Unit Plan 25 (Grade 5 ELA): Reading Biographies & Timelines
Grade 5 informational reading unit: trace life events in order, identify main ideas with text evidence, and analyze how visuals like photos and timelines clarify a biography’s key moments.
Focus: Chronology, key events, main idea; visuals (photos/timelines)
Grade Level: 5
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Reading Informational)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
This week, readers learn how biographies are built—through chronology (the order of key events), relationships among people/ideas, and visuals that clarify a life story. Students will track turning points, identify main ideas with supporting details, and use timelines, photos, and captions to deepen understanding. By Friday, each learner can explain how events connect, state the main idea of a biographical passage, and interpret a timeline/photo to support a claim.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Explain relationships and interactions among individuals, events, and ideas in a biography (sequence, cause/effect, problem/solution) using text evidence (RI.5.3).
- Determine two or more main ideas of a biographical text and explain how key details support them; write an objective summary (RI.5.2).
- Use timelines, photos, captions, and headings—across print/digital sources—to locate answers efficiently and clarify understanding (RI.5.7).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 5
- RI.5.3, RI.5.2, RI.5.7
Success Criteria — student language
- I can map the life (beginning → turning points → outcomes) and explain how one event leads to another.
- I can state two main ideas and point to details that prove each one.
- I can read a timeline/photo and tell what it shows and how it supports my thinking.
- I can write a short, objective summary of the person’s life.