Unit 5

Habitats

Grade 3

ELA

Unit Length and Description:

7 weeks

Students learn about the interdependence of animals and plants in nature and the cycles of growth and decay at the foundation of the forest ecosystem. Students also learn about the importance of preserving balance and cycles in nature.

Standards:

Reading Standards for Literature
RL.3.1	Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
RL.3.2	Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through the key details in the text.
RL.3.3	Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
RL.3.4	Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
RL.3.5	Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.
RL.3.6	Distinguish the student’s point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
RL.3.7	Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
RL.3.9	Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).
RL.3.10	By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Reading Standards for Informational Text
RI.3.1	Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
RI.3.2	Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
RI.3.3	Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
RI.3.4	Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject.
RI.3.5	Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
RI.3.6	Distinguish the student’s point of view from that of the author of a text.
RI.3.7	Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
RI.3.8	Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).
RI.3.9	Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.
RI.3.10	By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Reading Standards: Foundational Skills
RF.3.3	Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
RF.3.3.a	Identify and know the meaning of the most common prefixes and suffixes and derivational suffixes.
RF.3.3.b	Decode words with common Latin suffixes.
RF.3.3.c	Decode multisyllable words.
RF.3.3.d	Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.
RF.3.4	Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
RF.3.4.a	Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
RF.3.4.b	Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
RF.3.4.c	Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
Writing Standards
W.3.1	Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
W.3.1.a	Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.
W.3.1.b	Provide reasons that support the opinion.
W.3.1.c	Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons.
W.3.1.d	Provide a concluding statement or section.
W.3.2	Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
W.3.2.a	Introduce a topic and group related information; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension.
W.3.2.b	Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.
W.3.2.c	Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information.
W.3.2.d	Provide a concluding statement or section.
W.3.3	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.3.3.a	Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
W.3.3.b	Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.
W.3.3.c	Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.
W.3.3.d	Provide a sense of closure.
W.3.4	With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.
W.3.5	With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
W.3.6	With guidance and support from adults, produce and publish grade-appropriate writing using technology either independently or in collaboration with others.
W.3.7	Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
W.3.8	Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
W.3.10	Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Speaking and Listening Standards
SL.3.1	Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
SL.3.1.a	Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
SL.3.1.b	Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
SL.3.1.c	Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.
SL.3.1.d	Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.
SL.3.2	Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
SL.3.3	Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
SL.3.4	Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
SL.3.5	Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.
SL.3.6	Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task, audience, and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
Language Standards
L.3.1	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.3.1.a	Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.
L.3.1.b	Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.
L.3.1.c	Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood)
L.3.1.d	Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.
L.3.1.e	Form and use the simple (e.g., I walked, I walk; I will walk) verb tenses.
L.3.1.f	Ensure subject-verb and pronoun antecedent agreement.
L.3.1.g	Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.
L.3.1.h	Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions
L.3.1.i	Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.
L.3.2	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.3.2.a	Capitalize appropriate words in titles.
L.3.2.b	Use commas in addresses.
L.3.2.c	Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.
L.3.2.d	Form and use possessives.
L.3.2.e	Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words. (sitting, smiled, cries, happiness).
L.3.2.f	Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words.
L.3.2.g	Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.
L.3.3	Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
L.3.3.a	Choose words and phrases for effect.
L.3.3.b	Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English.
L.3.4	Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.3.4.a	Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
