Summary of Skills

Unit 1: North and South America [SS]

Social Studies

• Analyze the different forms of government in South America
• Analyze the impact of interactions between humans and their physical environments in South America
• Assess the relationship between the physical environment and cultural characteristics of selected societies and regions of South America
• Assess the role of political parties in society.
• Categorize economic resources found in the United States and neighboring countries as human, natural, or capital and assess their long-term availability.
• Compare and contrast changes in rural and urban settlement patterns in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and selected countries of Central America.
• Compare and contrast the government of the United States with the governments of Canada, Mexico, and selected countries of Central America.
• Compare and contrast the roles various religious and ethnic groups have played in the development of the United States with those of Central America.
• Describe art, music, and craft forms in the United States and compare them to various art forms in Canada and Mexico.
• Describe art, music, and craft forms in the United States and compare them to various art forms in Central America.
• Describe how physical processes such as erosion, earthquakes, and volcanoes have resulted in physical patterns on the earth's surface and analyze their effects on human activities.
• Describe the ways in which the economies of the United States and its neighbors are interdependent and assess the impact of increasing international economic interdependence.
• Describe the ways the United States and its neighbors specialize in economic activities.
• Evaluate the ways people of South America make decisions about the allocation and use of economic resources.
• Examine the different economic systems such as traditional, command, and market developed in selected countries of North America and assess their effectiveness in meeting basic needs.
• Identify significant patterns in the movement of people, goods, and ideas over time and place in South America
• Identify ways in which people of selected areas in South America have used, altered, and adapted to their environments in order to meet their needs, and evaluate the impact of their actions on the development of cultures and regions.
• Recognize the common characteristics of different cultures in South America

Unit 1: Esperanza Rising [LA]

Language Arts

• Analyze problems and solutions in various contexts and situations.
• Analyze the function of stylistic elements (such as the magic helper, rule of three) in traditional and classical literature from various cultures.
• Analyze the similarities and differences between an original text and its dramatic adaptation.
• Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support understanding.
• Compose a variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using self-selected topics.
• Correctly write dialogue to develop a story.
• Demonstrate understanding in speaking and writing by using troublesome verbs.
• Determine both main and supporting ideas in the speaker's message.
• Discuss and analyze the effects of dialogue on a story.
• Discuss and analyze the effects on texts of such literary devices as figurative language and dialogue.
• Elaborate information and ideas in speaking and writing by using transitions.
• Examine reasons for a character's actions, taking into account the situation and basic motivation of the character.
• Explain and evaluate relationships that are hierarchical.
• Explain and evaluate relationships that are problem-solution.
• Explore the problem-solution process by studying examples (in literature and other text) that present problems coherently, describe the solution clearly, sequence reasons to support the solution, and show awareness of audience.
• Identify and analyze the characteristics of poetry and drama.
• Identify and correctly use transitions to connect ideas.
• Identify and correctly use verbs that are often misused.
• Integrate the main idea and supporting details from multiple sources to expand understanding of texts.
• Interact with the text before, during, and after reading, listening, and viewing by drawing on personal, literary, and cultural understandings and seeking additional information.
• Listen to and interpret a speaker's message.
• Make connections between works, self, and related topics/information.
• Offer persuasive evidence to validate the definition of the problem and the proposed solutions.
• Provide details and transitional expressions that link one paragraph to another in a clear line of thought.
• Read a variety of texts.
• Read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance the study of history and social science.
• Recognize and use proper punctuation and spacing for quotations.
• Recognize dialect and conversational voice and explain how authors use dialect to convey character.
• Respond to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
• Study characteristics of informational works.
• Summarize the main ideas and supporting details in text.
• Theorize on the causes and effects of problems and establish connections between the defined problem and at least one solution.
• Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of drama and provide evidence from text to support understanding.
• Use a range of narrative devices such as dialogue, suspense, movement, gestures, and expressions.
• Use a variety of sentence structures and transitions to link paragraphs.
• Use comprehension skills to listen attentively to others in formal and informal settings.

Unit 2: Cells [S]

Science

• Compare plant and animal cells and understand the internal structures within them that allow them to obtain energy, get rid of wastes, grow, and reproduce in different ways.
• Describe biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem in which organisms interact.
• Diagram the levels of organization within an ecosystem including organism, population, community, and ecosystem.
• Identify the basic characteristic of organisms, including prokaryotic or eukaryotic, unicellular or multicellular, autotrophic or heterotrophic, and mode of reproduction, that further classify them in the currently recognized Kingdoms.
• Know that cells can organize into tissues, tissues into organs, and organs into organ systems.
• Recognize that the broadest taxonomic classification of living organisms is divided into currently recognized Domains.
• Recognize that the presence of a nucleus determines whether a cell is prokaryotic or eukaryotic.
• Understand that all organisms are composed of one or more cells.

