Concept-Oriented
Reading Instruction
CORI-PD Unit Builder
CORI-PD Unit Builder
Include Cover Sheet with your team members’ names on the
front.
Step 1:
Identify a content concept from your CORE
Step 2:
Identify sub-topics within your content concept
Step 3:
Choose informational books about your concept
Step 4:
Choose books from other genres about your concept
Step 5:
Organize your book choices for instruction
Step 6:
Build a concept map (i.e., show how the concepts link together)
Step 7:
Write weekly Essential Questions
Step 8:
Write clear, daily content objectives
Step 9:
Choose important vocabulary and reading strategy sequence
Step 10: Choose ways to motivate and engage students
Step 11: Develop a culminating activity
What you will turn in: Your team should turn in, typed please, this
Unit Builder, filled out. You will need to complete all 11 steps
(Although steps 1, 2, and 6 are redundant. They help you think!)
Keep in mind: you are building the first 6 weeks of a 9-12 week
unit. Several things that you are asked to think about might
happen LATER than week 6. I want you to have a start, so when
you come back to this, you will know how to complete the unit.
The process is the same for ANY grade level and ANY content
area. You will NOT be turning in ANY lesson plans with this unit;
however, the lesson plans you posted must be referenced and
embedded in this unit.
Step 1: Identify a content concept
1. Look at your core curriculum.
2. What are the major topics you are required to cover this year?
In fourth grade, teachers are required to cover the water cycle, weather,
properties of rocks, fossils, and the physical characteristics of Utah’s
environments.
3. Are there broader concepts that will cover several weeks on these
topics? Brainstorm 2 or 3 concepts that might work:
Concept: Utah’s Biomes
Concept: Weather
Concept: Rocks
Topics:
Topics:
Topics:
1. Environments
1. Clouds
1. Weathering
2. Adaptation
2. Seasons
2. Properties
3. Classification
3. Temperature
3. Soil
4. Organisms
4. Natural Disasters
4. Minerals
5. The content concept is: Utah’s Biomes
Hint: Content concepts are broad and should cover several weeks. For
example, the concept of weather combines the topics of water cycle,
temperature, seasons, and cloud formations.
Step 2: Write five sub-topics or “big ideas” that support your
concept
Content concept: Utah’s Biomes
Sub-topic/Idea 1: Classification
Sub-topic/Idea 2: Adaptation
Sub-topic/Idea 3: Utah’s Forests
Sub-topic/Idea 4: Animal Behavior
Sub-topic/Idea 5: Utah’s Wetlands
Sub-topic/Idea 6: Utah’s Deserts
Sources for main ideas or sub-topics:
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Core curriculum guide
Textbooks or resource books related to your concept
State or national standards in science, history, English, etc.
Websites related to content (e.g., NOAA for weather content)
Informational books on the topic(s) and concept
Step 3: Choose informational books about your concept
1. Write a list of 8—10 informational books related to the content concept.
List the topics these books might be related to.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Discovering Utah by Nancy D. and John McCormick
Many Biomes, One Earth by Sneed B. Collard III and James M. Needham
What Is a Biome? (Science of Living Things) Bobbie Kalman
Biomes and Ecosystems (Gareth Stevens Vital Science: Earth Science) by Barbara
J. Davis
5. America’s Deserts: Guides to Plants and Animals Marianne E. Wallace
6. Arches National Park: where rock meets sky by Nicky Leach and Jeff D. Nicholas
B001IGO9DE
7. Living and Non-Living Things (Nature Basics) Carol K. Lindeen
8. Deserts: Thirsty Wonderlands by Laura Purdiesalas
9. Wetlands: Soggy Habitat by Laura Purdiesalas
10. Temperate Deciduous Forests: Lands of Falling Leaves by Laura Purdiesalas
11. Backyard Birds of Utah by Bill Fenimore
12. Utah Birds: Guide, Checklist, and Occurrence Charts by Michael Perry
13. Wetlands by Linda M. Stone
2. Preview the books on the list.
3. Choose one or two books that embrace the content concept that could
be used as class sets.
