The goal of the Listening and Learning Strand is for students to acquire language competence through listening, specifically building a rich vocabulary, and broad knowledge in history and science by being exposed to carefully selected, sequenced, and coherent read-alouds. The 9 units (or domains) provide lessons (including images and texts), as well as instructional objectives, core vocabulary, and assessment materials. The domain topics include: Different Lands, Similar Stories; Fables and Stories; The Human Body; Early World Civilizations; Early American Civilizations; Astronomy; Animals & Habitats; Fairy Tales; and History of the Earth.

Find the rest of the EngageNY ELA resources at https://archive.org/details/engageny-ela-archive .

This article discusses how creating Readers Theater scripts from informational text can improve fluency and build comprehension.

Scout is a little honey bee with a big mission! She needs to find the last flowers of fall to get the sweet nectar that she and her sisters will turn into honey. With winter on the way, honey will provide the food to keep the hive alive until spring. But she’s got some pretty big obstacles coming her way!Lexile Level: AD840LGuided Reading Level: OGenre: Nonfiction

Get the buzz about honey bees in this brilliant, nonfiction title by Gail Gibbons. From jobs within the hive to modern-day beekeeping and all of the millions of flowers in between, these are some busy bees! Without the honey makers, the world would be a much different place. Help young readers learn to love the bees!Lexile Level: 770LGuided Reading Level: OGenre: NonfictionPre-Reading

Given a book, students will be able to identify the details that support its main idea.

This unit is designed to develop foundational skills needed to prepare students for learning and making meaning of a variety of text types. The unit will provide students with opportunities to listen to and explore a variety of everyday print materials such as storybooks, poems, and informational texts to engage in interactive discussions of the messages and meaning of texts. This unit teaches students that they are readers and have a vital role in their classroom community.

Students will continue practicing routines necessary for learning:
• Working productively in the meeting area
• Working with a partner to Think-Pair- Share
• Book handling and learning about the parts of texts
• Selecting texts for independent reading
• Using everything in the classroom for reading support

Comprehensive literacy instruction for all students requires the use of tools and strategies that make the instruction accessible. The Unlocking Literacy for Students with Disabilities Modules will build on what you already know about literacy instruction by demonstrating how strategic tools or strategies can make literacy instruction accessible to students with complex communication needs and physical disabilities. Best practices and research-based strategies for literacy instruction, as well as K-2 English Language Arts (ELA) Common Core State Standards (CCSS), will be included throughout all modules. Universal Strategies & Technology ToolsModule 1 will equip educators and parents with foundational tools and universal strategies to improve literacy instruction for students with complex communication needs and physical disabilities.  The foundational tools and strategies will be applied within subsequent Unlocking Literacy modules.

First and second grade students will study diverse historic characters that have contributed to improve the community they lived in. Students will be guided to reflect on how these characters’ work has changed the world. Students will synthesize learning in writing and create a visual representation of their understanding of the topic. Consequently, they will present it to their classmates to receive and provide feedback to each other. The second part of the unit will incorporate students’ personal perspective about how to improve the community and what they would do to contribute to it. Students will follow same process as in the first part of the unit. They will complete the writing and visual piece to present to their classmates, explain their rationale and receive feedback from peers. During this unit, students will learn how to provide feedback and receive feedback in a respectful way that contributes to the learning environment.