NYCDOE Magnet Program District 25 & 28
JHS185 Magnet School
Grade 6
Essential Question: Why is it important for us to be informed
about our built environment?
Suggested Time Frame: 5-6 weeks
Magnet Theme: Architecture
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Stage 1- Desired Results
Standards-Based Learning Goals:
E1c Read and comprehend informational materials.
E1edemonstrate familiarity with a variety of functional documents.
E2a Produce a report of information
E3a Participate in one to one conferences with the teacher
E3b Participate in Group meetings
E4 Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language
E5b Produce work in at least one genre that follows the conventions of the genre
Big Ideas for this Unit:
-Information
-proof
-environments
-connections
Concepts
Magnet School Theme: Architecture
Relevant/Connected Big Idea:
Exploring different aspects of the Architecture curriculum to
incorporate into newspaper articles to produce a class wide
newspaper
Enduring Understandings:
Overarching Essential Question(s):
Being informed helps people have a better
understanding of the world around them.
Why is it important for us to be informed about our built
environment?
Why do we need the built environment in our society?
Content (nouns)
Students will know…
-The 5 W’s
-Main Idea Supporting Detailing
-Relevant and irrelevant information
-Facts and opinions
-Context clues
-Headlines and bylines
-Format of a newspaper
-the different sections of a newspaper
-editorials
-advice
-Categorizing their articles
Content and Skills
Skills (verbs)
Students will be able to……
-Identify the 5 W’s in newspaper articles
-Identify the Main Idea and supporting details in articles
-Identify relevant and irrelevant information in texts
-Identify Fact and Opinions in texts
-Use different context clues to broaden vocabulary skills
-Use different strategies to figure out context clues
-Use
2
Stage 2- Summative Assessment Evidence
If students understand, know and are able to do the items in Stage 1, they should be able to show their
understanding by completing an authentic task found in the world beyond the classroom.

Design the Culminating/Summative Project:
G- (goal)
Students will demonstrate their understanding of newspaper articles and their understanding of architectural sites, and
architects by writing an article that shows the importance of understanding.
R- (role)
Students will become newspaper reporters who are researching and writing about different architects, buildings,
bridges and parks.
A- (audience)
Future architecture students that will need to be introduced to these important figures and structures
S- (situation)
Students are to write articles on the different aspects of the built environment and how they affect people’s every day
lives.
P- (purpose and product)
Students will produce a newspaper that will teach future students of architecture about the need and importance of
bridges, structures and parks .
S- (standards for performance)
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Culminating Project
A newspaper is needed to be included in the packet that recruiters are using to get fifth graders to come to
our school to understand the importance of studying architecture next year as sixth graders.
Task 1
You will choose one of the three architectural topics (architect, park, structure or bridge) and write a
newspaper article based on that topic and the function of the structure in our society. You will include the 5
W’s, facts, and many supporting details in your article and the importance of these structures in our society.
Task 2
Once your article is written and edited to perfection it will be your responsibility to format your article into
the class newspaper.
4
Model of Culminating Project
The Park
In the mid nineteenth century Frederick Law
Olmstead was appointed the parks
superintendent and Calvert Vaux was appointed
the Architect on New York’s newest project
Central Park. Both Men had a vast background
in designing recreation areas. Olmstead was a
landscape designer and a founder of American
landscape architecture. Besides designing Central
Park he also designed Prospect Park just across
the bridge in Brooklyn and many other well
known urban Parks. Calvert Vaux was a
landscape designer as well as a park developer.
He teamed up with Olmstead on many other
projects including Prospect Park. He also
contributed on the landscape design for the
whitehouse.
The area now known as Central Park was located
in the center of the island of manhattan. It is the
are between 59th street and 106th street, and 5th
and 8th avenues. It was built between the years of
1857 and 1870. The project was completed in
stages.
The area prior to becoming the park it is today
was an irregular terrain of swamps and rocky
bluffs that was uninhabitable by architectural
standards. The project to make it a public
recreation area took many years and over 20,000
workers to complete the park. It was one of the
nineteenth centuries massive public works
projects.
The park was built as a recreational area for the
rich in the surrounding areas. Since its original
completion the park has been refurbished a
couple of times, to meet the needs of the current
time. Today the park is visited by over 5 million
people annually.
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Rubric For Culminating Project
CATEGORY
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3
Who, What, When, All articles adequately address 90-99% of the articles adequately
Where & How
the 5 W's (who, what, when,
address the 5 W's (who, what,
where and how).
when, where and how).
Supporting Details The details in the articles are
clear, effective, and vivid 80100% of the time.
2
1
75-89% of the articles adequately
address the 5 W's (who, what,
when, where and how).
Less than 75% of the articles
adequately address the 5 W's
(who, what, when, where, and
how).
The details in the articles are clear The details in the articles are clear
and pertinent 90-100% of the time. and pertinent 75-89% of the time.
The details in more than 25%
of the articles are neither clear
nor pertinent.
Interest
The article contains many
The article contains details about
details about the importance
the importance and function of the
and function of the structure in structure in our society.
our society.
The article contains few details
about the importance and function
of the structure in our society..
Spelling and
Proofreading
No spelling or grammar errors
remain after one or more
people (in addition to the
typist) read and correct the
newspaper.
No more than 3 spelling or
Several spelling or grammar
grammar errors remain after one or errors remain in the final copy
more people (in addition to the
of the newspaper.
typist) read and correct the
newspaper.
Requirements
All of the required content was Almost all the required content was At least 75% of the required
present.
present.
content was present.
No more than a couple of spelling
or grammar errors remain after one
or more people (in addition to the
typist) read and correct the
newspaper.
The article contains no details
about the importance and
function of the structure in our
society.
Less than 75% of the required
content was present.
6
5
Unit Essential Question:
Mini-Unit Title
Big Ideas of
the mini-unit/
Concept
Statement
Knowledge
Important
content to
know about
mini-unit
(nouns)
Examining
newspaper
articles
Information
-proof
-environments
-connections
The 5 W’s
-Main Idea
Supporting
Detailing
-Relevant and
irrelevant
information
-Facts and
opinions
-Context clues
Writing
newspaper
Information
-proof
-environments
-connections
The 5 W’s
-Main Idea
Supporting
Detailing
Skills
What should
students be
able to do?
(verbs)
Connection to
Magnet
Theme
Identify the 5
W’s in
newspaper
articles
-Identify the
Main Idea and
supporting
details in articles
-Identify
relevant and
irrelevant
information in
texts
-Identify Fact
and Opinions in
texts
-Use different
context clues to
broaden
vocabulary skills
-Use different
strategies to
figure out
context clues
Architecture of
a newspaper
article:Looking
for 5 W’s
-Use the 5 W’s
in newspaper
articles
Create a main
Writing an
article that
shows their
understanding
Possible
Topical
Essential/
Focus
Questions
Mini-Unit
Assessment
Benchmarks,
Scaffolding
Towards
Culminating
Project
Is there
relevant and
irrelevant
architecture?
Students will be
given an article
and asked to
identify the 5
W’s, Main Idea
and supporting
details, relevant
and irrelevant
information.
Students will
understand The
5 W’s,
Main Idea and
supporting
Details, relevant
and irrelevant
information,
facts and
opinions and
context clues
Why are
opinions not
related to the
construction of
Based on a
recent current
event students
will write a
Students will
produce a
newspaper
article about
How do the 5
W’s help
construct an
article?
7
5
articles
Constructing
and
formatting a
newspaper
-Relevant and
irrelevant
information
-Facts and
opinions
-Context clues
Information
-proof
-environments
-connections
-Headlines and
bylines
-Format of a
newspaper
-the different
sections of a
newspaper
idea and
supporting
details in articles
-Identify
relevant and
irrelevant
information in
texts
-Identify Fact
and Opinions in
texts
-Use different
context clues to
broaden
vocabulary skills
-Use different
strategies to
figure out
context clues
-Understand
the differences
between
bylines and
headlines
-Identify the
different
sections of a
newspaper
-Categorize
their own
articles into the
different
sections of the
article
of the
construction of
a newspaper
article and how
their structure
is important to
society.
