Lincoln Public School’s reading program is Wonders by McGraw-Hill. There are six units, and each unit consists of six weeks. Skills are taught through an anthology. Along with the anthology, we will have literature groups throughout the year. Literature groups will meet on Thursdays. The skills listed for each unit follow.
Unit 1 -Think it Through
The Big Idea: How can changes transform the way people look at the world?
Week 1 – Perspectives
Essential Question – How do new experiences offer new perspectives?
Stories: “Cow Music,” “Little Blog on the Prairie,” & “The Writing on the Wall.”
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Comprehension Strategy – Visualize
Comprehension Skills: Character, Setting, Plot: Compare & Contrast
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Sentence Clues
Grammar: Sentence Types and Fragments
Vocabulary: consolation, glimmer, heinous, indispensable, perception, phobic, sarcastic, threshold
Week 2 – Alliances
Essential Question – Why do people form alliances?
Stories: “Drumbeat of Freedom,” “The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg,” & “Enough.”
Genre: Historical Fiction
Comprehension Strategy: Visualize
Comprehension Skills: Character, Setting, Plot: Sequencing
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues
Grammar: Subjects and Predicates
Vocabulary: adversity, alliance, confinement, inflicted, reminisce, retrieved, smuggle, spindly
Week 3 – Environments
Essential Question – How do life forms vary in different environments?
Stories: “The Secret World of Caves,” “Journey into the Deep,” & “Extreme Exploration: An Interview with Dr. Eva Ramirez-Llodra.”
Genre: Expository Text
Comprehension Strategy: Reread
Comprehension Skills: Main Idea and Key Details
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts: Greek Roots
Grammar: Sentence Combining
Vocabulary: classification, compartment, engulfs, flanked, maneuvering, obscure, species, submerged
Week 4 – Dynamic Earth
Essential Question – How do natural forces affect Earth?
Stories: “The Monster in the Mountain,” “Into the Volcano,” & “Donna O’Meara: The Volcano Lady.”
Genre: Narrative Nonfiction
Comprehension Strategy: Reread
Comprehension Skills: Main Idea and Key Details
Vocabulary Strategy: Figurative Language: Metaphor & Similes
Grammar: Clauses and Complex Sentences
Vocabulary: cascaded, documentation, dynamic, exerts, plummeting, pulverize, scalding, shards
Week 5 – Using Money
Essential Question – What factors influence how people use money?
Stories: “Making Money: A Story of Change,” “The Economic Roller Coaster,” & “Our Federal Reserve at Work.”
Genre: Informational Article – Expository
Comprehension Strategy: Reread
Comprehension Skill: Author’s Point of View
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts: Root Words
Grammar: Run-On sentences & Common Splices
Vocabulary: available, basically, factors, fluctuate, formula, inventory, manufactured, salaries
Week 6 – Review and Assess
Essential Question: How can changes transform the way people look at the world?
Unit 1 Assessment – Two sessions
Unit 2 – Excursions Across Time
Essential Question – What can we gain from reading about past civilization?
Week 1 – Contributions
Essential Question: What contributions were made by early civilizations
Stories: “Empire of the Sea,” & “The Technology of Mesoptamia.”
Genre: Expository Text
Comprehension Strategy: Ask & Answer Questions
Comprehension Skill: Text Structure: Problem & Solution
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts: Latin Roots
Grammar: Kinds of Nouns
Vocabulary: artifact, communal, derived, inscription, millennium, stationary, utilize, yields
Week 2 – Democracy
Essential Question: How did democracy develop?
Stories: “The Democracy Debate,” & “Who Created Democracy.”
Genre: Expository Text
Comprehension Strategy: Ask & Answer Question
Comprehension Skill: Text Structure: Compare & Contrast
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts: Greek and Latin Roots
Grammar: Singular & Plural Nouns
Vocabulary: aspiring, foundation, preceded, principal, promote, restrict, speculation, withstood
Week 3 – Ancient Societies
Essential Question: What was life like for people in ancient cultures?
Stories: “Yaskul’s Mighty Trade,” & “Roman Diary.”
Genre: Historical Nonfiction
Comprehension Strategy: Make, Confirm, and Revise Predictions
Comprehension Skill: Point of View
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Relationships: Connotations & Denotations
Grammar: More Plural Nouns
Vocabulary: alcove, commerce, domestic, exotic, fluent, stifling, upheaval, utmost
Week 4 – Influences
Essential Question: What influences the development of a culture?
Stories: “Cusi’s Secret,” & “A Single Shard.”
Genre: Historical Fiction
Comprehension Strategy: Make, Confirm, Revise Predictions
Comprehension Skill: Point of View
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts: Greek and Latin Suffixes
Grammar: Possessive Nouns
Vocabulary: benefit, deftly, derision, eaves, expertise, impudence, legacy, symmetry
Week 5 – Past and Present
Essential Question – What can the past teach us?
Poems: “Ozymandis,” “Life Long Friends,” & “Majestic.”
