the book's image as a guide. A linked video is provided as an introduction, which students can view alongside the assigned textbook pages and activity charts.
Lesson 9
Reproductive System
Students use illustrated pregnancy cards that pair drawings of embryos/fetuses with written captions (lengths and developmental notes) and are instructed to order those cards from conception to childbirth using the length information as a guide. Students are directed to explore web-based interactive presentations and read pages about male and female reproductive anatomy, then summarize organ functions in their own words. The student activity pages include images (sperm/egg, fetuses, anatomical drawings) accompanied by text that students must read and use to complete coloring, ordering, and research tasks.
Lesson 10
Immune System
Students read the textbook pages (pp. 190–205) and then use the diagrams on pp. 192–194 to label and color a lymph node cross-section and an immune system body outline, explicitly instructing them to "use the diagram on p. 194" and "use the image on pp. 192–193" as guides. Students create a physical or drawn model and insert labeled flags or draw/label nodes and lymph vessels, requiring them to map textual terminology onto visual structures. An optional web activity directs students to explore interactive visuals and videos (with transcripts) and then discuss questions that tie the animations and images to textual explanations of pathogens, antigens, and immune responses.
Lesson 11
Nervous System
Students are asked to use diagrams and illustrations alongside textbook pages (e.g., review image on pp. 80-81 and the graphic on pp. 106-107) to answer questions and provide examples. In Activity 2 students cut out and place labels on a nerve-impulse diagram and describe the flow indicated by arrows, directly combining diagrammatic information with written steps. In Activity 3 students color and label a full-body nervous-system diagram using the book as a guide, and in Activity 4 students label and color functional brain regions using both textbook descriptions and an interactive online brain map.
Lesson 12
Balance in the Body
Students convert pulse counts to beats per minute and create a line graph from their three trials, using the table provided in the "Hands-On Homeostasis" activity. Students use readings (pages 21–23) and linked web resources (two webpages and a video) to complete the "Homeostasis" matching activity that pairs organs (with small illustrations) to their systems and regulatory roles. The student pages include charts/tables and images (organ illustrations, stopwatch/heart icons) that students must read and use when answering questions about which situations represent homeostasis and how systems restore balance.
Lesson 13
Human Growth and Development
Students examine personal photographs and make a timeline in Activity 1, noting physical changes and describing them in text across years. In Activity 2 students read a web article and WHO pages, then label boxes on an anatomical diagram, draw lines to organs, and write brief explanations linking environmental factors to bodily effects. The Student Activity Page centers on a visual anatomical diagram and instructs students to explain possible outcomes on bodily systems, explicitly asking them to integrate diagrammatic information with written explanations and research.
Final Project
Body Systems Presentation
Students are required to include their system diagram and other related diagrams or images on each slide or poster and to "supplement your images with text that explains the function of each system and at least two ways the system is interdependent with other body systems." Option 1 instructs students to scan or upload hand-drawn diagrams and include internet images on slides, integrating those visuals with explanatory text. Multiple student activity pages present labeled diagrams (neuron, human body outlines, lung and heart diagrams) that students must label and use to answer content questions, linking visual information with printed questions and answers.
Unit 4: To Kill a Mockingbird
Lesson 1
Historical Context
Students are asked to watch a video titled "Alabama in the 1930s" that provides images and information and then create a mind map, using words, sketches, and colors to show connections from the video. The activity explicitly invites use of an online mind-mapping tool and instructs students to record and organize visual information (images, sketches) alongside textual ideas. After the activity students proceed to read the first two chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird, linking the historical information they mapped to the novel's setting and events.
Lesson 3
The Mystery of Boo
Students are directed to use a Student Activity Page titled "The Mysterious Boo Radley" that is divided into two columns labeled "Hearsay and Gossip" and "Personal Experience and Reliable Sources." The directions require students to list items from chapters 1 and 5 in the appropriate columns, compare and contrast the two columns, and then develop a written hypothesis about who Boo really is. The activity therefore has students place information from the printed text into a visual chart and use that visual organizer to analyze and synthesize the textual evidence.
