Course Repository

This module uses literature and informational text to introduce students to the power of literacy and how people around the world overcome learning challenges. It is intentionally designed to encourage students to embrace a love of literacy and reading. Students will consider how geography and where someone lives in the world affect how they access books. They will continue to build knowledge and vocabulary related to world geography as they study excerpts from different texts. Students will also focus on what it means to be a proficient and independent reader. They will assess your challenges as a reader, and identify strategies to overcome those challenges.

This module is an integral part of the program to ensure all standards are addressed; therefore, it should be downloaded with the ILC ELA 6 - 1st Semester content. In this eight-week module, students explore the idea of adversity of people across time and place, and through multiple modes of writing.

In this unit, students will answer the essential question “What are the systems on Earth and how do they function?”. Students will learn about the Earth and the systems that help it function properly. Students will learn about the four Earth spheres- biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere, and how they interact with one another. Students will also learn about Earth's natural resources and how they are utilized to help humans survive. Students will develop models of Earth's systems and explain the interactions between them. As part of their learning, students will also spend time learning about water as a valuable resource on Earth and where all of the water is stored. Students will make claims based on their evidence and reasoning. Working together collaboratively, students will develop a plan to apply their knowledge about Earth's systems.

The Surf’s Up: Waves unit is about how simple wave patterns can be used to transfer information. This unit includes two instructional modules. In the first module, students will answer the essential question “How can information be sent and received over great distances?”. In this module, students develop a model explaining how digitized code systems can be used to transfer various types of information over long distances. In the second module, students will answer the essential question “How does sound energy affect the patterns we observe in water?”. In this module, students build on their understanding of codes to describe how frequency and wavelength patterns in waves can be used to solve communication problems. Students will then use models to demonstrate their understanding of wave properties.

In this module, through reading several fiction and non-fiction books about play and by playing with toys, students will learn about how to get along with others while playing, how to play safely with a variety of toy types, and how to describe and sort toys in a number of ways. Students will learn about the toy preferences of others and compare toys from long ago to toys today. Lastly, they will get to imagine and build a toy of their own and interview others about their toy creations and play preferences.

This Module is designed to give students additional practice, build knowledge and vocabulary while allowing students greater independence in their learning and an opportunity to gain mastery of the concepts taught in ILC ELA 3: Module 1 Becoming a Close Reader and Writing to Learn - Overcoming Learning Challenges Near and Far. This module uses literature and informational text to introduce students to the power of literacy and how people around the world overcome learning challenges. It is intentionally designed to encourage students to embrace a love of literacy and reading. This module includes a heavy emphasis on building reading fluency.

This Module is designed to give students additional practice, build knowledge and vocabulary while allowing students greater independence in their learning and an opportunity to gain mastery of the concepts taught in ILC ELA 3: Module 3 Exploring Literary Classics. Students will read Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.

In this module, students will begin their study of birds’ bodies. The module focuses on big ideas like: animals have physical features that help them survive and animals behave in ways that help them survive. Students will listen to the texts Just Ducks by Nicola Davies and Birds (Scholastic Discover More) by Penelope Arlon and Tory Gordon-Harris as they answer the unit guiding question: What makes a bird a bird? Students will build background knowledge about birds through the texts and write, talk, and represent (through scientific drawing, writing, role-play, music, and movement). Students will participate in research to learn more about the form and function of key bird parts: beaks and feathers. Students will research using two key anchor texts: Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart and Beaks! by Sneed B. Collard III. This research will be anchored by the unit guiding question: How do birds use their body parts to survive? Finally, students will research more to learn about how a specific bird’s key parts help them to survive in their habitat.

In Module 2, students will build on both literacy and science skills as they engage in a study of fossils. Students start by using the guiding questions: What do paleontologists do? and How do characters respond to major events? Students will focus on how characters respond to major events and challenges, while also learning about what fossils are and the work that paleontologists do. They will also learn about the overall structure of narrative writing. Students will be introduced to the skill of answering selected-response questions. Later on in the module, students move on to informational texts to get a deeper understanding about fossils. They will be introduced to close reading strategies and asked to use them independently on different nonfiction texts. Students will be able to answer the following guiding questions by the end of Unit 2: What can we learn from studying fossils? and How do readers learn more about a topic from informational texts? In the last part of this module, students will be guided by the question: How do authors write compelling narratives? They will take on the role of being authors. Students will write narrative pieces where they imagine they are a paleontologist and have just discovered a fossil. Students then work on revising and editing their writing, followed by adding detailed illustrations to go along with their story. To celebrate finishing this module, students will be able to present the books they have created!

The labs module allows students to apply content-based, literacy lessons, and foundational reading and writing skills across curricular areas. In this module, students will learn about the weather as they create, engineer, imagine and research. In the Create Lab, students will determine and select what tools an artist could use as they create weather landscapes and cityscapes. In the Engineering Lab, students will design and build a waterproof shelter. In the Imagine Lab, students will use their imagination to create weather stories with a partner. In the Research Lab, students will work with a partner to research the answers to new and challenging questions.

In this module, students will take a closer look at the story of human rights around the world through fiction and nonfiction texts. In Unit 1, students will build their close reading skills by reading the novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Students will read about human rights and apply this learning as one lens through which to interpret the characters and themes in the novel. Through close reading, interpretation, and analysis of fiction and nonfiction texts, students will begin to build their understanding of human rights. Throughout the unit, students closely read selected articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights related to events in Esperanza Rising where human rights are threatened. At the end of this Unit, students will participate in a text-based discussion about characters whose rights were threatened and/or violated during the chapters read. In Unit 2, students will finish reading Esperanza Rising, focusing on the characters’ reactions and responses to events when their human rights are threatened. They will write a two-voice poem with a partner and then perform the poem for the class. At the end of the Unit, students will write and revise a four-paragraph literary essay comparing the response of two characters to a selected event from the novel, describing how each character responds to the event. In Unit 3, students will continue to revisit the themes of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Esperanza Rising as they plan, write, and ultimately perform monologues based on events from Esperanza Rising where human rights are threatened. In groups, students will write a Directors’ Note to describe their selected event from Esperanza Rising, explain which specific articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights relate to the event, and explain how people today are impacted by this issue. Students will revise, rehearse, and ultimately perform their group’s monologues for the class and/or school or community members.

The labs module allows students to apply content-based, literacy lessons, and foundational reading and writing skills across curricular areas. In this module, students will learn about dinosaurs as they create, explore, research and imagine. In the Create Lab, students draw portraits of important school community members as they learn how to use artistic skills and concepts such as features of a face, shapes, and details. In the Engineer Lab, students design an ideal space for their school as they learn about artistic skills and tools such as using straightedges, considering different perspectives, and adding details. In the Imagine Lab, students create a world of play as they explore the different materials available in the Imagine Lab. In the Research Lab, students use research skills to learn about their classroom community by conducting surveys and analyzing the results.

In this module, students will take a closer look at the impact of natural disasters. In Unit 1, students build background knowledge about natural disasters to understand how they affect the places that experience them. Students will work with peers to conduct research that answers the question: "How do natural disasters affect the people and places that experience them?" Students will work with a variety of sources, including videos, informational texts, and websites, as they investigate their group's natural disaster and learn about how to stay safe during it. Students will share their research about the natural disaster they studied in the first half of the unit, and draw conclusions about ways to stay safe during one. Students will plan, draft, and revise a public service announcement (PSA), explaining how to stay safe during the natural disaster they researched. In Unit 2, students read short literary texts about the human impact of natural disasters. These texts include: Eight Days: A Story of Haiti by Edwidge Danticat, a song about the 2011 tsunami in Japan, and a poem about the impact of Hurricane Katrina on people in New Orleans. Students will read the texts aloud for fluency and analyze the texts' visuals for how they contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of the text. Students will identify synonyms, antonyms, and homographs to dig deeper into the meaning of words. In the second half of the unit, students will reread the texts from the first half to analyze how the narrator's and speaker's point of view influences the way events are described in the texts. In Unit 3, students will apply their learning from the previous units to help educate others in being prepared for a natural disaster. Students will research in pairs the kinds of food to include in an emergency preparedness kit. Students will write an opinion essay based on their research to explain which two items they think are most important to include in an emergency preparedness kit and why. This prepares them for the end of unit assessment, in which students will write an on-demand opinion essay about the two personal items they would include in an emergency preparedness kit and why. Students will prepare an educational leaflet to distribute at their performance task presentations explaining what to do in a natural disaster and the kinds of things to pack in an emergency preparedness kit. Students will create prompt cards for their presentations and practice them. For the performance task in front of a live audience, students will present their PSAs, created in Unit 1, and describe the items they would pack in an emergency preparedness kit.

