Follow along here all year for a cohesive ELA curriculum map and step-by-step guide!
If you are struggling with how to plan your year or just need some fresh ideas, then you are in the right place! Join me for a 10-month mini-series on creating an ELA curriculum map for your middle school classes. This month, we will focus on getting started with grammar, vocabulary, and with your second unit, character analysis. If you haven’t read the blog post for month 1 yet, you might want to go back and do that first.
Follow along here all year for a cohesive ELA curriculum map and step-by-step guide!
Putting Other Items into Place for Your ELA Curriculum: Grammar and Vocabulary
Now that your students are acclimated, you’ll want to start fitting in grammar and vocabulary. I know some districts have full programs while other districts have nothing. I worked for a district that provided nothing by way of a formal grammar or vocabulary curriculum, so it was something I had to do myself.
Grammar
I made Mondays a grammar day as part of my ELA curriculum. I didn’t use the whole period; it was part of my “do now” and the first 10 minutes of class. I’d do a very quick mini-lesson on a concept with a brief activity. This was part of the “do now”. I made a grammar choice board for kids to choose an activity and it was part of their weekly homework. We did have an IXL program to use, so I would assign something related there and it would be due on Friday. Here is what I used:
Grammar Program – I created this and it’s now for sale in my TPT store. This is how I was able to very quickly show my lesson and have a ready-made activity. I have a free sample if you’d like to try it out to see if it’s right for you. Click here for your free sample.
This program gives you a brief mini-lesson with a printable student activity. The activities are designed to be engaging and not “skill and drill” style.Grab this free grammar lessons and activities sampler to see if my program is right for you!
This choice board gives you 15 activities that can be used and re-used all year.
Vocabulary
As part of my ELA curriculum, I would use Fridays as my vocabulary day. My district did not provide anything by way of vocabulary, which I found a bit frustrating. I created my own lists based on standards. With those lists, I created slideshows and had kids do a follow-up activity using a choice board.
Although I don’t have vocabulary lists in my TPT store, I do have the vocabulary choice board. It can be used with any vocabulary list, and the activities can be used and re-used. I found this a manageable way to fit in vocabulary.
I liked using Fridays to do this because the vocabulary lessons took up less than half the period, and then I would use the remainder of the class to work with small groups/individuals who needed help. I would also meet with students who were falling behind and create action plans with them. It was a great way to end the week and created a solid structure in my ELA curriculum.
Use this choice board all year with any vocabulary list.
The Main Event for Month Two ELA Curriculum: Character Analysis
There are several reasons why I like using a character study early in the year in my ELA curriculum. First, It allows you to begin your reading units with realistic fiction. Realistic fiction is something that kids can easily connect to and usually has very rich characters. The characters have relatable problems, so kids can understand on a deeper level. Second, you will teach about character traits and character change in this unit, and these are skills that will be needed when reading any type of fiction (and sometimes nonfiction and real life). Third, it creates a smooth path to your next writing unit, which can be a literary essay with a focus on character traits.
Note: The work below can be done by you…it is time-consuming. If you are looking for a shortcut and to have a full-month unit at your fingertips, check out my character analysis unit, available in my TPT store. If you want a complete ELA curriculum with all the bells and whistles, try the ELA membership.
This month-long unit has lessons, activities, assessments, and more.
Basic Structure for an ELA Curriculum Map for Character Analysis
Week 1 – Teacher Prep and Getting Started
You’ll need to do some prep before you start the unit:
Decide on assessment: You’ll want to decide what you are doing for your assessment at the beginning of the unit. You can do a test or a project. For this unit, I do a test that uses a short story that they haven’t read before with questions on the skills that I will teach in the unit. I also do a “one-pager” that shows character traits.
Novels: Before starting, you’ll need to decide which novels your kids are reading. I loved using literature circles for all of my reading units. I was lucky enough to have a classroom library that supported this. If you don’t have multiple copies of books available, you can put kids in pairs (reading the same novel would be best, but you could have them read different stories; they would still be able to discuss on discussion days). Or, you could do a whole-class novel. Whatever you do, be sure the book(s) that you pick have relatable issues for kids in your age group and that the main character is strong and relatable as well. Kids can make a reading plan so that they are on the literal same page as they read throughout the unit.
Mentor Text: Using a mentor text with each unit of study is something that I would highly, highly recommend. You’ll want to select a mentor text that is in the same genre and that contains the same main focus of your unit. Therefore, you’ll want a realistic fiction short story, film, poem, or song that has a strong, relatable character and conflict. I am also cognizant to make sure my mentor texts throughout the year reflect diverse characters with different ethnic, socio-economic, ability levels, etc. Some ideas: “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara; the song “Belle” from Beauty and the Beast; and”Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto.
