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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My New President [Pdf]

For Teachers 8th
"My New President" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about an African-American teen who learned about the government by working in Barack Obama's campaign office on Saturdays. It is followed by constructed-response questions...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Painting [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"My Painting" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a Russian immigrant student who is making a painting to show how she feels about her new homeland and the people here. It is followed by constructed-response questions which...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Painting [Pdf]

For Teachers 7th
"My Painting" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a Russian immigrant student who is making a painting to show how she feels about her new homeland and the people here. It is followed by constructed-response questions which...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Sister, the Soldier [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"My Sister, the Soldier" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a boy and his mother who are worried about his sister who was a soldier in Iraq. [Contains some mechanical errors; students could find and correct.] It is followed...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Summer [Pdf]

For Teachers 1st - 4th
"My Summer" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a child who visited his grandmother in Phoenix for the summer. He was surprised at how hot it was there. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Summer [Pdf]

For Teachers 6th - 8th
"My Summer" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a child who visited his grandmother in Phoenix for the summer. He was surprised at how hot it was there. It is followed by open-ended questions which require students to provide...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Our Lemons [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"Our Lemons" is a one page, fictional reading passage about lemons and a family in California who grow them. It is followed by open-ended questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: determining the...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Pigeon Express [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"Pigeon Express" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a man who had carrier pigeons and sent messages to his sister on the other side of town everyday. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Potawatomi Prairie [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"Potawatomi Prairie" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the Potawatomi tribe and how they may have spent the different seasons of the year. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Potawatomi Prairie [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"Potawatomi Prairie" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the Potawatomi tribe and what their life may have been like during the different seasons of the year. It is followed by questions which require students to provide...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Potawatomi Prairie [Pdf]

For Teachers 6th
"Potawatomi Prairie" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the Potawatomi tribe and what their life may have been like during the different seasons of the year. It is followed by questions which require students to provide...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Potawatomi Prairie [Pdf]

For Teachers 7th
"Potawatomi Prairie" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the Potawatomi tribe and what their life may have been like during the different seasons of the year. It is followed by questions which require students to provide...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Potawatomi Prairie [Pdf]

For Teachers 8th
"Potawatomi Prairie" is a one page, historical fiction, reading passage about the Potawatomi tribe and what their life may have been like during the different seasons of the year. It is followed by questions which require students to...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: See Our Progress [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"See Our Progress" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about students planting a prairie garden in a vacant lot close to the school. TV reporters interviewed the students and took pictures of the garden for the news that evening....
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: See Our Progress [Pdf]

For Teachers 8th
"See Our Progress" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about students who turned a vacant lot into a prairie garden and then were interviewed and shown on the television news. It is followed by questions which require students to...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Sir Gobble [Pdf]

For Teachers 6th
"Sir Gobble" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a little girl who was given a young turkey to raise for Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey became her pet and she was upset about him becoming dinner. It is followed by questions...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Soldier's Letter [Pdf]

For Teachers 5th
"Soldier's Letter" is a one page, fictional, letter from a young soldier at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary explaining how hard conditions are there. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Spring Is Coming [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"Spring is Coming" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a family of settlers who had survived the winter, but needed food. Their Native American neighbors showed them onions growing and gave them new hope. It is followed by...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Summer [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"Summer" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a mother and her two children traveling from the city to the country to visit her parents for the summer. They discuss the modern conveniences they have now like cell phones and...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

Depaul University: Center for Urban Education: The Ants and the Grasshopper[pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"The Ants and the Grasshopper" is a one page, fable about grasshoppers who played all summer while the ants worked gathering food for winter. When winter came, the grasshoppers were hungry. It is followed by questions which require...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Astronaut's Diary [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"The Astronaut's Diary" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about astronauts traveling to the space station and the hard work they had to do. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Big Game [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"The Big Game" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a teen who gets his wish to be quarterback for his high school team. His mother is so worried he will get hurt that she can't go to his games. It is followed by questions...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Boy Who Cried "Wolf!" [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd Standards
"The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf!'" is a one page, folktale about a boy who got bored while watching his sheep. He cried, "Wolf" and when the village people came to help him, he laughed. He repeated this a few days later, but then when he really...
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Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Challenge [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"The Challenge" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a boy who is careless and loses or breaks things. When he broke his drum by using knives on it, his mother gave him a challenge to learn responsibility. It is followed by...