Dr. Michael Kester-Haynes

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Kindergarten ELA Units

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

Kindergarten literacy unit where students use who/what/where/when questions and picture clues to understand stories, practice beginning–middle–end retells, and confirm understanding through simple partner Q&A.

Kindergarten ELA Units

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

Kindergarten ELA launch unit: students build classroom reading and writing routines, practice book handling and partner talk, strengthen stamina, and begin drawing and labeling to express ideas.

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Mathematical Storytelling: Using Narrative to Teach Abstract Concepts

Imagine a classroom where students eagerly follow a character’s journey rather than stare blankly at equations. In one scenario, learners struggle through isolated computations; in another, they become invested in a protagonist’s quest that requires solving those very equations. Mathematical storytelling transforms abstract concepts into vivid narratives that

Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 36 (Grade 1 ELA): Publishing Celebration & Reflection

Grade 1 publishing unit: students curate and polish a mini writing portfolio, revise with expressive language, publish digitally, and present short, clear author shares with visuals and strong word choices.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 35 (Grade 1 ELA): Author Study – Voices & Point of View

Grade 1 literature unit: students identify who is telling the story using dialogue and pronoun clues, then compare how authors show characters’ adventures and voices across two stories.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 34 (Grade 1 ELA): Revising & Editing for Clarity

Grade 1 language and writing unit: students revise and edit short drafts for complete sentences, capitals, punctuation, and spelling patterns, producing a clear, polished final copy.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 33 (Grade 1 ELA): Summarizing & Retelling Key Ideas

Grade 1 informational reading unit: students identify the main topic and key details, then create short oral or visual summaries that explain the gist using friendly frames and media support.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 32 (Grade 1 ELA): Writing Information Booklets with Text Features

Grade 1 informational writing: students plan and publish a multi-page booklet with headings, labels, and captions that clearly teach facts using precise vocabulary.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 31 (Grade 1 ELA): Shared Research Project

Grade 1 research and writing unit: students plan questions, gather facts from books and guided web sources, record picture notes, name sources, and help publish a shared digital class page.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 30 (Grade 1 ELA): Reading Science/Social Studies with Visuals

Grade 1 informational reading unit: students use diagrams, maps, and charts to identify key ideas, decode domain vocabulary with context clues, and ask/answer questions about details from visuals and media.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 29 (Grade 1 ELA): Procedural / How-To Writing

Grade 1 how-to writing unit: students plan materials, write 3–5 steps with First/Next/Then/Last, add a tip, and revise/edit for clear directions.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 28 (Grade 1 ELA): Cause & Effect and Idea Connections

Grade 1 informational reading and listening unit: students describe cause-and-effect relationships, ask key-detail questions, and practice clarifying information during discussions or media.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 27 (Grade 1 ELA): Synthesizing Across Two Texts

Grade 1 informational reading and writing unit: students compare two texts on the same topic, identify similarities and differences, and write one clear conclusion using details from both sources.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 26 (Grade 1 ELA): Author’s Purpose in Informational Text

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 25 (Grade 1 ELA): Reading Biographies & Timelines

Grade 1 informational reading unit: students explore short biographies, identify main topics and key events, build chronological timelines, and use photos and captions to explain connections.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 24 (Grade 1 ELA): Narrative Pacing & Strong Endings

Grade 1 writing unit: students expand a small moment into a full short story, add meaningful details, build strong endings, and revise and edit for clarity and conventions.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 23 (Grade 1 ELA): Writing Narrative Scenes with Temporal Words

Grade 1 writing unit: students craft small narrative scenes using First/Then/Next/Finally, showing actions, feelings, and simple dialogue with complete sentences.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 22 (Grade 1 ELA): Words & Pictures Together

Grade 1 reading unit: students use illustrations to describe characters, settings, and events, connect pictures to feeling and sensory words, and create visuals to clarify story meaning.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 21 (Grade 1 ELA): Morphology Power – Base Words, Endings & Affixes

Grade 1 foundational skills unit: students decode and build words with -s/-es, -ed/-ing, and prefixes re-, un-, apply word attack strategies, and use new vocabulary in context.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 20 (Grade 1 ELA): Two Stories, Similar Characters or Themes

Grade 1 ELA unit: students describe characters, setting, events in two stories, then compare and contrast adventures using text evidence and collaborative talk.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 19 (Grade 1 ELA): Central Message, Lesson, or Moral

Grade 1 reading unit: students retell fables and folktales with key details, identify the central message or moral, and use story evidence to explain their reasoning.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 18 (Grade 1 ELA): Sharing Findings Clearly

Grade 1 ELA unit: students plan and deliver short presentations using visuals, complete sentences, and clear speech while practicing polite listening and feedback.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 17 (Grade 1 ELA): Explanatory Writing with Labels & Captions

Guide first graders to write and share teaching pages that combine text and visuals. Students learn to use labels, captions, and domain vocabulary to explain real-world topics, showing how pictures and words work together to teach information clearly.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 16 (Grade 1 ELA): Mini-Research – Ask & Answer Questions

Introduce first graders to research through curiosity and discovery. Students learn to ask who/what/where/why/how questions, locate key facts in short texts and visuals, take simple notes, and name their sources—building early research and comprehension skills.

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Grade 1 ELA Units

Unit Plan 15 (Grade 1 ELA): Performance Reading & Fluency

Build fluent, expressive reading through poetry performance. First graders practice accuracy, phrasing, and expression across repeated readings—using punctuation, rhythm, and self-corrections—to perform short poems aloud with confidence and clear speaking skills.