5th Grade Historical Literacy Curriculum outlines the content of social-studies integrated units taught within the readers' and writers' workshop framework and taught daily for 90 minutes. Each six week unit contains standards, teaching points, vocabulary, and assessments. Readers' and writers' workshop naturally differentiates for all learners. By June of 2020, each unit will have a slide deck associated with it that contains the teaching points, integrated grammar work, vocabulary, and strategies for partner practice. Our district places careful emphasis on vocabulary, as we have a high percentage of English Language Learners.

The Branches of the United States' Government worksheet and quiz was created for the CESA #1 EL OER Project. Students will be able to identify and describe the three branches of the United States' government after watching various videos. The graphic organizer will allow ELs to demonstrate their understanding of the three government branches by identifying, defining, and describing the three branches.

Embed a layer of questions, quizzes, and rich media annotations into any reading assignment. Track mastery of literacy skills and Common Core standards in real-time.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" demonstrates that even the smallest punctuation mark signals a stylistic decision, distinguishing one writer from another and enabling an author to move an audience. In this minilesson, students first explore Dr. King's use of semicolons and their rhetorical significance. They then apply what they have learned by searching for ways to follow Dr. King's model and use the punctuation mark in their own writing. Note that while this lesson refers to the "Letter from Birmingham Jail," any text which features rhetorically significant use of semicolons can be effective for this minilesson.

In this lesson students will observe and read about microorganisms so that they can create an information book on microorganisms.

Students explore the concept of fair use, apply it to case studies, and
create an original work of fair use.
Students learn how to judge whether something is protected by fair use
by using the Four Points of Fair Use Student Handout. They
apply the four points of fair use to two case studies, a remixed video and
a mash-up song, to judge whether or not they fall under fair use.
Students then create an original work of fair use by reworking
copyrighted material to create a collage or a remix video.

These lessons will introduce students to the THIEVES strategy for previewing textbooks and non-fiction articles.  The acronym stands for:
T- Title
H - Headings
I - Introduction
E - Every first sentence in a paragraph
V - Visuals and Vocabulary
E - End of chapter questions
S - Summary
Teacher will model, students will practice with a partner and then use the strategy independently.  These short lessons could be applied to any textbook or article in a middle school classroom.

Zoom In provides 18 guided lessons on historical events where students focus on reading primary and secondary documents closely, gathering evidence, and writing an argumentative or explanatory essay. Throughout the process students are asked to do the following:
Read documents closely and criticallyIdentify author's point of view and purposeEngage in higher-order, text-based discussionsWrite explanatory and argumentative essays grounded in evidence