Formatting a
newspaper that
shows their
understanding
of the
construction of
a newspaper.
an article?
How is the plan
or format of a
newspaper the
same as the
plan of your
structure you
wrote about?
newspaper
article
The completion
of the
newspaper
one of the
architectural
structures they
chose which
addresses the
idea of its
function in
society.
Students will
have produced
a newspaper
that reflects
their
knowledge of
the structure
they chose and
the structure
and or format
of a newspaper
8
5
Weekly Grid
AIM:
MONDAY
Can you find the 5 W's in
magazine/newspaper
articles?
TUESDAY
Can you use the five
W's to write a summary
of an article?
WEDNESDAY
Do you know how to find
the main idea of a
passage?
THURSDAY
What does relevant and
irrelevant mean?
FRIDAY
What is the difference
between fact and
opinion?
DO NOW:
Make a list of the 5 W's.
Find an article in the
magazine on your desk
that you are interested
in. Start reading.
What do you think the
main idea was of the
article we read
yesterday?
State something that
happened to you
yesterday that was
important.
ACTIVITY:
In your groups you will
read the article
Read an article from the
magazine you chose and
find the five W’s.
Using Graphic organizer
identify the three
supporting details and
Main Idea of an article you
chose.
Look through the article
that was assigned and
underline the irrelevant
information.
Look over the three
following statements
and decide if they are
facts or opinions:
__Cats are the best pet to
have.
__Niagra Falls are
located in the United
States and Canada.
__Reading is a better
way to spend time than
watching TV.
Make a list of fact and
opinions in your own
life.
Teacher observation
Look at copied article and
underline relevant
information
Identify all of the
opinions in the article I
handed out.
Find a newspaper article
and identify the main idea
of that article. If needed
use the graphic organizer
we worked on in class.
Find a newspaper article
and identify relevant and
irrelevant information
using two different
highlighters.
Find a newspaper article
and write a summary
using the 5 W’s.
As a group you will find
the 5 W's of the article
ASSESSMENT:
Teacher Observation
HW:
Find a newspaper article
and identify the 5 W's of
that article.
Using the 5 W’s write a
summary.
EXIT SLIP:
Write your summary
based on the article you
read independently and
completed chart.
Find a newspaper article
and identify the 5 W's of
that article
9
5
Weekly Grid
MONDAY
How can context clues help
us find the meaning of
words?
TUESDAY (MINI UNIT 2)
How can we choose a
topic for us to write an
article about?
ACTIVITY:
Is there a word in the article
titled________________ find a
word that you are unsure of
the meaning.
Focusing on context clues
ASSESSMENT:
Teacher observations
HW:
Choose an article from a
newspaper that has words
that you are unsure of the
meaning. Use context clues
consultant to help you figure
out the meaning of the word.
Choose one of the
following three topics
that you are interested in:
structure, park or bridge?
Looking for information
about the structure they
chose.
EXIT SLIP: What
structure did you choose?
Continue looking for
information that is
relevant to your article
about the structure you
chose.
AIM:
DO NOW:
WEDNESDAY
How do we take notes on
reputable websites to find
relevant information about
our topics?
Explain how you would
normally take notes to write
up research or an article.
THURSDAY
Why is it important to write
articles using the 5 W’s?
FRIDAY
How can we organize
the information in our
newspaper articles?
Using the information you
found start completing the
five W’s
Continue writing the
essay
Using a graphic organizer to
find information on their
structures.
Teacher Observation
Students outlining and
starting to write their 5
paragraph essays
Teacher Observation
Students will continue
writing their stories
Continue looking for
information that is relevant to
your article about the
structure you chose.
Continue looking for
information that is relevant
to your article about the
structure you chose.
Continue looking for
information that is
relevant to your article
about the structure you
chose.
Teacher Observation
10
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Unit Resources
Websites:
Parks:
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/
http://www.nycgovparks.org/
http://www.nps.gov/index.htm
Architects
http://architect.architecture.sk/
Bridges
http://architecture.about.com/od/famousbridges/Famous_Bridges.htm
Structures
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings.html
Teacher Materials:
Graphic Organizers
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