This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary from the series of poems, Danitra Brown Leaves Town. Danitra and Zuri are two city-girls and best friends, and Danitra goes away to her auntĺ䁥_s house for the summer. These poems tell a story about how the girls stayed in touch by writing letters to each other, and how they discovered that they could have fun apart from one another while still remaining friends.

The students at Riverside Elementary School are excited about a visit from a real author. The class has been reading books by the author to get ready for her visit. No one was as excited as Eddie.

Juno receives a letter from his grandmother who lives in Seoul, Korea. Even though he cannot read the Korean-language text, she is able to communicate with her grandmother through letters that include pictures and objects.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions and other CCSS instructional shifts to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary from the text Dear Mrs. LaRue. Mrs. LaRue sends her dog, Ike, to obedience school because of a series of inappropriate behaviors that he displays toward everyone. Ike feels he has been wrongly sent to the school and writes letters to explain his perspective on what actually happened in each situation, trying to persuade Ms. LaRue to come and get him.

Dogzilla is a fantasy story of mice who protect their city, Mousopolis, from being destroyed by Dogzilla. The mice come up with a plan to give Dogzilla a bath, which scares him away.

Students create text sets on a high interest topic and use the texts to practice three strategies for reading for information.

Beverly Cleary tells the story of a family on a rainy Sunday in a household full of bad moods. Ramonas father suggests they all go out to dinner. While out, an old man pays for their dinner because he believes they are a nice family and he misses his own family.

The goal of this five-day exemplar is to explicitly model the process of searching for and interpreting intra-textual connections. In this lesson sequence, the teacher poses an analytic focusing question and then guides students in gathering and interpreting evidence from the text in order to come to a deeper understanding of the story. Simple word play and art activities give students practice in closely attending to language and word choice, and in visualizing and recording their interpretations. Discussion and a short writing exercise help students to synthesize what they have learned.

In this tall tale story, deadbeat Shorty Long has to avoid the people to whom he owes money. He tries to trick Widow Macrae out of $4.50, but actually created more problems for himself.

A little boy loses his neighbors dog inside the mysterious garden of Abdul Gasazi, who tells the boy that he has turned the dog into a duck. But when the boy returns home he finds the dog waiting for him on the porch. Gasazi was playing a trick on the boy - or was he?

In this story Gertrude Ederle overcomes obstacles, both physical and social, in order to prevail at her lifelong dream of being the first women to swim the English Channel.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions and Common Core literacy strategies to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary using the biographic text, Gloria Estefan. Along with her worldwide musical fame, Gloria Estefan also experienced tragedy, but continued to help others in unfortunate situations. Gloriaĺĺs success has allowed her to receive multiple honors and awards for her selfless work leading to her being referred to as "a star with a heart."

ŕThe Go-Around DollarĚŇ is a selection that combines two genres: realistic fiction and expository text. It provides an entertaining look at the journey of a dollar as it passes through the hands of various characters.

In this story, Jangmi moves from her home in Korea to a new home in the United States. At first she is sad about leaving behind her friends and Korean customs and traditions, but once she arrives in America she begins to adjust. She becomes hopeful that someday America could feel like home, too.

The folktale ŕHalf-ChickenĚŇ is about a chicken hatched with only half a body, one leg, one wing, one eye, and only half as many feathers as the other chicks.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions and Common Core literacy strategies to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary using the text "Happy Birthday Dr. King". When ten-year old Jamalĺĺs grandfather hears that the boy is in trouble for fighting to sit in the back of the bus, he tells Jamal about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movement. Jamal responds with an idea for a skit for his schoolĺĺs King Day assembly.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions and Common Core literacy strategies to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary using the text, "Heat Wave." A fantastic heat wave hits a Kansas farm, roasting the geese, popping the corn in the fields, and causing other distressing events. The farm girl tries a few clever ways to get rid of it, and finally succeeds when she plants iceberg lettuce.

Angel Arrellano, a nine-year-old girl from Fresno, CA. spearheaded a campaign to raise money to be donated to the local zoo. Her enthusiasm and altruism generated an overwhelming response from the Fresno community and beyond, which allowed for much needed upkeep and improvements for the zoo and its animals.

This nonfiction piece tells about Barbara del Colorado, a village in Costa Rica. People needed a way to make money; a scientist suggested that they grow butterflies. The town now sells 250 pupae a month, making enough money to buy what they need.