In the first learning cycle for literacy, students will focus on characters from they books they are reading. They will learn how to describe characters in a story and will be able to explain how the character's actions influence the sequence of events that occur throughout the story. Students will also study how the illustrations contribute to the words the author uses in the text. Students will begin to determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text (e.g. literal from nonliteral language). Lastly, students should be able to refer back to the text as evidence to questions they may be asked about the story.
In the second learning cycle for literacy, students will continue studying characters from their books. Students will also work with informational text to identify main idea and supporting details while using text features to make meaning of what they read. Towards the end of the cycle, students will begin a research paper on an animal of their choosing.