ELA  /  Kindergarten  /  Unit 2: Noticing Patterns in Stories

Noticing Patterns in Stories

Students become engaged in reading through a variety of familiar stories with predictable patterns and illustrations that allow them to anticipate words, phrases, and events on their own.

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ELA

Unit 2

Kindergarten

Unit Summary

In this unit, students are exposed to stories with rhythmic patterns and engaging illustrations. Exposure to stories with rhythmic patterns creates the opportunity for students to practice fluency skills and reading repeated phrases with intentional intonation, expression and volume.

Throughout this unit, students will build their confidence retelling the beginning, middle, and end of stories. Students will begin to work on retelling what happens to the characters in a story, using key details from the text and illustrations. Students will learn that characters are the people or animals in a story and that characters can think, feel, or act. 

Additionally, students will explore how authors and illustrators use repeated phrases and images to make a story engaging and to draw the reader's attention to a specific idea. After reading, students engage in a shared discussion of their opinion about the book. Together, students brainstorm what elements make each book fun to read. 

In this unit, students continue to learn how to express their understanding of a text through discussion, drawing, and writing. Students build on the work they did in Unit 1, Welcome to School, solidifying the routines and structures needed for successful oral discourse, including following agreed-upon rules for speaking. 

Students write daily responses to the text using pictures, symbols, and labels to express their response to the prompt. Students will be introduced to opinion writing in a project where they express their favorite book from the unit. 

Please Note: In February 2025, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. The text Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora (ISBN: 978-0316431248) was added to this unit. This unit is now 14 instructional days (previously 13 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 Materials

Supporting Materials

Text Selection Rationale
Purchase Books

Assessment

The following assessments accompany Unit 2.

Content Assessment

The Content Assessment pushes students to synthesize unit content knowledge or unit essential questions in writing. The Content Assessment should be used as the primary assessment because it shows mastery of unit content knowledge and standards.

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.

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.

Essential Questions

  • What makes stories fun to read?

Reading Focus Areas

  • To retell stories, readers tell what happens in the beginning, middle, and end. 
  • Characters are the people, animals, and creatures in a story. Characters can think, feel, or act. 

Writing Focus Areas

In Unit 1, students learned the routines and procedures for daily writing about reading. In this unit, students will continue to write daily in response to the text with a focus on using a combination of drawings and words to correctly answer the question. 

Opinion Writing Focus Areas

  • State an opinion about a book. 
  • Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to include one detail to support their opinion. 

In this unit students begin to explore opinion writing by writing about which book from the unit is their favorite. 

Emergent Writing

Use the Emergent Writing Teacher Tool to regularly study students' Target Task responses. During independent writing, prompt students using the supports relevant to their individual Emergent Writing phase. By the end of Unit 2, students should demonstrate mastery of the majority of skills within Phase 2 and some of the skills within Phase 3. 

Speaking and Listening Focus Areas

  • Follow agreed-upon rules for discussion. 
  • Speak audibly. 

Vocabulary

Text-based

busyenoughfamefocushuntpleasurescrumptious

General

pattern

To see all the vocabulary for Unit 2, view our Kindergarten Vocabulary Glossary.

Supporting All Students

In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting all Students teacher tool.

Content Knowledge and Connections

Stories are fun to read when: 

  • Silly things happen
  • Authors repeat things
  • The illustrations are interesting

Lesson Map

12
Lesson
Overview

Students will state an opinion about which Unit 2 book is their favorite using a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing.

Materials
  • All unit texts
  • Grade K Opinion Writing Rubric
  • Single Point Opinion Writing Rubric (GK, U2, L12)
  • Opinion Writing Anchor Chart
  • Essential Understandings Anchor Chart
Day 1 - Brainstorming & Drafting

Students will brainstorm and draft an opinion about which Unit 2 book is their favorite using a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing 

Materials
  • All unit texts
  • Grade K Opinion Writing Rubric
  • Single Point Opinion Writing Rubric (GK, U2, L12)
  • Opinion Writing Anchor Chart

Standards

L.K.1.bW.K.1

Day 2 - Revision & Editing

Students will revise an opinion statement about which Unit 2 book is their favorite using a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing. 

Materials
  • All unit texts
  • Grade K Opinion Writing Rubric
  • Single Point Opinion Writing Rubric (GK, U2, L12)
  • Opinion Writing Anchor Chart

Standards

L.K.1.bW.K.1

Common Core Standards

Core Standards

L.K.1.b
L.K.4
L.K.5.d
L.K.6
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
SL.K.1
SL.K.2
SL.K.4
SL.K.5
SL.K.6
W.K.1
W.K.5

Supporting Standards

L.K.1
L.K.2
RL.K.1
RL.K.4
RL.K.6
RL.K.9
RL.K.10
SL.K.1.a

Read Next

Noticing Patterns in Stories
Lesson 1
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