Course Repository

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “What would compel people to move to a new place?”. This unit helps students learn to analyze historical images and documents. Students will explore images and documents related to why immigrants have come to the United States and Iowa.

This course introduces students to the fundamental building blocks of Spanish in listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing.

In this unit, students answer the following compelling questions: “How did the Industrial Revolution change the production of goods?”, “How did the changes in communication and transportation affect people’s lives?” and “What were the advantages and disadvantages of industrialization?” Students will learn about the Industrial Revolution as they analyze how past events affect the world we live in.

This course focuses on contemporary global issues. Students will build knowledge about these issues to cultivate diplomacy, effective citizenship, and global competitiveness.

This course focuses on contemporary global issues. Students will build knowledge about these issues to cultivate diplomacy, effective citizenship, and global competitiveness.

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “How do Iowans work to provide for themselves, their families, and their communities?” This unit uses primary sources showing people at work to allow students the ability to compare and contrast what life was like for the workforce in 1900 compared to the 2000s and the present day.

In this module, students will read to build knowledge about the rainforest and analyze authors' craft in narrative writing to build proficiency in writing first-person narratives about the rainforest. Students will build background knowledge on biodiversity in the rainforest and rainforest deforestation to understand why scientists study the rainforest. Students will explore how authors of narrative texts about the rainforest help the reader to understand what it is like in the rainforest by analyzing the author's use of figurative, concrete, and sensory language. In Unit 1, students will build background knowledge about the rainforest, including rainforest destruction, to understand why scientists study the rainforest. Students will read excerpts from The Most Beautiful Roof in the World by Kathryn Lasky and other informational texts to analyze and compare text structure and write summaries. In Unit 2, students will read and analyze literary texts, focusing on how the point of view influences how the events in the text are described and how concrete and descriptive language help students to understand a text. Students will read several literary texts about the rainforest, including “The Dreaming Tree,” a folk tale from Brazil; The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry; and excerpts from The Most Beautiful Roof in the World by Kathryn Lasky. In Unit 3, students will apply what they have learned about point of view and narrative techniques in Unit 2 to plan and draft a first person narrative that builds out a scenario from The Most Beautiful Roof of the World by Kathryn Lasky.

This module is available as an additional unit which can be incorporated with the other program materials to ensure all standards continue to be addressed; therefore, it should be downloaded with the ILC ELA 12 - 1st Semester and ILC ELA 12 - 2nd Semester content. In this module, students will read and analyze Toni Morrison's novel Song of Solomon as they continue building the skills to craft strong informative essays and participate effectively in online group discussions.

This module is an integral part of the program to ensure all standards are addressed; therefore, it should be downloaded with the ILC ELA 8 - 1st Semester content. In this module, students read and analyze Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While some texts are available for free, educators will need to access the Text List in advance to identify materials to purchase prior to implementation. Module 2b can be utilized to replace module 2a within the ILC ELA 8 - 1st Semester content, while still addressing the grade level standards.

The ILC 8th Grade Social Studies - Full Year course provides students the opportunity to study 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 addition, students will investigate the structure and function of the state government of Iowa and complete a research project in which they propose a solution to a challenge facing Iowans.

This course provides students with the opportunity to continue their study of the early history of the United States. In addition, students will investigate the structure and function of the state government of Iowa and complete a research project in which they propose a solution to a challenge facing Iowans

In this unit, students answer the compelling question “How is life the same and different in rural and urban areas?” Students will explore transportation in the past and present in rural areas and urban areas using primary and secondary sources.

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.