ES Literacy Reading Grade 1: Medieval

We believe that scholars need a base of knowledge, often referred to as “core knowledge,” to learn and explore topics at a more sophisticated level. For example, studying the Bible and Greek mythology provides a context for understanding the history of Western art.

Developing a wealth of knowledge about history and the world outside their everyday experiences is critical for kids. It allows them to examine different perspectives, explore various parts of the world, and develop a strong historical background. A lack of exposure to history impedes kids’ ability to
grow their knowledge base. If kids never learn about the Founding Fathers and the key debates of the Revolutionary War, it is very difficult for them to understand the Civil War.

At Success, we build scholars’ core knowledge primarily through reading (which is why it is imperative that your kids read voraciously at home and at school), but we also address them through deliberate efforts to give our scholars quick hits of background knowledge, through what we call core knowledge units.

The Middle Ages created a legacy of cultural, architectural, and social achievements whose impact is still felt today—from architecture to the feudal system. A rich cornerstone of history and community, medieval culture will inspire scholars to continue reading and learning about history.

In this unit, your job is to fuel scholars’ excitement for medieval culture, to help them become better readers and researchers, and to develop their expertise about this time period and the people who lived in it.

If you do your job well, your scholars will understand:

• Key characteristics of the Middle Ages in Europe
• Different roles people had in a feudal society
• The design and function of a castle and its parts
• Who worked in a castle

As in all reading units, your job as a teacher is to ensure that your scholars are reading at home and at school. Meet with the parents of any scholars who are not reading at home. If you cannot persuade parents to ensure that their children are doing their homework, you need to manage up to leadership.

It is your responsibility to ensure that ALL your scholars are reading 6 days a week at home!

The Projects in Core Knowledge

A Feudal Portrait: Scholars each choose one person from feudal society to depict in a fictional portrait, just like one that would hang in a museum! Each scholar will create a portrait using a medium of her choosing, then write a caption to explain the person’s role in medieval culture.

I’m the King/Queen of My Castle! Scholars will design their very own castles. Using photographs of famous castles for inspiration, scholars will first sketch and then label the parts of their castles, focusing on functionality. Then they’ll bring their castles to life in the blocks room. Each castle will be photographed, and scholars will use index cards to caption the most important features of their creations.

A Day in the Life: Scholars will have the opportunity to reenact a medieval profession of their choosing, including creating an artifact from their day on the job. Each scholar will then create a
small speech or explanation of his or her artifact. During the museum, they’ll share their artifacts and role-play their jobs, describing what they made, how they made it, and some challenges of this job— all in character!

Some days the focus is on investigating and studying to learn more, while other days center around project work.

Your day might include:

• Launch (5–7 minutes): This is brief. You need to quickly set your scholars up for success without unnecessary teacher talk. Your purpose here is to allow your scholars to work independently, as quickly as possible. If you can do it in 5 minutes, do so!
• Read to Learn (45 minutes): Through Read Alouds (30 minutes) and Shared Texts (15 minutes), you will model how to research and develop expertise about a topic.
• Writing (30 minutes): Through writing, scholars will further develop their expertise by recording the details and big ideas they have learned.
• Independent Reading (30 minutes): Scholars will have time to explore the topic through CK-related texts and to read their just-right books.
• Project Work (45 minutes or more): Scholars engage in the topic through hands-on, firsthand experiences and create projects to share and communicate what they have learned.

Facilitating meaningful learning through a core knowledge unit is challenging because there are materials to manage and the work is open-ended. But this is the very reason why it is valuable and engaging for our scholars.

Your level of preparation and your clarity of purpose make all the difference. Guard against exploration without rigor! Scholars’ experiences should spark questions and further investigation about the topic.

Museum: The study culminates with an exhibition, or museum, showcasing scholars’ work, and most importantly, all that they’ve learned about medieval culture. This is a great opportunity to get parents invested in their scholars’ academic work.

Before the unit begins, you must plan backwards from your museum. The work scholars do daily will be the crux of the exhibition.