Class set 1: Deserts: Thirsty Wonderlands by Laura Purdiesalas
Class set 2: Wetlands: Soggy Habitat by Laura Purdiesalas
Class set 3: Temperate Deciduous Forests: Lands of Falling Leaves by Laura
Purdiesalas
4. Designate books to be used as team sets by text difficulty.
On grade level:
Wetlands
Backyard Birds of Utah
Temperate Deciduous Forests: Lands of Falling Leaves
Wetlands: Soggy Habitat
Deserts: Thirsty Wonderlands
Above grade level:
Biomes and Ecosystems (Gareth Stevens Vital Science: Earth Science)
Utah Birds: Guide, Checklist, and Occurrence Charts
Below grade level:
Many Biomes, One Earth
Living and Non-living Things (Nature Basics)
What Is a Biome? (Science of Living Things)
Hint: Consider the following sources for gaining books for your classroom:
Principal, Reading Specialist, Medial Specialist, Special Educator, ELL
Specialist, teacher in lower/upper grades, another teacher at your school,
AEA or district, teachers at other schools, samples from trade book
publishers, grants, book club points.
Step 4: Choose books from other genres
1. What other genres of books would you like to include?
a. Navajo Stories
b. Nature Poems
c. Narratives
2. Write a list of 6—8 books from other genres that complement the
informational books.
1. Meditations with the Navajo: Prayers Songs and Stories of Healing and Harmony
by Gerald Hausman
2. Some Kind of Power: Navajo Children Skinwalker Narratives By Margaret K.
Brady
3. Chair in the Desert by Richard Chess
4. Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts by Anna Grossnickle
5. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
6. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
7. Brian’s Winter by Gary Paulsen
8. The Mystery of the Great Swamp by Marjorie Sapf
9. Cactus Hotel by Brenda Z. Guiberson
10. Log Hotel by Anne Schreiber
3. Choose one or two books that embrace the content concept that could
be used as class sets. (this means that everyone in the class will have a
copy of this book. E.g., a novel on the theme).
Class set: Hatchet
4. Designate books to be used as team sets by text difficulty. (1 copy of
book for each team of 4-6 students)
Team sets by difficulty:
Hatchet, Walk Two Moons, and Brian’s Winter
On grade level:
Hatchet (independent reading)
Chair in the Desert (research)
Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts (research)
Above grade level:
Walk Two Moons (independent reading)
Meditations with the Navajo: Prayers Songs and Stories of Healing and Harmony
(vocabulary development)
Some Kind of Power: Navajo Children Skinwalker Narratives (vocabulary development)
Dine Bahane’: The Navajo Creation Story (vocabulary development)
Below grade level:
Brian’s Winter (independent reading)
The Mystery of the Great Swamp (fluency)
Cactus Hotel (independent reading)
Log Hotel (independent reading)
5. Identify how the books you have chosen could be used within this
concept (e.g., vocabulary development, fluency, independent reading,
research, etc.)
Use Step 5 to organize your book choices from steps 3 and 4.
Step 5: Organize Your Book Choices for Instruction
Teacher books for whole class
strategy instruction and/or modeling
I do it.
 Arches National Park: Where Rock
Meets Sky
 Discovering Utah
Class Books used for guided
reading
We do it.
 Walk Two Moons
 Hatchet
 Brian’s Winter
 Alone in the Desert
 Pieces: A Year in Poems and
Quilts
 Chair in the Desert
Books for ELL, TAG, struggling
students
We do it.
 Cactus Hotel
 Log Hotel
 The Mystery of the Great Swamp
 Meditations with the Navajo:
Prayers Songs and Stories of
Healing and Harmony
 Some Kind of Power: Navajo
Children Skinwalker Narratives
Books for Independent Reading
and/or Research
You do it!