Lesson 4
Snow and Fire
Students are directed to "look over Activity 1" and "as you read, record any relevant information you learn about the characters on the chart," which requires transferring text details into the Character Line-Up graphic organizer. The Student Activity Page descriptions show a chart with columns for "Brief Description," "Memorable descriptions from the text," "Quotes of or about the character," and "Memorable actions performed by the character," and students are told to fill these in based on chapters 8–9. The Parent Plan reiterates that the child will "track character development using the Character Line-Up chart" and include at least one quotation in a written response tied to the charted information.
Lesson 5
Surprising Talent
Students are asked to diagram printed sentences into visual sentence-diagram images (Activity 1 and the Student Activity Page), including labeling simple subjects, predicates, direct objects, predicate nouns/adjectives, and objects of prepositions. The materials include multiple images and an answer key that show sentences (print) paired with diagrams (visual) that students compare to the original sentences. In Activity 2 (Comic Strip), students create a four-panel comic that combines drawings and dialogue bubbles, directly combining visual elements with written text to convey meaning.
Lesson 6
Separate
In Activity 2 students view a slideshow of historical photographs titled "Segregation in America" and are prompted to notice images that remind them of scenes from the book and to observe differences in power and ordinary people. Students are asked to select one image, print and mount it, create a caption, and write two or three sentences on the back explaining how the image relates to To Kill a Mockingbird and its characters. The lesson includes a specific image (a segregated entrance labeled "Colored Admittance") and directs students to make explicit connections between that visual content and the novel.
Lesson 8
Identity
Students view multiple sentence-diagram images that are paired with the marked-up sentences (subject underlined once, verb underlined twice) and textual explanations showing how modifiers and indirect objects are placed. The directions ask students to use the "Simple Diagrams" page to apply what they've learned and to diagram given sentences, and the answer key presents visual diagrams alongside the original sentences. The activity requires students to read a sentence, interpret its visual diagram, and produce their own diagram representations.
Lesson 9
Order in the Court
Students are asked to watch a courtroom tour video to get a visual sense of courtroom layout and then read the labeled student activity page that diagrams a courtroom (judge's bench, witness stand, jury, prosecution, defendant, etc.). Students use terms from the "Order in the Court" activity page to complete "The Trial" fill-in-the-blank worksheet about events in chapters 18-20 of To Kill a Mockingbird. Students also sequence a flowchart (cut-and-paste boxes) showing the order of trial events, and diagram sentences using visual sentence-diagram images to connect grammar instruction with courtroom-related sentences.
Lesson 10
Equal Rights?
Students are shown multiple images of sentence diagrams (with labeled parts such as subjects, verbs, objects, and modifiers) and are instructed to use those diagrams as models: "Now complete the 'Diagramming Compound Constructions' page." The answer key includes visual diagrams that students can compare to their own work. The activity asks students to apply the visual diagram information directly to sentences drawn from the reading (e.g., "Jem hushed and sat very quietly"), linking the visual representation to the text.
Lesson 11
The Mockingbird
Students are asked to fill a graphic organizer titled "the Mockingbird," placing examples from the novel into boxes connected to a central image of a bird and gun, which requires them to represent textual themes visually. Students examine multiple sentence-diagram images and are instructed to diagram given sentences on paper, connecting clause labels and diagram lines to the original sentence text. The lesson also provides a web link about the northern mockingbird, which students can consult alongside the novel to inform their understanding of the symbol.
Lesson 12
Wise Words
Students are asked to create a Venn diagram that visually compares and contrasts two characters' points of view, listing perceptions, feelings, and reactions for each character and in the shared space. Students are instructed to select a quote and create a creative, artistic display (using the computer or art materials) that presents the textual quote visually and cites its source.
