Writing Lesson 4: Revision Focus on Transition WordsBooster Reading Lesson 5: Complete Compare/Contrast PieceCompanion Writing Lesson 5: Edit and Finalize PieceThird-Grade AdaptationFifth-Grade AdaptationNEXT INSTRUCTIONAL STEPSWhat Do I See? A Student Sample of Persuasive WritingWhat Do I See? A Student Sample of Compare and ContrastAuthentic Assessment: Student Reflection and EvaluationPeer Power: How to Use Student Work as Mentor TextsIf/Then ChartMentor TextsUnit Planning: How to Build Out Three Weeks
3 LESSON SEQUENCE 2: Integrating Reading Craft and Structure With Opinion WritingWhat Teachers Guide Across the WeekWhat Students Do Across the WeekBooster Reading Lesson 1: Explaining How an Author Uses Reasons and Evidence in Informational TextCompanion Writing Lesson 1: Expressing an Opinion in Response to TextBooster Reading Lesson 2: Examining How Text Features Help With Main Idea and EvidenceCompanion Writing Lesson 2: Modeling Opinion WritingLanguage Connections: Determine or Clarify the Meaning of Unknown WordsBooster Reading Lesson 3: Using Essential Questions to Dig DeeperCompanion Writing Lesson 3: Launching Opinion WritingBooster Reading Lesson 4: Moving to IndependenceCompanion Writing Lesson 4: Working Through the Writing ProcessBooster Reading Lesson 5: Assessing Our LearningCompanion Writing Lesson 5: Wrapping Up the WritingSnapshot of How to Move From a Written Opinion Piece to a SpeechThird-Grade AdaptationFourth-Grade AdaptationNEXT INSTRUCTIONAL STEPSWhat Do I See? A Student Sample of Response to ReadingWhat Do I See? A Student Sample of Response to ReadingAuthentic Assessment: Student Reflection and EvaluationPeer Power: How to Use Student Work as Mentor TextsIf/Then ChartMentor TextsUnit Planning: How to Build Out Three Weeks
4 LESSON SEQUENCE 3: Integrating Narrative Writing With Craft and StructureWhat Teachers Guide Across the WeekWhat Students Do Across the WeekBooster Reading Lesson 1: Elements of MythsCompanion Writing Lesson 1: Starting to Envision an Original MythAdapting This Lesson for Other Text Types: InformationalBooster Reading Lesson 2: Co-Constructing a Summary and Independent ReadingCompanion Writing Lesson 2: Planning a MythBooster Reading Lesson 3: Mini-Book ClubsCompanion Writing Lesson 3: Adding Character Description and DialogueLanguage Connections: Eavesdropping on a Book Club ConversationBooster Reading Lesson 4: Looking at LanguageCompanion Writing Lesson 4: Rich Language Equals Rich WritingBooster Reading Lesson 5: Wrapping Up and AssessmentCompanion Writing Lesson 5: Finalizing the MythsLangage Connections: Reading With FluencyThird-Grade AdaptationFifth-Grade AdaptationNEXT INSTRUCTIONAL STEPSWhat Do I See? A Student Response to Literary ElementsWhat Do I See? A Student Sample of an Original MythAuthentic Assessment: Student Reflection and EvaluationPeer Power: How to Use Student Work as Mentor TextsIf/Then ChartMentor TextsUnit Planning: How to Build Out Three Weeks
5 LESSON SEQUENCE 4: Integrating Explanatory Text Writing With Reading for Key IdeasWhat Teachers Guide Across the WeekWhat Students Do Across the WeekBooster Writing Lesson 1: Informative/Explanatory Text Makes the World Go ’RoundCompanion Reading Lesson 1: Noticing Text FeaturesAdapting This Lesson for Other Text Types: LiteratureBooster Writing Lesson 2: Grouping by HeadingsCompanion Reading Lesson 2: How Authors Use HeadingsBooster Writing Lesson 3: Sequencing InformationCompanion Reading Lesson 3: Close Reading a Text and VisualsLanguage Connections: VocabularyBooster Writing Lesson 4: Vocabulary and ElaborationCompanion Reading Lesson 4: Assessing Understanding With Annotating and Summarizing TextBooster Writing Lesson 5: Presenting the “All About” PiecesCompanion Reading Lesson 5: Presenting the “All About” PiecesSnapshot of a PresentationFourth-Grade AdaptationFifth-Grade AdaptationNEXT INSTRUCTIONAL STEPSWhat Do I See? A Student Sample of Informative TextWhat Do I See? A Student Sample of a Topic Written in Two Different FormatsAuthentic Assessment: Student Reflection and EvaluationPeer Power: How to Use Student Work as Mentor TextsIf/Then ChartMentor TextsUnit Planning: How to Build Out Three Weeks
