Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Grant Park [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
"Grant Park" is a one page, nonfiction passage about Chicago creating a landfill by putting the trash from the Chicago fire in 1971 into the lake, on which they built Grant Park. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires...
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Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

Depaul University: Center for Urban Education: Native Americans: Potawatomi[pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"Native American Life--Potawatomi Profile" is a one page, non-fiction, first person reading/thinking passage about the Potawatomi Native American tribe. It includes information about what they did during each of the seasons of the year.
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Read Works: Cool in the Hot Desert

For Teachers K - 1st
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage gives information about the fennec fox and how it stays cool in the hot African desert. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for...
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Read Works: Always Remember

For Teachers 4th - 7th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage describes the events of September 11th and the memorials established to commemorate this horrifying day in history. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension...
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Read Works: Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans the Aztec Empire

For Students 4th - 6th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage provides information about the ancient Aztec Empire, including the significance of Montezuma and Tenochtitlan. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills....
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Read Works: Back From the Brink

For Teachers 3rd
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage gives information about animals that are on the brink of extinction, including the following: bald eagle, grizzly bears, Hawaiian sea turtles, and Southern sea turtles. This...
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Read Works: Bat News

For Teachers 2nd Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage describes the job of a chiroptologist, a bat scientist. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition are also...
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Read Works

Read Works: My Travel Journal in China: Day 5

For Teachers 3rd Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage gives a first person account of a person's visit to the Forbidden City in China. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary...
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Read Works

Read Works: Dear Mr. President

For Teachers 4th - 6th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses different letters to the President in different historical contexts. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary...
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Read Works

Read Works: Crisis in Africa

For Teachers 4th - 6th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses the problems related to poverty, disease, and war in Africa. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition...
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Read Works: Students Get Healthy!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses the need for healthier school lunches and the mandates implemented to ensure that healthier options are provided in schools. This passage reinforces essential reading...
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Read Works: The Struggle for Equality

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage gives biographical information about famous African Americans who have worked hard to fight against inequality. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills....
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Read Works

Read Works: Clouds

For Teachers K - 1st
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage gives basic facts about clouds and their impact on precipitation. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition are...
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Read Works: Cool Prize

For Teachers 5th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage gives information about the prize-winning photos of Kenneth Libbrecht and classifications of snowflakes. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills....
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Read Works: News Debate "F" Is for Fat?

For Teachers 5th - 7th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses Arkansas' approach to tackling childhood obesity by giving report card grades to schools according to the number of children who have reported obesity. This passage...
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Read Works: Cool to Be Kind

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses the importance of empathy. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition are also included. Several questions...
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Read Works: Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans the Land of the Four Quarters

For Teachers 4th - 6th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage describes the Inca Empire and shares a theory about how the civilization disappeared. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary...
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Read Works: City Life and Country Life

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage compares and contrasts country life to city life. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition are also included....
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Read Works: Amazing Animal Helpers

For Teachers 2nd - 4th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage shared information about the helpfulness of dolphins, dogs, monkeys, and horses. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...
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Read Works: Almost Human

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses the topic of robots. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding for vocabulary...
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Read Works: Forecasting Severe Weather to Communities Helps Them Prepare

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage gives information about how communities can prepare for weather disasters. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies...
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Read Works: Fossils & Dinosaurs: The Age of Dinosaurs

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage describes the time period when dinosaurs were still living on earth and describes the event that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.This passage is a stand-alone curricular...
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Read Works: The Eco Pyramid

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage shares nonfiction information about ecological pyramids. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding...
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Read Works: Watch Out for Ticks

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage shares nonfiction information about ticks. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding for vocabulary...