Lesson 13
Text and Film
Students read the novel and watch the 1964 film adaptation, using a two-column Student Activity Page to keep a running list of similarities and differences between the film (video) and the text. Students answer guided questions that ask how special effects (lighting, music, camera angle) and director choices help tell the story, prompting analysis of visual techniques alongside textual events and characterization. Students create a film poster that requires combining an image with a summary of themes and information, and they may write a short scripted scene including stage directions for lighting, props, and music that links visual staging to the novel's events.
Final Project
Oral Book Presentation
Students plan and create a computer slide show (PowerPoint or similar) that pairs graphics and text for five specific slides (historical context, character, plot, themes, personal reactions). Instructions tell students to use pictures/graphics and limited text to support oral points, highlight important terms or powerful quotations, and not to include the whole script on slides. The rubric and skill list explicitly state that students will "integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest."
Unit 5: Technology Explosion
Lesson 1
Overview of Modern America
Students watch the documentary episode and are instructed to pause periodically to reflect and write answers to comprehension questions, linking video content to written responses. Student activity pages include images (a space shuttle launch and drawings of a television set) alongside questions that prompt written explanations such as "How did television influence popular opinion of the Vietnam War?". For the final project, students must select or create an image to illustrate each paragraph and are given explicit options for integrating those images into a word-processed essay or a poster timeline; a rubric checks the connection between text and illustrations.
Lesson 2
Demographics and Immigration
Students are asked in Activity 1 to use the provided "Statistical Changes" chart and census data to plot population points and create a line graph for 10 cities, directly converting chart/table information into a visual graph. Activity 2 requires students to calculate each city's percent of the U.S. population for 1950 and 2010 using numeric data and then color and complete maps that represent those percentages, explicitly linking numeric text data to map visuals. The Student Activity Pages include a blank graph and map templates and pose analytic questions (identify rising/falling lines, discuss regional trends) that require students to interpret their created visuals alongside the numeric/textual data.
Lesson 3
The End of the Cold War
Students read State Department articles and then transfer key facts into a comparative table (Activity 1), using the visual table to summarize presidents' foreign policies, challenges, and successes. In Activity 3 students create graffiti art on a provided wall graphic and write 2–3 sentences explaining its meaning, linking visual creation to explanatory text. In the final-project option students are instructed to include images or videos with their illustrated essay paragraph, cite the image sources, and may use videos from America: The Story of Us, integrating multimedia with their written text. Students also add timeline cards (Activity 2), placing factual information into a chronological visual display.
Lesson 4
Leadership and Domestic Policy
Students are asked to skim or watch presidential speeches (audio/video) and complete a comparison table that records major topics, powerful sentences, and meanings, which requires combining spoken/visual speech content with written analysis. In the Leadership and Scandal activity, students read brief overviews of Watergate and Iran-Contra and then watch news broadcasts and presidential videos, answering questions about accusations and how each president addressed them. In Environmental Activism, students research print/digital news sources about an issue and then create a persuasive visual (button/bumper sticker/t-shirt) that synthesizes their textual research into a visual argument.
Lesson 5
Technology
Students are asked to watch Apollo 11 landing videos and then write a 2-3 paragraph diary entry or letter responding to what they saw, which requires using video content as source material for written text. The Space Age Technology activity requires students to research a space-created technology, answer questions about it, and draw or paste an image of the technology into their worksheet, pairing visual and written information. The Illustrated Essay option explicitly allows students to use images printed from the Internet or created by themselves and to include those images alongside their paragraph text (with citation), and the Generations and Technology page uses a table format for students to fill in responses across time periods.
Lesson 6
Terrorism
Students are instructed to view artifact images on three museum websites, click each artifact's full record, and explore the supporting documents that accompany each artifact. Students must print a picture of each artifact and write a short paragraph describing what they think the artifact symbolizes and explaining how it helped them understand September 11, 2001 more fully. The poster task requires students to combine the visual images with written interpretation, explicitly linking the visual information to explanatory text.
