Topic: Antarctica Strand: English Language Arts

Essential Questions:
How does the climate influence living things?
How do animals adapt to their environment?
Common Core State Standards:
K.RIT.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
K.RIT.2. With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
K.RIT.3. With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in
a text.
K.RIT.4. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

Students will know: Students will understand: Students will be able to:
Question Words (Who, What, When,
Where, Why, How)
Main Idea
Key Details
Important Ideas
Compare
Similarities, differences
Venn Diagram
Connections (T-S, T-T, T-W)
Glossary
Dictionary
Infer
Context Clues
Background Knowledge
Asking questions helps us find
information and understand our reading.
Finding the main idea helps us determine
importance, and organize our thinking.
Connections help us remember
information and think about bigger issues
beyond our own selves. We make
connections between nonfiction texts to
verify information.

Ask questions about key details from
texts.
State main idea in own words.
Find important ideas in a text.
Compare ideas in different texts for
similarities and differences. (by making
text-text connections)
Use glossary to figure out new words.
Infer meaning of new words using
background knowledge and context clues


Topic: Antarctica Strand: English Language Arts
Essential Questions:
How does the climate influence living things?
How do animals adapt to their environment?
Common Core State Standards:
K.W.2. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what
they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
K.W.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express
opinions about them).
K.W.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources
to answer a question.

Students will know: Students will understand: Students will be able to:
Nonfiction
Topic
Information about topic
Text features
Sentence
Research
Collaboration
Task Sheets
Graphic Organizers

Nonfiction writing gives information to
the reader.
Graphic organizers help us organize
thoughts for presentations.

Dictate thinking.
Illustrate ideas
Write thoughts in sentences.
Stay on topic while writing
Use text features to enhance non-fiction
writing.
Select information from research.
Find answers to questions using words,
pictures and digital sources.
Collaborate with a group.
Contribute to the group.
Make and use a group plan.
Use graphic organizers to organize
information.
Topic: Antarctica Strand: English Language Arts
Essential Questions:
How does the climate influence living things?
How do animals adapt to their environment?
Common Core State Standards:
K.SL.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in
small and larger groups.
o a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts
under discussion).
o b. Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.
K.SL.2. Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.
K.SL.5. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
K.SL.6. Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Students will know: Students will understand: Students will be able to:
Graphic organizers
Text features
Facts
Details
Turn and talk
Connections
Questions
Visuals
Audience

Graphic organizers help us organize
thoughts for presentations.

Actively engage in sharing and listening as
part of a group.
Look at the speaker.
Turn and talk to share ideas.
Make connections to others ideas.
Ask questions of speaker to further
understand.
Answer questions asked of them.
Clearly report facts and details.
Use visual displays that add to and support
their thinking about a topic.
Articulate ideas in way that is purposeful
and appropriate to the audience.