Unit 9 — From Farm to Table
Description
Students read informational and literary texts about food production, agriculture, and nutrition. The unit develops skills in synthesizing information to create new understanding, analyzing text structure and features, and determining central ideas. Students use background knowledge to discuss poetry and understand the connection between farming and food. The writing focus is imagery writing through poetry where students write poems about colors using figurative language, descriptive details, and specific patterns. Students evaluate author's claims and improve word choice. They research the origins of foods and create menus, connecting comprehension of informational texts with real-world applications.
Essential Questions
- How can I evaluate details to determine an author's claim?
- How can I synthesize information to create new understanding?
- How can I use background knowledge to discuss poetry?
- How can I read poetry for enjoyment and understanding?
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate author's claim
- Use background knowledge to discuss poetry
- Read and understand poetry
- Discuss elements of poetry
- Identify key features of a poem
- Improve word choice in writing
- Synthesize information from multiple texts
Suggested Texts
- Gone Fishing a Novel in Verse — poetry
- How Did That Get in My Lunchbox? — nonfiction
- How do you Raise a Raisin — nonfiction
- It's Our Garden — nonfiction
- Matilda — fiction
Supplemental Resources
- Printed poems for modeling figurative and descriptive language
- Chart paper for organizing poetry elements and examples
- Colored pencils and markers for illustrating descriptive poems
- Graphic organizer for food origin research
Language
Reading: Literature
Writing
Students explore animal life cycles, behaviors, and habitats through informational texts and research projects. Students examine plants and agriculture systems in connection with food production and environmental sustainability.
Formative Assessments
- Poetry element identification activities
- Figurative language analysis in poems
- Descriptive word choice exercises
- Poetry reading and discussion
- Food origin research note-taking
Summative Assessment
Color Descriptive Poem
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through oral response to teacher questions about poem elements and food origins, with visual aids such as labeled pictures or graphic organizers showing figurative language types. A shorter poem or list of descriptive words with teacher support may replace the full color descriptive poem.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
For this unit's focus on poetry reading, figurative language, and descriptive writing, students may benefit from having poems read aloud or accessed via audio support, allowing them to engage with the text's meaning and poetic elements without being limited by decoding demands. Graphic organizers that visually break down poem structure (such as columns for imagery, word choice, and pattern) can support both comprehension and the writing process. For the summative color poem, offering the option to dictate lines, use sentence frames with descriptive word banks, or compose orally before writing reduces the output barrier while still targeting the skill of using figurative language. Progress checks and targeted feedback during the research and note-taking phases will help students stay on track across the unit's multiple text types.
Section 504
Students should be given extended time on poetry analysis tasks and the summative writing piece, as both require careful reading and deliberate word choice. Preferential seating and a low-distraction environment support focus during discussions and independent reading of informational texts about food and agriculture. Providing a printed copy of any poems or directions displayed on the board ensures students can reference the text at their own pace during analysis activities.
ELL / MLL
Building vocabulary around both the agriculture content domain (farm, harvest, nutrition, ingredients) and the language of poetry (stanza, imagery, descriptive language) before students encounter these terms in texts will strengthen comprehension across the unit. Visual supports such as labeled diagrams of food production, picture dictionaries, and illustrated poem examples help make abstract figurative language more concrete and accessible. Students should be encouraged to brainstorm sensory descriptions and poem ideas in their home language first, then work toward expressing those ideas in English, honoring the richness they bring to this topic. Simplified directions for the menu and poem tasks, paired with a visual model of the expected format, will help students understand the purpose of each activity.
At Risk (RTI)
Connecting the unit's content to students' own food experiences and cultural backgrounds provides a meaningful entry point into both the informational texts and the poetry writing, making abstract concepts like imagery feel more relevant and achievable. During poetry reading and discussion, providing a simple anchor chart of poetic elements with brief examples gives students a reference to build confidence when identifying features in new texts. For the color poem, offering a structured template with sentence starters and a descriptive word bank allows students to focus on word choice and imagery rather than being stalled by the blank page. Breaking the food origin research into small, guided steps with check-ins at each stage helps students manage the multi-text work without becoming overwhelmed.
Gifted & Talented
Students who demonstrate early mastery of poetry elements and figurative language can be challenged to analyze how different poets use imagery to convey a central idea or argument, drawing a parallel to the unit's focus on evaluating an author's claim. In their own color poem, they may explore more complex poetic forms or experiment with layering multiple types of figurative language intentionally, reflecting on the craft choices they are making as writers. Extending the food origin research to examine how geography, climate, or culture shapes food systems invites deeper synthesis across informational texts and encourages students to draw original conclusions rather than simply report facts. Students may also consider creating an annotated menu that uses evidence from their research to explain or make claims about the origins and nutritional value of each item, integrating informational writing with real-world application.