This Module is designed to give students additional practice, build knowledge and vocabulary while allowing students greater independence in their learning and an opportunity to gain mastery of the concepts taught in ILC ELA 4: Module 3 The American Revolution.

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “How does a career impact our spending and saving?”. Students will be learning about careers and the levels of post-secondary education needed for those careers. Building this understanding will help students to analyze their choices, and possible consequences, when budgeting for spending and savings for the future.

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “What key decisions influence whether a community thrives?” Students will learn about choices and consequences focusing on cooperation and citizenship as students analyze historical images and documents that help to tell the story of Buxton, Iowa.

This Module is designed to give students additional practice, build knowledge and vocabulary while allowing students greater independence in their learning and an opportunity to gain mastery of the concepts taught in ILC ELA 5: Module 4 The Impact of Natural Disasters.

In this unit, students will focus on Earth's place in the universe. As students move through the unit, they will engage in various inquiry-based experiences to develop an understanding of one main idea:" The Earth is always changing."

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “How do people overcome hardships?”. Students will investigate the time period of the Great Depression. Students will also study the Dust Bowl and the New Deal as part of this era. Students will use the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) as they analyze sources, evaluate information, gather evidence and make claims using a variety of primary and secondary sources.

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “What opportunities does the right to vote provide?”. Students will take a closer look at the amendments and federal acts that ensured voting rights for all in the United States. Students will create quality questions to guide their inquiry, and analyze the credibility of primary and secondary sources to find evidence from many perspectives about the right to vote.

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “How can we be responsible with money?” Students will use various strategies as well as classroom discussion to demonstrate their understanding of the importance of being responsible with money.

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “ How do personal needs determine how people spend and save their money?”. Students will learn about the following financial literacy concepts: a want versus a need, a secure password versus an insecure password, and spending versus saving.

In this module, students will demonstrate their understanding of the literary concept of point of view while they learn about the American Revolution. In Unit 1, students build background knowledge about the Revolutionary War and the different perspectives of colonists. Students closely read informational texts about other perspectives on the American Revolution to determine the main idea, analyze the overall structure, and summarize the text. In the second half of the unit, students read about different groups within the Loyalists and Patriots, read informational texts to determine the main idea, analyze the overall structure of the text, and summarize the texts. In Unit 2, students read the historical fiction play "Divided Loyalties" by Gare Thompson to deepen their understanding of the Patriot and Loyalist perspectives (point of view). In this unit, students continue to explore colonial perspectives on the American Revolution with a focus on a family divided by their perspectives. Finally, in Unit 3, students use their research on the Revolutionary War and their understanding of perspectives (point of view) to write an opinion piece from the Patriot perspective (point of view), outlining reasons the colonists should join the Patriot's cause, in the form of a poster (proclamation). Students make a poster from the Loyalists' perspective for the end of the unit assessment. For the Final Performance Task, students consider both sides and discuss whether they would or would not have supported the American Revolution had they lived during colonial times.

This course introduces students to the early history of the United States. Students will study the following topics: European settlement of North America; the establishment of British colonies; the American Revolution; the foundations of American government and politics; and civic institutions of the United States.

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “How does our culture make us similar or different?” Students will use strategies to ask and answer questions and consider different perspectives across the social studies disciplines while analyzing a variety of sources.