| Curriculum Map 2006-2007 | |||
|
The Dwight School |
| Content | Purpose/ Objectives | Activities/ Assessments | Resources | ||
| September (Week 1, 3 Weeks) |
READING Short stories from around the world Group Novels: Cricket in Times Square/ The Big Wave Independent Goals WRITING "I am From" Writing Narrative Writing Components of a complete sentences Novel questions Character maps Plot maps Perspective Pieces New final chapters to novels Newsletter pieces GRAMMAR Parts of a sentence: Subject/ Predicate/ Direct Object Paragraphing: Topic Sentence, Body, Concluding Sentence Structure of a story: Setting Plot Characters Climax Conclusion Point of View SPELLING Level D: Words with short vowels in the first syllable; words with long vowels in the first syllable Level DD: Suffixes-able. and -ible; Suffixes -ify and -ity |
-To introduce a love of stories through whole-class reading and literature circle groupwork -To compare and contrast stories from other parts of the world -To identify parts of a story and develop a vocabulary for discussing literature -To analyze literature and demonstrate comprehension during group discussions and in writing -To introduce personal reading goals beyond our literature circles to build a reading culture -To discuss parts of a sentence and parts of a paragraph for more organized expository writing -To write from a character's point of view to establish an understanding of person -To write creatively from your foundation of characters in literature circle novels -To identify an author's style -To sequence events from a chapter or story through plot mapping and sequencing lists -To map character traits -To uncover personal interests and territories for current and future writing _To distiguish between and practice different using writing styles |
-Comprehension Questions and Activities -Character and Plot Maps -How to Use an Editing Checklist -Peer Editing Strategies -Revision Lessons -Teacher observation during literature circle discussions -Grammar exercises: classwork and homework -Spellwell Exercises Lessons 1 & 2 -Weekly quizzes: spelling and vocabulary -Writing assessment rubric: teacher- and student-evaluated final chapters to novels |
SHORT STORIES "All Summer in A Day" by Ray Bradbury "People Could Fly" by Virginia Hamilton "True Story of Three Little Pigs" by Jon Scieszka "After Twenty Years" by O. Henry NOVELS Cricket in Times Square by George Selden The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck GRAMMAR Teacher-created materials Exercises in English by Loyola University Press Oral Language Daily by Neil J. Vail and Joseph F. Papenfuss SPELLING AND VOCABULARY Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
| October (Week 4, 4 Weeks) |
READING Group Novels: Continue The Big Wave and Cricket and Times Square, Begin The Family Under the Bridge and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Link to Unit of Inquiry: Architecture Research Class Read Aloud: The Trumpet of the Swan Independent Goals WRITING Continue narrative writing- publish final piece Three-paragraph research reports (expository writing) Newsletter pieces Reflection Writing GRAMMAR Nouns: singular and plural; possessive nouns; common and proper Pronouns Possessive pronouns Direct objects SPELLING Level D: Words with ar/or; Words Ending in ar/or Level DD: Prefixes en-, ex-, and in-; Prefixes dis-, im-, in-, un- |
-To use literature circles to analyze, discuss, and synthesize literature -To independently use note cards to organize research -To master writing a three-paragraph research report -To identify different nouns and properly use possession in sentences -To identify the direct object of a sentence versus the subject |
-Comprehension Questions and Novel Activities -Teacher observation during literature circle discussions -Grammar exercises: class work and homework -Spellwell Exercises Lessons 3 & 4 -Weekly Quizzes: spelling and vocabulary -Teacher and Self- Assessment Rubrics for research |
READING The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg GRAMMAR Teacher-created materials Exercises in English by Loyola University Press Oral Language Daily by Neil J. Vail and Joseph F. Papenfuss SPELLING AND VOCABULARY Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
| READING STRATEGIES: FICTION AND NON-FICTION (Week 8, 5 Weeks) |
READING Group Novels: Continue The Family Under the Bridge and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Begin The Cricket in Times Square, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe Whole Class Reading: The People Pick a President Class Read Aloud: The Trumpet of the Swan Independent Goals WRITING Comprehension Questions Persuasive Writing, Introduction to Thesis Development Newsletter pieces Reflection writing from field trips GRAMMAR Quotation Marks Commas: words in a series, direct address, after yes and no, with direct quotations Proofreading marks SPELLING Level D: Words with er, ir and ur; Suffixes -ful, -hood, -ment, -ness, -ship Level DD: words with long u; words with au and ou |
-To apply text to self; text to text; and text to world connections -To apply non-fiction reading strategies: underlining, finding bold words, using captions and pictures, finding the main idea -To display greater independence with research reports and three-paragraph outlines -To consider sub-text as a reading strategy to produce the comic strip -To display reflection in personal writing about the year so far -To consider one's own opinion to craft persuasive writing -To consider one's audience when writing -To master proper quotation marks in story writing -To master commas -To use proper proofreading marks when self-editing or peer-editing |
-Evidence of text to self; text to text; and text to world connections made during literature circle and in writing in reading log during weekend independent reading -Teacher-assessed Comprehension Questions and Novel Activities -Teacher-Assessed Opinion paragraphs -Teacher observation during literature circle discussions -Grammar exercises: classwork and homework -Spellwell Exercises Lessons 5 & 6 -Weekly Quizzes: spelling and vocabulary -Teacher and Self- Assessment Rubrics for research |
READING Non-fiction packets--teacher-created The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis The People Pick a President, Scholastic GRAMMAR Teacher-created materials Exercises in English by Loyola University Press Oral Language Daily by Neil J. Vail and Joseph F. Papenfuss SPELLING AND VOCABULARY Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
| December (Week 13, 3 Weeks) |
READING Group novels: Continue: The Cricket in Times Square and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe Individual novels over winter break Whole Class Reading: Jean Fritz American History series (Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?, Shhh! We're Writing the Constitution, Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?, Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock? WRITING Creative Writing: Colonial Times newspaper pieces Thesis outlining and development Newsletter pieces GRAMMAR Adjectives: descriptive; proper; this, that, these, those; that tell how many; that tell which kind; comparison Verbs: powerful action verbs Similes and Metaphors SPELLING Review spelling lessons previously learned Poetry vocabulary |
-To compare and contrast writing by the same author -To learn about historical figures and time periods through historical-fiction -To understand historical-fiction as a genre and compare and contrast it with realistic fiction -To discover democracy today through literature -To learn about different time periods from each other's independent selections -To analyze journal entries as a style of writing -To create original diary entries from a character's point of view: both today and from history -To craft in writing original ideas about human rights -To interpret language in one's own words -To understand various styles of writing found in a newspaper -To write from a historical perspective -To use more sophisticated vocabulary and use the thesaurus for better word choice -To assess which spelling lessons have been learned |
-Teacher-assessed Novel activities -Teacher-assessed Comprehension Questions -Teacher observation during literature circle discussions -Grammar exercises: classwork and homework -Spellwell Exercises Review Lessons 1-6 -Weekly Quizzes: spelling and vocabulary |
READING The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Personal choice for independent reading during the winter break Jean Fritz History Series GRAMMAR Teacher-created materials Exercises in English by Loyola University Press Oral Language Daily by Neil J. Vail and Joseph F. Papenfuss SPELLING AND VOCABULARY Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
| PUBLISHING: AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS (Week 16, 4 Weeks) |
READING Group novels: Iggie's House by Judy Blume; Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume Unit Reading: Dr. Seuss biography; Beatrix Potter biography Individual Reading Goals WRITING Short Stories Descriptive Quick Writes Newsletter Articles Comprehension Questions and Novel Activities GRAMMAR Adjective Review Being Verbs Irregular/Regular Verbs Phonics SPELLING Level D: Words with a soft c; Adding suffixes to words ending in e; Words with long e: ea and ey Level DD:Words with ea (short); Adding suffixes to words ending in y; Words with -ck, -ic, and -ical Publishing Vocabulary |
-To compare and contrast an author as a class: Judy Blume -To research an author's life and discover their writing influences -To make connections between an author's work and the student's own writing process -To review the structure of a story (character, setting, plot, conclusion, theme) and apply to own short story writing -To learn about book-making techniques -To review adjectives and create powerful descriptions -To categorize verbs -To learn irregular verbs for proper spelling and usage PHONICS -To categorize words -To recognize compound words -To find root words, prefixes and suffixes -To review plurals -To review contractions -Developing meaning from context -To distinguish single consonants and blends -To distinguish short and long vowel sounds -To apply dictionary skills and alphabetical order |
-Teacher-assessed novel test on Judy Blume books -Pop Quiz on Judy Blume chapters -Teacher-assessed Novel activities, such as Sketch and Stretch -Teacher-assessed Comprehension Questions -Teacher observation during literature circle discussions -Grammar exercises: classwork and homework -Spellwell Exercises Review Lessons 7, 8, 9 -Weekly Quizzes: spelling and vocabulary -Short Story writing continuum |
READING Iggie's House by Judy Blume Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume Oh, The Places He Went (Dr. Seuss biography) by Maryann N. Weidt The Country Artist (Beatrix Potter biography) by David R. Collins GRAMMAR Teacher-created materials Exercises in English by Loyola University Press G.U.M. Grade Four by Zaner-Bloser Oral Language Daily by Neil J. Vail and Joseph F. Papenfuss SPELLING AND VOCABULARY Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