Use project work time to check in with scholars to see that their work demonstrates what they have learned. Is their work accurate? Is it neat and detailed? Does it demonstrate their best effort?

Communicate with families early on about your museum so they can make plans in advance to attend and support it.

Make a plan to prepare scholars to present their museum to visitors, guiding guests on a tour of their projects and clearly demonstrating their excitement and expertise about the topic.

Effective Materials Management: Scholars will work with a variety of materials as they create their projects. Plan how you will manage the materials, but keep the focus on the content! Ask your Art teacher for advice on managing the materials and when working with any unfamiliar medium.

Scholars will use core knowledge journals and folders for their research and writing. Prepare these beforehand, making them special and exciting for scholars to use.

You will need lots of space! Make sure you have a plan for how to use your classroom, including wall space within and outside your four walls, to display scholar work and a core knowledge word wall.

What are the key characteristics of the Middle Ages in Europe?

What were the various roles of people living in feudal societies?

What is a castle, and what are its parts?

Who worked in a castle?

How can we teach people what we’ve learned?

Below is a list of additional Read Alouds not included in the lessons. You can read these with scholars to build their content knowledge.

Read Alouds:

• Castle, by David Macaulay
• Medieval Life (DK Eyewitness Books)
• Knight (DK Eyewitness Books)
• A Year in a Castle (Time Goes By)
• Design Your Own Coat of Arms: An Introduction to Heraldry
• Days of Knights and Damsels
• Knights (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
• You Wouldn’t Want to Be in a Medieval Dungeon!
• Castles: Information for Young Readers – Level 1
• Battle at the Castle (DK Readers: Level 2)
• Knights and Castles (Seemore Readers: Level 3)

Don’t forget to play some medieval music to set the mood during snack, Independent Reading, and Independent Writing!

What Does Success Look Like?

What are the key characteristics of the Middle Ages in Europe?

Success is when scholars are able to articulate basic facts about medieval life in Europe and to develop questions about this topic.

Day 1

Engage: 1 minute

Get scholars excited to dive into a new topic by telling them that they’ll soon become experts on a time when knights and maidens roamed the land, people lived in villages centered around castles, and there were feasts every week!

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Show scholars pictures of castles around the world. After the last slide, have them turn and talk to share what they’re noticing about castles.
• Make a T-chart that has one column for “What I notice” and one column for “Questions I have.” Add scholars’ responses as they share them.

Virtual Field Study: 10–15 minutes

• Scholars watch a Brainpop video on the Middle Ages.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Show scholars pages 4–5 of A Kid’s Life During the Middle Ages, reading aloud the text on page 4. They don’t need to remember the details or dates, but orient them to the fact that the period referred to as the Middle Ages happened long ago, in Europe.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Place 3–4 unit books in a book bin at each table. Give scholars 5 minutes to independently flip through the books, studying the pictures and brainstorming both facts and questions.
• Scholars then respond to the following questions: “What are two or three facts you’ve learned about the Middle Ages?” “What are two or three questions you have?” Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to each question with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
  • Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
    • Have scholars tell you their questions. Can their questions be made stronger? Do their questions stem from the text? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
  • Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their questions under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her
  reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What are the key characteristics of the Middle Ages in Europe?

Success is when scholars understand how feudal societies were structured.

Day 2

Engage: 1 minute

Tell scholars that today they’re going to learn all about how society worked in the Middle Ages. From the king down to peasants, they’ll learn about everyone’s places in their communities.

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Display page 6 of How to Live like a Medieval Knight, pointing out the pyramid that shows how different groups in society were ranked and reading aloud the accompanying caption. Explain that society back then was very different than it is now. Unless you were a king or nobleman, it was a hard life!

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Read aloud pages 12–13 of Knights and Castles: 100 Facts You Should Know. Skip the “Quiz” portion.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Each scholar selects 1–2 groups from the feudal pyramid and writes 2–3 sentences on these groups’ roles in society. Leave up the Shared Text so scholars can refer back to it. Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to the question with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their sentences under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn: 30 minutes

• Read aloud The Knight and the Dragon.
• Note: This is a great opportunity to make sure your class doesn’t have any misconceptions about dragons! Remind them that dragons are fictional creatures, not real animals.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What are the key characteristics of the Middle Ages in Europe?

Success is when scholars understand what daily life was like during the Middle Ages.

Day 3

Engage: 1 minute

Show scholars the photographs on pages 42-43 of Castle (Eyewitness), telling them that this was the type of food that people in medieval times ate. Have them turn and talk to guess what the various foods and containers are.

Virtual Field Study: 10 minutes

• Scholars watch a video about life in the Middle Ages.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Read aloud pages 10–11 and 12–13 of The Horrible, Miserable Middle Ages.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars return to their seats and respond to the following question: “How was food in the Middle Ages different from the food we eat now?” Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to the question with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn: 30 minutes

• Read aloud A Medieval Feast.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What are the key characteristics of the Middle Ages in Europe?

Success is when scholars understand what daily life was like during the Middle Ages.

Day 4

Engage: 1 minute

Remind scholars that today they’ll continue learning all about the food in the Middle Ages, discovering meals fit for a king or queen!

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Read aloud the bottom of page 37 of Cross-Sections: Castle (“Eat and Be Merry” and “Table Manners”).

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Remind scholars that during the Middle Ages, people practiced eating and drinking customs that were different from how we are expected to behave at meals today. Today they’ll create notices to put in their own “Great Hall” (the classroom!) to explain to their museum visitors the table manners expected during medieval mealtimes.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars return to their seats and respond to the following question: “What manners are required when eating at a feast? Illustrate and caption each one.” Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to the question with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Give scholars 11×17 paper so they have ample space to make their signs.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their illustrations and captions under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What were the various roles of people living in feudal societies?

Success is when scholars understand the roles of kings and queens in medieval society.

Day 5

Engage: 1 minute

Engage scholars by telling them they’ll be learning about all the groups that make up a feudal society—starting with kings and queens!

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Read “Kings and Queens” Shared Text.

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Scholars watch a Brainpop video on feudalism.
• Make a T-chart with scholars, writing “group” on the left side and “role” on the right side. Add “king” and “queen” to the chart. Have scholars turn and talk to discuss the roles kings and queens played in medieval society. Briefly chart their responses.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars return to their seats and respond to the following question: “What roles did kings and queens play in feudal society?” Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to the question with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Read aloud page 7 of How to Live like a Medieval Knight.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her
  reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What were the various roles of people living in feudal societies?

Success is when scholars understand the roles of ladies and lords in medieval society.

Day 6

Engage: 1 minute

Get scholars excited to learn about ladies and lords by showing them the photographs on page 47 and page 49 of Castles (Eyewitness), pointing out that these are the clothes that ladies and lords would wear.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Read “The Lord and Lady” caption on page 24 of Everything Castles.

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Add “lord” and “lady” to your T-chart with scholars. Have scholars turn and talk to discuss the roles lords and ladies played in medieval society. Briefly chart their responses.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars return to their seats and respond to the following question: “What roles did lords and ladies play in feudal society?” Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to the question
  with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What were the various roles of people living in feudal societies?

Success is when scholars understand the roles of peasants and serfs in medieval society.

Day 7

Engage: 1 minute

Get scholars excited to learn about peasants and serfs by comparing the photograph they saw of a lord on page 49 of Castles (Eyewitness) with that of a serf on page 53.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Read aloud pages 6–7 of The Horrible, Miserable Middle Ages.

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Scholars turn and talk about the differences between the lord and the serf. Add to the chart, putting “peasants and serfs” on the left side and charting scholar responses on the right.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars return to their seats and respond to the following question: “What roles did peasants and serfs play in feudal society?” Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to the question with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Read aloud pages 8–16 of A Kid’s Life During the Middle Ages.

