This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 5th grade ELA content.

In this unit, students will become familiar with fables and trickster tales from different cultural traditions and will see how stories change when transferred orally between generations and cultures. They will learn how both types of folktales employ various animals in different ways to portray human strengths and weaknesses and to pass down wisdom from one generation to the next. Use the following lessons to introduce students to world folklore and to explore how folktales convey the perspectives of different world cultures.

In this lesson, traditional stories of the Native peoples (i.e., narrative text) introduce students to the study of animals in Alaska (i.e., expository text). Students use the Internet to listen to a Yu'pik tale told by John Active, a Native American living in Alaska. They also use online resources to find facts about animals in Alaska. Students compare and contrast the two types of text in terms of fiction and nonfiction. The narrative stories provide students with a context to begin studying a content area topic; this lesson emphasizes the integration of curriculum.

In this lesson, collaborative groups will read a variety of American tall tales, then report elements of their story to the whole class. Students add story information to a collaborative, whole-class character study matrix that summarizes all the stories. In a writing activity, students compare two characters of their choice. The lesson process is applicable to any set of related texts.

In this lesson, students read about Paul Revere's famous ride to warn Americans about the advancement of the British soldiers. Students utilize reading skills to respond to questions about the text and demonstrate understanding.

Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919), also known as L. Frank Baum, was an American author, best known for his children’s books. Baum is the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the Oz series. In this excerpt from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her friends arrive at the Emerald City. As students read, they take notes on how the Great Oz is described to Dorothy and her friends.

This lesson is for Grades 4 - 5 on literacy. At Home Learning Lessons are a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, PBS North Carolina, and the William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation.  Each lesson contains a video instructional lesson, a PDF lesson plan with a transcript, and a PDF file of extension activities.

This lesson is for Grades 4 - 5 on literacy. At Home Learning Lessons are a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, PBS North Carolina, and the William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation.  Each lesson contains a video instructional lesson, a PDF lesson plan with a transcript, and a PDF file of extension activities.

What drives changes to classic myths and fables? In this lesson students evaluate the changes Disney made to the myth of "Hercules" in order to achieve their audience and purpose.

In this lesson, students evaluate the changes Disney made to the myth of "Hercules." By creating a plot diagram of the “real” myth, students hone in on critical differences. They then document these changes in a Venn diagram and discuss the role of audience and purpose in Disney’s decisions through the Think-Pair-Share strategy. Finally, students evaluate the changes for themselves in a summary and critique writing activity.

This lesson will teach how characters evolve across a story, and that often times the important changes are subtle. This lesson uses accountable-talk during a read aloud of One Green Apple by Eve Bunting to demonstrate how, as readers, students can use the traits of their character as a lens through which to interpret deeper, more significant changes stirring within. They will ultimately use those observations about their characters to author an epilogue for their books. The epilogue will allow students to demonstrate what they have learned about their main character, and it will allow the teacher to assess how well the students understand their characters and the changes their characters experienced across the text.

In this lesson, students compare the classic tale with a version set in the pre–Civil War South, Moss Gown by William Hooks, noting the architecture, weather, time period, and culture as depicted in the text and illustrations. Internet research projects and Story Map graphic organizers then provide background for a discussion of how the setting of a story affects the characters and plot. Students read one or more other versions of the Cinderella story and compare them using a Venn diagram. During the final two sessions, students plan, write, and peer edit their own Cinderella stories.

In this lesson, students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections after reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. Students gain a deeper understanding of a text when they make authentic connections. After reading the novel, the instructor introduces and models the strategy of making connections. After sharing and discussing connections, students choose and plan a project that makes a personal connection to the text.

In this lesson, students analyze a historical fiction novel for explicit and implicit information about a character. Students write a resume outlining the character's qualifications for the job.

In this lesson, students share the book Ben and Me, by Robert Lawson, to learn about borrowing, lending, and interest. Students complete a worksheet about borrowing money, create a table that shows the advantages and disadvantages of borrowing money, and role-play borrowing and lending money.

Tradition in the Lakota Sioux involves giving a name to a child based on his actions, so a young child who moves slowly in all he does earns the name ‘Slow’ from his family. After demonstrating bravery and determination during battle he then earns a new name, Sitting Bull, and this same man later becomes the respected chief of the Lakota Sioux. In this CCSS lesson students will explore Sitting Bull's life through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Using popular trade books, students will create a character map by first working on their own, and then in small groups. Students will share their work with the whole class.

In this first lesson of two, students understand how a folk talke changes when its language is translated to another culture.

Students understand why the plot and setting of a story changes as it is translated into a different culture. Students also discover what literary elements of a story are universal and important to the overall meaning of a story.

In this lesson, students will see how artistic materials can extend knowledge. This lesson provides opportunities for students to explore and experience the meaning potential of everyday writing and drawing tools in their own writing. The lesson can adapted for older students.