English Language Arts Instructional Unit

This unit is designed to be all about our community Emporia, Ks. In this unit we will
compare past Emporia to present day Emporia. Students will create a variety of writings, poems,
timelines, and art projects that are all intertwined in the topic Our Community: Emporia, Ks. I
am designing this unit based off of the third grade standards for Social Studies and Language
Arts. Students will be reading stories in Reading about communities that have changed over time
and comparing those stories to their community, Emporia.
Theme: Our Community, Emporia KS and how it has changed over time
Grade Level: 3rd
Rationale: Students will become more familiar with the history of their community. Students
will also learn about their community in todays world. Students will become comfortable
comparing and contrasting these two. Students will also compare and contrast their community
and other communities we read about.
Standards:
Social Studies: 3.H4.1 The student will recognize and evaluate continuity and change over time
and its impact on individuals, institutions, communities, states, and nations.
Writing: W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information
clearly.
W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Language: L.3.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,

punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.3.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or
listening.
Speaking and Listening: SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (oneon-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on
others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information
presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Reading (informational): RI3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a
text.
Objectives:
Students will evaluate the change of their community over time using a Venn diagram.
Students will write an informational piece about their community, showing what they have
learned in the unit.
Students will demonstrate commands of standard English by using capitalization, spelling, and
punctuation correctly.
Students will engage effectively to have collaborative discussions with diverse partners.
Students will distinguish their own point of view from an authors text.
Students will write an opinion piece about their point of view.

Literature Resources:
Informational:
Days of Digging By: Holly Cefrey
Earthquake The 1906 San Francisco Nightmare By: Lynn Brunelle
Life in a Farming Community (Learn about Rural Life) By: Lizann Flatt*
Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Change: Courageous Actions Around the World By: Garth Sundem
On the Town: A Community Adventure By: Judith Caseley
Poetry:
If I Could Build a Town By: Betsy Franco*
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/profbooks/commpoems.pdf
Argumentative/Persuasive:
Should There Be Zoos?: A Persuasive Text By: Tony Stead
Narrative:
Town Mouse Country Mouse By: Jan Brett*
Website:
http://www.legendsofkansas.com/emporia.html

English Language Arts Instructional Unit Part II

Writing Activities Description
Informative Writing: W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey
ideas and information clearly.
After discussing our community Emporia in class, students will write an informative piece on
their community. Students will be encouraged to use facts and details that we talked about in
class. Students will also have the opportunity to use the internet to research the topic. As a class,
we have used this site http://www.legendsofkansas.com/emporia.html. Students
can refer back to this site when developing their informative piece. All
students will use an informational graphic organizer to help organize their
thoughts. After writing their rough draft, students will conference with myself
about their writing. After the conference students will be ready to write their
final draft.
Argumentative Writing: W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of
view with reasons.
After reading the book Town Mouse Country Mouse students will write an argumentative piece
on where they would rather live in town or in the country. Students will be expected to support
their decision with three valid reasons. All students will complete a pre-writing graphic organizer
before writing their rough draft. After writing their rough draft students will conference with the
teacher before writing their final draft. Students will type their final draft on their chrome books
and share with the teacher through Google when they are done.

Six Trait Writing (Ideas): W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences
Students will write a narrative piece about the community they founded. Students can take this
piece any direction they like. The only requirement will be that the students introduce the
community they founded. I will be grading this writing using the Ideas section on the Six Trait
Rubric. Students are encouraged to get creative! We will be displaying and sharing these writings
for Parent/Teacher conferences. Like all other writings, students will use a graphic organizer to
organize their thoughts. After completing the graphic organizer students will write their rough
draft. Then, students will conference with the teacher before writing their final draft.
Poetry: L.3.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading,
or listening.
Students will be writing an acrostic poem using the word Community. We will read several
acrostic poems together, as a class. We will also create an acrostic poem together using the word,
student. This will help students to understand the objective of writing an acrostic poem.
Students will be provided a sheet that outlines the acrostic poem for the word, Community.
Students will write their poem independently. All students will be encouraged to share their
acrostic poem with the class.
Language/Grammar: L.3.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Objective: Students will demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English when
writing: capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5UGoh4GkuIR3Y4aktPcllsQk9MdlJlV3h1UDI5djh1TU13

Language/Spelling: L.3.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English

capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Disco Spelling-Students will all participate in this activity. The teacher will have the spelling
words below on the Smart Board. All students will stand up and read each word when the teacher
points at it. The teacher will then explain the directions: consonants will be right hand in the air
and vowels will be right hand pointing down at left foot. Students will follow the teachers lead
for Disco spelling. If I was doing this activity in my classroom, I would change the motion
every five words, so that students are not just following the motions. I really like this activity
because it requires students to pick the words apart and really learn how to spell them.
fright
sight
lightning

might
tonight
delight

slight
knight
bright

right
light
thigh

tight
night
high

Speaking/Listening: SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-onone, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on
others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
I will read aloud the text Town Mouse Country Mouse By: Jan Brett. The story is about
two mouse couples, one from town and one from the country. These couples swap homes to get a
feel of what it is like to live in the other couples home. The mouse couples experience

adventures throughout the story. At the end, both couples realize there really is no place like
home. Both of the mouse couples return to their own home.
After reading the story, students will individually make a decision of which mouse they
want to be, town or country mouse. The students who chose the town mouse will be divided into
one group and the students who chose the country mouse will be divided into another group.
Students will discuss in their group why they would rather live in town or in the country. Each
student will have a T-chart (Pros and Cons). The town mouse group of students will discuss why
they prefer to live in town and write those reasons in the left side of the T-chart. Then that group
will write the reasons why they wouldnt want to live in the country on the right side of the Tchart. The country group will write why they prefer to live in the country in the left side of their
T-chart and why they wouldnt want to live in town on the right side.
After discussing with their group, each group will choose a reporter. The reporter will
report their groups reasonings to the class. All students will listen to the report from the two
group members. After listening to the reasonings of the other group, students will individually
make a final decision whether they would want to be town mouse or country mouse. After
choosing town or country students will all write an opinion piece on why they chose town or
country mouse. The student must use supporting details that were discussed within the groups to
make their argument.
Viewing: SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or
information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Reader Friendliness Checklist
Name _______Amy Carlson__________________________ Class

Date

Directions: Do a search on an appropriate topic and choose a website from the search results

list. Go to the website and use this checklist to see if the site would be helpful for learning about
your topic.
URL: http://www.legendsofkansas.com/emporia.html

Yes No

1. Does the title of the page tell you what it is about?

2. Is there an introduction or message on the page that tells you what is

included?

3. Are the links easy to distinguish from the rest of the text by color, size, or
shape?

4. Is it easy to find a place to search for information on the website?

5. If you go to a bunch of other pages within the website, is it easy to get back to
the homepage without using the back button?
6. Is each page or section clearly labeled with a heading?

7. Is the layout uncluttered and easy to use?

8. Do the visuals help you understand the ideas on the website?

9. Are there lots of ads?

10. Would you use this website to help you learn more about the topic? Explain
your thinking here:
This website gives you history facts on Emporia, KS. The website mentions things in
the order of them happening in Emporia. The site also includes photographs of
different things in Emporia in the 1800s. I also really like how the site includes new
pictures, so the viewer can compare present day Emporia to past Emporia.

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