Project Time: 30 minutes
A Feudal Portrait

• Tell scholars that now that they’ve learned about all the groups that existed within feudal society, they’ll each get to create a “portrait” of a fictional person from one of these groups, just like portraits they’ve seen in museums! Each scholar will create an illustration of her character in a medium of her choice and then write a caption identifying the character and explaining his or her role in society.
• Each scholar will choose a person from one segment of feudal society to focus on for the project. Give each scholar a sheet of 11×17 paper, and have him plan out what his chosen character would look like, what he or she would wear, and what his or her role would be in medieval society.
• Give scholars time to plan each detail—sketching their portraits with pencil and focusing on hair, facial expressions, and clothing. Then have them write their captions below their portraits. Ensure that they have the Shared Texts, the Read Alouds, and their journals from previous days to use as references.
• Remind them that tomorrow they’ll get the chance to finalize these portraits using pen and colored pencils/markers, watercolors, pastel crayons, or another medium of their choice.
• Walk around and make sure scholars are thoughtfully planning and including facts based on what they have read and learned. Give oral feedback to improve scholars’ work.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What were the various roles of people living in feudal societies?

Success is when scholars understand how people’s positions in society shaped their lives and what was expected of them.

Day 8

Engage: 1 minute

• Get scholars excited by reminding them that they’ll get to finalize their portraits today!

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Share out a scholar’s draft from yesterday, highlighting what makes it a strong example. Point out the facts in the caption, the details in the portrait, and its overall neatness.
• Have scholars turn and talk to discuss how they can revise and strengthen their portrait drafts from yesterday.

Project Work: 45 minutes

A Feudal Portrait

• • Give scholars the opportunity to revise their portraits and captions.
  • Make sure you circulate around the room to check all your scholars’ work before they finalize their portraits with pen and colored pencils/markers. Make all classroom art materials available, so scholars can be creative!
  • Ensure that they have the Shared Texts, Read Alouds, and journals from previous days to use as references.
  • Explain that these will be available for families and classmates to see during the culminating museum!

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What is a castle, and what are its parts?

Success is when scholars understand the designs and functions of castles.

Day 9

Engage: 1 minute

• Display pictures of castles around the world, which you showed at the beginning of the unit. Get scholars excited to delve into the details of castles—from their architecture to their inhabitants!

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Read pages 10–11 from Everything Castles, to introduce what a castle is and what it is not.
• Explain that kings and queens weren’t the only ones who lived in castles. Castles were also the homes of lords and ladies!

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Put pages 6–7 of Knights and Castles: 100 Facts You Should Know under the ELMO, and read them aloud.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars return to their seats and respond to the following question: “What makes a castle a castle?” Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to the question with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What is a castle, and what are its parts?

Success is when scholars are able to describe each part of a castle and its importance.

Day 10

Engage: 1 minute

Show scholars the picture on page 9 of Cross-Sections Castle. Ask them what they notice about the parts of the castle in the illustration.

Virtual Field Study: 10 minutes

• Scholars watch a video describing what life was like in a castle and some common features of castles.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Display pages 10–1 —“Stone Strongholds” and “Outer Defenses”—from Cross-Sections Castle under the ELMO and read aloud.
• Turn and talk to discuss the features of a castle and what purpose each feature had.
  Project Work/Blocks Building: 40 minutes I’m the King/Queen of My Castle!
• Put 3–4 books out on each table, and give each scholar an iPad (or Chromebook),
  with pictures of castles bookmarked. Give scholars 15 minutes to review the different types of castles and their features.
• Give scholars 11×17 paper to plan with and 20 minutes to design their own castles. They should take into account that a castle is built for functionality, and each piece should help serve the castle and its inhabitants.
• Have them sketch and label each part of their castles. Encourage them to talk out loud and discuss with their neighbors as they create their castles. Tomorrow, they’ll get to use the blocks room to construct the castles of their dreams!
• In the last 5 minutes, share a well-thought-out and well-designed castle sketch under the ELMO, having the scholar describe the castle’s features. Have scholars take one minute to silently reflect on how they’ll improve their own castles before constructing them tomorrow.

