| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) define PIE (Persuade, Inform, Entertain); (2) determine the author’s purpose from text features and tone; (3) analyze passages. |
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| Materials | Examples of a brochure (persuade), textbook (inform), and story (entertain). |
| Key vocabulary | author's purpose, persuade, inform, entertain, PIE, tone |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) Show the 3 text examples. Ask: "Why did the author write this? What do they want you to do or feel?" |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. Teach the PIE acronym. 2. Discuss clues for each (Persuade: opinions, "should"; Inform: facts, dates, headings; Entertain: characters, plot, humour). 3. Carousel activity: read 5 short passages around the room and record the author's purpose and the clues that led to that conclusion. |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Review the carousel answers. Discuss texts that might have a dual purpose (e.g., a funny informational video). |
| Assessment | Correct identification of PIE and supporting clues. |
| Teacher notes | Students often confuse Persuade and Inform in non-fiction; highlight opinion vs fact. |
| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) define prepositions as showing relationship (time/place); (2) identify prepositional phrases; (3) expand sentences. |
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| Materials | A box and a ball, preposition list. |
| Key vocabulary | preposition, prepositional phrase, object of the preposition, relationship |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) Use the ball and box. Put the ball ON, UNDER, BEHIND, IN the box. "These position words are prepositions!" |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. Explain that prepositions show location or time (before, during). 2. Define prepositional phrase (starts with preposition, ends with a noun). 3. Analyze sentences on the board, circling the preposition and underlining the phrase. 4. Worksheet: add prepositional phrases to basic sentences ("The dog barked" -> "The dog barked *at the mailman*"). |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Share expanded sentences. Notice how the sentence is more descriptive. |
| Assessment | Accurate identification and creation of prepositional phrases. |
| Teacher notes | A preposition is "anything a squirrel can do to a log". |
| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) define homophones; (2) distinguish between common homophones (their/there/they're, to/too/two); (3) use them correctly in context. |
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| Materials | Homophone pair cards, fill-in-the-blank worksheet. |
| Key vocabulary | homophone, sound alike, different meaning, different spelling |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) Write "I ate eight apples." Discuss the two words that sound the same. |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. Define homophone (homo=same, phone=sound). 2. Deep dive into the "Big 3": there/their/they're and to/too/two. Provide memory tricks (e.g., "their" has an "i" for a person; "there" has "here" inside it). 3. Practice identifying the correct homophone in a set of sentences. 4. Write original sentences for a given pair (e.g., sea/see). |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Quick quiz: hold up a finger (1, 2, or 3) to vote on the correct version of there/their/they're for a spoken sentence. |
| Assessment | Worksheet accuracy on the "Big 3" homophones. |
| Teacher notes | This requires constant reinforcement throughout the year. |
| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) understand the structure of a 5-paragraph essay; (2) write a strong thesis statement; (3) outline 3 body paragraphs. |
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| Materials | Essay outline graphic organizers. |
| Key vocabulary | persuasive essay, thesis statement, argument, outline, introduction |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) "We know how to write a persuasive paragraph. Now we are going to write a whole essay to make our argument stronger!" |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. Discuss the 5-paragraph structure (Intro, 3 Body Paragraphs, Conclusion). 2. Teach the "Thesis Statement" - the main argument of the whole essay. 3. Prompt: "Should junk food be banned in schools?" 4. Model writing a thesis. 5. Students write their thesis and outline the 3 main reasons they will use for their body paragraphs. |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Peer review of thesis statements. Is it clear? Does it state an opinion? |
| Assessment | Completed outline with a clear, arguable thesis statement and 3 distinct reasons. |
| Teacher notes | Do not let them start drafting yet; outline approval is required first. |
| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) identify author’s purpose; (2) locate prepositional phrases; (3) use their/there/they're correctly. |
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| Materials | Review game (e.g., Jeopardy or Kahoot if digital access is available, otherwise whiteboard game). |
| Key vocabulary | review |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) Put students into teams for the review game. |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. Play a team review game covering the week's topics. Categories: Author's Purpose, Find the Phrase, Pick the Homophone, Root Word Meanings. 2. Have students write the answers on whiteboards before revealing, so all teams participate simultaneously. 3. Keep track of points. |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Declare the winning team. Review any consistently missed questions. |
| Assessment | Observation during the game; collect whiteboards to check individual understanding if needed. |
| Teacher notes | Gamification increases engagement for end-of-week reviews. |