Unit 2: The Tree That Time Built [LA]

Language Arts

• Analyze how poets use sound effects (e.g., alliteration and rhyme scheme) to reinforce meaning in poems.
• Analyze the effects of author's craft on the reader/viewer/listener.
• Analyze the use of rhetorical devices for intent and effect.
• Compare and contrast the stated or implied purposes of different authors writing on the same topic.
• Compose a variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using a variety of topics and formats.
• Define how tone or meaning is conveyed in poetry through word choice, figurative language, sentence structure, line length, punctuation, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme.
• Evaluate the author's use of various techniques to influence the reader's perspective.
• Examine how systems and patterns in nature can help us better understand the past.
• Explain how authors create meaning through stylistic elements and figurative language emphasizing the use of personification.
• Explain how authors create meaning through stylistic elements and figurative language.
• Identify the tone, mood, and emotion conveyed in oral communication.
• Interpret details from procedural text to complete a task, solve a problem, or perform procedures.
• Make connections within and between texts by recognizing similarities and differences based on a common lesson, theme, or message.
• Make inferences and draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts.
• Read, analyze, and interpret poetry.
• Recognize dashes and hyphens and understand the difference.
• Recognize how tone or meaning is conveyed in poetry through word choice, figurative language, sentence structure, line length, punctuation, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme.
• Respond to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes.
• Use effective rate, volume, pitch, and tone, and align nonverbal elements to sustain audience.
• Use parentheses correctly in writing.
• Use parentheses, brackets, and ellipses (to indicate omissions and interruptions or incomplete statements).
• Use simple, compound, and compound-complex sentences.
• Write poems using (i) poetic techniques (e.g., alliteration, onomatopoeia); (ii) figurative language (e.g., similes, metaphors); and (iii) graphic elements (e.g., capital letters, line length)

Unit 3: Incas, Aztecs, and Mayas [SS]

Social Studies

• Compare and contrast the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations.
• Describe the artistic and oral traditions and architecture in the three civilizations.
• Describe the Mesoamerican achievements in astronomy and mathematics, including the development of the calendar and the Mesoamerican knowledge of seasonal changes to the civilizations' agricultural systems.
• Describe the relationship between the location of natural resources and economic development, and assess the impact on selected cultures, countries, and regions in South America.
• Describe the role of key groups and evaluate their impact on historical and contemporary societies of South America.
• Examine the basic needs and wants of all human beings and assess the influence of factors such as environment, values, and beliefs in creating different cultural responses.
• Examine the causes of key historical events in selected areas of South America and analyze the short-range and long-range effects on political, economic, and social institutions.
• Explain how and where each empire arose and how the Aztec and Incan empires were defeated by the Spanish.
• Identify historical events such as invasions, conquests, and migrations, and evaluate their relationship to current issues.
• Identify major discoveries, innovations, and inventions, and assess their influence on societies past and present.
• Identify the concepts associated with culture such as language, religion, family, and ethnic identity, and analyze how they both link and separate societies.
• Study the locations, landforms, and climates of Mexico, Central America, and South America and their effects on Mayan, Aztec, and Incan economies, trade, and the development of urban societies.
• Study the roles of people in each society, including class structures, family life, warfare, religious beliefs and practices, and slavery.

Unit 3: Secret of the Andes [LA]

Language Arts

• Analyze how authors create meaning through figurative language.
• Analyze media for transmission of culture.
• Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary context.
• Create complex sentences for clarity and impact.
• Create multiple-paragraph narrative compositions: establish and develop a situation or plot, describe the setting, present an ending.
• Create simple and/or complex sentences for clarity or impact.
• Demonstrate understanding in speaking and writing by using troublesome verbs.
• Edit and revise manuscripts to improve the meaning and focus of writing by adding, deleting, consolidating, clarifying, and rearranging words and sentences.
• Ensure that verbs agree with compound subjects.
• Focus revision on target elements by rearranging text.
• Identify and correctly use prepositional phrases, appositives, and independent and dependent clauses; use transitions and conjunctions to connect ideas.
• Identify and properly use present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect verb tenses.
• Identify elements of fiction and nonfiction and support by referencing the text to determine effectiveness of figurative language.
• Identify the subject and predicate in a sentence.
• In writing, develop a topic with supporting details and precise verbs, nouns, and adjectives to paint a visual image in the mind of the reader.
• Locate and explore the full range of relevant sources addressing a research question and systematically record the gathered information.
• Provide details and transitional expressions that link one paragraph to another in a clear line of thought.
• Synthesize research into a written or an oral presentation.
• Use a variety of sentence types correctly and punctuate them properly.
• Use and understand the function of transitional words.
• Use complete simple and compound sentences with correct subject-verb agreement.
• Use phrases and clauses correctly within sentences.
• Use subject-verb agreement and verb tense that are appropriate for the meaning of the sentence.
• Use transitional words and phrases that demonstrate an understanding of the function of the transition related to the organization of the writing.
• Write narratives that establish a plot, point of view, setting, and conflict.
• Write poems using poetic techniques and figurative language.