Lesson 7
Modern American Culture
Students use numerical enrollment data from 1970–2010 and are instructed to use the NCES "Create a Graph" tool (or graph paper) to produce a visual representation and then answer questions about what impression the visual gives of changes in women's education. Students may include videos and images in their illustrated essay (Option 1) and are asked to cite those sources, which requires integrating visual media with written text. Students add cards #173-177 to a chronological timeline, combining visual organization (timeline) with textual content on the cards.
Final Project
Illustrated Essay or National History Day
Students are told to include images with their illustrated essay by printing or inserting images into a word-processed document, labeling each image, and attaching them to the essay. Students are instructed to arrange text and images on a poster (e.g., glue paragraphs with accompanying images) and to create a poster-board timeline that places images above specific dates with paragraphs below; the included illustration depicts gathering, organizing, and arranging information chronologically.
Unit 5: Health and Nutrition
Lesson 1
Feelings
Students are instructed to create a collage that combines a photo of themselves, images of activities they enjoy, and at least five positive written statements, which requires combining visuals and text. Student activity pages present scenarios accompanied by sketches (basketball hoop, piano, messy room, skateboard) that students read and then answer questions about causes of stress and whether responses are healthy.
Lesson 2
Being a Smart Consumer
Students are instructed to visit a store or go online and write down five products in the health and beauty aisle, recording the names and any claims made on the packaging. The activity explicitly tells students to "find a commercial(s) online for the products to see if the product's company makes any other claims," requiring them to view video/digital advertisements. The Student Activity Page includes a graphic of product bottles and directs students to select a product from an advertisement and evaluate its claims by comparing it with other similar products and prices.
Lesson 4
Healthy Relationships
In Activity 2 students are instructed to refer to the textual list of friendship qualities on pages 85/87 and "see how well they fit the criteria, using the chart provided on 'A Good Friend' page," requiring them to transfer information from the book into the worksheet table and rate friends (A/S/N). The Student Activity Page description shows a visual table with criteria for friendships that students must fill in for themselves and their friends, then examine the table and set a goal, which explicitly connects a visual chart with the printed reading.
Lesson 5
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs
Students are instructed in Activity 1 to watch videos and read an online booklet and then use the Drug Use activity chart to take notes on the different drugs presented in the links and the booklet, combining information in one place. Activity 2 has students watch videos about addiction and then produce an acrostic or PSA based on what they viewed and learned. Activity 3 asks students to read articles and, based on what they saw and read, design a poster outlining dangers of chewing tobacco, explicitly requiring synthesis of visual and textual information.
Lesson 6
Nutrition and Exercise
Students record foods in a Food Journal table and are directed to use the food pyramid (pg. 16/19) to categorize servings, tying the visual pyramid to their written records. Students examine a Nutrition Facts image and a sample label, then answer quantitative questions (calories per serving, grams of fat, % Daily Value), combining numbers on the label with explanatory text about serving sizes and nutrients. Students calculate BMI from a formula and plot/interpret their BMI on CDC BMI-for-age charts and use the MyPlate Plan website visuals to compare recommended portion sizes with their recorded intake.
Unit 5: Great American Poets
Lesson 1
Poetry Basics
Activity 1 explicitly tells students that if they don't know what a "heal-all" is they can "look it up online and view pictures of it," prompting students to use images to clarify a textual reference. The lesson includes an "Annotated Poem" image that displays visual markings (rhyme-scheme letters, iambic-pentameter marks, arrows, underlines) that students can examine to connect visual annotation with the poem's text. Activity 2 instructs students to annotate poems using colored-pencil codes (underline alliteration in blue, circle unknown words in green, underline vivid phrases in red), having students produce and use visual markings integrated with the printed poem.
