Open any week to view its slide deck, teacher script, or tracking sheet. Each week studies one author's craft move across the five thinking levels: Notice, Choose, Show, Own, and Defend.
Each deck is a PDF with one slide per page. Adobe Acrobat Reader: View > Full Screen Mode (Ctrl+L on Windows, Cmd+L on Mac). Mac Preview: View > Slideshow (Shift+Cmd+F). Chrome or Edge: open the PDF, set it to fit the page, then go full screen (F11 on Windows, Ctrl+Cmd+F on Mac). Advance with the arrow keys, Page Down, or a clicker; press Esc to exit. On a SMART Board or Promethean panel, open the PDF in Acrobat Reader full screen on the board's computer. On an iPad, open it in Files or Books and swipe.
Week 2: A Warning at the End3 files
from “The Ants and the Grasshopper” (Aesop, 1867) · Prepare Cluster · Module 2
Week 3: A Message the Reader Must Figure Out3 files
from “The Mice in Council” (Aesop, 1867) · Prepare Cluster · Module 3
Week 4: Painting a Picture with Words3 files
from “Rain” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Prepare Cluster · Module 4
Week 5: A Character Who Makes Excuses3 files
from “The Fox and the Grapes” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 1 · Module 1
Week 6: A Character Who Speaks the Lesson3 files
from “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 1 · Module 2
Week 7: Making the Invisible Visible3 files
from “Who Has Seen the Wind?” by Christina Rossetti (1872) · Cluster 1 · Module 3
Week 8: A Daydream That Teaches the Lesson3 files
from “The Milk-Woman and Her Pail” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 1 · Module 4
Week 9: Turning the Ordinary into Something Extraordinary3 files
from “The Land of Counterpane” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 2 · Module 1
Week 10: A Talking Object Teaches the Lesson3 files
from “The Travelers and the Plane-Tree” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 2 · Module 2
Week 11: A List That Builds a Message3 files
from “Hurt No Living Thing” by Christina Rossetti (1872) · Cluster 2 · Module 3
Week 12: An Action That Proves the Message3 files
from “The Boy and the Filberts” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 2 · Module 4
Week 13: Talking to Something as if It Were a Person3 files
from “The Wind” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 3 · Module 1
Week 14: A Result That Surprises3 files
from “The Fisherman Piping” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 3 · Module 2
Week 15: Gratitude in a Poem3 files
from “The Cow” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 3 · Module 3
Week 16: Clever Words That Change the Story3 files
from “The Bat and the Weasels” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 3 · Module 4
Week 17: Questions That Create Wonder3 files
from “Is the Moon Tired?” by Christina Rossetti (1872) · Cluster 4 · Module 1
Week 18: A Contradiction That Reveals the Truth3 files
from “The Man and the Satyr” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 4 · Module 2
Week 19: Speed and Movement in Poetry3 files
from “From a Railway Carriage” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 4 · Module 3
Week 20: A Wise Friend Who Stops a Mistake3 files
from “The Two Frogs” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 4 · Module 4
Week 21: Metaphor: Calling One Thing Another3 files
from “My Bed is a Boat” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 5 · Module 1
Week 22: An Answer That Settles the Argument3 files
from “The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 5 · Module 2
Week 23: Repetition That Creates a Feeling3 files
from “Fly Away, Fly Away Over the Sea” by Christina Rossetti (1872) · Cluster 5 · Module 3
Week 24: A Character Who Learns to Accept3 files
from “The Peacock and Juno” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 5 · Module 4
Week 25: Two Views of the Same Thing3 files
from “The Moon” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 6 · Module 1
Week 26: Contrast Between Two Seasons3 files
from “Bed in Summer” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 6 · Module 2
Week 27: When Actions Say the Opposite of Words3 files
from “The Fox and the Woodcutter” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 6 · Module 3
Week 28: Climbing Higher to See Further3 files
from “Foreign Lands” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 6 · Module 4
Week 29: Matching Trick for Trick3 files
from “The Fox and the Crane” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 7 · Module 1
Week 30: Parallel Stanzas Comparing Two Creatures3 files
from “Hopping Frog” by Christina Rossetti (1872) · Cluster 7 · Module 2
Week 31: Patience That Builds to a Lesson3 files
from “The Lark and Her Young Ones” (Aesop, 1867, excerpt) · Cluster 7 · Module 3
Week 32: A Tiny Poem with a Big Idea3 files
from “Happy Thought” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 7 · Module 4
Week 33: A Short Fable, A Big Question3 files
from “The Astronomer” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 8 · Module 1
Week 34: A Poem That Invites You In3 files
from “A Good Play” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 8 · Module 2
Week 35: Dialogue That Carries the Whole Story3 files
from “The Seller of Images” (Aesop, 1867) · Cluster 8 · Module 3
Week 36: Review: Three Craft Moves, One New Text3 files
from “The Whole Duty of Children” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885) · Cluster 8 · Module 4
Real published informational and argumentative texts from before 1929, all in the public domain: historical letters, speeches, and nature and science essays. Each has a slide deck, a teacher script, and a tracking sheet in the same five thinking levels, so students study the craft of informational and argumentative writing they compose in the clusters.
Mentor Text 1: A Personal Story as Evidence3 files
Argumentative · from “The Whistle” by Benjamin Franklin (1779) · public domain
Mentor Text 2: Answering a Request Politely3 files
Argumentative · from “Letter to Grace Bedell” by Abraham Lincoln (1860) · public domain
Mentor Text 3: Explaining Steps in Order3 files
Informational · from “The Spider’s Web” by Jean-Henri Fabre (1917) · public domain
Mentor Text 4: A Surprising Fact Hooks the Reader3 files
Informational · from “Paper” by Jean-Henri Fabre (1917) · public domain