5th Grade · Reading · RI.5.2, RL.5.2, RI.5.1

Paragraphs & Passages Lesson Plan for 5th Grade

A ready-to-teach paragraphs & passages lesson for 5th Grade, built around inference and theme, point of view, text structure, figurative language, comparing ideas, and supporting answers with evidence. Print the plan, print the practice pages, and you are set.

Approximately 47 minutes

Learning objective

Read a longer nonfiction passage and make inferences supported by evidence
Identify text structure, author's purpose and analogies
Use context to work out the meaning of challenging words

Materials

The Amazon River (Nonfiction Passage)
The Clockmaker's Secret (Fiction Passage)
How Vaccines Work (Nonfiction Passage)
Letters Across the Ocean (Fiction Passage)
The American Revolution Begins (Nonfiction Passage)
The Runaway Kite (Fiction Passage)
Pencils, and whiteboard space for the modeled examples

Lesson steps

1. Build the background (5 min)
Bring the real tool: a ruler, a clock, coins, a tally chart. Ask what paragraphs & passages is used for before what it is called.
2. Read aloud and think aloud (I do) (10 min)
Model paragraphs & passages with the actual object, reading it aloud twice. Deliberately misread it once so students learn that checking is part of the method.
3. Guided practice (we do) (12 min)
Read a second passage together. This time students find the evidence and you record it. Push every answer back to the text with "what words told you that?"
4. Independent practice (you do) (15 min)
Hand out "The Amazon River (Nonfiction Passage)". Students read and answer on their own. Circulate and ask individuals to point to the line in the text that supports their answer.
5. Share and close (5 min)
Two or three students share an answer and the evidence behind it. Restate paragraphs & passages one final time in the students' own words, not yours.

Check for understanding

Ask each student to point to the evidence in the text for one of their answers. A student who has the right answer but cannot find the line has not yet learned paragraphs & passages.

Differentiation

Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild paragraphs & passages with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.

Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own paragraphs & passages problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand paragraphs & passages.

Skills covered in this lesson

Nonfiction passages · Fiction passages

Questions teachers ask about teaching paragraphs & passages

What is on each 5th grade passage sheet?

Every sheet has two pages. The first page holds a passage of about 250 to 280 words in short paragraphs. The second page has five questions, three multiple choice and two short answers. Many questions cite a paragraph number and ask students to infer, compare or explain with evidence.

How are the 5th grade passages different from 4th grade?

They are longer and the questions go deeper. Students infer what the author does not say, explain an analogy or metaphor, name the text structure, or identify the narrator's point of view. The vocabulary questions use harder words, like accumulate, relied on and relentlessly.

What topics do the nonfiction and fiction passages cover?

The 20 nonfiction passages cover science and history, such as vaccines, black holes, the Panama Canal and Sally Ride. The 20 stories include a fantasy, mysteries and realistic fiction, such as The Last Train Home, The Tide Pool Mystery and The Dragon Who Could Not Fly.

Is there an answer key for each passage?

Yes. Every sheet has a one page answer key. Written questions show a sample answer that points back to the passage.