ELA  /  5th Grade  /  Unit 1: Building Community: Seedfolks

Building Community: Seedfolks

Students explore the theme of community through the book Seedfolks, wrestling with how prejudice and racism impact the way people treat each other and the ways in which that can influence a community.

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ELA

Unit 1

5th Grade

Unit Summary

By reading the core text, Seedfolks, students will explore what it means to be part of a community and how the actions of one person can positively impact an entire community. Students will grapple with how being part of a community can help a person change and evolve as they discover new things about themselves. Students will also wrestle with how prejudice and racism impact the way people treat each other and how both can influence an entire community. It is our hope that this unit helps establish a strong classroom community and that the characters in Seedfolks can serve as a model for how people from all walks of life can come together to be part of a strong, respectful community. 

Seedfolks was chosen as the core text not only because of its portrayal of the power of community, but also because of the unique structure of the text. Each chapter is told from a different character's point of view and shows how, as the garden grows, the characters' hearts and compassion grow. The structure of the text allows students to begin exploring two key 5th Grade standards: Comparing and contrasting two or more characters and describing how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described. This also provides students with the opportunity for criticality and critique. The author attempts to portray many different viewpoints, most of which are vastly different from his own lived experience and identity. This makes the text worthy of close reading for language or descriptions that feel inaccurate or biased. Teachers should encourage students to share their authentic reactions to the perspectives illustrated by Fleischman.

Throughout the unit, students learn to prepare for class discussions, determining which evidence best supports a particular idea and how to elaborate on that evidence. By writing daily in response to the Target Task question, students build their writing fluency, seeing the power of writing as a tool for understanding what they are reading. This unit also serves as the foundation for learning how to brainstorm and write strong literary analysis/opinion paragraphs, focusing on drafting topic sentences and determining supporting details. At the end of the unit, students write their first narrative, using the mentor text as a guide to writing their own chapter in Seedfolks. They also write their first research report, focusing on learning more about community gardens to present to their local neighborhood association.

Please Note: In March 2025, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. This unit is now 27 instructional days (previously 26 days). Teachers should pay close attention as they intellectually prepare to account for the updated pacing, sequencing, and content.

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Texts and Materials

Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.

Core Materials

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

Supporting Materials

Text Selection Rationale
Purchase Books

Assessment

The following assessments accompany Unit 1.

Content Assessment

The Content Assessment pushes students to synthesize unit content knowledge or unit essential questions in writing. The Content Assessment should be used as the primary assessment because it shows mastery of unit content knowledge and standards.

Cold Read Assessment

The Cold Read Assessment tests students' ability to comprehend a "cold" or unfamiliar passage and answer standards-based questions. The Cold Read Assessment can be given in addition to the Content Assessment as a pulse point for what students can read and analyze independently, a skill often required for standardized testing.

Fluency Assessment

The Fluency Assessment allows teachers to monitor students' oral reading fluency progress with a reading passage drawn from one of the unit's core texts. Find guidance for using this assessment and supporting reading fluency in Teacher Tools.

Unit Prep

Intellectual Prep

Unit Launch

Before you teach this unit, unpack the texts, themes, and core standards through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.

Essential Questions

  • How can one person impact a community?
  • In what ways can prejudice impact the way people treat one another? 
  • What steps can be taken to overcome prejudice? 

Reading Focus Areas

  • Every character has a distinct purpose. Stories can have multiple characters with distinct purposes.

  • Comparing characters helps readers develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the text.

  • How characters respond to challenges is important to understand plot and theme.

Writing Focus Areas

Narrative Writing

  • Brainstorm a story with a logical sequence of events.

  • Start a story by hooking and orienting the reader.

  • Include details that describe a character's actions, thoughts, or feelings.

Informational Writing

  • Introduce a topic clearly using an introduction section.

  • Summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work.

  • Group related information into paragraphs and sections.

  • Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and concrete details.

Speaking and Listening Focus Areas

  • Prepare for discussion.

  • Elaborate to support ideas. Provide evidence or examples to justify and defend a point clearly.

