Researching to Build Knowledge and Teaching Others: Inventions That Changed People’s Lives is an eight-week, three-unit module designed for fifth graders. In the first unit of the module, scholars examine and discuss a graphic novel,...

In Unit 2, students continue to build their reading and writing skills and their understanding of how new or improved technologies are developed to meet the needs of society through a case study of Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of...

Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption serves as the central text of a three-unit module that examines Japanese-American relations during World war II. In Unit 1, middle schoolers build...

In the second unit of Module 3A, eighth-graders continue their study of forced invisibility by reading a case study of the American soldier, Louie Zamperini, imprisoned by the Japanese and Mine Okubo, a Japanese-American interned in the...

In Module 4, sixth-graders research the question of whether the benefits of DDT outweigh its harmful consequences. Unit 1 challenges investigators to read a novel, informational text, and watch videos to gather evidence about DDT’s uses,...

The study of the benefits and harmful effects of using DDT ends in Module 4, with class members drafting, revising, editing, and publishing a research-based position paper in which they use the evidence they have collected to support...

Nonfiction and dramatic text take center stage in a three-unit module that focuses on how authors convey and develop central ideas. In Unit 1, E. B. White’s “Death of a Pig” provides sophomores with an opportunity to analyze the...

How does an author’s culture influence their perspective and point of view? Moreover, how does an author’s purpose affect their point of view? These are the questions middle schoolers investigate in a three-unit module that uses works by...

In the second unit in the 3A module, scholars examine how an author’s purpose affects point of view. They compare excerpts from “Comprehending the Calamity,” Emma Burke’s informational text about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, to...

In the second unit of Module 3A eighth-graders continue their study of forced invisibility by reading a case study of American soldier Louie Zamperini imprisoned by the Japanese and of Mine Okubo, a Japanese-American interned in the US...

The first unit in Module 1 uses The Autobiography of Malcolm X as the core text. Scholars practice close reading, evidence-based writing and discussion, critical analysis of narrative texts, and narrative writing techniques. Marmon...

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the anchor text in a three-unit module that has eighth graders examine how Shakespeare develops the theme of control. Young scholars look at why and how the characters seek control and the results of...

Where does our food come from? Eighth graders research food chains and the consequences for stakeholders affected by those food chains. Using Michael Pollan’s, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, as a core text, the three units in this module teach...

Eighth-graders develop their ability to read and understand a complex text as they consider the plight of refugees. The first unit uses Thanhha Lai’s novel, Inside Out & Back Again, as well as informational text, to build background...

Water may be everywhere but supplies of freshwater are dwindling. An eight-week, three-unit module takes up the topic of water sustainability and freshwater management. In Unit 1, seventh graders read Barbara Kingsolver’s article, “Water...

Module 4A examines the effects of entertainment screen time has on the adolescent brain. In Unit 1, seventh-graders build background knowledge by reading texts about brain development, centering around the prefrontal cortex, the limbic...

What makes stories powerful? That’s the question seventh-graders consider in a three-unit, eight-week module. Scholars analyze how Frederick Douglas, in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, uses figurative language and word...

The three units in Module 2A present seventh-graders with literary and informational texts—Katherine Paterson’s novel Lyddie and a speech by Cesar Chavez—that examine historical and present-day working conditions. Pupils learn how to...

Rick Riordan’s, The Lightning Thief is the anchor text in a three-unit module that explores the archetypal storyline of the hero’s journey. Sixth graders examine the many mythical illusions in Riordan’s tale. Additionally, they read...

Were things really harder back in the day? That is the question sixth graders research in a three-unit module. They read information articles and literature about the adversities of medieval life, and then draft an essay in which they...

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village is the anchor text for the second unit in Module 2B. Sixth-graders examine monologues, read articles about challenges and adversities faced by children in medieval villages,...

The 13 lessons in the first unit of Module 2B has pupils engage in a guided research project. Sixth- graders develop their reading skills as they examine informational texts about medieval times. They practice summarizing, analyze a...

Unit 3 of the ELA Module 2A focuses on how to craft an informative essay. Using what they learned reading Bud, Not Buddy, a Steve Jobs speech, and “If,” sixth-graders craft an essay based on one of their own personal rules for which to...

Personal interest, strengths, talents, and abilities can be used to make a difference. Young learners consider how they can share their talents with others through volunteering, what they can do to take care of the natural environment,...