| HISTORICAL-FICTION (Week 20, 4 Weeks) |
READING Class texts: Jean Fritz American history series: Sam Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, King George, Patrick Henry, Shh... We're Writing the Constitution; selections from the History of Us series Group novels: begin The Landry News by Andrew Clements and Harriet the Spy by Louis Fitzhugh Individual novels: independent historical fiction novels, primarily from the Dear America series WRITING Jean Fritz author review Individual versions of The Bill of Rights Group writing on new versions to The Preamble Democracy mid-unit reflection Diary entries from a historical figure's point of view Newspaper articles for a colonial class newspaper (full research process) Summaries of independent novels Comprehension Questions and Novel Activities GRAMMAR Adverbs Note-taking Outlining Synonyms/ Antonyms Phonics SPELLING Level D: More words with long e: ee and ie; Words ending in al and le Level DD: Plurals: Regular and Irregular; Prefixes: per-, pre-, and pro- Democracy vocabulary |
-To learn about historical figures and time periods through historical-fiction To understand historical-fiction as a genre and compare and contrast it with realistic fiction -To discover democracy today through literature -To learn about different time periods from each other's independent selections -To analyze journal entries as a style of writing -To create original diary entries from a character's point of view: both today and from history -To craft in writing original ideas about human rights -To interpret language in one's own words -To summarize using who, what, when, where, why, and how -To understand the difference and usage of adverbs and adjectives -To apply note-taking and outlining to the research process -To understand and apply synonyms vs. antonyms PHONICS -To select meaning based on context -To choose proper titles -To identify key words and topic sentences -To summarize (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How) -To find specific information in texts -To select facts to remember -To use study guides, charts, and outlines -To arrange ideas in a sequence -To interpret story ideas -To distinguish time period -To identify mood -To identify author's purpose -To distinguish voice and audience |
-Teacher-assessed Jean Fritz author review -Teacher-assessed Novel activities, such as diary entries -Teacher-assessed Comprehension Questions -Teacher observation during literature circle discussions -Grammar exercises: classwork and homework and grammar games for synonyms/ antonyms -Spellwell Exercises Lessons 10, 11 -Weekly Quizzes: spelling and vocabulary -Teacher-assessed summaries -Teacher-assessed Dear America presentations (looking for proper summary and visual display) |
READING Jean Fritz historical-fiction series (see above) The Landry News by Andrew Clements Harriet the Spy by Louis Fitzhugh Dear America series GRAMMAR Teacher-created materials Exercises in English by Loyola University Press G.U.M. Grade Four by Zaner-Bloser Oral Language Daily by Neil J. Vail and Joseph F. Papenfuss SPELLING AND VOCABULARY Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
| HISTORICAL-FICTION; OBSERVATION JOURNALS (Week 24, 3 Weeks) |
READING Group Novels: finish The Landry News by Andrew Clements and Harriet the Spy by Louis Fitzhugh Individual texts: March Book-It goal: historical-fiction encouraged; approved novels for spring break reading WRITING Observation entries Colonial Newspaper illustrations, political cartoons, advertisements, class introduction, revision Target for descriptive writing Comprehension Questions and Novel Activities GRAMMAR Revision SPELLING Level D: Words with soft g Level DD: Prefixes:mis-, re-, and sub- |
-To observe surroundings and actions of others with powerful descriptions like the characters in the group novels -To explore historical-fiction choices -To apply the revision stages of good writing to colonial newspaper articles by peer-editing and self-editing and class-editing -To understand and apply layout in groups -To apply powerful adjectives, verbs, similes, metaphors, and the senses all at once |
-Teacher-assessed Novel activities, such as observation entries -Teacher-assessed Comprehension Questions -Teacher observation during literature circle discussions -Grammar exercises: classwork and homework -Spellwell Exercises Lesson 12 -Weekly Quizzes: spelling and vocabulary -Student- and teacher-assessed research rubric (note-taking, outlining, article, and illustration) for colonial news project |
READING The Landry News by Andrew Clements Harriet the Spy by Louis Fitzhugh Pre-approved choice by head teacher and librarian for spring break reading GRAMMAR Teacher-created materials Exercises in English by Loyola University Press G.U.M. Grade Four by Zaner-Bloser Oral Language Daily by Neil J. Vail and Joseph F. Papenfuss SPELLING AND VOCABULARY Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
| FANTASY (Week 27, 3 Weeks) |