Read to Learn: 30 minutes

Read aloud Look Inside a Castle (start today; finish tomorrow).

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What is a castle, and what are its parts?

Success is when scholars understand what happens when castles are attacked.

Day 11

Engage: 1 minute

Show scholars the picture on the bottom of page 34 from Knights and Castles: 100 Facts You Should Know. Get them excited to learn about the different ways intruders tried to take over castles.

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Scholars turn and talk to brainstorm (using the picture as reference) about ways they think intruders might have attacked and tried to weaken castles.

Read to Learn: 5-7 minutes

• Put pages 34–35 of Knights and Castles: 100 Facts You Should Know under the ELMO. Read facts 67–72 aloud to scholars.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Each scholar sketches and labels a castle under siege, depicting parts of the castle that are exposed to attackers and the equipment or tactics enemies may use to attack. Have each scholar choose one label and write a more detailed 2–3 sentence description of the piece of equipment or tactic used to lay siege to the castle.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Project Work: 70 minutes

I’m the King/Queen of My Castle!

• Give scholars 10 minutes to review and revise their castle plans from yesterday. Have all the books available for scholars to study as they design.
• Have scholars take their plans into the blocks room, and give them 45–50 minutes to bring their visions to life! Encourage scholars to follow their plans and to make sure their blocks castles include all the features they planned.
• Spend 10 minutes taking a gallery walk around the blocks room, looking at the different castles each table group built and discussing their similarities and differences. Before cleaning up, photograph each castle. Make sure your photos are clear and include each part of the castle! Tell scholars that you’ll print these today and they’ll get the chance to caption them tomorrow, labeling and describing all the important features of their castles in writing.
• Note: Depending on the size of your blocks room, you may want to do this portion as a half-class activity so all scholars have ample space to build their castles. The other half of the class could do Read Aloud and Independent Reading during this time.

Read to Learn: 30 minutes

• Read aloud Look Inside a Castle (started yesterday; finish today).

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her
  reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What is a castle, and what are its parts?

Success is when scholars can describe how people who lived in castles defended themselves against invaders.

Day 12

Engage: 1 minute

• Remind scholars that today they’ll have the chance to construct their castles using cardboard! They’ll first learn how the inhabitants of castles defended themselves during a siege so they can create a castle that can be successfully defended.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Display pages 36–37 of Knights and Castles: 100 Facts You Should Know under the ELMO. Read facts 73–77 aloud to scholars. Skip the “Quiz” section.

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Have scholars turn and talk; each scholar describes one way that the inhabitants of castles defended themselves during an attack and how she’ll represent this in her own castle.

Project Work: 40 minutes

I’m the King/Queen of My Castle!

• • Today scholars will get the chance to label and describe all the important features of their blocks castles, using index cards and the pictures you printed out.
  • Using a photograph from yesterday, model how you would pick one important feature of the castle and then how you would use your index card to label the feature above the top line. Then write 1–2 sentences describing the feature’s purpose. Tell scholars they’ll repeat this process, including 3–4 of the most important features of their castles. This way, their castles can be shared during your museum, and visitors will know all about what makes their castles so special!
  • Send scholars back to their seats, and give them 20-30 minutes to complete their index cards. Display their castles and index cards around the room!

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

Who worked in a castle?

Success is when scholars understand the jobs people performed within the castle walls.

Day 13

Engage: 1 minute

Get scholars excited to learn about the various people who lived, worked, and had fun in castles by displaying pages 24–25 of Everything Castles under the ELMO. Have scholars look over each illustration to guess who’s who.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Display pages 24–25 of Everything Castles under the ELMO. Read aloud each job description (other than “The Lord and Lady,” which you previously read on Day 5).

Launch: 5–7 minutes

• Each scholar picks one job that especially interests her, then turns and talks to tell her neighbor what this job’s role was in the castle.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars return to their seats and respond to the following prompt: “Pick one job in the castle! What is this person’s role?” Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to the question with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn: 30 minutes

• Read aloud Knights, by Gail Saunders-Smith.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

Who worked in a castle?

