ELA  /  5th Grade  /  Unit 5: Friendship Across Boundaries: Return to Sender

Friendship Across Boundaries: Return to Sender

In the novel Return to Sender, students explore the complexity of immigration and stereotypes and interpret how authors highlight different characters' perspectives.

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ELA

Unit 5

5th Grade

Unit Summary

In this unit, students examine how place, perspective, identity, and relationships shape the characters' understanding of what is right and wrong and their decisions to act. Return to Sender follows Tyler, whose family has farmed the same land in Vermont for generations, and Mari, a young Mexican girl who comes to the United States with her family in search of work, without legal documentation. As the story unfolds, readers explore how the places people come from influence how they see themselves and others—and how individuals, in turn, shape the communities they inhabit.

The novel Return to Sender explores how young people navigate complex and uncertain situations through the perspectives of Tyler and Mari. Tyler struggles with questions of loyalty, fairness, and responsibility as his family hires Mexican migrant workers to save their farm, while his growing friendship with Mari challenges his assumptions and helps shape his values. Through Mari's first-person letters and diary entries, readers gain insight into the fear, uncertainty, and resilience involved in adapting to a new place amid the constraints of her immigration status. As their friendship develops, the novel emphasizes the power of empathy, understanding, and cross-cultural connection in guiding thoughtful decisions and building meaningful relationships. Because of this unit's complex and sensitive content, we recommend teachers carefully read the "Note for Teachers" section at the end of the Unit page and strategically complete any intellectual preparation needed before teaching this unit. 

Students continue to notice how comparing and contrasting characters' perspectives, particularly Tyler and Mari's, helps the reader build a deeper, more well-rounded understanding of who a character is. Students also explore how observing the way characters respond to events can illuminate the similarities and differences between characters, especially as Tyler and Mari have different responses to events. Throughout the text, students see firsthand how characters can change and grow based on their relationships with others. 

In previous units, students focused on sharing and elaborating on their own ideas when discussing the text. In this unit, students begin to build on their classmates' ideas, seeking to genuinely understand what their peers are saying by asking questions, adding on, or engaging in multiple exchanges. Students continue to build their writing fluency by writing daily in response to the Target Task. Students also continue to work on crafting opinion and literary analysis essays, using what they know about writing strong paragraphs to write multi-paragraph essays.

Please Note: In March 2026, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. This unit remains 37 instructional days. Teachers should pay close attention as they intellectually prepare to account for the updated pacing, sequencing, and content. 

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Texts and Materials

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Core Texts

Supporting Texts

Rubrics

Resources for Lessons and Projects

Text Selection Rationale
All Course Materials

Assessment

The following assessments accompany Unit 5. For more guidance, see the Summative Assessments and Assessments Accommodations & Modifications Teacher Tools.

Content Assessment

The Content Assessment measures students' understanding of the unit's content knowledge and vocabulary. It should serve as the primary assessment for the unit.

Cold Read Assessment

The Cold Read Assessment tests students' ability to comprehend a "cold" or unfamiliar passage and answer standards-based questions. The Cold Read Assessment can be given in addition to the Content Assessment as a pulse point for what students can read and analyze independently, a skill often required for standardized testing.

Fluency Assessment

The Fluency Assessment measures students' oral reading fluency with a passage drawn from one of the unit's core texts. See the Assessing Reading Fluency Teacher Tool for more guidance.

Unit Prep

Intellectual Prep

Unit Launch

Before you teach this unit, unpack the texts, themes, and core standards through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.

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Essential Questions

  • How do the places we come from shape the way we see ourselves and others? How do we shape those places in return? 
  • How do people build understanding and connection across different cultures and life experiences? Why is it important?
  • How do we decide what is right or wrong when a situation isn't clearly one or the other?

Reading Focus Areas

  • Comparing and contrasting character perspectives helps the reader to build a deeper, more well-rounded understanding of who a character is.

  • Observing the way characters respond to events illuminates the similarities and differences between characters.

  • Characters grow and change through relationships with others.

Writing Focus Areas

Narrative Writing

  • Draft a logical sequence of events that unfolds naturally.

  • Orient the reader by introducing characters and setting.

  • Write a story ending that is engaging and satisfying.

Opinion Writing

  • Include an introduction that introduces the topic and states the writer’s position.

  • Draft paragraphs that effectively group related reasons and evidence.

  • Support the position with valid reasons and related evidence.

  • Include a concluding statement with transition words and a purposeful craft choice.

Speaking and Listening Focus Areas

  • Elaborate to support ideas. Provide evidence or examples to justify and defend a point clearly.

  • Use specific vocabulary. Use vocabulary that is specific to the subject and task to clarify and share their thoughts.

  • Build onto a partner's ideas. Seek to genuinely understand what peers are saying and then build upon it.