  • Use specific vocabulary. Use vocabulary that is specific to the subject and task to clarify and share their thoughts.

Vocabulary

Text-based

abandonedcoincidencecommunityentrancedexceptionsfoesgestureshaphazardinfluenceparadiseprejudicethrivetransformvacantvowwilt

To see all the vocabulary for Unit 1, view our 5th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.

Supporting All Students

In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting all Students teacher tool.

Notes for Teachers

The chapter "Maricela" is skipped due to the sensitive content included in the chapter. This unit focuses on how one person can impact a community and how prejudice can impact the ways people treat one another. The events and content in this chapter are unnecessary for understanding the unit's Essential Questions and may distract from the overall learning goals. The main character in this chapter, Maricela, grapples with her wish to miscarry. While Leona helps Maricela begin to see why she would want to keep her baby, the complexity of struggling with conflicting feelings about pregnancy is likely too advanced for a 5th grader, and this topic is not necessary to understand the plot. Therefore, Fishtank plans to skip this chapter. 

We recommend informing students that you are skipping this chapter while also explaining that readers often do this. We suggest telling students that there are various reasons why readers may skip sections of a text. One reason is that the text may contain inappropriate content (in this case, Maricela's internal struggles surrounding her pregnancy, but in other texts, this could include content that is triggering or frightening). Another reason is that some sections provide context that is unnecessary for understanding the plot and can be skipped to finish the book more quickly. (Students will encounter this in Return to Sender when the teacher summarizes sections of the text to help with pacing.) Additionally, depending on when a text was written, certain sections may be outdated or offensive. (Sometimes, if it aligns with the unit goals, students may analyze these sections, but if not, they will skip them.) If you have personal examples or other reasons for skipping sections of a text, we recommend sharing them with students. This helps students recognize that skipping certain text sections is a common practice among readers.

If you decide to include the chapter on Maricela, we encourage you to provide additional support to students to ensure that they can process the chapter's content.

Content Knowledge and Connections

Lesson Map

18
Lesson
Writing
Overview

Write your own chapter in Seedfolks by using a narrative structure to develop imagined experiences based on the events of the text.

Materials
  • Seedfolks
  • 5th Grade Narrative Writing Rubric
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
  • 5th Grade Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric
Day 1 - Brainstorming

Brainstorm and plan the setting, characters, and plot for a narrative.

Materials
  • Seedfolks
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
  • Sample Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer (G5, U1, L18)

Standards

W.5.3W.5.3.aW.5.5

Day 2 - Drafting

Draft an introduction that orients the reader to the setting.

Materials
  • Seedfolks
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer — (Completed on Day 1)
  • 5th Grade Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric

Standards

W.5.3W.5.3.aW.5.5

Day 3 - Drafting

Include details about actions, thoughts, and feelings to describe characters.

Materials
  • Seedfolks
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer — (Completed on Day 1)
  • Sample Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer (G5, U1, L18)
  • 5th Grade Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric

Standards
Day 4 - Revision

Expand or reduce sentences so that they are clear and informative for readers.

Materials
  • Seedfolks
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer — (Completed on Day 1)
  • 5th Grade Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric
  • Editing Checklist 2 (G5, U1)

Standards

L.5.3.aW.5.2.cW.5.3W.5.3.aW.5.5

19
Lesson
Writing
Overview

Conduct a short research project that uses several sources to build knowledge of different aspects of a topic.

Materials
  • Seedfolks
  • Research Brainstorming Template (G5, U1, L19)
  • Two Paragraph Outline
  • 5th Grade Single Point Research Rubric
  • “7 Effective Steps to Start a Community Garden (University of Minnesota)”
  • “4 Examples of Urban and Community Garden / Farm Projects to Inspire the Next Generation (Plant a Seed and See What Grows Foundation)”
  • “How to Organize a Community Garden (NC State Extension School)”
  • “Successful Community Gardening Webinar Series (Youtube, University of Illinois Extension)”
  • “Growing Successful Community Gardens (University of Kentucky)”
  • “Community Garden Checklist (Let's Move, archived)”
  • “4 Benefits of Community Gardens (Pennsylvania Horticulture Society)”
  • “Community Gardens Can Change Cities: Cultivate More than Food (Youtube)”
Day 1 - Brainstorming

Generate strong questions and use reliable sources to research a topic.

