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| Note: Many of these activities can be extended or shortened. This schedule is based on an uninterrupted 90 minute block for Communication Arts. Day 1: Begin with Anticipatory Set (15 minutes) Introduce the unit. Introduce the focus text Shh! We're Writing the Constitution. Read the focus text and discuss Shh! We're Writing the Constitution (30 minutes). Guided and Independent Reading Activity Time (40 minutes) Note: Students use the check-list during independent reading throughout the week. Assignment: From Scholastic.com, answer one of the following questions using complete sentences or a graphic organizer: 1. The Bill of Rights was created to protect the basic freedoms of our nation's peoples. What kind of freedoms would you include in a CLASSROOM BILL OF RIGHTS? 2. What kinds of freedoms might get in the way of learning and co-existing in the classroom? 3. If we did not have a set of rules or guidelines for the people of our country to follow, what would people do to maintain order? 4. What problems do you think would arise if our country had no rules? Day 2: Mini-lesson 1: Phonics mini-lesson, using prefixes and affixes to understand the meaning (30 minutes) Guided and Independent Reading Rotation (60 minutes -- 20 minutes in Guided Reading group, 40 minutes in Independent Reading Rotation) Day 3: Review the Research Process. (15 minutes) Read from the "notes" section of Shh! We're Writing the Constitution and remind students that it is an important and interesting part of each book by Jean Fritz. (15 minutes) Guided and Independent Reading Rotation (60 minutes -- 20 minutes in Guided Reading group, 40 minutes in Independent Reading Rotation) Day 4: Introduce/begin Expository Paragraph writing activity (30 minutes) Guided reading and Independent Reading Rotation (60 minutes total -- 20 minutes in GR, 40 minutes in Independent Reading Rotation) Day 5: Read Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz aloud (choose selection of highlight passages to read aloud and add the book to the text set for other students to learn more) (30 minutes) Guided reading and Independent Reading Rotation (60 minutes total -- 20 minutes in GR, 40 minutes in Independent Reading Rotation) Day 6: Mini-lesson 3: Compare and contrast texts from the text set (30 minutes) Guided reading and Independent Reading Rotation (60 minutes total -- 20 minutes in GR, 40 minutes in Independent Reading Rotation) Day 7: Mini-lesson 4: Identifying and explaining author's purpose (30 minutes) Guided reading and Independent Reading Rotation (60 minutes total -- 20 minutes in GR, 40 minutes in Independent Reading Rotation) Day 8: Peer Review of Expository Paragraphs (20 minutes) Introduce New Jersey Versus Virginia Plan activity (10 minutes) Guided reading and Independent Reading Rotation (60 minutes total -- 20 minutes in GR, 40 minutes in Independent Reading Rotation) Day 9: Peer Review of Expository Paragraphs (20 minutes) Groups meet and touch base for New Jersey Versus Virginia Plan activity (10 minutes) Guided reading and Independent Reading Rotation (60 minutes total -- 20 minutes in GR, 40 minutes in Independent Reading Rotation) Note: Final day to complete items to-do from the unit check-list. Day 10: Vocabulary and Comprehension Assessment (30 minutes) New Jersey versus Virginia Plan Culminating Activity (60 minutes) |
| Unit 6: Jean Fritz |
| Lessons and Other Resources by: Amy Fine |
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