L.3.4.b	Determine the meaning of the new words formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, care/careless).
L.3.4.c	Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root. (e.g., company, companion.)
L.3.4.d	Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
L.3.5	Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
L.3.5.a	Distinguish the literal and non-literal meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps)
L.3.5.b	Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful).
L.3.5.c	Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered).
L.3.6	Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them).
Standards: Instructional Outcomes
READING STANDARDS FOR LITERATURE RL.3.1 I can ask questions to show I understand what I read. I can answer questions to show I understand what I read. I can create questions to show I understand the text. I can locate an answer to a question in the text. RL.3.2 I can recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures. I can determine how the moral, lesson, or central message are shown through key details in the text. RL.3.3 I can describe a character’s feelings/emotion based on information found in the text. I can describe a character’s traits/motivations. I can explain how character’s actions affect the order of events. RL.3.4 I can tell the difference between the literal and non-literal meanings of words and phrases in context. RL.3.5 I can identify different genres of text. I can refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when speaking or writing about text. I can use terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza. I can describe how events in stories, dramas, and poems build upon each other. RL.3.6 I can identify point of view, the narrator’s point of view, and the character’s point of view. I can compare/contrast my own point of view to the narrator’s or the character’s point of view. RL.3.7 I can identify specific parts (aspects) of a text’s illustrations. I can recognize the mood of a story. I can explain a text’s illustrations: contribute to the text in a story. create the mood of the story. develop (emphasize) characters and setting. RL.3.9 I can compare the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters. RL.3.10 By the end of third grade, I can read and comprehend on grade level stories, dramas, and poetry independently and proficiently. READING STANDARDS FOR INFORMATIONAL TEXT RI.3.1 I can ask questions to show that I understand what I read. I can answer questions to show I understand what I read. I can create questions based on the text to answer questions. I can locate information in the text to answer questions. RI.3.2 I can determine the main idea of a text. I can recount key details of a text. I can explain how the key details support the main idea of a text. RI.3.3 I can identify: historical events, scientific ideas or concepts in a text, steps in a technical. I can explain how historical events, scientific ideas or steps in a procedure fit together using words that describe time, sequence, and cause and effect. I can define and use key terms: time, sequence, cause/effect, relationship RI.3.4 I can determine the meaning of words or phrases in informational text about a specific topic. RI.3.5 I can use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text. RI.3.6 I can compare/contrast my point of view to the author’s point of view. RI.3.7 I can recognize key events in an informational text. I can demonstrate an understanding of text using information from illustrations. I can demonstrate an understanding of text using information from words that tell where, when, why, how key events occur. RI.3.8 I can identify the structure(s) of paragraphs. (comparison, cause/effect, sequence) I can determine how a text is organized. RI.3.9 I can compare and contrast the main points and key details from two informational texts on the same topic. RI.3.10 By the end of third grade, I can read and comprehend grade level informational texts proficiently. READING STANDARDS: FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS RF.3.3.a I can identify the meaning of the most common prefixes and suffixes. I can use words correctly with common prefixes and suffixes. RF.3.3.b I can read and use words with Latin suffixes. RF.3.3.c I can identify syllables in a word. I can read and use multi-syllable words. RF.3.3.d I can read and use irregularly spelled words. RF.3.4.a I can read grade-level text fluently with purpose and understanding. RF.3.4.b I can read with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings of a variety of text (prose and poetry). RF.3.4.c I can self-correct words using context to show understanding when I read. I can use rereading, when necessary to help me understand when I read. WRITING W.3.1.a (Text Type: Opinion) I can select a topic or text for an opinion piece. I can determine an opinion about the text or topic. I can choose an organizational structure for my writing W.3.1.b I can determine reasons that support my opinion. W.3.1.c I can recognize linking words and phrases when writing. I can select appropriate linking words and phrases to connect opinions and reasons in my writing (because, therefore, since, for example). I can write an opinion piece on a topic or text which uses linking words to connect opinions and ideas. W.3.1.d I can write a concluding statement. W.3.2.a (Text Type: Informative/Explanatory) I can stick to the topic I have chosen. I can include useful illustrations. I can write an informative/explanatory text that includes: A topic that groups related information together Illustrations, when useful, to aid in comprehension W.3.2.b I can use facts, definition, and details about the topic. W.3.2.c I can use linking words (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) and phrases to connect ideas. W.3.2.d I can write a concluding sentence. W.3.3.a (Text Type: Narrative) I can establish a situation in writing. I can plan a sequence of events in my writing. I can plan characters in my writing. W.3.3.b I can create a plan and write a narrative that develops characters and events through the use of dialogue and descriptions to reveal actions, thoughts, and feelings. W.3.3.c I can use words to show the order of events. (e.g., the next day, before, tomorrow) I can plan and write a narrative that uses sequential words and phrases. W.3.3.d I can write a concluding statement. W.3.4 I can write with a purpose, organize my thoughts, and produce a finished piece with help from adults. W.3.