READING Group Novels: The Boggart by Susan Cooper and Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop Individual texts: April reading goal--fantasy encouraged Poetry WRITING Fantasy writing from A Wizard in the Cave PYP presentation script (review play-writing) Spaghetti Book Club book reviews Poetry that focuses in on specifics using Spring as a starting point Comprehension Questions and Novel Activities Sketch and stretch: magic GRAMMAR Review lessons learned- -capitalization -punctuation -sentence sense -paragraphing -nouns -verbs -adjectives -adverbs -synonyms/ antonyms -homophones SPELLING Level D: Suffixes -ance and -ence; Suffix -tion Level DD: Suffixes -ous and -ture; Suffixes -ate and -tive |
-To observe surroundings and actions of others with powerful descriptions like the characters in the group novels -To explore fantasy as a genre to tie in with our belief systems unit -To apply the revision stages of good writing to fantasy writing -To apply our unit knowledge to craft a play script for the PYP show working cooperatively -To publish well-crafted and detailed book reviews online -To explore poetry with a more sophisticated eye -To write poetry that focuses in and uses greater metaphorical language -To connect reading with our own lives -To review grammar lessons learned as standardized test prep |
-Teacher-assessed Novel activities, such as sketch and stretch -Teacher-assessed Comprehension Questions -Teacher observation during literature circle discussions -Grammar exercises: classwork and homework -Spellwell Exercises Lesson 13 and 14 -Weekly Quizzes: spelling and vocabulary -Student- and teacher-assessed research rubric for group presentations on belief systems (visual display and role play) -Poetry reading and writing workshop -Production of Poetry Anthology -Play-writing and performing |
READING The Boggart by Susan Cooper Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop GRAMMAR 50 Great Reproducible Writing Workouts by Stephen Krensky Teacher-created materials Exercises in English by Loyola University Press G.U.M. Grade Four by Zaner-Bloser Oral Language Daily by Neil J. Vail and Joseph F. Papenfuss SPELLING AND VOCABULARY Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
| UNCOVERING THEME/ CHOICES (Week 30, 5 Weeks) |
READING Group novels: The Cay and Li Lun by Carolyn Treffinger; one more novel for finishing lit. circle for the year chosen by student from assorted grade level texts including Encyclopedia Brown Boy Detective, The Borrowers, The Family Under the Bridge, Bunnincula, Walk Two Moons, Search for Delicious Individual novels: May reading goal WRITING Sea creature research projects: genre is a choice for students Essay writing on themes of novels Fictional interview as summation of writing for year Letter writing on environmental issues (President, EPA, Mayor, newspapers) Paragraph writing on Earth Day and environmental concerns GRAMMAR Review for standardized testing with a focus on: main idea proofreading sentence correcting sequencing writing process skills (topic sentence, details, conclusion) SPELLING Level D: Words with ph and th; review all words from year Level DD: Words with long i; review all words from year |
-To link our belief systems and water units to lit. circle -To investigate theme using flowcharts and distinguish between plot and theme -To find examples in the stories to support themes -To enhance organized essay skills using quick outlines that focus on topic sentence, supporting details, and a concluding sentence -To offer students choices in group novels and allow opportunities to work with others in preparation for fifth grade -To use drama as tool for sharing novels with each other and assess comprehension -To offer genre choice for final research project -To review note-taking on note-cards and apply to creative pieces -To cite sources properly and learn how to write a bibliography -To use letter-writing as a tool to take action for the environment -To express concerns and solutions to help preserve/ conserve environment -To review for standardized testing and familiarize students with format |
-Theme flowcharts -Quick outline essays -Novel comprehension questions and activities -Standardized-test prep. -Note-taking on note-cards for research -Bibliography lesson -Earth Day writing -89th Street Community Garden visits, writing exercises, and sketches -brainstorm sessions and letter writing formats for formal letters to take action -drama skills/ cooperative learning sessions to supplement literature circle |
GRAMMAR 50 Great Reproducible Writing Workouts by Stephen Krensky Teacher-created materials Exercises in English by Loyola University Press G.U.M. Grade Four by Zaner-Bloser Oral Language Daily by Neil J. Vail and Joseph F. Papenfuss SPELLING AND VOCABULARY Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
| WRAP-UP (Week 35, 2 Weeks) |
READING Finish group novels WRITING Poetry reflection Year-end reflection Fictional writing from character's point of view from novels of year Finish sea creature research project SPELLING Spelling Bee! |
-To share group novels with each other through drama -To look back on the year and reflect on learned material and growth as individuals and as a class -To appreciate poetry as a way of life -To review novels from the year -To celebrate our successes with spelling |
-Drama presentations of novels -Sea creature presentations -Year-end reflection writing for report card cover -Paragraph writing as reflection on what worked/ what didn't in poetry lessons -Spelling Bee on Spellwell lessons 1-15 D/DD with bonus words from unit vocabulary from the year |
The Jolly Postman by Allan Ahlberg Spellwell Level D or DD by Nancy Hall, publ. EPS |
|
|
Updated: Friday, January 05, 2007 |
| «Previous Year |