Success is when scholars can describe each castle job and its importance.

Day 14

Engage: 1 minute

Show scholars pages 26–27 of Arms & Armour (Eyewitness) under the ELMO. Ask them to guess which castle job they’ll be learning more about today.

Read to Learn: 15 minutes

• Put the bottom portion of pages 8-9 in You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Medieval Knight!—titled “National Duties” and “Local Duties”—under the ELMO. Point to each illustration and read the caption underneath.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars return to their seats and respond to the following question: “What are the duties of a knight?” Give scholars 5 minutes to orally respond to the question with their partners first, allowing them to practice their responses before writing them.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Project Time: 30 minutes

A Day in the Life

• • Give each scholar a list of medieval jobs. Then put the same list under the ELMO and review each job together as a class. Have scholars silently think about which job
    interests them the most, reflecting on what they’ve previously learned about roles within castles and in the larger feudal society. Then have scholars turn and talk, telling their partners which job they’d like to reenact and sharing an artifact they think a person in that job would make.
  • Scholars will plan the artifacts they’re going to create and think about the materials they will need to reenact their chosen jobs. Tomorrow, each scholar will create an artifact from his or her “day on the job.”
    • For example, an atilliator can create a bow and arrow for a knight using classroom supplies such as pipe cleaners and construction paper or a wire hanger! A cook can choose her favorite medieval dish to prepare. A craftsperson can use paints and cardstock to make “stained glass.” A keeper of the wardrobe can design clothes using markers and paper or cut out his designs from colored construction paper/felt. A scribe can practice her calligraphy using Sharpie pens. A lord or lady can create his or her own family crest.
  • Make sure scholars have all Read Aloud books, Shared Text passages, and other resources available to help them research.
  • See Days of Knights and Damsels for many applicable ideas, and let scholars be creative! Use Design Your Own Coat of Arms: An Introduction to Heraldry if scholars want to create their own family crests.
  • Today scholars will plan what they are going to create, and they will each draft a list of the materials they will need. Give them opportunities to talk with tablemates and neighbors, rehearsing out loud what they’ll need, what they’re going to create, and what a day in the life of their chosen professions may be like.
  • Let scholars know what’s available in the classroom, and encourage them to bring in any supplies from home that they’d like to use.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her
  reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

Who worked in a castle?
Success is when scholars can describe each castle job and its importance.

Day 15

Engage: 1 minute

Tell scholars that today they’ll get to pretend they’re back in the Middle Ages and select a job that interests them, then perform those duties!

Launch: 5–7 minutes

Remind scholars that yesterday they chose which medieval profession they want to try, and today they’ll get to gather their materials and live a day in that life!

Project Work: 70 minutes

A Day in the Life

• • Tell scholars that today they’ll get the chance to perform the job of their choosing,
    creating an artifact from their day in the life of a medieval worker.
  • Remind scholars that they must demonstrate their best efforts while creating their artifacts. Their work should be careful and neat and should represent the Middle Ages as accurately as possible.
  • Give scholars 30 minutes to reenact their medieval professions, creating their artifacts in the process. The first few minutes will likely be spent gathering the materials they need, so be sure to have all art supplies set out and available.
  • This part of the project will vary from scholar to scholar, so be sure to circulate and help kids solve any problems they encounter.
  • Gather scholars at the carpet, and explain that the last component of this project will be creating a small speech or explanation of their artifacts. During the museum when parents visit, scholars will share their artifacts and role-play their jobs, describing what they made and how they made it, as well as some of the challenges of their
    jobs—all in character! Have them turn and talk to plan and practice orally with partners before they capture their speeches in writing.
  • Have scholars return to their seats and spend 15 minutes recording their speeches in their journals. Encourage them to talk out loud as they write, rehearsing and practicing what they’ll say to explain what they made and how they made it and some of the challenges the job presents. Circulate to give feedback in the moment!
  • Reserve the last 10 minutes to do a gallery walk. Let scholars observe one another’s artifacts. Then have one scholar present her creation to the class, giving her speech to explain what she made and how she made it, along with some of the challenges her job presents.

