Enduring Understandings - important ideas that students should carry with them years beyond the instruction received this year.

·         Effective readers analyze text to make predictions and draw conclusions; infer purpose of text.

·         Effective readers apply different strategies and skills to understand a variety of texts.

·         Effective readers can locate meanings, pronunciations, spellings, and derivations of unfamiliar words, and can use and apply new words in other contexts to improve vocabulary.

·         Effective readers identify and incorporate relevant, personal knowledge in order to connect with the text.

·         Effective writers utilize the writing process to organize and strengthen all modes of writing. 

·         Effective writers practice and use editing skills for self and peer writing evaluation.

·         Effective writers use conventions correctly.

·         Effective writers write in complete sentences varying the types such as compound and complex, and use appropriately punctuated dependent clauses. 

·         Effective writers identify parts of speech correctly, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections.

Essential Questions - most important “big picture” questions students should be able to answer after completing learning activities.

·         What is text? How do we apply different strategies and skills to understand a variety of texts?

·         How do we communicate? What is effective communication? Why does effective communication require a process?

·         What is standard English? Why do we need to know and use standard English rules?

·         How do we apply stylistic elements and appropriate formats?

·         What is critical thinking? How do we think critically in our lives?

·         What is literature? How can we make personal connections through literature?

·         What makes us human?

  Highest Frequency Standards High Frequency Standards Other Standards & E-skills 

District 11 Diamond Units/Lessons Overview - includes information about the purpose, goals and structure of these sample instructional units.

• Quarter 1: August - September Unit: Fiction and Theme  (@ 21 days)
• Quarter 1: September Unit: Literary Elements  (@ 21 days)
• Quarter 1: October Unit: Comparing and Contrasting Literature  (@ 21 days)

• Quarter 2: October Unit: (@ 13 days)

• Quarter 2: November Unit: Fiction, Poetry and Literature Studies (@ 13 days)

• Quarter 2: December Unit:  (@ 13 days)

• Quarter 3: January Unit:

• Quarter 3: February Unit:

• Quarter 3: March Unit:

• Quarter 4: April Unit:

• Quarter 4: May Unit: