Week 1

Monday, 3/7
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will discuss and reflect on Every Living Thing, share about
their pets and consider the effect pets have on people, and describe the effects pets have on
people by responding to a written prompt.
Writing: Students will practice taking a stance on various issues and supporting their opinion
with reasons and evidence.
Tuesday, 3/8
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will read short excerpts and watch videos detailing the
effects people may have on pets, recognize and analyze the various factors that affect pet
ownership, and assume the role of a pet and write a diary entry from a pets perspective.
Writing: Students will complete a persuasive writing pre-write to demonstrate their skills
heading into the unit.
Wednesday, 3/9
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will read an article detailing a specific area of animals in
entertainment in small groups, infer the main idea and use supporting details, present their
findings to their classmates, and produce a list and picture identifying the various ways animals
are used in entertainment.
Writing: Mini-Lesson: Persuasive Letters and Opinion Formation. Students will learn about the
format of a persuasive letter and will determine what stance they will take in their letter.
Thursday, 3/10
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will engage in a debate and use resources to support their
point, evaluate the various benefits and drawbacks of using animals for entertainment, and
assume the role of an animal in entertainment and write a diary entry from the animals
perspective.
Writing: Mini lesson: Gathering All You Know About Your Opinion. Students will gather all the
convincing evidence they can find to support their opinion.
Friday, 3/11
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will discuss and reflect on Save the Birds, read an article on
the various ways humans impact animals existence and habitats and identify cause and effect
relationships, and design a flyer that raises awareness of these issues.
Writing: Mini lesson: Organizing and Categorizing. Students will determine which pieces of their
evidence are the most convincing, and then organize that evidence into an outline.

Week 2
Monday, 3/14
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will read Officer Mike and Aero from their Storytown
curriculum and distinguish fact from opinion, attend a presentation by a service dog/handler,
and reflect on what they learned from the presentation.
Writing: Mini lesson: Parts of Speech. Students will edit and revise their outlines to improve
their use of verbs and adjectives.
Tuesday, 3/15
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will synthesize information about the products farm animals
provide us (food, wool, leather, etc.), use their knowledge to play a trivia game, and write a list
of the things they use in their everyday lives that are products of farms.
Writing: Mini lesson: Proving by Showing. Students will edit and revise their outlines by
including more specific examples to support their argument.
Wednesday, 3/16
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will view (age-appropriate) pictures of animals living on a
variety of farms, compare and contrast the diverse living conditions of different farm animals,
and assume the role of an animal living on a farm in order to write a diary entry from the
animals perspective.
Writing: Mini lesson: Considering Your Audience. Students will edit and revise their outlines to
make them align with their prospective audience.
Thursday, 3/17
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will read stories from Native American Animal Stories in
small groups, participate in a whole-class discussion about the Native American worldview
regarding the relationship between humans and animals, and write a poem about animals from
the Native American point of view.
Writing: Mini lesson: Paragraphing to Organize Drafts. Students will transform their outline into
a draft of the body of their letter by using their evidence to form paragraphs.
Friday, 3/18
Literacy/Social Studies: Students will discuss the moral of Fireflies, reflect on what theyve
learned throughout the unit, and create an artistic representation of an action they can take to
improve humans relationship with animals.
Writing: Mini lesson: Choosing Words That Sound Right and Evoke Emotion. Students will edit
and revise their draft by inserting convincing language.