Unit Materials for 5th Grade English Language Arts

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You can request a current spreadsheet with all unit texts needed to teach Fishtank ELA for the 2025-26 school year by emailing [email protected].

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Building Community: Seedfolks

Core Texts

Book: Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman (Harper Trophy, 2004) — 710L

Supporting Texts

Article: “7 Effective Steps to Start a Community Garden (University of Minnesota)”
Article: “4 Examples of Urban and Community Garden / Farm Projects to Inspire the Next Generation (Plant a Seed and See What Grows Foundation)”
Article: “How to Organize a Community Garden (NC State Extension School)”
Video: “Successful Community Gardening Webinar Series (Youtube, University of Illinois Extension)”
Article: “Growing Successful Community Gardens (University of Kentucky)”
Article: “Community Garden Checklist (Let's Move, archived)”
Article: “4 Benefits of Community Gardens (Pennsylvania Horticulture Society)”
Video: “Community Gardens Can Change Cities: Cultivate More than Food (Youtube)”
Student Materials From Lesson 7
Student Materials From Lessons 7 & 12
Completed Drafts from Day 4 (G5, U1, L19)
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading

Exploring Human Rights: The Breadwinner

Core Texts

Book: The Breadwinner: 15th Anniversary Edition by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, 2015) — 710L

Supporting Texts

Book: Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through a Never-Ending War by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, 2012)
Book: I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Video: “Geography Made Easy: Afghanistan”
Website: Britannica Kids: Afghanistan
Website: National Geographic Kids Country Profile: Afghanistan
Website: Twinkl Country Profile
Website: Kiddle Afghanistan Facts
Website: Afghan Voices: Books for Children and Young Adults (Colorín Colorado)
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading

Protecting the Earth: Plastic Pollution

Core Texts

Book: Trash Vortex: How Plastic Pollution Is Choking the World's Oceans by Danielle Smith-Llera (Compass Point Books, 2018) — 1120L

Supporting Texts

Article: “Single-Use Plastics: A Roadmap for Sustainability” (United Nations Environment Programme, 2018)
Article: “Ten "stealth microplastics" to avoid if you want to save the oceans” by Sharon George and Deirdre McKay (The Conversation)
Article: “Queensland passes laws banning 'killer' single-use plastics” (The Guardian)
Article: “"People need them": The trouble with the movement to ban plastic straws” (The Guardian)
Article: “Mythbusting: 5 common misperceptions surrounding the environmental impacts of single-use plastics” (University of Michigan News)
Article: “Little girl, big difference: 4th grader’s idea helps reduce trash at Pikes Peak region-area elementary school” by Lindsey Grewe for CBS
Article: “CA Girl Scout’s letters spurred companies to cut down on using plastic straws” by Washington Post, adapted by The Lily News
Template: Two-Paragraph Outline
Template: Plastic Pollution Note-Taker
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading

Young Heroes: Children of the Civil Rights Movement

Core Texts

Book: Witnesses to Freedom: Young People Who Fought for Civil Rights by Belinda Rochelle (Puffin Books, 1993) — 1040L
Book: Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen S. Levine (Puffin Books, 2000) — 760L
Book: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose (Square Fish, Reprint edition (2010)) — 1000L
Book: Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery (Speak, Reprint edition (2016)) — 780L
Book: Selma, Lord, Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil Rights Days by Frank Sikora (University Alabama Press, 1st Edition edition (1997)) — 830L

Supporting Texts

Article: “American slavery: Separating fact from myth” by Daina Ramey Berry (The Conversation)
Book: 28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World by Charles R. Smith Jr. (Roaring Brook Press)
Poem: “Day 1, Crispus Attacks (from 28 Days)” by Charles R. Smith Jr.
Poem: “Ruby Bridges: Brave Step” by Latorial Faison
Template: Poetry Brainstorm Template
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading

Friendship Across Boundaries: Return to Sender

Core Texts

Book: Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez (Yearling, 2010) — 890L

Supporting Texts

Article: “Stereotypes: Understanding Their Impact and How to Overcome Them”
Video: “Enrique Balcazar: Las vacas no se ordeñan solas”
Video: “Mexican Migrant Workers and Vermont Dairy Farms” (The Golden Cage Project)
Video: “No Human Being Was Born Illegal (NIOS)” (Not in Our Town)
Video: “Under the Cloak of Darkness” (Bjorn Jackson, 2015)
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading

Exploring Mars: Spirit and Opportunity

Core Texts

Book: The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch (HMH Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition, 2017) — 950L

Supporting Texts

Video: “How We Landed on Mars with NASA Spirit” by The Azza
Article: “Now a Stationary Research Platform, NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Starts a New Chapter in Red Planet Scientific Studies” by NASA Press Release 7
Article: “Mars Rovers Advance Understanding of the Red Planet”
Article: “Rover Team Tests Mars Moves on Earth”
Article: “NASA's Opportunity Rover Rolls Free on Mars”
Article: “Mars Rover Spirit Unearths Surprise Evidence of Wetter Past”
Article: “NASA Mars Rovers Braving Severe Dust Storms”
Article: “Shoulder Motor Balks on Opportunity's Robotic Arm”
Website: Mars Exploration Rovers: Press Releases
Assessment Text: “Impact!: Asteroids and the Science of Saving the World” by Elizabeth Rusch (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2017) (Note: this text is only used for the assessment.)
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading

Belonging to a Movement: One Crazy Summer

Core Texts

Book: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (HarperCollins Publishers, 2011) — 750L

Supporting Texts

Book: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (The Penguin Group, 2014)
Poem: “I, Too” by Langston Hughes
Poem: “Dream Variations” by Langston Hughes
Website: 10-Point Platform by PBS.org
Excerpt: The Black Panther - Vol. 3 No. 1, 1969 - part 1
Excerpt: The Black Panther - Vol. 3 No. 1, 1969 - part 2
Excerpt: The Black Panther - Vol. 2 No. 5, 1968 - part 1
Excerpt: The Black Panther - Vol. 2 No. 5, 1968 - part 2
Template: Two-Paragraph Outline
Template: 10-Point Platform Student Brainstorm
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading

Seeking Truth: A Wrinkle in Time

Core Texts

Book: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Square Fish, Reprint edition, 2007) — 740L

Supporting Texts

Book: A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Hope Larson and Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2012)
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading

Unit Materials for 5th Grade English Language Arts

Need to purchase texts for this course?

Building Community: Seedfolks

Core Texts

Supporting Texts

Exploring Human Rights: The Breadwinner

Core Texts

Supporting Texts

Protecting the Earth: Plastic Pollution

Core Texts

Supporting Texts

Young Heroes: Children of the Civil Rights Movement

Core Texts

Supporting Texts

Friendship Across Boundaries: Return to Sender

Core Texts

Supporting Texts

Exploring Mars: Spirit and Opportunity

Core Texts

Supporting Texts

Belonging to a Movement: One Crazy Summer

Core Texts

Supporting Texts

Seeking Truth: A Wrinkle in Time

Core Texts

Supporting Texts

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