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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 9: The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller

For Teachers 5th Standards
A novel study examines The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller. Fifth graders participate in daily readings, discussions, and assignments following an "ask, explore, imagine, observe, and understand" routine. A final performance...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 8: Native Americans

For Teachers 5th Standards
Over five weeks, fifth graders listen to and discuss reading passages that explore the connection between Native Americans and nature. Following daily readings, scholars practice word work, including prefixes, root words, suffixes,...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 7: Poetry

For Teachers 5th Standards
Over the course of a 12-lesson language arts unit, young scholars analyze a variety of poems taking a close look at figurative language and tone. They learn to compare and contrast, improve comprehension, and identify settings. To...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 6: The Reformation

For Teachers 5th Standards
Over three weeks, fifth graders read about and discuss the Reformation which saw religion and politics shift across Europe. Following daily readings, young scholars practice spelling, grammar, and morphology skills such as prefixes,...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 5: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

For Teachers 5th Standards
Fifth graders analyze William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, paying close attention to character development, plot, and dialogue. With daily reading and thoughtful discussion, scholars take pen to paper to respond to journal...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 4: The Renaissance

For Teachers 5th Standards
The Renaissance is the theme of a five-week unit designed to boost reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and expository writing skills. Scholars listen to and discuss daily readings and engage in skills practice activities...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 3: Adventures of Don Quixote

For Teachers 5th Standards
Fifth graders explore the Adventures of Don Quixote in a four-week language arts unit. Scholars listen to and discuss a new chapter each day as well as examine vocabulary and practice word work including suffixes, subject-verb agreement,...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 2: Early American Civilizations

For Teachers 5th Standards
Fifth graders explore early American civilizations in a four-week ELA unit. Every lesson offers an opportunity to read and discuss a selected passage followed by word work that covers vocabulary, grammar, and morphology. Learners write...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 1: Contemporary Fiction - They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems by David Bowles

For Teachers 5th Standards
They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems by David Bowles is the focus of a five-week language arts unit unit. Fifth graders listen to various poems and participate in thoughtful discussions, examining vocabulary and learning new words in...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 8: Treasure Island

For Teachers 4th Standards
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is the focus of the final unit, emphasizing reading, writing, grammar, morphology, and spelling. Fourth graders read and discuss a chapter with every lesson, followed by word work—prefixes,...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 7: The United States Constitution

For Teachers 4th Standards
Fourth graders delve into the United States Constitution in a unit designed to boost reading comprehension, grammar, and writing. During each lesson, scholars read through and discuss a new chapter and work with prefixes and verbs....
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 6: American Revolution

For Teachers 4th Standards
The American Revolution is the theme of a five-week unit that focuses on reading, grammar, morphology, and writing. Scholars read and respond to texts, practice spelling and word work, and write paragraphs. Assessments gauge comprehension.
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 5: Geology

For Teachers 4th Standards
Over four weeks, fourth graders participate in a geology-themed unit. Scholars listen to informational texts, discuss readings, and complete word work and grammar lessons. Writing practice includes drafting an informational pamphlet, a...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 4: Listen, My Children - Poems for Fourth Graders

For Teachers 4th Standards
Over three weeks, fourth graders explore the world of poetry. They listen to authors such as Shel Silverstein and Maya Angelou, complete word work activities, and practice spelling skills. Budding poets take pen to paper with daily...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 3: King Arthur and the Round Table

For Teachers 4th Standards
Over four weeks, fourth graders study King Arthur and the Round Table, retold by Alice M. Hadfield. Fifteen lessons take pupils through each chapter, complete word work, and the writing process to draft paragraphs, sentences, dialogue,...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 2: The Middle Ages

For Teachers 4th Standards
Over four weeks, fourth graders read and discuss texts about the Middle Ages. They practice vocabulary, spelling, and grammar, such as nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Writing opportunities allow learners to boost their note-taking skills...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 1: Memoir - Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

For Teachers 4th Standards
The memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, is the focus of a unit designed for fourth graders. Scholars begin each lesson with a warm-up, then listen to a read-aloud of a section of the book. Pupils complete word work,...
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Lesson Plan
Utah Education Network (UEN)

Hamlet Soliloquy Artwork

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Though this assignment may be thought madness, there is an actual method. Scholars perform a close reading of the original text of the soliloquies in Hamlet and modern translations to ensure they understand the speeches. They then select...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

In Her Shoes: Lois Weber and the Female Filmmakers Who Shaped Early Hollywood

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Lois Weber has been forgotten. So have Dorothy Davenport Reid, Gene Gauntier, and many others. High school sleuths use advanced search engines to investigate these women and discover clues to their disappearance from filmography and...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

The Civil War

For Teachers 5th Standards
A unit covers many aspects of the Civil War. Over six weeks, fifth graders delve deep into the history of slavery, the Civil War—before, during, and after—Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions, the Emancipation Proclamation, and...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Early Presidents and Social Reformers

For Teachers 4th Standards
A unit by Core Knowledge begins with information about early United States presidents. Pupils then explore social reformers such as Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas, abolitionism, women's rights, and more. Participants listen and...
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Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

Black Women Writers: What Gets Black Women Heard?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...
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Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Can Words Lead to War?

For Teachers 7th Standards
"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

OPTIC - A Reading Strategy Recipe: Visual Literacy

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A visual literary lesson provides learners with OPTIC (Observations, Predictions, Themes, Inferences, Conclusions), a reading strategy to help them understand and interpret visual and written texts. Scholars practice the strategy with a...