Read to Learn: 30 minutes

• Read aloud Knights in Shining Armor, by Gail Gibbons.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time:30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

How can we teach others what we’ve learned?

Success is when scholars are able to teach others key information about the Middle Ages.

Days 16-18

Engage: 1 minute

• Get scholars excited about finishing their projects and showing off all their hard work to their friends, family, and classmates.

Launch: 5-7 minutes

• Highlight some exceptional project work and describe what makes it high-quality.

Project Work: 60 minutes

• Provide scholars with work time to finish their projects and prepare the museum.
• A Feudal Portrait: Scholars each choose one person from feudal society to depict in a fictional portrait, just like one that would hang in a museum! Each scholar creates an illustration of his character using a medium of his choice, then writes a caption to explain this person’s role in medieval society.
• I’m the King/Queen of My Castle! Scholars will design their own castles. Using photographs of famous castles for inspiration, scholars first sketch their castles and label each part, focusing on functionality. Then they bring their castles to life in the blocks room. Each castle will be photographed, and scholars will use index cards to caption the most important features of their creations.
• A Day in the Life: Each scholar will have the opportunity to reenact a medieval profession of her choice, creating an artifact from her day on the job. Scholars then create a small speech or explanation of their artifacts. During the museum, they’ll share their artifacts and role-play their jobs, describing what they made and how they made it, as well as some challenges of the job—all in character!
• Display and label all project work.
• Plan and practice the format of the exhibition. What role will each scholar play? How will the museum flow?

Read to Learn: 30 minutes

• Read aloud from the additional Read Alouds or Shared Texts.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time: 30 minutes

• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and the luxury of reading time!
• You and your teaching partner should each meet with two Guided Reading groups per day, spending approximately 10 minutes with each group.
• Between Guided Reading groups, or during the last few minutes of Independent Reading, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 2–3 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• During Independent Reading and Guided Reading, listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
• Listen to scholars as they read, and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of Unit 7: Medieval Times!

As a result of teaching this unit, you, as the teacher, have:

• Developed scholars’ content knowledge to answer the essential questions of the unit.
• Turned your scholars onto investigating and researching topics of interest.
• Supported scholars’ ability to think as both readers and writers of nonfiction—thinking about both the big idea and how it was presented by the author.

Your scholars can:

• Answer the essential questions of the unit, demonstrating their understanding of the topic— medieval times!
• Ask and answer their own questions about topics of interest by reading to learn.
• Understand what they read by noticing the choices the author made to convey the information and his or her ideas.
• Apply the same techniques of great nonfiction writers to teach others through their own writing.

Celebrate your scholars’ successes by acknowledging what they can now do as readers as a result of their work over the past several weeks. For example, scholars can now synthesize multiple details in nonfiction texts to form a big idea about what the author is teaching.

Invite scholars to share what was most intriguing to them over the course of the study—and what they’re going to keep investigating on their own!

Reflect on your successes and stretches, as well as those of your scholars. Look at your F&P results. Have your scholars grown as readers over the past month? Enlist parents to help get scholars over this hump!

Scholars must read at home, as well as in school. Are 100% of your kids reading 6 days a week at home? Make sure at-home reading is happening, and meet with families who are falling short to recommit them to this team effort.

Are 100% of your kids reading fluently? Are they using all the tools at their disposal to figure out the meaning of what they are reading?

Are 100% of your kids doing their literacy homework?

Going into the summer, make specific reading goals for scholars. Set a goal for children who are not reading at home. Whom will you get to consistently read at home? Set a goal for moving any scholars who are stuck. Why are they stuck? Do they read most or all words correctly? What is their struggle with decoding? Do they understand what they’re reading? Do they understand the big idea? How will you partner with parents to support their growth?

If you are having trouble meeting your goals, do not wait until you have NOT succeeded. Consult your colleagues. Consult your leaders. ASK FOR HELP so you can meet your goals!