6 LESSON SEQUENCE 5: Integrating Research With PresentationWhat Teachers Guide Across the WeekWhat Students Do Across the WeekBooster Writing Lesson 1: Introducing Research and QuestionsCompanion Reading Lesson 1: Evaluating Print and Digital ContentAdapting This Lesson for Other Text Types: LiteratureBooster Writing Lesson 2: Determining Importance and Note-TakingCompanion Reading Lesson 2: Becoming a Media-Savvy, Critical ReaderSnapshot of Student CollaborationLanguage Connections: Words in Their Best OrderBooster Writing Lesson 3: A Focus on Note-TakingCompanion Reading Lesson 3: Analyzing NotesBooster Writing Lesson 4: DraftingCompanion Reading Lesson 4: Re-Reading and Refining DraftsBooster Writing Lesson 5: Putting It All TogetherCompanion Reading Lesson 5: Compelling ConclusionsThird-Grade AdaptationFourth-Grade AdaptationNEXT INSTRUCTIONAL STEPSWhat Do I See? A Student Sample of a Nonfiction ArticleWhat Do I See? A Student Sample of a Nonfiction Research PieceAuthentic Assessment: Student Reflection and EvaluationPeer Power: How to Use Student Work as Mentor TextsIf/Then ChartMentor TextsUnit Planning: How to Build Out Three Weeks
Acknowledgments
Introduction
How do we help students think strategically about what they are reading and writing? How can we be “sketch artists” as we move from lesson to lesson so students see the connecting lines in terms of craft and ideas? How do we instruct and inspire students to discuss the ideas in fiction and nonfiction, and not just one-up each other with facts? How do we as teachers meet standards, meet our kids, and meet a slew of other demands without becoming manic in our teaching?
These are just a few of the questions that shaped the concept of this book, The Common Core Companion: Booster Lessons, Grades 3–5. I teach fourth grade full time, with more than three decades under my belt, so I come at this book as I have with all my previous books: We teachers have to take care of ourselves first, before we can step into the classroom to teach our kids. It’s a bit like the flight attendant’s instruction to put on the oxygen mask first, before helping others. Without oxygen, we can’t save anyone else.
“Taking care” is not the usual diction of professional books, huh? Rigor, achievement, and accountability, are, alas, more familiar words. For this book, here’s its working definition: Taking care of ourselves means taking the time to know—and focus our teaching upon—the literacy practices that matter most for students and for life. It means recognizing that we can’t teach everything the world seems to want us to teach—but we can teach better, and, like every other professional, it’s our responsibility to continue to hone our skills. And by “better” I mean smarter, leaner, more efficient—planning lessons and units that are as energizing for us as they are for our students because they spring from a less-is-more philosophy. These lessons are booster lessons because they give you a boost of ready-to-go plans, and because they are designed to give students an extra dose of research-based literacy demonstrations, whenever and wherever you see they fit.
Think Standards Integration
I’ve organized the lessons into what I call lesson sequences—a snappy way of saying that each lesson connects to another, and they are designed to cover a week or two of instruction. You will see as you try them that they get you into the groove of integrating a handful of reading and writing and all the English language arts (ELA) standards each week. As you can see from the list below, there are five of these sequences in all. They address the Common Core Standards, but the attendant literacy topics and skills are timeless; literary giants from Shakespeare to Lemony Snicket employed them in some fashion or another, so embrace them as evergreen!
1 Integrating Opinion Writing With Evaluating Argument
2 Integrating Reading Craft and Structure With Opinion Writing
3 Integrating Narrative Writing With Craft and Structure
4 Integrating Explanatory Text Writing With Reading for Key Ideas
5 Integrating Research With Presentation