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

In this lesson, students will learn about Alexander Graham Bell’s work as a scientist and a humanitarian. After watching a biographical video, they will examine sketches Bell drew of his early telephone and read a kind letter written by Bell to his close friend Helen Keller. The lesson culminates with students creating their own Bell-inspired invention.

In this lesson, students will learn about the humble beginnings, prolific writing, and remarkable accomplishments of Alexander Hamilton. After watching a biographical video, they will examine a memorial portrait of Hamilton and read excerpts from his best-known work, The Federalist Papers. Using their newfound knowledge of Hamilton, they will brainstorm ideas for their own version of a Broadway show based on his life.

In this lesson, students will learn about Amelia Earhart’s groundbreaking career as a female aviator. After viewing a video about her life, students will examine her first pilot’s license and will read a letter she wrote to an aspiring aviator. The lesson concludes with students designing a compass rose to honor Earhart’s legacy.

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.

Franklin’s widespread interests and numerous fields of endeavor make him the American epitome of the Age of Enlightenment. In this lesson, students will reflect on the parallels between our own age and the one in which Franklin lived and worked. After viewing a short video about Franklin, they will read some of Franklin’s adages through an Enlightenment lens and examine a symbol-rich portrait of Franklin. The lesson culminates with students imagining Benjamin Franklin’s present-day social media presence.

Students will learn about Booker T. Washington’s struggle to become educated and his contributions to educating his fellow African Americans. After watching a short video, they will discuss the role that compromise played in Washington’s rise to power and fame. By examining a 1906 image of Washington and reading excerpts from his Atlanta Exposition speech, students will be able to recognize Washington’s contributions to the early Civil Rights movement and to assess his controversial philosophy.

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.

In this lesson, students will learn about the remarkable organizational skills of Cesar Chavez. In addition to watching a biographical video, they will analyze a photograph of Chavez during a protest against grape growers, and they will read a speech in which Chavez reflects on the accomplishments of the farm workers’ movement. They will then evaluate how Chavez’s tactics could be adapted to a current day labor-related issue.

In this unit, students explore Colonial America through the building of timelines and investigating primary and secondary sources. This study of significant events in the colonization of North America and the aspects of everyday life in Colonial America is designed for students to gather, record, and organize their own Colonial Notebook. Students will take on the role of colonist in a given region and work with other 'colonists' of the same region to develop a report and presentation. The study will take students through the life and times of those early settlers and will have them preparing a colonial meal representative of their region of focus

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the experiences faced by immigrant groups who traveled to New York throughout the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

As a way to support teachers with English Language Arts (ELA) instruction during the pandemic, the NCDPI ELA team created choice boards featuring standards-aligned ELA activities.The intended purpose of these choice boards is to provide a way for students to continue standards-based learning while schools are closed. Each activity can be adapted and modified to be completed with or without the use of digital tools. Many activities can also be repeated with different texts. These standards-based activities are meant to be a low-stress approach to reinforcing and enriching the skills learned during the 2019-2020 school year. The choice boards are to be used flexibly by teachers, parents, and students in order to meet the unique needs of each learner.Exploration activities are provided for a more self-directed or guided approach to independent learning for students. These activities and sites should be used as a way to explore concepts, topics, skills, and social and emotional competencies that interest the learner. 

In this lesson, students will explore Eleanor Roosevelt’s many national and international contributions by watching a short video and engaging in a class discussion. Afterward, they will read a letter written during her time as First Lady expressing her opinion on racial issues and examine a 1957 photograph of Roosevelt during her tenure at the United Nations. The lesson culminates with students designing a mural to summarize the life of this forward-thinking woman who was born into privilege yet spent decades doing public service.

Students will learn about women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton by focusing on her strengths and challenges as an activist and founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association. After watching a short video, examining a photo of Stanton with Susan B. Anthony, and reading excerpts of the Declaration of Sentiments, students will assess the lessons they have learned about organizing people to make change.

This lesson gives learners the chance to delve deeply in to the lives of the Founding Fathers and Mothers to discover the personal characteristics that enabled them to become leaders and revolutionaries. This would be a good assignment for students who compact out of a portion of a unit on early American history. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

Students explore what it means to speak out for your beliefs, or to right a wrong. After watching a short video, they will reflect on Douglass’s courage and the importance of literacy in his activism. They will read excerpts from Douglass’s autobiographies and examine an 1850 etching of Douglass being pulled away from a stage prior to giving a speech. Finally, they will reflect on Douglass’s importance as both a historical figure and as a role model for their own lives.

In this lesson, the students will have the opportunity to come up with possible solutions to an environmental issue. Students will conduct research using the internet to discover a variety of environmental issues. Students will choose an environmental issue that is of most interest to them, create a solution, and present their poster to the class. They will complete this lesson with a learning poster that demonstrates their understanding and learning of environmental issues, along with a solution. These include but are not limited to: pollution, wasting energy, littering, wasting water, and deforestation. Students will collaborate within small groups to explore and discuss environmental issues that not only occur locally, but globally as well. This lesson was developed by Christina Hartzell 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.            

Students will learn about the remarkable career of George Washington Carver, who was born into slavery and went on to become a leading botanist. In addition to watching a short biographical video, students will examine and analyze a photograph of Carver at Tuskegee Institute and read excerpts from his Congressional testimony on behalf of the United Peanut Association of America. The lesson will culminate with students making advertisements about some of Carver’s many peanut-based innovations.

After this lesson students will be able to combine word choice and procedural writing; thus enhancing their overall writing skills.

Our ‘Local Read Aloud’ is a spin-off of The Global Read Aloud, created by Pernille Ripp.  The idea is that we select one book to read aloud to our students over a span of six weeks.  During our six weeks of reading we connect with other classrooms across the district and discuss, create, and connect with the book and our peers.  We can use a variety of tools to connect, and take as much, or as little time as we’d like.  The project is intended to be enjoyable and not stressful, and in my experience the students enjoy the read aloud component as much as the connections.