Genre: Poetry
Comprehension Strategy: Meter and Rhyme
Comprehension Skill: Point of View
Vocabulary Strategy: Figurative Language
Grammar: Combining Sentences
Vocabulary: commemorate, contemplate, forlorn, majestic, lyric poetry, rhyme scheme, sonnet, meter
Week 6 – Review and Assess
Essential Question: What can we gain from reading about past civilizations?
Unit 2 Assessment – Two sessions
Unit 3 – Accomplishments
The Big Idea: What does it take to accomplish a goal?
Week 1 – Common Ground
Essential Question: What happens when people share ideas?
Stories: “Common Ground,” & “How Tia Lola Came to Stay.”
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Comprehension Strategy: Make, Confirm, Revise Predictions
Comprehension Skills: Theme
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Syntactic Clues
Grammar: Action Verbs; Direct/Indirect Objects
Vocabulary: capacity, enthralled, fallow, insight, negotiate, regulation, resemblance, unseemly
Week 2 – Transformations
Essential Question: What kinds of challenges transform people?
Stories: “Facing the Storm,” & “Lizzie Bright & the Buckminster Boy,”
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Comprehension Strategy: Make, Confirm, Revise Predictions
Comprehension Skills: Theme
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Paragraph Clues
Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement
Vocabulary: dilemma, feebly, persistent, recoiled, roused, skewed, summon, vastness
Week 3 – Inspiration
Essential Question: What can people accomplish by working together?
Stories: “Jewels from the Sea, “ & “The Pot that Juan Built,”
Genre: Narrative Nonfiction
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize
Comprehension Skill: Text Structure: Sequence
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts:Prefixes and Suffixes
Grammar: Main and Helping Verbs
Vocabulary: abundant, impoverished, ingenuity, productivity, sharecropper, solitude, unearthed, windswept
Week 4 – Milestones
Essential Question: How can one person affect the opinions of others?
Stories: “Marian Anderson: Struggles and Triumphs,” & “Major Taylor.”
Genre: Biography
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize
Comprehension Skill: Text Structure: Cause & Effect
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Paragraph Clues
Grammar: Linking Verbs
Vocabulary: adept, aristocracy, collective, perseverance, prevail, prominent, spectators, trailblazer
Week 5 – A Greener Future
Essential Question: What steps can people take to promote a healthier environment?
Stories: “Is your City Green?” & “Stewards of the Environment.”
Genre: Informational Article – Expository
Comprehension Strategy: Ask & Answer Questions
Comprehension Skill: Main Idea & Key Details
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Synonyms & Antonyms
Grammar: Irregular Verbs
Vocabulary: advocates, commonplace, designate, initial, insulation, invasive, irrational, optimal
Week 6 – Review and Assess
Essential Question: What does it take to accomplish a goal?
Unit 3 Assessment – Two sessions
Unit 4 – Challenges
The Big Idea: How do people meet challenges and solve problems?
Week 1 – Changing Environments
Essential Question: How do people meet environmental challenges?
Stories: “The Day the Dam Broke,” & “Years of Dust.”
Genre: Expository Text
Comprehension Strategy: Reread
Comprehension Skill: Author’s Point of View
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Paragraph Clues
Grammar: Pronouns & Antecedents
Vocabulary: alignment, calamity, eclipse, generated, inconvenience, periodic, prolonged, tenacity
Week 2 – Overcoming Challenges
Essential Question: Why do people meet personal challenges?
Stories: “She Had to Walk,” & “Seeing Things His Own Way.”
Genre: Biography
Comprehension Strategy: Reread
Comprehension Skill: Author’s Point of View
Vocabulary Strategy: Idioms
Grammar: Kinds of Pronouns
Vocabulary: assess, compensate, deteriorated, devastating, implement, peripheral, potential, summit
Week 3 – Standing Tall
Essential Questions: When are decisions hard to make?
Stories: “Treasure in the Attic,” & The Case of the Magic Marker Mischief Maker.”
Genre: Drama
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize
Comprehension Skill: Theme
Vocabulary Strategy: Homophones
Grammar: Use of Possessive Pronouns
Vocabulary: benefactor, empathy, endeavor, entail, extensive, indecision, multitude, tentatively
Week 4 – Shared Experiences
Essential Question: How do people uncover what they have in common?
Stories: “My Visit to Arizona,” & “Home of the Brave.”
Genre: Realistic Fiction Written in Free Verse
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize
Comprehension Skill: Theme
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Homographs
Grammar: Pronoun – Pronoun – Verb Agreement
Vocabulary: adjustment, chattering, ember, mentor, nomadic, rapport, reunites, sturdy
Week 5 – Taking Responsibility
Essential Question: How can we take responsibility?
Stories: “Hey Nilda, Hi Rachel,” & “This is Just to Say.”
Genre: Poetry
Comprehension Strategy: Ask and Answer Questions
Comprehension Skill: Point of View
Vocabulary Strategy: Figurative Language: Idioms
Grammar: More Pronouns
Vocabulary: answerable, lounge, obligation, proportion, Free Verse, alliteration, Narrative Poem, Assonance
Week 6 – Review and Assess
Essential Question: How do people meet challenges and solve problems?
