Unit 3 — Rise To The Occasion
Description
This unit examines how people face challenges with courage and support from others. Students read realistic fiction, historical fiction, and poetry that showcase characters overcoming obstacles. Reading activities emphasize plot development, character analysis, and how characters respond to conflict. Writing includes both narrative and opinion pieces where students support their thinking with text evidence. Students study idioms, adages, and proverbs as they relate to themes of resilience.
Essential Questions
- What does it take to meet a challenge?
Learning Objectives
- Analyze how characters develop and respond to challenges
- Identify and interpret idioms, adages, and proverbs
- Make and confirm predictions based on textual evidence
- Write opinion pieces with supporting facts and reasons
- Explain how authors use literary elements to convey themes
- Compare narrative approaches across different genres
Suggested Texts
- Rent Party Jazz — fiction
- Hurricanes — nonfiction
- My Diary from Here to There — nonfiction
- Bridge to Terabithia — fiction
Supplemental Resources
- Chart paper for creating character response maps
- Index cards for idiom and proverb sorting activities
- Sentence strips for sequencing events and identifying turning points
Language
Reading: Literature
Speaking and Listening
Writing
Students read about immigration, refugees, and cultural diversity in Unit 3, exploring historical and contemporary perspectives on human migration and resilience.
Students use digital tools for research, writing, and collaborative learning throughout the curriculum, demonstrating skills in digital citizenship and technological application.
Formative Assessments
- Prediction activities with text evidence support
- Character response analysis using graphic organizers
- Idiom and proverb interpretation activities
- Opinion writing with peer feedback on supporting reasons
- Guided reading groups focusing on plot and character development
Summative Assessment
Bridge to Terabithia, Rent Party Jazz, Hurricanes, and My Diary from Here to There written response questions
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through oral retelling of a character's challenge and response, or through a teacher-led discussion using visual aids or sentence frames. Students may also show comprehension by sorting picture cards or matching character actions to challenges rather than writing extended responses.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
During character analysis and plot work, provide graphic organizers that scaffold students' thinking by breaking down character traits, conflicts, and responses into manageable sections, reducing the demand on working memory. For figurative language such as idioms, adages, and proverbs, offer visual supports or illustrated anchor charts that pair expressions with their meanings in context. When students write opinion pieces, consider allowing dictation, sentence frames, or oral responses as alternative output modes so the focus remains on reasoning with text evidence rather than transcription. Audio support for longer reading selections can help students access complex texts independently and build the background knowledge needed for written response tasks.
Section 504
Students should be given extended time on opinion writing tasks and written response questions, particularly when text evidence must be located and cited. Preferential seating and a low-distraction environment will support sustained focus during independent reading and writing segments. Printed copies of any figurative language or comprehension prompts displayed on the board ensure students can reference directions without losing their place in the task.
ELL / MLL
Build vocabulary around the unit's thematic language — words related to courage, challenges, and resilience — before students encounter them in reading, using illustrated word banks or bilingual glossaries where available. Figurative language including idioms, adages, and proverbs should be introduced with visual context and concrete examples, as these expressions rarely translate directly across languages. Simplified directions for opinion writing tasks, paired with a clear model of the expected format, will help students understand structural expectations before focusing on content. Where possible, encourage students to connect the themes of characters overcoming obstacles to stories or experiences from their own cultural background as an entry point for discussion.
At Risk (RTI)
Connect unit themes of facing challenges and showing courage to students' own experiences before reading, helping to activate prior knowledge and build genuine engagement with character analysis. Offer simplified versions of graphic organizers that focus on one or two key character responses rather than the full arc, allowing students to experience success before adding complexity. For opinion writing, provide sentence starters that model how to introduce a claim and link it to a reason, so students can focus energy on their thinking rather than the mechanics of structure. Frequent, brief check-ins during prediction activities and guided reading will help catch misunderstandings early and keep students on track.
Gifted & Talented
Invite students to move beyond single-character analysis by examining how multiple characters across realistic fiction, historical fiction, and poetry respond differently to comparable challenges, constructing a comparative argument supported by cross-text evidence. Encourage deeper exploration of the figurative language in this unit by researching the cultural or historical origins of specific adages and proverbs and evaluating how their meaning shifts depending on context or genre. For opinion writing, students may be challenged to acknowledge a counterargument and address it within their piece, adding a layer of complexity to their reasoning. Students might also explore how an author's choice of genre — fiction versus poetry versus historical narrative — shapes the way themes of resilience are communicated to a reader.