Expeditionary Learning
Expeditionary Learning, or EL, is our core content literacy block. During this time, students build their literacy skills, habits of character and knowledge of the world as they engage with high-quality, compelling, authentic texts covering a range of topics.
BUILDING LITERACY IN A COLLABORATIVE CLASSROOM: TOYS AND PLAY
Module 1
In this module, students build their literacy and citizenship skills as they engage in a study of toys and play. Students consider norms and behaviors for sharing toys and interacting with peers through structured conversations, learning experiences such as role play and guided discovery of toys, and an analysis of the text Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney. Students will also learn more about toys as they consider what makes something a toy and what makes toys fun. They learn to sort and describe toys by specific attributes. They also begin to think about perspective as they discuss and write about their own toy preferences. Students also learn about toys from a historical perspective using the text Playing with Friends: Comparing Past and Present by Rebecca Rissman. As a culmination of the unit, students interview a classmate about his or her preferred classroom toy.
We will explore opinion writing, asking and answering questions about a text, and narrative text features.
Weather Wonders
Module 2
In this module students engage in a study of the weather. We will use various nonfiction texts to build background knowledge, learn about nonfiction text features, work on on informational writing.
-
What is weather?
-
How can I be prepared for different types of weather?
-
What is weather like around the world?
-
How does weather affect people?
-
How can I write a story that teaches my reader about the weather?
Trees Are Alive
Module Three
During Unit 3 of this module, your student will be researching how different trees meet their needs and provide animals with food and shelter. By the end of this module, students will be able to participate in a discussion around the module guiding question: What patterns can we observe in living things?
​
Students will begin to research the patterns found in different trees with a focus on learning about what the trees need to live and grow as well as the food and shelter they provide to other living things. The learning will be focused on these ideas:
-
Researches make observations and gather evidence to explain patterns.
-
Different trees all need sunlight and water to grow.
-
Trees help other living things meet their needs in similar ways.