How each lesson works

Reading & Writing follows the Core Knowledge Language Arts units: each unit reads one book — history, science, poetry or a classic story — and builds writing, grammar, morphology (word parts) and spelling around it.

1. Teacher’s lesson plan — read it first. It has the steps, timing and what to say, straight from the Teacher Guide.
2. Words to know — go over the new words before reading.
3. Read — the chapter’s Reader pages are right in the lesson, with a text version too. A few units read a book that is not openly licensed; the lesson tells you what to read and where to find it.
4. Talk it over — questions to ask, with answers for the teacher hidden under each one.
5. Activity Book pages — print and complete them.
6. Each unit ends with a Pausing Point (review pages and answer keys) and a words quiz.

Plan on one lesson a school day — about 60 to 90 minutes — and split long lessons over two days. This course has 124 lessons in 8 units, which fills a school year at that pace.

The units

• Unit 1: Brown Girl Dreaming — 16 lessons and a quiz
  For parents: This unit reads Brown Girl Dreaming. The book is not included here: borrow it from your library or buy a copy before you start (Core Knowledge lists it on the unit page).
• Unit 2: The Middle Ages — 16 lessons and a quiz
• Unit 3: King Arthur and the Round Table — 16 lessons and a quiz
  For parents: This unit reads King Arthur and the Round Table, a Core Knowledge book that is free to download but not openly licensed, so its pages are not copied here. Each lesson links to it.
• Unit 4: Listen, My Children (poetry) — 11 lessons and a quiz
  For parents: This unit reads Listen, My Children. The book is not included here: borrow it from your library or buy a copy before you start (Core Knowledge lists it on the unit page).
• Unit 5: Geology — 16 lessons and a quiz
• Unit 6: American Revolution — 18 lessons and a quiz
• Unit 7: The United States Constitution — 11 lessons and a quiz
• Unit 8: Treasure Island — 20 lessons and a quiz