Vocabulary

Text-based

agitatedballisticcommendingcontradictionconsoleculpableecstaticenlightenedesteemedinsistentpetitionpreoccupyingreluctanceresignedtestimonyunburdenundisclosedupstanding

Root/Affix

-ous-sion-tionen-pre-un-

To see all the vocabulary for Unit 5, view our 5th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.

Content Knowledge and Connections

Previous Fishtank ELA Connections

Notes to the Teacher

Return to Sender explores themes of immigration, belonging, and justice. Because it centers the experiences of undocumented families and ICE detention and deportation, it may connect to current events and your students' lived experiences. Consider the following guidelines before teaching the book. 

  • Begin with Awareness and Care
    • Reflect on your students' potential connections to the content.
    • Anticipate where emotional triggers or personal resonance may arise.
    • Communicate with families if appropriate, and ensure access to support for students who may need it.
    • Approach the book with a "warm demander" stance—balancing compassion with high intellectual expectations (Zaretta Hammond).
  • Frame It as One Story, Not the Story
    • Name that the book is one narrative among many about migration and belonging.
    • Emphasize the diversity within immigrant and Latinx communities.
  • Build Classroom Culture
    • Co-create classroom norms: listening, confidentiality, consent, and curiosity.
    • Offer choice in engagement (discussion, journaling, or art).
    • Preview emotionally-charged scenes and check in afterward.

Before teaching the unit, Fishtank recommends that teachers build their own knowledge and understanding of the key understandings of the unit. To do so, consider exploring the following resources:

Lesson Map

28
Lesson
Writing

4 days

Overview

Write a continuation of the novel Return to Sender.
Day 1 - Brainstorming

Brainstorm a logical sequence of events by planning details for the events, characters, setting, and point of view in a story.

Materials
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer Sample Response (G5, U5, L28)

Standards

W.5.3.aW.5.5

Day 2 - Drafting

Draft the beginning and middle of a narrative with developed setting and characters.

Materials
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer — Completed on Day 1
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer Sample Response (G5, U5, L28)
  • Day 2 Sample Response (G5, U5, L28)

Standards

W.5.3.aW.5.3.b

Day 3 - Drafting

End stories by including a resolution that is engaging and satisfies the reader.

Materials
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer — Completed on Day 1
  • Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer Sample Response (G5, U5, L28)
  • Complete Sample Draft (G5, U5, L28)
  • Conclusion Quick-Write (G5, U5, L28)

Standards

W.5.3.bW.5.3.e

Day 4 - Revision & Editing

Revise a narrative to include precise words and phrases.

Standards

L.5.3.aW.5.5

30
Lesson
Writing

5 days

Overview

Write an opinion piece that proposes a new name for the Paquette farm and explains why that name fits, using evidence from Return to Sender.
Day 1 - Brainstorming

Brainstorm and outline ideas before developing an opinion based on evidence from the text.

Materials
  • Two Paragraph Outline
  • Three Paragraph Outline
  • Farm Name Brainstorm Organizer (G5, U5, L30)

Standards

W.5.1W.5.1.a

Day 2 - Drafting

Draft an opinion piece that clearly states the topic and position using questions, facts, images, or examples.

Materials
  • Two Paragraph Outline
  • Three Paragraph Outline

Standards

W.5.1.a

Day 3 - Drafting

Draft strong body paragraphs that group details together by determining which information strongly supports the position. 

Materials
  • Two Paragraph Outline
  • Three Paragraph Outline
  • Two Paragraph Outline Sample Response (G5, U5, L30) — from Day 1

Standards

W.5.1.b

Day 4 - Drafting

Draft an effective concluding statement by using transition words and phrases, a question, or a suggestion.

Materials
  • Two Paragraph Outline
  • Three Paragraph Outline

Standards

W.5.1.d

Day 5 - Revision & Editing

Revise work by rearranging sentences in a paragraph for cohesion and coherence.

Standards

W.5.1W.5.5

Common Core Standards

Core Standards

RI.5.1
RL.5.2
RL.5.3
RL.5.6
W.5.1
W.5.1.a
W.5.1.b
W.5.1.c
W.5.1.d
W.5.2
W.5.3
W.5.3.a
W.5.3.b
W.5.3.e
W.5.9
W.5.9.a
L.5.1
L.5.1.a
L.5.1.c
L.5.1.d
L.5.1.e
L.5.2
L.5.2.b
L.5.3
L.5.3.a
SL.5.1
SL.5.2
SL.5.3
SL.5.4
SL.5.5

Supporting Standards

RL.5.1
RL.5.4
RL.5.10
RF.5.3
RF.5.4
W.5.3.c
W.5.3.d
W.5.4
W.5.5
W.5.6
W.5.10
L.5.4
L.5.4.b
L.5.5
L.5.6
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