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HSD2 Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades 3 - 5

Harrison School District 2 Language Arts Curriculum Guide for grades 3-5 to promote the new PowerPass for students.

Unit 1: A Great Heart

J-NONFICTION BOOKS FOR KIDS AT PPLD:

BIOGRAPHIES:

PPLD DATABASES AVAILABLE WITH LIBRARY CARD OR POWER PASS: SEARCH  "HEART":

 MORE RESOURCES ABOUT THE HEART :

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

1. How does someone show a great heart, figuratively?

2. Can you grow a healthy heart by doing good things for others?

3. Does love strengthen your heart?

4. What makes you want to help others?

STORIES AND ACTIVITIES ABOUT HAVING HEART :

Unit 2: Extreme Settings

EXAMPLES OF SETTINGS IN CHAPTER BOOKS:

FOR MORE SETTING EXAMPLES:

PPLD KIDS DATABASE: IN CONTEXT ELEMENTARY:

RECOMMENDED WEBSITE:

J NON-FICTION AVAILABLE AT PPLD:

PPLD KIDS DATABASE: IN CONTEXT ELEMENTARY:

CHAPTER BOOKS WITH EXTREME SETTINGS:

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES AND VIDEO:

Unit 3: The Redcoats are Coming!

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

  1. What were the perspectives of the two main sides of the American Revolution?
  2. How did different people’s experiences affect their perspectives on the American Revolution?
  3. How did different people’s perspectives affect their actions during the American Revolution?

RESOURCES AVAILABLE AT PPLD- J NON-FICTION

PPLD J- FICTION

REFERENCE BOOKS - ADULT

PPLD DATABASES AVAILABLE WITH LIBRARY CARD OR POWER PASS:

BOOKS AVAILABLE AT PPLD: J NON-FICTION

JUVENILE REFERENCE BOOKS:

REFERENCE BOOKS - ADULT

CURATED WEBSITES:

Unit 4: Myth Making

Focusing Questions:
1. What are myths, and why do people create them?
2. What do myths and stories from different cultures have in common?
3. What do myths and stories from different cultures have in common?
4. Why is it important to understand all sides of a story?
5. How are Sal’s and Phoebe’s stories connected in Walk Two Moons?
6. What does Sal learn in Walk Two Moons?
7. What can we learn from myths and stories?
8. What is the story of the year?

PPLD BOOKS J-NON-FICTION:

PPLD J-FICTION:

 

PPLD EBOOK: Coats, Lucy. Beast Keeper #1 (Beasts of Olympus series). Access though Overdrive or the Libby app.

Beasts of Olympus is a series of 144-page illustrated chapter books set in a magical Ancient Greece where strange things still walk the Earth. Beast Keeper tells the story of Pandemonius (a.k.a. "Demon," the half-god son of Pan) who, on his tenth birthday, is called upon to look after all the mythical creatures that belong to the stables of Olympus. Grades 2-4.

 

PPLD J-EASY PICTURE BOOKS:

PPLD OLDER BOOKS FOR THOSE STUDENTS WANTING MORE:

OTHER RESOURCES - DATABASES, WEBSITES, AND VIDEOS:

“[There is a] tendency...to treat Native creation and traditional stories like folklore or as writing
prompts, or to use elements within them as the basis for art activities. Those stories are of
religious significance to Native peoples and should be respected in the same ways that people
respect Bible stories.” - Dr. Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo

Debbie Reese is considered an authority on Indigenous stories and topics: