ELA Guidebook Implementation
Information and Updates for Grades K-2 and 3-6
Grades K-2 ELA Curriculum Plan 2015-16
We will continue to use the reading foundations materials from Storytown to teach phonological awareness, phonics and word study as we have this
year. Schools will be contacted to determine if they need additional Storytown Phonics Workbooks and decodable readers which will be supplied by the
district. Read Aloud Project Lessons will be used for instruction in reading/listening comprehension and supplemented with text sets from the
Storytown anthology to provide 36 weeks of instruction. The district will supply teacher copies of the Read Aloud books for the selected lessons.
Digging Deep into the Curriculum groups will meet by grade-level this summer to revise the scope of sequence of the units and select text sets. Schools
that decline to use the district supported materials will be required to submit a list of instructional materials and long range plan, including text lists with
LEXILE measures.
Grades K-2 ELA Curriculum Plan 2015-16
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For grades 3-6, the district will require three 9-week units from the Guidebook to be taught during time periods identified by the alignment
committees.
Curriculum alignment groups will meet by grade-level this summer to revise the scope of sequence of the units and Harcourt Storytown
materials.
Schools that decline to use the district supported materials will be required to submit a list of instructional materials and long range plan,
including text lists with LEXILE measures. Specific units should be taught during time periods identified by the alignment committees.
Guidebook units will be supplemented with materials from Harcourt Storytown in order to provide 36 weeks of instruction.
Required Anchor Text
Grade 3
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Unit Focus
Text
Complexity
Moderately
complex
*The Louisiana
Purchase: Would You Close
the Deal?
Elaine Landau
Because of Winn-Dixie
Kate Di Camillo
The Louisiana
Purchase
Unexpected friendships
Moderately
complex
Lapin Plays Possum
Sharon Arms Doucet
Folktales, trickster tales
Moderately
complex
Anchor Standard/Content Standards
Gaining knowledge through literary, nonfiction, and primary
source texts; identifying and applying elements of narrative
and informational writing; recognizing and using transitions
in writing
Theme development through character actions and
changes, how language and dialogue reveal meaning in a
text
Character and theme development, comparing and
contrasting similar characters across different stories, how
local culture influences authors
Recommended
Unit Length
9 weeks
9 weeks
9 weeks
Grade 4
Required Anchor Text
Unit Focus
Text
Complexity
Moderately
to very
complex
Anchor Standard/Content Standards
Evaluating different accounts of the same event, gaining
information about a historical event, determining reasons
to support different points of view
Recommended
Unit Length
9 weeks
*If You Lived at the Time of
the American Revolution,
Kay Moore
The American Revolution
The Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan
Mythology, quests
Moderately
complex
Character and theme development, gathering information
from multiple sources, comparing themes and ideas
across texts, and using textual details and examples to
support writing
9 weeks
Hurricanes: Earth’s
Mightiest Storms
Patricia Lauber
Hurricanes and their
impact on Louisiana
Very
complex
Reading and understanding informational texts,
understanding how firsthand and secondhand accounts
differ and give insight into culture and historical events
9 weeks
Language, education,
and effective
communication
Native American way of
life and exploration,
European impact on land
and indigenous groups
Fantasy literature
Moderately
complex
Character development and point of view/perspective, the
influence of setting and characters on theme, innovative
narrative structure
Development and influence of point of view and
perspective, influence of characters and setting on theme,
analysis of multiple accounts of the same event
9 weeks
Very
complex
Development of fantastical characters and settings and
how authors use them to teach life lessons
9 weeks
Out of the Dust
Karen Hesse
Overcoming adversity,
growing up
Readily
accessible
Character perspective, evaluation of primary and
secondary historical sources to understand setting,
nonfiction and fiction comparisons, theme development
through characters and setting
9 weeks
*The Witch of Blackbird
Pond
Elizabeth George Speare
Personal identity
Moderately
complex
Influence of nonfiction on understanding fictional texts,
character development, plot development, historical
research
9 weeks
Hatchet
Gary Paulsen
Physical and emotional
survival
Moderately
complex
Characters, conflict, theme, and comparing and contrasting
different texts
9 weeks
Hurricanes
Seymour Simon
Grade 6
Grade 5
Wonderstruck
Brian Selznick
*The Birchbark House
Daniel Keyes
The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis
*New Guidebook Units.
Moderately
complex
9 weeks
ELA Guidebook Implementation
Information and Updates for Grades 7-8
Grades 7-8 ELA Curriculum Plan 2015-16
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For grades 7-8, the district will require that one additional 6-week unit be taught (this brings their requirements in line with what grades K-6 are
doing). Specific units should be taught during time periods identified by the alignment committees.
New 7th grade anchor text will be “How to Write a Memoir.”
New 8th grade anchor text will be Jack London’s The Call of the Wild
Teachers may continue to create and teach anthology-based lessons that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards during time periods
identified as “Teacher Choice.”
Guidebook teams are currently working on reviewing and revising units as well as developing a third unit. Please note that the ELA Guidebook teams
will determine the order and time periods in which units are taught in their revised Year-Long Pacing Guide.
Grade 8
Grade 7
Required Anchor Text
The Giver, Lois Lowry
A Christmas Carol, Charles
Dickens
Unit Focus
Developing different
perspectives
Self-reflection and
selflessness
“How to Write a Memoir,”
William Zinsser (New)
“Flowers for Algernon,”
Daniel Keys
Coming-of-age stories
“The Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar
Allan Poe
Perception versus reality
Call of the Wild, Jack London
(New)
Human interaction with
animals and nature
The nature of knowledge
Text
Complexity
Readily
accessible
Very
complex
Moderately
complex
Readily
accessible
to very
complex
Anchor Standard/Content Standards
Characters, point of view, conflict, theme, and comparing
and contrasting different texts
Character point of view/perspective and development,
influence of setting and characters on theme, influence of
text on society
Read, comprehend, evaluate, and write memoirs
Recommended
Unit Length
6 weeks
6 weeks
6 weeks
Analyze plot and character development, write
argumentative essays using claims from text, compare
facts and opinions from multiple sources
6 weeks
Very
complex
Comprehend, analyze, and use narrative voice, read and
evaluate the reliability and impact of media sources
6 weeks
Moderately
complex
Compare and contrast character perspective, read and
apply nonfiction research to fictional stories, present
claims based on research
6 weeks