CommonLit
Common Lit: "Soccer Speaks Many Languages" by Dianna Geers
This informational text, discusses Innocent Ndayizeye's love for playing soccer while living in a refugee camp and after he relocates to America. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Introduction to World War Ii" by Us history.org
This informational text gives a comprehensive summary of the causes, events, and conclusion of the World War II. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired texts, questions and...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Home" by Gwendolyn Brooks
In this short story by Gwendolyn Brooks, a family contemplates losing their house. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired texts, questions and answers, an annotation tool, and...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Jabari Unmasked" by Nikki Grimes
This poem by Nikki Grimes uses the first stanza of Paul Laurence Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask," as a speaker describes why they conceal their identity. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 7th Grade Thematic Unit: Heroes
Complete teaching unit for 7th Grade Thematic Unit: "Heroes." In this unit, 7th graders will read seven texts that explore why people act heroically. Throughout this unit, students will revisit the essential question: "Why do people act...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 6th Grade Thematic Unit: Growing Up
Complete teaching unit for 6th Grade Thematic Unit: "Growing Up." Students will read eight texts that speak to the theme of growing up. They will revisit the essential question: "What does it mean to grow up?," read thematically-paired...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 6th Grade Thematic Unit: Outside Looking In
Complete teaching unit for 6th Grade Thematic Unit: "Outside Looking in." Students will read seven texts that speak to the theme of being an "outsider." They will revisit the essential question: "What makes someone an outsider?" Students...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 6th Grade Poetry Unit: Identity
Complete teaching unit for 6th Grade Poetry Unit: "Identity." Students will read 6 poems that speak to the theme of creating an identity. They will revisit the essential question: "How do we forge an identity?", read thematically-paired...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 5th Grade Author Study: Shel Silverstein
Complete teaching unit for 5th Grade Author Study: Shel Silverstein. Students will read 6 poems by Shel Silverstein that speak to the theme of how we should live our lives. Students will revisit the essential question "According to Shel...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 9th Grade Thematic Unit: Education
Complete teaching unit for 9th Grade Thematic Unit: "Education." Students will read six informational texts focusing on the essential question: "How can education be used to create change?" They will gather information from their...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
Selected (8) reading passages (grades 5-10) to pair with "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio. Wonder is the story of Auggie, a 10-year-old boy who has Treacher Collins Syndrome, a condition that causes numerous physical deformities and...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "When I Was a Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Selected (7) reading passages (grades 6-8) to pair with the nonfiction book "When I Was a Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago. Esmeralda Santiago, also known as Negi, describes her childhood growing up in Puerto Rico and her eventual...
CommonLit
Common Lit: The Watson's Go to Birmingham 1963" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Selected (7)reading passages (grades 7-11) to pair with "The Watson's Go to Birmingham -- 1963" by Christopher Paul Curtis. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Kenny Watson and his family embark on a road trip from Michigan to...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
Selected (12) reading passages (grades 7-11) to pair with "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. A young Scout watches her father, prominent lawyer Atticus Finch, defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman in the...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe
Selected (12) reading passages (grades 6-11) to pair with "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe. In this classic novel, Okonkwo, a wealthy and respected member of the Umuofia clan, resists the forces of change brought to Africa by...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Selected (8) reading passages (grades 8-12) to pair with "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway. In the years following World War I, a group of disillusioned expatriates travel from Paris to Spain to watch bullfighting and participate...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 5th Grade Author Study: Gary Soto
Complete teaching unit for 5th Grade Author Study: Gary Soto. Students will read 4 short stories and 2 poems by Gary Soto that examine romantic and family love. Students will analyze these texts while considering the essential question:...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: Teaching Units
Complete teaching units (12) by grade level. CommonLit units are crafted to be both engaging and rigorous, featuring a variety of literary and informational texts from diverse sources. Reading, writing, and discussion are prioritized in...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "World Without Fish" by Mark Kurlansky
Selected (8) reading passages (grades 6-10) to pair with "World Without Fish" by Mark Kurlansky. Mark Kurlansky discusses how humans treat the oceans and the fish that live in them, and what the world will likely look like if fish...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys
Selected (10) reading passages (grades 8-12) to pair with "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys. Written as a prequel to Jane Eyre, "Wide Sargasso Sea" follows the life of Antoinette Cosway from her tumultuous childhood in Jamaica following...
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Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Wave" by Todd Strasser
Selected (4) reading passages (grades 7-11) to pair with "The Wave" by Todd Strasser. A high school teacher conducts a social experiment to teach his students about the atrocities of the Holocaust. However, the wave starts to spin out of...
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Common Lit: Units: 8th Grade Argumentative Writing Unit: Improving Society
Complete teaching unit for 8th Grade Argumentative Writing Unit: "Improving Society." Students will read six texts about problems in society. Throughout the unit, 8th graders will gather information from their readings in a graphic...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 7th Grade Thematic Unit: Happiness
Complete teaching unit for 7th Grade Thematic Unit: "Happiness." Students will read 6 texts that speak to the theme of happiness. Students will revisit the essential question "How we can achieve happiness?" throughout the unit. They will...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 6th Grade Informational Unit: Success
Complete teaching unit for 6th Grade Informational Unit: "Success." Students will read six informational texts focusing on the essential question: "What does it take to be successful?" Students will gather information from their readings...