Mini-Lessons: You’ll want to plan out your mini-lessons this week. For a unit on character analysis, I’d recommend plot structure (if you didn’t do this already in your personal narrative unit in month 1), conflict, point of view/perspective, character traits, character identity, pressures on characters, less likable qualities of characters, symbolism, theme.
Posting: You’ll want kids to do some posting as they’re reading, but you don’t want to overwhelm them and/or interrupt the flow of reading. What works well: Post for the skills you teach that week. So, for example, if you are teaching about character traits, they can post for a character trait that week. I have them put a sticky note in a place that shows a character trait, and then kids write it in their reading notebook. The below example is a digital reading notebook entry and is part of my character analysis unit.
This is an example of a digital reading notebook for a character analysis unit that focuses on character traits and setting.
Week 2
Start your mini-lessons: You’ll want to get started with your lessons. You’ll definitely want to consider starting with point of view/perspective, conflict, and character traits. If you need help with mini-lessons, click here to see them in my TPT store.
Discussions: One of the main tenets of literature circles is having kids in discussion groups. You can’t, however, leave the discussion up to the kids. It is always preferable for you to have a planned list of a few talking points that are based on your mini-lessons. For example, if you did a lesson on character traits, a talking point could be: What is one character trait that the main character has and what evidence did you find to prove it? It’s always a good idea to provide something for the kids to connect to on a personal level. For example: What is one character trait of the main character that is similar to you or someone you know? How so? If you’d like a list to get started, grab my free Literature Circles Discussion Questions.
Literacy Centers: Literacy centers that back up the skills you are teaching are truly the way to go. They give kids different modalities to solidify skills and bring them to a level of personal understanding. Here’s an example of a character analysis center (I have a set available in my TPT store):
Here is an example of a character analysis literacy center.
Also, Doodle Notes®are the way to go! Try these Character Analysis Doodle Notes® to help your kids focus and retain information:
Week 3
As you move along in the unit in your ELA curriculum, you’ll want to continue with your mini-lessons, literacy centers, and discussions. Having your plan in place is crucial so that they all come together.
Mini-lesson suggestions: Character identity, pressures on characters, and less likable traits of characters
Week 4
As in week 3, you’ll want to continue with your mini-lessons, literacy centers, and discussions.
Mini-lesson suggestions: Symbolism and theme
End of Unit
Project or Assessment: You’ll want to do the end-of-unit assessment that you planned at the beginning of this part of your ELA curriculum unit.
Celebration: I make it a priority to do some kind of celebration day at the end of the unit. I like setting the room up with desks facing each other and having kids share their one-pagers in small groups. I want them to share with kids who read different books so that they can get a taste for different novels. I usually provide some kind of celebratory drink like sparkling cider or hot chocolate and allow them to bring in a snack.
Save Postings: Kids did some work in this unit with postings and text evidence. They will want to save that for next month’s ELA curriculum map, which is a literary essay based on the novel they read in this unit. Stay tuned for information on that next month!
Let’s Make This Simple: Grab Your Month-Long Curriculum!
Grab this month-long curriculum bundle resource and you’ll get absolutely EVERYTHING you need for the first month of school. This month focuses on writing a personal narrative. There are full, editable lesson plans for each day of the unit. There are also 6 other resources to supplement your teaching, which add a seasonal flair to your teaching and classroom. Everything is well-organized within a table of contents and is fully linked, so it’s easy for you to access all of your materials each day.
Let’s Make This Simple: Grab Your Month-Long Curriculum!
Grab thismonth-long curriculum bundle resource and you’ll get absolutely EVERYTHING you need for the second month of school. This month focuses on reading any novel. There are full, editable lesson plans for each day of the unit. There are also 6 other resources to supplement your teaching, which add a seasonal flair to your teaching and classroom. Everything is well-organized within a table of contents and is fully linked, so it’s easy for you to access all of your materials each day.
Developing an ELA curriculum map is daunting. So if you are interested, I’ve developed a membership for ELA teachers. This has been highly requested. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do because I know how ill-prepared many new teachers are after college. This has nothing to do with the teachers and everything to do with teachers’ colleges and the lack of good onboarding in districts in our country.
It’s a very robust membership. Some of the highlights:
Complete curriculum map with access to 9 full-month units for the year
Access to literacy centers, mini-lessons, a full-year grammar program, choice boards, video lessons, and seasonal activities
Access to a private Facebook group, where I can answer your questions and go live to help you with more complex units
Click here for more information. As of now, we are in the “founding members” stage. You can lock into the price for as long as you keep up your membership. I’d love to have you!
Any questions or comments? I’d love to hear what you do for month two in your ELA curriculum. I can also help if you have specific questions. Drop a comment below!
Wishing you all the best in planning your ELA curriculum map and a fantastic first month of school!