Engaging narratives blend the forms of expository writing with the tropes of creative writing. Introduce class members to narrative writing techniques with a 28-lesson unit that not only uses The Autobiography of Malcolm X as a model of...

The three units in Module 3B ask fifth-graders to consider multiple perspectives about using natural resources in Canada. In the first unit, young scholars study how hundreds of years ago, the Inuit people used the natural resources in...

In this third unit, scholars read informational texts and view videos presenting multiple accounts and opposing viewpoints of the Mary River Iron Mine proposal. They then develop an essay that presents their own opinion about the mine.

Sports are hugely important in American culture. A reading of Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America, Sharon Robinson’s biography of her father, provides the impetus for fifth graders to investigate respected sports...

Two informational articles provide fifth graders the opportunity to consider the role sports have played in American culture. Over the course of the seven lessons in Module 3A, Unit 1, young scholars review how to read and write...

To conclude Module 3a, Unit 3 fifth graders choose to research either Roberto Clemente or Althea Gibson to understand the cultural context in which these athletes competed and the barriers these athletes broke during the times in which...

The 17 lessons in Module 3A, Unit 2, have fifth-graders completing a close read of Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America. They examine how writers use evidence and reasons to support their opinions. The end of unit...

Researching to Build Knowledge and Teaching Others: Inventions That Changed People’s Lives is an eight-week, three-unit module designed for fifth graders. In the first unit of the module, scholars examine and discuss a graphic novel,...

In Unit 2, students continue to build their reading and writing skills and their understanding of how new or improved technologies are developed to meet the needs of society through a case study of Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of...

The Big Climate Change Experiment begins with young scientists gaining background knowledge by watching news clips a video and examining cartoons. Next, learners view videos of witnesses who describe how climate change affects their...

The literacy focus of this three-unit module is on reading scientific and technical text and writing to inform and explain. In Unit 1, young scholars build background knowledge of the rainforest and the scientists who study them. Kathryn...

Let the sunshine in! Fourteen lessons comprise a unit study of solar energy, its advantages and disadvantages, and advancements in solar energy technology. Class members learn about principles of energy conversion, research how to make...

In Module 4, sixth-graders research the question of whether the benefits of DDT outweigh its harmful consequences. Unit 1 challenges investigators to read a novel, informational text, and watch videos to gather evidence about DDT’s uses,...

The study of the benefits and harmful effects of using DDT ends in Module 4, with class members drafting, revising, editing, and publishing a research-based position paper in which they use the evidence they have collected to support...

The search is on for information about DDT, its benefits, and harmful effects. Over 15 units In Module 4, young researchers conduct a WebQuest to find informational texts about the pesticide, learn how to paraphrase information, cite...

The first unit in Module 4 introduces sixth graders to the central question of the module; do the benefits of DDT outweigh its harmful consequences? Jean Craighead George’s novel, Frightful’s Mountain, is the module's anchor text and...

Nonfiction and dramatic text take center stage in a three-unit module that focuses on how authors convey and develop central ideas. In Unit 1, E. B. White’s “Death of a Pig” provides sophomores with an opportunity to analyze the...

How does an author’s culture influence their perspective and point of view? Moreover, how does an author’s purpose affect their point of view? These are the questions middle schoolers investigate in a three-unit module that uses works by...

In the second unit in the 3A module, scholars examine how an author’s purpose affects point of view. They compare excerpts from “Comprehending the Calamity,” Emma Burke’s informational text about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, to...

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Eleanor Roosevelt’s “On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” and Malala Yousafzai’s “Address to the United Nations Youth Assembly” are the core text in the final unit of...

In this three-unit module, juniors examine literary and nonfiction text, observing how authors develop their central ideas. In Units 1 and 2, scholars practice close reading, annotating text, and evidence-based discussions and writing....

The first unit in Module 1 uses The Autobiography of Malcolm X as the core text. Scholars practice close reading, evidence-based writing and discussion, critical analysis of narrative texts, and narrative writing techniques. Marmon...

Where does our food come from? Eighth graders research food chains and the consequences for stakeholders affected by those food chains. Using Michael Pollan’s, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, as a core text, the three units in this module teach...

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States takes center stage in a three-unit module that focuses particularly on The Little Rock Nine. Carlotta Walls LaNier’s, A Mighty Long Way, and Shelley Tougas’ photo essay, Little Rock Girl...