English Language Arts
EL Education
The EL Curriculum
EL Education is the name of the curriculum program that Wake County adopted in 2017 for Language Arts in grades 3 through 8. This curriculum is designed so that each school year contains 4 modules, 1 per quarter, and each module has 3 units: one that provides background information, one that digs deep into the text, and one that emphasizes writing. Each unit will have two main assessments: a mid-unit assessment and an end-of-unit assessment. The end of each module also contains a performance task. Below, you will find a letter that was released to parents upon WCPSS's adoption of the EL curriculum.
Modules
Module 1: "Myths: Not Just Long Ago"
Focus:
Reading closely and writing to learn
Description:
Students will study the purposes and elements of mythology. Students will read Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief with a focus on the archetypal hero's journey and close reading of the many mythical allusions. They will also read complex informational texts about the elements of mythology. As a whole class, students will closely read several complex Greek myths, and then work in small groups to build expertise on an additional myth. Students then develop their narrative writing skills as they create their own hero's journey narrative.
Central Text:
The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
Performance Task:
My Hero's Journey Narrative scaffolded narrative
(ELA Standards RL.6.3, W.6.3, W.6.4, W.6.5, W.6.6, W.6.11c, L.6.2, and L.6.3)
Module 2B*: "Voices of Adversity"
Focus:
Working with evidence (drama)
Description:
Students will explore the idea of adversity of people across time and place, and through multiple modes of writing. Students will begin this module with a research-based unit on the Middle Ages. They will read closely about one demographic group in order to write an informational essay based on their research. Students will then move on to read literature: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, in order to identify the various adversities faced by this cast of characters and to examine the author's craft. To conclude the unit students will move into the modern voices of adversity by reading concrete poems in the book Technically, It's Not My Fault and write their own text about adversities faced by sixth-graders.
Central Text:
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, Laura Amy Schlitz
Technically, It's Not My Fault: Concrete Poems, John Grandits
Performance Task:
Narrative: Giving Voice to Adversity scaffolded narrative and spoken performance
(ELA Standards W.6.3, SL.6.4, SL.6.6, L.6.1, L.6.3, L.6.6)
Module 3B*: "Sustaining the Oceans"
Focus:
Understanding perspectives
Description:
Students will study how an author develops point of view and how an author's perspective, based on his or her geographic location, is evident in his or her writing. Students will consider point of view as they learn about ocean conservation and the impact of human activities on life in the oceans. They will read Mark Kurlansky's World Without Fish and analyze how point of view and perspective are conveyed, and trace the idea of fish depletion throughout the text. Students will also read Flush, a high-interest novel, and excerpts of an interview with its author Carl Hiaasen to determine how his geographic location in Florida shaped his perspective, which is evident in his novel. To conclude the module, students will write an informative consumer guide, designed to be put in a grocery store, about buying fish.
Central Text:
World Without Fish, Mark Kurlansky
Flush, Carl Hiaasen
Performance Task:
Informational Consumer Guide: "What Do People Need to Know about Over-fishing & Fish Depletion?" scaffolded essay
[ELA Standards W.6.2, W.6.6 (optional), W.6.7, L.6.2, L.6.3]
Module 4:
"Insecticides: Costs vs. Benefits"
Focus:
Reading for research and writing an argument
Description:
Students will consider the balance between human needs and environmental consequences as they read the novel Frightful's Mountain and complex informational texts about the benefits and drawbacks of the use of DDT. They will learn how to trace and evaluate an argument in written texts and videos on this topic, and conduct both supported and independent research. Through structured discussions and decision-making protocols, students will form their own argument about the use of DDT.
Central Text:
Frightful's Mountain, Jean Craighead George