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, I can recognize how to plan, revise and edit. W.3.6 With guidance and support from adults, I can produce and publish grade-appropriate writing using technology. (independently or collaboratively) W.3.7 I can gather information about a topic by researching it to learn more. W.3.8 I can gather information from print and digital sources. I can take notes on information gathered. I can sort information I gathered into categories. W.3.10 I can write for various purposes and to various audiences for short and long periods of time. SPEAKING AND LISTENING STANDARDS SL.3.1.a I can relate information read to discussion topics. SL.3.1.b I can identify agreed-upon rules for discussion and ways to listen effectively. I can listen actively to discussions and presentations. SL.3.1.c I can understand how to ask a question. I can create questions and responses based on comments made by others during a discussion. SL.3.1.d At the end of group discussion, I can explain my ideas and understandings of a topic. SL.3.2 I can determine the main idea and supporting details of information that I hear or see. SL.3.3 I can ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, with appropriate details. SL.3.4 I can give an oral report about a topic, text, or experience. I will speak clearly at an understandable pace and use facts and details related to the topic. SL.3.5 I can create an interesting audio recording that includes a fluent reading of a story or poem and visual displays to highlight facts or details. SL.3.6 I can speak in complete sentences to provide details or explanations. LANGUAGE L.3.1.a I can explain the function of the following parts of speech and explain their function in particular sentences: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. L.3.1.b I can form and use regular and irregular plural nouns when writing and speaking. L.3.1.c I can identify and use abstract nouns when writing and speaking. L.3.1.d I can form and use regular and irregular verbs when writing and speaking. L.3.1.e I can form and use simple verb tenses (past, present, future) L.3.1.f I can make sure my subject and verbs agree. I can make sure my pronouns and antecedents agree. L.3.1.g I can form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs. I can choose between comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs depending on what is to be modified. L.3.1.h I can use the conjunctions and, but, or, yet, so (coordinating conjunctions) I can use the conjunctions because, before, but, since, while (subordinating conjunctions) L.3.1.i I can identify simple, compound and complex sentences. I can speak and write a variety of sentences. (simple, compound, and complex) L.3.2.a-g I can capitalize appropriate words in titles. (a) I can use commas in addresses. (b) I can use commas and quotation marks in dialogue. (c) I can form and use possessives. (d) I can use correct spelling for high frequency and other studied words. (e) I can use spelling patterns (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words. (f) I can use a dictionary, computer, or other resource to check for correct spelling. (g) L.3.3.a-b I can use words or phrases that create effect (interest) in writing and speaking. (a) I can choose a strategy to determine the meaning of an unknown word or phrase. (b) L.3.4.a I can recognize that context clues can help determine the meaning of unknown or multiple-meaning words. I can determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases by using the context clues in a sentence. L.3.4.b I can determine the meaning of a word when an affix (prefix or suffix) is added. L.3.4.c I can determine the meaning of an unknown word by identifying the common root ot base word. L.3.4.d I can find words in dictionaries and glossaries. I can use print and digital glossaries and dictionaries to determine or clarify meanings of key words and phrases. L.3.5.a I can tell the difference between literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context. L.3.5.b I can make real-life connections between words and their use (e.g. describe people who are friendly or helpful). L.3.5.c I can recognize words that have similar meanings (synonyms) and choose the word that best describes the mood/state of mind (e.g., knew, believed, suspected). L.3.6 I can find and use words and phrases that accurately show time and place.

Enduring Understandings:

· Understanding a text’s structure helps one understand its meaning.

· Readers use strategies to construct meaning.

· Writing is a tool used for thinking, learning and communicating.

· Wetlands are an important part of Louisiana and other coastal regions.

· Habitats are important to life

· Plants and animals have different features that allow them live and flourish in different regions.

· It is important to protect wetlands.

Essential Questions:

· How can I understand the structure of different text?

· What impact do reading strategies have?

· How can we use evaluation and reflection to improve our writing?

· What is a wetland and why is it important to coastal regions?

· What is a habitat? What makes up a habitat?

· How do the characteristics of plants and animals allow them to live and thrive in a certain habitat?