Lesson 2
Early American Poetry
Students are instructed to reread Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" and Paul Revere's first-person account and then complete a Venn diagram labeled "Paul Revere's Account" and "Longfellow's Poem," noting similarities and differences. Students are told to mark images in the poems that strike them and the activity pages include illustrations (a rider on horseback and a steeple) that accompany the historical narrative. The Comparing Texts page explicitly directs students to use the two texts and the Venn diagram to record content, use of literary language, and details.
Lesson 3
Figurative Language
Students are asked to look up poets' pictures online to ensure accuracy when coloring and filling in Poet Cards, which requires using photographic images alongside biographical text. Students are directed to view online examples of concrete (shape) poems and then draw an outline and write their own poem within that shape, combining visual form with written content. The student activity pages include an image (two trees with peeping animals) and instruct students to observe a scene outside and then describe it using sensory details and figurative language, connecting visual observation with written description.
Lesson 4
Poetic Forms
The lesson includes two labeled images that show the pattern of unstressed (x) and stressed (/) syllables above a line from Robert Frost and a "da DUM" rhythmic pattern; students are shown these visuals when learning about iambic pentameter. Student Activity Question 1 asks students to identify and mark the pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables in a poem and determine if it uses iambic pentameter, requiring them to apply the visual meter diagram to the printed poem. Question 3 asks students to compare Longfellow's sonnet structure and iambic pentameter with a traditional Shakespearean sonnet, which prompts use of the visual rhythm cue alongside textual rhyme and structure.
Lesson 7
Poetry Analysis
Students are instructed to cut out term cards and matching definition/example cards and to match them (Option 1), which requires pairing visual examples (e.g., an image of birches, an illustration of a raven, musical notes) with written definitions. The answer key explicitly links visual items and quoted lines to vocabulary terms (for example, the birches image is tied to iambic pentameter and the raven illustration to assonance). The Student Activity Pages include pictured examples and ask students to use those cards in a Memory-type matching game, which has students integrate the visual example cards with textual term cards.
Lesson 8
Robert Frost
Students are directed to view Cubist artwork at the Guggenheim web link and then reread Gertrude Stein's poem to consider how the poem is like a Cubist painting. In Option 1 students copy a poem into the provided "Poem" frame and paste or photograph their artwork into the "Artwork" frame, and in Option 2 students find an online painting, write a poem about it, and print/paste the image beside their poem. Discussion questions explicitly ask students to compare the visual art and the poem (e.g., "How is 'Susie Asado' like some of the Cubist artwork you viewed?").
Lesson 11
Editing Your Work
In Activity 1 (Tech Poem) students are instructed to use a word-processing, desktop-publishing, or presentation program to present a poem using fonts, spacing, colors, and graphics. Students are told to jot down emotions and images from the poem to guide their design and to double-check that capitalization, punctuation, and line breaks match the poem text. An example image shows specific visual choices (colored words, enlarged numerals, varied fonts) used to enhance the poem's meaning, modeling integration of visual elements with the text.
Lesson 12
Reciting Poetry
Students use a Five Senses Web graphic organizer to brainstorm sensory descriptions for their poem topic and are instructed to sketch a detailed picture of the topic using colored pencils. Students are told they can refer to an image from the web and to use the web and their drawing as inspiration for lines of their poem. In Option 2 of Activity 2, students are asked to place or paste a small picture/drawing on a poet card, which requires locating and adding a visual alongside textual information about a poet.
Final Project
Poetry Journal
Students are asked to include a "visual response activity -- include both the artwork and the poem" in their poetry journal, requiring them to place visual artwork alongside written text. Students are directed to use images printed from the Internet, pressed leaves, collages, and other decorative visuals and to paste or tape these images into the journal with labeled pages. Students complete a punctuation review that uses a graphic organizer (columns) where they cut out boxes of text and paste them into the correct visual categories, and a poem page includes an illustration (a map/illustration of New Hampshire) paired with the poem.