Materials
  • Research Brainstorming Template (G5, U1, L19)
  • “7 Effective Steps to Start a Community Garden (University of Minnesota)”
  • “4 Examples of Urban and Community Garden / Farm Projects to Inspire the Next Generation (Plant a Seed and See What Grows Foundation)”
  • “How to Organize a Community Garden (NC State Extension School)”
  • “Successful Community Gardening Webinar Series (Youtube, University of Illinois Extension)”
  • “Growing Successful Community Gardens (University of Kentucky)”
  • “Community Garden Checklist (Let's Move, archived)”
  • “4 Benefits of Community Gardens (Pennsylvania Horticulture Society)”
  • “Community Gardens Can Change Cities: Cultivate More than Food (Youtube)”

Standards

W.5.7

Day 2 - Researching

Summarize or paraphrase information in research notes.

Materials
  • Research Brainstorming Template (G5, U1, L19) — (Started on Day 1)
  • “7 Effective Steps to Start a Community Garden (University of Minnesota)”
  • “4 Examples of Urban and Community Garden / Farm Projects to Inspire the Next Generation (Plant a Seed and See What Grows Foundation)”
  • “How to Organize a Community Garden (NC State Extension School)”
  • “Successful Community Gardening Webinar Series (Youtube, University of Illinois Extension)”
  • “Growing Successful Community Gardens (University of Kentucky)”
  • “Community Garden Checklist (Let's Move, archived)”
  • “4 Benefits of Community Gardens (Pennsylvania Horticulture Society)”
  • “Community Gardens Can Change Cities: Cultivate More than Food (Youtube)”

Standards

W.5.7W.5.8

Day 3 - Planning

Complete an outline that includes a topic sentence, a concluding sentence, and supporting details for each paragraph.

Materials
  • Research Brainstorming Template (G5, U1, L19) — Completed the previous day
  • Two Paragraph Outline — Students may need more than one copy if they decide to draft more than two paragraphs
  • 5th Grade Single Point Research Rubric

Standards

W.5.2.bW.5.7W.5.8

Day 4 - Drafting

Introduce a topic by stating why it is important and including relevant background information that sets the stage for the main ideas.

Materials
  • Research Brainstorming Template (G5, U1, L19) — Completed previous day
  • Two Paragraph Outline — Completed previous day
  • 5th Grade Single Point Research Rubric
  • Mentor Text: Conquer the Cold (G5, U1, L19)
  • Mentor Text: Deep-Sea Danger (G5, U1, L19)
  • Mentor Text: A Juneteenth Celebration (G5, U1, L19)
  • Mentor Text: A Place to Play (G5, U1, L19)

Standards

W.5.2W.5.2.aW.5.2.bW.5.7W.5.8

Day 5 - Revision & Editing

Add details to unclear sentences to provide more information to readers.

Materials
  • Completed Drafts from Day 4 (G5, U1, L19)
  • Editing Checklist 2 (G5, U1)

Standards

L.5.3.aW.5.2.bW.5.7W.5.8

Common Core Standards

Core Standards

L.5.1
L.5.1.a
L.5.2
L.5.2.b
L.5.2.e
L.5.3
L.5.3.a
L.5.3.b
RL.5.2
RL.5.3
RL.5.5
RL.5.6
SL.5.1
SL.5.1.a
SL.5.1.b
SL.5.6
W.5.1
W.5.1.a
W.5.1.c
W.5.1.d
W.5.2
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.c
W.5.3
W.5.3.a
W.5.3.c
W.5.5
W.5.7
W.5.8

Supporting Standards

L.5.4
L.5.4.b
L.5.5.a
L.5.6
RF.5.3
RF.5.4
RL.5.1
RL.5.4
RL.5.10
W.5.4
W.5.6
W.5.9.a
W.5.10

Read Next

Building Community: Seedfolks
Lesson 1
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