Unit 2 — Come To Your Senses
Description
Students explore how people and animals use their senses to interact with their environment. The unit combines literature and informational texts to examine sensory perception and adaptation. Reading activities focus on text structure, summarization, and identifying content-area words. Students write informative paragraphs that synthesize information from multiple sources. Vocabulary study emphasizes multiple-meaning words and domain-specific terminology related to sensory science.
Essential Questions
- How do people and animals use their senses to navigate the world?
Learning Objectives
- Describe text structure in informational writing
- Determine meaning of domain-specific words in context
- Summarize key supporting details from texts
- Explain how media techniques enhance understanding
- Write informative paragraphs with facts and definitions
- Compare and contrast sensory adaptations across species
Suggested Texts
- Alvin Ho — fiction
- The Science Behind Sight — nonfiction
- Animal Senses — nonfiction
- Blind Ambition — nonfiction
- The Game of Silence — fiction
Supplemental Resources
- Printed images and diagrams showing sensory adaptations
- Sticky notes for annotating text and marking key details
- Plastic page protectors for comparing text structures across passages
Language
Reading: Informational Text
Speaking and Listening
Students explore sensory perception and animal senses in Unit 2, connecting to life science standards about how animals receive information through their senses and process it in their brains.
Students use digital tools for research, writing, and collaborative learning throughout the curriculum, demonstrating skills in digital citizenship and technological application.
Formative Assessments
- Text structure identification activities using graphic organizers
- Summarization exercises with emphasis on key details
- Vocabulary strategy practice with multiple-meaning words
- Media analysis of diagrams and visual representations
- Peer review of informative writing with focus on clarity
Summative Assessment
Blind Ambition written response question and Alvin Ho multiple-choice assessment
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may respond orally to text structure and summarization questions, with a teacher or aide recording responses. Visual supports such as labeled diagrams of text structures and word banks for domain-specific sensory vocabulary may be provided to support understanding.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students may benefit from graphic organizers that are partially pre-filled to support text structure identification and summarization, reducing the demand on working memory while keeping the focus on recognizing how informational text is organized. For vocabulary work with multiple-meaning words and domain-specific science terms, providing a visual word bank or illustrated reference card can help students access meaning without being derailed by decoding challenges. When writing informative paragraphs, allow students to plan orally or use dictation before producing a written draft, and consider accepting shorter paragraph frames that demonstrate understanding of key content. Extended time and chunked assignments support students who need additional processing time across reading and writing tasks in this unit.
Section 504
Students should be given extended time for reading and writing tasks, particularly during summarization activities and informative paragraph drafting where sustained focus is required. Preferential seating that minimizes auditory and visual distractions supports engagement when analyzing diagrams or working with informational text. Providing printed copies of any displayed text or visual media ensures students are not disadvantaged by difficulty tracking between sources.
ELL / MLL
Because this unit includes a high volume of domain-specific and multiple-meaning vocabulary related to sensory science, previewing key terms with visual supports — such as labeled diagrams of sensory organs or picture-based vocabulary cards — before reading will help students build the background knowledge needed to access texts. Simplified directions paired with a visual model of the expected output, such as an annotated example of an informative paragraph, can clarify expectations without reducing the rigor of the task. Where possible, encouraging students to connect sensory concepts to experiences or vocabulary from their home language and culture strengthens comprehension and investment in the content.
At Risk (RTI)
Students who need additional support should be connected to the unit's central ideas — how living things use their senses — through concrete, relatable examples that activate prior knowledge before reading informational texts. Text structure graphic organizers should be introduced with clear visual cues that help students distinguish between structures such as compare-contrast and cause-effect, allowing them to focus on comprehension rather than format confusion. For writing, a structured paragraph frame that prompts students to include a topic sentence, supporting fact, and a domain-specific word can reduce the complexity of the task while still building the informative writing skills targeted in this unit.
Gifted & Talented
Students who demonstrate early mastery of text structure and summarization can be challenged to analyze how an author's choice of text structure shapes the reader's understanding of sensory adaptations across species, moving beyond identification into evaluation. For vocabulary work, encourage investigation into the etymology of domain-specific science terms or exploration of how the same word carries different meanings across scientific and everyday contexts. In informative writing, students may be invited to synthesize information from a broader range of sources or to consider a specific argument about how a sensory adaptation gives a species a survival advantage, pushing their writing toward evidence-based explanation rather than basic fact reporting.