 Deserts: Thirsty Wonderlands
 Wetlands: Soggy Habitat
 Temperate Deciduous Forests:
Lands of Falling Leaves
 Many Biomes, One Earth
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America’s Deserts: Guides to Plants
and Animals
Living and Non-Living Things
(Nature Basics)
What Is a Biome? (Science of
Living Things)
Biomes and Ecosystems (Gareth
Stevens Vital Science: Earth
Science
Step 6: Build a concept map
1. What is your content concept?
Utah Biomes
2. List the sub-topics or ideas that support your concept on the left side
below. (Step 2)
Classification
Adaptation
Utah’s Forests, Wetlands, and Deserts
Animal Behavior
Natural Selection
Living and Non-living Things
3. List the books you have chosen on the right side below. (Steps 3 and
4)
Dine Bahane’: The Navajo Creation Story By, Paul G. Zolbrod
Meditations with the Navajo: Prayers Songs and Stories of Healing and Harmony
by Gerald Hausman
Some Kind of Power: Navajo Children Skinwalker Narratives By Margaret K.
Brady
Chair in the Desert by Richard Chess
Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts by Anna Grossnickle
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Discovering Utah by Nancy D. and John McCormick
Many Biomes, One Earth by Sneed B. Collard III and James M. Needham
What Is a Biome? (Science of Living Things) Bobbie Kalman
Biomes and Ecosystems (Gareth Stevens Vital Science: Earth Science) by Barbara
J. Davis
America’s Deserts: Guides to Plants and Animals Marianne E. Wallace
Arches National Park: where rock meets sky by Nicky Leach and Jeff D. Nicholas
Living and Non-Living Things (Nature Basics) Carol K. Lindeen
B001IGO9DE
Bryan’s Winter by Gary Paulsen
Deserts: Thirsty Wonderlands by Laura Purdiesalas
Wetlands: Soggy Habitat by Laura Purdiesalas
Temperate Deciduous Forests: Lands of Falling Leaves
Backyard Birds of Utah by Bill Fenimore
Utah Birds: Guide, Checklist, and Occurrence Charts by Michael Perry
Wetlands by Linda M. Stone
4. Match sub-topics and books by drawing lines from each sub-topic to the
books that provide text support for the sub-topics/ideas.
Sub-topics/Ideas
Utah’s Forests
Book Titles
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Utah’s Wetlands
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Utah’s Deserts
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Animal Behavior

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Adaptation

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Classification
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Temperate Deciduous Forests:
Lands of Falling Leaves
Biomes and Ecosystems (Gareth
Stevens Vital Science: Earth
Science)
Wetlands: Soggy Habitat
Wetlands
What Is a Biome? (Science of Living
Things)
Deserts: Thirsty Wonderlands
Arches National Park: where rock
meets sky
America’s Deserts: Guides to Plants
and Animals
Chair in the Desert
Discovering Utah
Some Kind of Power: Navajo
Children Skinwalker Narratives
Brian’s Winter
Dine Bahane’: The Navajo Creation
Story
What Is a Biome? (Science of Living
Things)
Many Biomes, One Earth
Meditations with the Navajo:
Prayers Songs and Stories
Backyard Birds of Utah
Utah Birds: Guide, Checklist, and
Occurrence Charts
Living and Non-Living Things
(Nature Basics)
Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts
6. Build a concept map to illustrate the topics/sub-topics of your concept.
Use the map below or build your own.
Utah Biomes
Sub-topic/Idea:
Sub-topic/Idea:
Forests
Wetlands
Types of plants
Types of animals
Type of climate
Coniferous forests
Deciduous forests
Alpine forests
Types of plants
Types of animals
Amount of rainfall
Seasonal variations
Great Salt Lake Wetlands
Sub-topic/Idea:
Deserts
Types of plants
Types of animals
Amount of rainfall
Moab desert
Survival
Hint: Building a conceptual map for your content concept theme enables
you to develop a specific body of understanding about your concept and
sub-topics prior to implementation. With a map, you can see how related
topics/sub-topics and ideas fit into the overall concept. Successful planning
and implementation of CORI requires a solid understanding of the content
knowledge for your unit.
Step 7: Write Weekly Essential Questions
Now that you have a map of how your content topics, sub-topics, and
ideas fit together, you can now sequence how you will teach content to
your students.
Write an Essential Question for each week (or weeks) as needed. Keep in
mind that your DAILY content objectives will be derived from these
essential questions.
Write the first 6 EQs for a FULL unit that would last for 9—12 weeks.
Week:
Essential Question:
_1___
What is a biome?
_2___
What things are necessary for survival in Utah biomes?
_3___
What are the physical characteristics of a desert, a forest,
and a wetlands?
_4___
What are the common plants and animals found in Utah’s
biomes?
_5___
How do you classify the plants and animals found in
Utah’s biomes?
_6___
What are the behaviors of three animals found in Utah’s
biomes?
Step 8: Write clear, daily content objectives
1. Think about how students will be able to answer essential questions. At
the end on the instructional unit, what do you want students to be able to
do with the content?
Use the formula below to write content objectives. You will have content
for each day, but they need not be different ones for each day. You may
have the same content objectives for several days.
SWBAT
learning
content +
strategy +
condition(s)
+
behavior +
Content Objectives
Please write 3 content objectives for EACH week of your unit. These will tie
directly to the lesson plans your team posted.
Week 1:
Essential question 1: What is a biome?
1. SWBAT complete with teacher’s assistance a web that classifies the
different aspects of a biome.
2. SWBAT define a biome by using research books in class they will
demonstrate this by writing about their ideal habitat.
3. SWBAT differentiate between biomes found in Utah and biomes
found around the world. They will do this by splitting into groups and
creating posters with pictures that are labeled with elements found in
Utah biomes.
Week 2:
Essential question 2: What things are necessary for survival in biome?
1. SWBAT identify that climate affects what can grow in a biome.
2. SWBAT identify that climate also affects what animals can survive in
a biome.
3. SWBAT understand that plants and animals are indigenous to their
particular biome.
Week 3:
Essential question 3: What are the physical characteristics of a desert, a
forest, and a wetlands?
1. SWBAT define the physical characteristics of a desert.
2. SWBAT define the physical characteristics of a forest.
3. SWBAT define the physical characteristics of a wetlands.
Week 4:
Essential question 4: What are the common plants and animals found in
Utah’s biomes?
1. SWBAT identify that the following animals and plants survive in the
desert: road runner, desert tortoise, horned toad, turkey
vulture, kangaroo rat, sidewinder rattlesnake, bristlecone pine,
sagebrush, juniper, joshua tree, yucca, and cactus.
2. SWBAT identify that the following animals and plants survive in the
forest: woodpeckers, hummingbirds, squirrels, raccoons, deer,
salamanders, insects, field mice, foxes, maple, birch, elm, oak, sumac,
cottonwoods, hickory, cherry, ferns, clover, and grasses.
3. SWBAT identify that the following animals and plants survive in the
wetlands: algae, fish, frogs, water fowl, ferns, herbs, maples, elms,
and ash trees
Week 5:
Essential question 5: How do you classify the plants and animals found in
Utah’s biomes?
1. SWBAT classify the different areas of Utah as wetlands, forests, or
deserts.
2. SWBAT make their own classification scheme for the animals and
plants found in Utah.
3. SWBAT classify plants and animals that are not found in Utah’s
biomes.
Week 6:
Essential question 6: What are the behaviors of three animals found in
Utah’s biomes?
1. SWBAT explain why animals’ migration patterns allow them to survive
Utah winters.
2. SWBAT observe and record the behavior of birds found in Utah’s
biomes.
3. SWBAT compare the behavior of Utah’s reptiles and amphibians.
Step 9: Choose important vocabulary and reading strategy sequence
1. Think about your content concept. List key vocabulary words that will be
necessary for your students to define and use correctly to gain conceptual
knowledge of the concept.
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wetland
forest
desert
adaptation
deciduous
coniferous
invertebrate
bird
amphibian
reptile
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fish
mammal
insect
hibernation
migration
2. Review your students’ reading needs and competencies. If you design
your unit for Fall, think about the skills/strategies your kids will need to
learn. If you design your unit for Spring, these strategies might be
different, considering what was taught previously. List three for each:
Needs
 Identifying punctuation in text
 Uses letter patterns to
decode words
 Can locate facts from a variety
of informational texts
 Reads grade level words with
automaticity
 Reads grade level text in
meaningful phrases using
intonation, expression, and
punctuation cues
Competencies
 Can recognize that print carries
meaning
 Relates prior knowledge to make
connections to text
 Listens and demonstrates
understanding of text by
responding appropriately
 Relates unfamiliar words and
concepts to prior knowledge to
increase vocabulary
3. Choose 3—5 specific reading comprehension strategies (See CORI List of
strategies) to implement in your unit. Some of these may change from one
unit to the next as the students progress and build competence. (see #2
thinking above.)
