The focus of this lesson is to provide an opportunity for children to develop oral language skills and to record their oral language to share with others.

Students begin a new anchor text in Unit 1, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. This text introduces students to the module topic of critical problems and design solutions by presenting the story of William Kamkwamba, a Malawian boy whose community endures a devastating drought and famine. To address this critical problem, William builds a windmill that produces electricity and helps make his family and community less vulnerable to the consequences of future droughts. Over the course of the unit, students identify the elements of design thinking that guide William in the construction of his windmill, as well as the habits of character (e.g., initiative, perseverance, and compassion) that William demonstrates throughout his many setbacks and restarts. Carefully sequenced tasks throughout Unit 1 invite students to analyze how central ideas are conveyed in each chapter of the text and examine the methods used by the writers to introduce William and develop his character. This work prepares students for the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment.

In the second half of Unit 1, a close read supports students’ comprehension of a supplemental informational text, focusing on central idea and vocabulary. Through two Language Dives, students determine the figurative meaning of language used in the anchor text and use surrounding context as a clue to the meaning of unfamiliar words. As students continue to read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, they determine how the textual structure of the chapters helps to convey meaning. They also review principles of effective summary writing. This work prepares students for the end of unit assessment.

At the end of Unit 1, students deepen their understanding of the design thinking process and use a note-catcher to track the steps of William’s design thinking. The unit closes with a text-based discussion that introduces students to the protocol that will be used in the End of Unit 3 Assessment.

Students begin their deep dive into the topic of American Indian boarding schools by examining artifacts that they will encounter in the module in order to infer the topic. Students are then introduced to the anchor text, Two Roads by Joseph Bruchac, reading a few excerpts from the early chapters to draw inferences about the text’s key characters. Before diving deeper into the anchor text, students examine supplementary texts carefully selected to develop understanding of the topic’s historical context. A speech by Captain Pratt, the founder of Carlisle Indian boarding school, and the first-person account of this school by Zitkala-Sa, a member of the Yankton tribe, allows students to examine and reflect on multiple perspectives. Students also use these texts to practice explaining how an author’s point of view is conveyed and what impact connotative and figurative language has on meaning. Finally, students paraphrase the key ideas and demonstrate understanding of the perspective being conveyed in the Meriam Report, commissioned by the US government to uncover the terrible conditions of the boarding schools. Students then examine photographs of the scenarios described in the report and practice integrating the information from the excerpts with information from the photos to develop a more cohesive understanding of the topic as a whole. For the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment, students examine a different section of the same narrative from Zitkala-Sa, and answer selected response questions about vocabulary and figurative language in the text and about Zitkala-Sa’s point of view and how it is conveyed in the text. Students also answer a constructed response question asking them to integrate ideas from the text with their interpretations of two related photographs.

In the second half of Unit 1, students return to the anchor text at chapter 9. In-class tasks, including two Language Dives using sentences from the anchor text, invite students to examine the way that the author develops Cal’s point of view and advances the plot, as well as explore a key character’s code-switching among language varieties. These tasks support the development of skills that students independently apply in the End of Unit 1 Assessment. The assessment requires students to read the beginning of chapter 18 of Two Roads and answer selected response and short constructed response questions to analyze the structure of the text, interpret the use of intensive pronouns, examine how Bruchac develops Cal’s point of view, and describe the impact of using language varieties on the development of characters within the text.

AAA Math's interactive tutorials and lessons assist students grades K-8 improve their understanding of a wide range of arithmetic topics. Students are provided with immediate feedback as they complete the "Learn," "Practice," and "Play" portions of each lesson. Browse AAA Math's contents by subject or by grade level.

Six 50-minute lessons build vocabulary through the content areas by making an ABC book. It can become a classroom resource. Links include a non-fiction book list, checklist, word list, rubric, and a storyboard chart. There is also a link to alphabet organizer.

This video [14:33] shows a demonstration of academic vocabulary instruction through the context of a complex work, a poem. The teacher demonstrates how to access the literal meaning of new vocabulary and then infer the deeper meaning. Includes downloadable assessment handouts.

This lesson employs direct instruction and small-group discussion to help students learn new vocabulary skills while reading Patricia Polacco's "Pink and Say".

Possible Sentences is a pre-reading vocabulary strategy that activates students' prior knowledge about content area vocabulary and concepts.

The Semantic Feature Analysis strategy engages students in reading assignments by asking them to relate selected vocabulary to key features of the text. This technique uses a matrix to help students discover how one set of things is related to one another. It improves students' comprehension, vocabulary, and content retention. This strategy helps students to examine related features or concepts and make distinctions among them. By analyzing the completed matrix, students are able to visualize connections, make predictions, and better understand important concepts.

Students should learn specific vocabulary and academic language to comprehend content text, but they should also become independent in understanding and owning vocabulary. This article offers tips for developing students' "vocabulary ownership."

Vocabulary instruction is an important part of reading and language arts classes, as well as content-area classes such as science and social studies. By giving students explicit instruction in vocabulary, teachers help them learn the meaning of new words and strengthen their independent skills of constructing the meaning of text.

Morphology describes how words are formed from building blocks called morphemes, the smallest unit of meaning in a word. Students who don't understand this structure have trouble recognizing, understanding, and spelling words. Find out how proper instruction can help them learn this key skill.

What's in a word? Mastery of oral and written vocabulary promotes comprehension and communication. Find out how proper instruction can help students who struggle with vocabulary.

A strategy for vocabulary instruction that involves introducing new vocabulary in related clusters. This approach can help diverse learners, including those students learning English, to make important vocabulary connections.

This article answers four common questions teachers have about vocabulary instruction, including what words to teach and how well students should know vocabulary words.

The most effective vocabulary instruction teaches word meanings as concepts; it connects the words being taught with their context and with the students' prior knowledge. Six techniques have proven especially effective: Concept Definition Maps, Semantic Mapping, Semantic Feature Mapping, Possible Sentences, Comparing and Contrasting, and Teaching Word Parts. RI.9-10.4 word meanings/impact of choice

Effective vocabulary instruction begins with diverse opportunities for word learning: wide reading, high-quality oral language, word consciousness, explicit instruction of specific words, and independent word-learning strategies. This article explains how these opportunities can be created in the classroom.

Copying definitions from the dictionary and memorizing words for tests is not sufficient work for students to master and retain new vocabulary. This article helps teachers choose which words are most important to teach and suggests strategies to bring those words to life for students.

To be scientifically literate, students must be able to express themselves appropriately. Learn how to help struggling students master specific vocabulary and be able to use it in their science writing activities.

This is a collection of four videos about teaching vocabulary. The first is a principal discussing a school-wide approach to vocabulary improvement; the second is a director of the academic English at the University of California discussing academic vocabulary and strategies to teach it. The third one is a college professor discussing the need for explicit instruction of vocabulary, multiple exposure to the vocabulary, the "bricks" and "mortar" words, and the 3 tiers of vocabulary. The last video is of teachers and their students teaching vocabulary.