Unit 4 Assessment – Two Sessions
Unit 5 – Figure it Out
The Big Idea: How can discoveries open new possibilities?
Week 1 – Myths
Essential Question: Why do people tell and retell myths?
Stories: “Thunder Helper,” “The Hero and the Minotaur,” & “The Amazing Tale of Theseus and the Minotaur.”
Genre: Myth
Comprehension Strategy: Make, Confirm, and Revise Predictions
Comprehension Skill: Character, Setting, Plot: Problem and Solution
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts: Word Origins
Grammar: Adjectives
Vocabulary: audacity, deception, desolate, exploits, oblivious, somber, steadfast, valiant
Week 2 – Personal Strengths
Essential Question: How do people show inner strength?
Stories: “Journey to Freedom,” & “The People Could Fly.”
Genre: Historical Fiction
Comprehension Strategy: Make, Confirm, and Revise Predictions
Comprehension Skill: Character, Setting, Plot: Cause and Effect
Vocabulary Strategy: Figurative Language: Adages & Proverbs
Grammar: Articles & Demonstrative Adjectives
Vocabulary: disposed, eavesdropping, fortitude, infinite, retaliation, rigors, stoop, undaunted
Week 3 – Innovations
Essential Question: How do people benefit from innovation?
Stories: “The Science of Silk,” “Before Columbus,” & “Looking Back to Move Forward.”
Genre: Expository Text
Comprehension Strategy: Reread
Comprehension Skill: Text Structure: Cause and Effect
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Cause and Effect
Grammar: Adjectives that compare
Vocabulary: industrial, inefficient, manipulation, modification, mutated, nutrients, sparse, surplus
Week 4 – Breakthroughs
Essential Question: Who does technology lead to discoveries?
Stories: “Light Detectives, “ Planet Hunter,” & “Excursion to Mars.”
Genre: Expository Text
Comprehension Strategy: Reread
Comprehension Skill: Text Structure: Sequence of Events
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Definitions and Restatements
Grammar: Comparing with More and Most
Vocabulary: colleagues, conservatively, deduction, drones, galaxy, sustain, ultimately, verify
Week 5 – Exploration
Essential Question: Who have tools used for exploration evolved over time?
Stories: “Tools of the Explorer’s Trade,” & “Space Shuttles on the Move.”
Genre: Informational Article – Expository
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize
Comprehension Skill: Author’s Point of View
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Relations: Connotations & Denotations
Grammar: Comparing with Good and Bad
Vocabulary: application, catastrophe, computations, deployed, elevating, magnetic, obsolete, subsequently
Week 6 – NSCAS
Essential Question: How can discoveries open new possibilities
Unit 5 Assessment – NSCAS will replace Unit 5 Assessment for Reading Comprehension
Unit 6 – Taking Action
The Big Idea: When is it important to take action?
Week 1 – Resources
Essential Question: How have pe0ple used natural resources?
Stories: “The Fortunes of Fragrance,” “The Story of Salt,” & “The Not So Golden Touch.”
Genre: Expository Text
Comprehension Skills: Ask and Answer Questions
Comprehension Strategy: Main Idea and Key Details
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts: Latin Roots
Grammar: Adverbs
Vocabulary: commodity, distribution, dominant, edible, impenetrable, ornate, replenished, significant
Week 2 – Witnesses
Essential Question: How do we learn about historical events?
Stories: “The Great Fire,”& “The Great Fire.”
Genre: Narrative Nonfiction
Comprehension Strategy: Ask and Answer Questions
Comprehension Skill: Text Structure: Cause and Effect
Vocabulary Strategy: Figurative Language: Adages and Proverbs
Grammar: Adverbs that Compare
Vocabulary: agitated, crucial futile, populous, presumed, smoldering, undiminished, urgency
Week 3 – Investigations
Essential Question: How can a scientific investigation be an adventure?
Stories: “Researcher to the Rescue,” “Extreme Scientist,” & “Making the Scientific Method Work for You.”
Genre: Expository Text
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize
Comprehension Skill: Main Idea and Key Details
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: Comparisons
Grammar: Negatives
Vocabulary: alternative, correspond, extract, foliage, hypothesis, protein, resilient, saturated
Week 4 – Extraordinary
Essential Question: What has been the role of money over time?
Stories: “Messages in stone and Wood,” “Pharaoh’s Boat,” & “The Mystery of the Missing Sandals.”
Genre: Expository Text
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize
Comprehension Skill: Text Structure: Sequence
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts: Greek Roots
Grammar: Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
Vocabulary: bedrock, embark, excavation, exquisite, intriguing, intrinsic, methodical, meticulously
Week 5 – Taking a Break
Essential Question: Why is taking a break important?
Stories: “How Many Seconds,” “An Ode to the World,” & Assorted Poems
Genre: Lyric Poetry and Odes
Skills: Theme
Vocabulary Strategy: Figurative Language – Hyperbole
Grammar: Sentence combining
Vocabulary: horizons, incentive, recreation, unfettered, ode, repetition, imagery, hyperbole
Week 6 – Review and Assess
Essential Question: Who can you build on what came before?
Unit 6 Assessment – Two sessions