This book, from the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary, provides gifted and advanced learners challenging activities to master and engage with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts through four mini units. Each mini unit is packed with activities that enrich and extend grade-level ELA content for grade 5. Included texts have messages and characters that are developmentally suitable for students. Through higher order reasoning questions, resulting discussions, and student-created products associated with these texts, gifted and advanced students’ needs are met while still maintaining messages and characters to which students can relate. Students will be exposed to themes such as the hero’s journey, success from failure, journey as a symbol for change, and conflict. Each theme was chosen with advanced fifth-grade students in mind and their emerging need to learn more about themselves, their world, and how to work through adversity to accomplish their goals.

Grade 5

After receiving “Challenging Common Core Language Arts Lessons” by Magdalena Fitzsimmons, I was looking forward to reviewing the advanced lessons for gifted students in grade 5. The concepts and lessons are relevant for today’s learners and are sure to spark engagement. Several of my teachers were intrigued and are currently implementing lessons in their classrooms. Student engagement is extraordinary. I would definitely recommend this book. 

Teachers will welcome the ready-to-use lessons that follow a predictable structure allowing for thorough and easy implementation. Both literature and nonfiction texts are addressed in each unit while the concept of journey ties together selected themes. The lessons are engaging, thought provoking and embrace rigorous learning opportunities in language arts. The book allows for a variety of grouping options, instructional strategies, student choice and product options. Instructional practices such as technology literacy, shared inquiry, literature analysis, research process, independent study, and simulations are featured. A special focus in the learning tasks is collaboration. Included is the use of the Internet as a resource for information, and allows for creative production utilizing Web 2.0 tools, while preparing students to be college and career ready. Students are sure to be challenged and deepen their understanding of the content and world. I highly recommend this book.