In this online activity, students flip two chips to mix and match four word parts and make four words. Students then insert the four words into a paragraph, using context clues to determine where each word belongs. After each exercise, students can print their work to check whether they placed the four words in the paragraph correctly.

This interactive lesson allows students the opportunity to fill in the blanks of a story with words created through a virtual flip of a chip. Students will use chips as tools for showing different affixes and roots that can be joined together to create words. The created words are inserted in a paragraph according to context clues. Students can work in pairs to create their own set of chips and corresponding paragraph. Students then exchange their packets to see whether the context clues are stong enough to enable classmates to fill in the blanks correctly.

In this lesson students do a close reading of “Learning to Read,” a poem by Francis Watkins Harper about an elderly former slave which conveys the value of literacy to blacks during and after slavery. The activities also prompt students to examine the nature of literacy in the 21st century and the value they put upon it.

The Frayer Model is a strategy that uses a graphic organizer for vocabulary building. This technique requires students to (1) define the target vocabulary words or concepts, and (2) apply this information by generating examples and non-examples. This information is placed on a chart that is divided into four sections to provide a visual representation for students.

In this personal essay by Isaac Asimov, the author relates his journey of becoming a science fiction writer. Asimov explains discovering science fiction through magazines despite his father’s objections. He also recounts publishing his first science fiction story at the age of eighteen and the challenges of being an immigrant. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Students will read scientific text about top predators in Arctic marine ecosystems and how they may be affected by global climate change. Students will work individually or collaboratively to write a report based on the scientific text they have read and participate in a large-group discussion session based on their analysis.

This selection provides an overview of two laws dealing with fugitives from slavery. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 establishes monetary penalties for protecting fugitives. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 addresses the same topic but is more detailed. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students will begin exploring patriotism. They will begin by defining the words patriotism and patriotic on a digital graphic organizer. Students will then complete a personal reflection of ways he/she can show acts of patriotism. The graphic will allow students to input individual perspective and background understanding on this topic. Students will also read one article on an author's view on patriotism and another article that raises the question about why people stand for the anthem and analyze the authors' viewpoints. Students will write an objective summary for each article. This lesson was developed by Megon Mancini as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

This lesson capitalizes on a student's love of jokes to understand how word context and inference are used in everyday language to create humor.

In this lesson, students continue reading and discussing "The Vietnam Wars," focusing on the impending fall of Saigon.

In this lesson, students begin the novel Inside Out & Back Again and begin to make inferences about the main character, Ha.

In this lesson, students continue the novel, do a close read of the poem "Inside Out" and begin the routine of "QuickWrites."

In this lesson, students build background knowledge about Vietnam by reading and discussing one section of "The Vietnam Wars."

In this lesson, students use a Jigsaw protocol to continue reading and discussing additional sections of "The Vietnam Wars."

In this lesson, students return to the novel, analyzing plot development in the days leading up to the fall of Saigon.

In this lesson, students continue reading and discussing "The Vietnam Wars," focusing on how Vietnam was a “Battleground in a Larger Struggle.”

Lessons 3–6 focus on informational texts that help students to explore the refugee experience in preparation for the mid-unit assessment. Students are at a logical point in the novel (as Ha travels to America) to read informational texts to build more knowledge about the world—specifically to broaden their understanding of common refugee experiences.

In this lesson, students read an interview with four refugees and answer questions similar to those they answered in Lessons 3–5.

During today’s assessment, students independently read an unfamiliar informational text about a refugee experience and answer literal and inferential text-dependent questions, as well as questions that assess students’ ability to determine word meaning based on context clues. Students also answer three constructed-response questions that require evidence from the text to support their answers.

In this lesson, students continue to work with Chapter 2. This is done intentionally to allow more time for students to get into the novel as well as to establish the reading and writing routines they will use throughout Units 1 and 2.