Unit Materials for 5th Grade English Language Arts

Book: Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman (Harper Trophy, 2004)   —  710L

Template: Narrative Brainstorming Template

Book: The Breadwinner: 15th Anniversary Edition by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, 2015)   —  710L

Book: Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through a Never-Ending War by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, 2012)

Book: I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition) by Malala Yousafzai and Patricia McCormick (Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016)

Book: Trash Vortex: How Plastic Pollution Is Choking the World's Oceans by Danielle Smith-Llera (Compass Point Books, 2018)   —  1120L

Article: “Single-Use Plastics: A Roadmap for Sustainability” (United Nations Environment Programme, 2018)

Article: “Ten "stealth microplastics" to avoid if you want to save the oceans” by Sharon George and Deirdre McKay (The Conversation)

Article: “Queensland passes laws banning 'killer' single-use plastics” (The Guardian)

Article: “"People need them": The trouble with the movement to ban plastic straws” (The Guardian)

Article: “Mythbusting: 5 common misperceptions surrounding the environmental impacts of single-use plastics” (University of Michigan News)

Article: “Little girl, big difference: 4th grader’s idea helps reduce trash at Pikes Peak region-area elementary school” by Lindsey Grewe for CBS

Article: “CA Girl Scout’s letters spurred companies to cut down on using plastic straws” by Washington Post, adapted by The Lily News

Template: Two-Paragraph Outline

Template: Three Paragraph Outline

Template: Plastic Pollution Note-Taker

Book: Witnesses to Freedom: Young People Who Fought for Civil Rights by Belinda Rochelle (Puffin Books, 1993)   —  1040L

Book: Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen S. Levine (Puffin Books, 2000)   —  760L

Book: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose (Square Fish, Reprint edition (2010))   —  1000L

Book: Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery (Speak, Reprint edition (2016))   —  780L

Book: Selma, Lord, Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil Rights Days by Frank Sikora (University Alabama Press, 1st Edition edition (1997))   —  830L

Article: “American slavery: Separating fact from myth” by Daina Ramey Berry (The Conversation)

Book: 28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World by Charles R. Smith Jr. (Roaring Brook Press)

Poem: “Day 1, Crispus Attacks (from 28 Days)” by Charles R. Smith Jr.

Poem: “Ruby Bridges: Brave Step” by Latorial Faison

Template: Poetry Brainstorm Template

Book: Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez (Yearling, 2010)   —  890L

Article: “Stereotypes: Understanding Their Impact and How to Overcome Them”

Video: “Enrique Balcazar: Las vacas no se ordeñan solas”

Video: “Mexican Migrant Workers and Vermont Dairy Farms” (The Golden Cage Project)

Video: “No Human Being Was Born Illegal (NIOS)” (Not in Our Town)

Video: “Under the Cloak of Darkness” (Bjorn Jackson, 2015)

Book: The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch (HMH Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition, 2017)   —  950L

Video: “How We Landed on Mars with NASA Spirit” by The Azza

Article: “Now a Stationary Research Platform, NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Starts a New Chapter in Red Planet Scientific Studies” by NASA Press Release 7

Article: “Mars Rovers Advance Understanding of the Red Planet”

Article: “Rover Team Tests Mars Moves on Earth”

Article: “NASA's Opportunity Rover Rolls Free on Mars”

Article: “Mars Rover Spirit Unearths Surprise Evidence of Wetter Past”

Article: “NASA Mars Rovers Braving Severe Dust Storms”

Article: “Shoulder Motor Balks on Opportunity's Robotic Arm”

Website: Spacecraft: Surface Operations: Instruments by Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Website: Mars Exploration Rovers: Press Releases

Assessment Text: “Impact!: Asteroids and the Science of Saving the World” by Elizabeth Rusch (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2017) (Note: this text is only used for the assessment.)

Template: Narrative Brainstorming Template

Book: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (HarperCollins Publishers, 2011)   —  750L

Book: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (The Penguin Group, 2014)

Poem: “I, Too” by Langston Hughes

Poem: “Dream Variations” by Langston Hughes

Website: 10-Point Platform by PBS.org

Excerpt: The Black Panther - Vol. 3 No. 1, 1969 - part 1

Excerpt: The Black Panther - Vol. 3 No. 1, 1969 - part 2

Excerpt: The Black Panther - Vol. 2 No. 5, 1968 - part 1

Excerpt: The Black Panther - Vol. 2 No. 5, 1968 - part 2

Template: Two-Paragraph Outline

Template: Three Paragraph Outline

Template: 10-Point Platform Student Brainstorm

Book: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Square Fish, Reprint edition, 2007)   —  740L

Book: A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Hope Larson and Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2012)