Dr. Michael Kester-Haynes

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 13 (Grade PreK ELA): Text Features & Book Parts (Informational)

PreK informational text unit: students explore book parts—front, back, and title page—while learning the roles of author and illustrator. They identify icons and labels in nonfiction pages to find information, building visual literacy and early comprehension skills.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 12 (Grade PreK ELA): Organizing & Closing Opinions

PreK opinion writing unit: students organize short opinions with an opening, one reason, and a simple closing like “That’s why I like it.” They revise drawings and dictation for clarity while learning early conventions such as capital I, end marks, and writing their name.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 11 (Grade PreK ELA): Reasons that Support Points

PreK opinion and evidence unit: students learn to use pictures and simple text to give reasons for their ideas, saying “I think/like ___ because ___.” They practice pointing to visual evidence and asking or answering clarifying questions to build comprehension and communication skills.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 10 (Grade PreK ELA): Launching Opinion Speaking

PreK opinion writing unit: students practice saying “I like ___ because ___” to express preferences with clear reasons, learning complete-sentence sharing, polite listening, and partner turn-taking to build confidence in early communication skills.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 9 (Grade PreK ELA): Phonological Awareness II – Onset–Rime

PreK phonological awareness unit: students play with word parts by blending and segmenting onset–rime patterns, sorting words into rime families like -at and -og, and using fun, hands-on games to build early decoding and sound awareness skills.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 8 (Grade PreK ELA): Oral Storytelling with Pictures

PreK narrative writing unit: students turn small life moments into oral stories, using drawings and dictation to show who, where, and what happened. They learn sequencing words—first, then, next, last—to tell clear, detailed stories with feelings.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 7 (Grade PreK ELA): Informative Beginnings – Labels that Teach

PreK informational writing unit: students become “kid scientists,” creating topic pictures with labels and parts-of diagrams to teach others. They name topics, identify parts, add first-sound labels, and explain their diagrams using clear, complete sentences.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 6 (Grade PreK ELA): Letters & Sounds I – Names and Consonant Sounds

PreK phonics unit: students learn to recognize and name the letters in their names, match uppercase and lowercase forms, and produce common consonant sounds through playful tracing, building, and sound–picture routines that build early alphabet mastery.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 5 (Grade PreK ELA): Phonological Awareness I – Rhyme & Syllables

PreK phonological awareness unit: students explore rhyme and syllables through songs, poems, and movement—learning to hear, make, and clap word sounds while using new vocabulary like rhyme, beat, and syllable in joyful, hands-on literacy play.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 4 (Grade PreK ELA): Concepts of Print & Book Handling

PreK print-awareness unit: students learn book parts, print direction, and how to spot letters, words, and spaces—building essential pre-reading habits through interactive book-handling, partner talk, and playful literacy centers.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 3 (Grade PreK ELA): Characters, Settings, and Major Events

PreK story comprehension unit: students describe who is in the story, where it happens, and what takes place using words and pictures, building early vocabulary, sentence skills, and visual storytelling confidence.

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Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 2 (Grade PreK ELA): Asking & Answering Questions About Stories

PreK comprehension unit: students learn to ask and answer who, what, where, and when questions, use picture clues to understand stories, and retell familiar tales in order—building early narrative and speaking skills through visual storytelling.

Pre-Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 1 (Grade PreK ELA): Launching Our Reading–Writing Community

PreK literacy launch unit: students learn classroom reading routines, explore books with care, practice partner talk and sharing, and begin expressing ideas through drawing and dictation—building joyful habits that spark a lifelong love of reading.

Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 36 (Grade K ELA): Publishing Celebration & Reflection

Kindergarten publishing unit: students curate and polish a mini-portfolio of their best work, use digital tools to publish, and deliver short author talks with visuals and “wow words” that make their language expressive and engaging.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 35 (Grade K ELA): Author Study – Voices & Point of View

Kindergarten literature unit: students learn to identify who is telling a story, explain how authors and illustrators share that voice, and compare two stories to discuss similarities and differences in characters’ adventures using complete sentences.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 34 (Grade K ELA): Conventions Clinic – Print, Caps, Punctuation, Spelling

Kindergarten language unit: students learn to write complete sentences with capitals, correct end marks, and sound spelling, while practicing spacing, tracking print, and reading their own sentences with confidence and clarity.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 33 (Grade K ELA): Summarizing & Retelling Key Ideas

Kindergarten informational text unit: students identify the main topic and key details of nonfiction texts, create oral and visual summaries using pictures and labels, and practice clear retelling and questioning to confirm understanding.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 32 (Grade K ELA): Writing Information Booklets with Text Features

Kindergarten informational writing unit: students create multi-page booklets with headings, labels, and captions, identify book parts like cover and title page, and use new topic vocabulary to teach readers clearly and confidently.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 31 (Grade K ELA): Shared Research Project

Kindergarten research unit: students plan wonder questions, gather information from books and teacher-guided web pages, take simple picture and label notes, and help create a digital class slide that shares what they learned through collaborative writing and technology.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 30 (Grade K ELA): Reading Science/Social Studies with Visuals

Kindergarten informational text unit: students learn to read diagrams, maps, and charts, explaining how pictures and labels work together to teach ideas while using picture and word clues to understand domain vocabulary in real-world contexts.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 29 (Grade K ELA): Procedural / How-To Writing

Kindergarten writing unit: students create how-to pieces by naming a topic, listing materials, and showing clear step-by-step directions with pictures, labels, and sequence words—building strong sentence skills and clear communication.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 28 (Grade K ELA): Cause & Effect and Idea Connections

Kindergarten informational text unit: students identify cause-and-effect relationships in nonfiction, explain what happened and why using because/so sentences, and practice asking follow-up questions to clarify and deepen understanding.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 27 (Grade K ELA): Synthesizing Across Two Texts (Same Topic)

Kindergarten informational text unit: students compare two books on the same topic, identify what’s the same and different, ask and answer questions to clarify understanding, and create one short oral or written conclusion that connects both texts.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 26 (Grade K ELA): Author & Illustrator – Roles & New Words

Kindergarten informational text unit: students learn to identify the author and illustrator and explain their roles, ask and answer questions about unknown words using picture and text clues, and confirm understanding through listening and clarifying questions.

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Kindergarten ELA Units

Unit Plan 25 (Grade K ELA): Reading Biographies & Picture Timelines

Kindergarten informational text unit: students explore simple biographies, identify main topics and key details, describe how photos and captions add meaning, and build picture timelines to show connections between events and people.