Unit 5 is the first unit of the Framework tier. 11 explicit, sequential lessons that take a student from writing single sentences to building a paragraph where every sentence has a job. 15 minutes a lesson, fully scripted, no prep.
A student finishes Foundations. They can write a complete sentence, expand it, vary it, and combine ideas. Then the task changes to "write a paragraph about sea otters," and the whole thing falls apart.
Five correct sentences sitting next to each other is not a paragraph. Most students have never been told what the difference is. They have been shown finished paragraphs and asked to produce one, which is not the same as being taught how.
Unit 5 teaches it the same way Foundations taught sentences. One skill at a time, explicitly, before the next one is introduced.
STEMS gives students a job for each sentence in a paragraph, so they always know what the next sentence is supposed to do.
Lesson 1 opens with SPARK+SORT for paragraphs, so students gather and sort their ideas before they write a word.
Open it and teach. Everything is written for you.
11 fully scripted lesson plans with SAY/DO/ASK teacher scripts, workbook guides, and differentiation options.
Worked examples plus fresh independent practice for every lesson: strategy card, activity items, and write lines.
Printable manipulatives: sort headers, word cards, and sentence strips you can cut once and store by lesson.
Baseline and final assessments with scoring guides, growth analysis, and instructional planning tools.
Every lesson gives students a worked example first, then fresh practice of their own. The STEMS strategy card sits on the page, so students are never guessing at what a sentence is supposed to do.
Pages are print-ready and sit directly alongside the instructor manual, lesson by lesson.
All 12 units across the three tiers, laid out in the exact teaching sequence, with every lesson and its "I can" statement. It doubles as a skills checklist.
Mark each skill as taught, practicing, or mastered. Record baseline and final scores unit by unit. Print it once and you have a running picture of where a student is and what comes next.
Yours at no extra cost with Unit 5.
Unit 5 assumes a student can already write a complete sentence and has met SPARK+SORT in Unit 4. The unit opens with a baseline assessment that checks exactly that, so you'll know within the first lesson.
The Writing Skills Placement Screener takes about 20 minutes to administer and tells you which unit to start in. If sentence skills aren't solid yet, it will say so.
Still building sentences? Start with the Foundations units.
Framework runs from Unit 5 to Unit 9 and takes a student from a single paragraph to writing several that hold together. Unit 5 is available now. The remaining units are in development.
Want to hear when the next unit is ready? Join the list.
11 lessons. 15 minutes each. Everything scripted.
Buy Unit 5 — $34Questions first? Get in touch.