Hint: Reading and vocabulary focus address students’ needs,
competencies, and curriculum requirements. Consider sources such as
school records, informal reading inventories, reading scales, running
records, classroom observations, and portfolios to assess students’ needs
and competencies.
Step 10: Choose ways to motivate and engage students
1. Brainstorm ways to provide support for each of the motivational
principles. Write three specific activities for each motivational principle.
Interesting Texts
Please see the book list above (step 4):
1. Find where in any of the noninformational texts biomes in Utah may
exist. (weeks 3-6)
2. Write own myths regarding Utah
environments. (weeks 3-6)
3. Other books found will get extra
credit. (weeks 1-6)
Real-World Experience
(hands-on activities, role plays,
connecting reading to background
knowledge, connecting reading to
the real world)
1. Visits to the Hogle Zoo/ Tracy Aviary.
(weeks 3-6)
2. Visit to the Utah Natural History
Museum (which has a core curriculum
program for Utah teachers). (weeks 36)
3. Hiking/field trips to Great Salt Lake,
mountain resorts, and other state parks.
(weeks 1-6)
Choice
(forming own questions, selecting
text, pursuing interests)
1. KWL (weeks 1-6)
2. Ownership in learning, choosing text
(weeks 1-6)
3. Encyclopedia article on Utah birds.
(week 6)
Collaboration
(reading in pairs or groups,
exchanging ideas with peers,
sharing knowledge)
. Pair share myths created in class
(weeks 3-6)
2. cooperative groups for creation of
research articles for class sharing.
(weeks 3-6)
3. whole-class interactive presentations.
(weeks 3-6)
Conceptual Knowledge
1. word searches (weeks 1-6)
(relating topics and sub-topics to
each other, connecting reading to
concepts)
2. multimedia background knowledge
Competence
1. Minimal emphasis on performance-
(sharing success in reading, peer
encouragement, using strategies to
read well, recognize achievement in
reading comprehension)
activation (weeks 1-6)
3. "Where do I live" games (weeks 3-6)
based grading. (weeks 1-6)
2. reading/vocabulary (weeks 1-6)
3. application of knowledge gain through
open-ended questions (weeks 4-6)
2. When will students do these activities? Write down the week each of
these activities will happen. (keep in mind, this is a full 9-12 week unit. So
you will NOT have ALL these activities within the first 6 weeks.
Step 11: Develop a culminating activity
Brainstorm 1 or 2 activities for students to complete at the end of the unit
that will demonstrate their learning of the ideas in the concept map (Step
5). These activities will cover the full 9-12 weeks, not just 6 weeks.
Questions to prompt
Activity #1
Activity #2
thinking:
What type of project would
work best? (poster, book,
presentation, model, etc.)
Students will create a
Biome book which will
include all of the biomes
they learned through this
lesson.
The students will create
their own biome using their
choice of project; poster,
box model or book. They
will also need to write a
paper describing their
biome and what they have
in it.
What are specific components
of the project?
Students will include the
physical characteristics of
each biome; plants,
animals, water. The need
to draw a picture for each
one and write about each
biome.
Students will need to
include the type of weather
that’s in their biome, what
types of plant and animals
live there and why they
live there. What do they
eat and survive.
How will students be grouped?
The students will create
the book as individuals.
They will need to show
what they learned by
themselves.
Students will create their
biomes individually so they
can create their ideal
biome created for
themselves.
What length of time is needed?
The students will be
gathering information
during the whole lesson
and creating this book
throughout the whole
lesson as they learn about
each biome.
Students will need the
information they gathered
throughout the lesson so
they know the importance
of certain characteristics.
They will need at least 3
days to finalize the project
with a paper describing
their project.
How will students communicate
their knowledge to others?
The students will put the
books out for sharing time
and each student in the
class and will be able to
look at everyone’s books
and see how others
created theirs.
Students will share their
projects by displaying them
around the school. This
way the whole school can
learn a little about Utah’s
Biomes.