Unit 1 · Six weeks
Eureka! Planning Guide
Ingenuity, Inventions, & Character
A typical week
One Reading or Writing lesson a day (30–45 minutes), plus a daily read-aloud (15–20 minutes). Science on Monday and Thursday (45–60 minutes). Social Studies on Friday, after the reading and science lessons it builds on.
| Day | Reading | Writing | Science | Social Studies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Read-aloud (15–20) Lesson 1 | Lesson 1 | ||
| Tuesday | Read-aloud (15–20) Lesson 2 | |||
| Wednesday | Read-aloud (15–20) Lesson 3 | |||
| Thursday | Read-aloud (15–20) | Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | |
| Friday | Read-aloud (15–20) | Lesson 2 | Lesson 1 |
Minutes are approximate. The units don’t include phonics or math, so those blocks, specials, and intervention stay in your schedule as they are. Each week’s plan notes any changes to this pattern.
Prep calendar
The things that need lead time, from the unit’s Letter to Teachers.
Most supplies are ordinary classroom items. The things below need lead time. Each line starts with the lesson that first needs it.
Before Week 1
- Mentor texts: Order or borrow all 17 books now. Keep these 8 through Week 6, because groups use them again in W6 R-L3: What Do You Do With an Idea?, Going Places, Bink & Gollie, The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes, Rosie Revere, Engineer, Frankie Sparks and the Big Sled Challenge, Jabari Tries, and The Dot (plus The Most Magnificent Thing if you add a ninth group).
- Week 1, in hand by Monday: What Do You Do With an Idea? (W1 R-L1), Going Places (W1 R-L2), The Crayon Man (W1 SS-L1)
- Week 2: Bink & Gollie, plus a way to project it (W2 R-L1); Jabari Jumps (W2 W-L1); Saving the Day (W2 SS-L1)
- Week 3: The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes (W3 R-L1); Rosie Revere, Engineer (W3 R-L3); Beautiful Oops! (W3 W-L1); How the Cookie Crumbled (W3 SS-L1)
- Week 4: Frankie Sparks and the Big Sled Challenge, a chapter book, so find extra copies if you can (W4 R-L1); Six Dots (W4 SS-L1)
- Week 5: The Most Magnificent Thing (W5 R-L1); Jabari Tries (W5 R-L3); Alexander Graham Bell Answers the Call (W5 SS-L1)
- Week 6: The Dot (W6 R-L1); Whoosh! (W6 SS-L1)
- W1 Sci-L1 (Monday): Print the Engineering Design Process Chart at poster size (20″ × 30″), usually at a print shop. Laminate it if you can; it stays up all year. Make a copy of the Engineers Slideshow in your Google Drive and add slides about your school community.
- W1 R-L2 and W1 SS-L1: Print and cut the Noun Card Printables and the Problem/Solution Invention Cards. Keep each problem card with its matching solution card so you can hand out matched pairs.
- Unusual supplies: Order these now: teddy bears that sit on their own, 1 per group (W2 Sci-L2, W3 Sci-L2); a hanging weight set, one hanger per group (W2 Sci-L1; see Materials Library), or pennies, small paper cups, and paper clips as a backup; canary cutters, 1 per group, and protective gloves (W2 Sci-L2, W6 Sci-L1); hot glue guns and hot glue finger protectors (W3 Sci-L2, W6 Sci-L1); water droppers or pipettes (W3 Sci-L1); flashlights or lamps for 5–6 light test stations (W5 Sci-L1). Also order small stick-on gems and cardstock (W4 SS-L1).
- W2 Sci-L2 and W6 Sci-L1: Start saving cardboard, including toilet paper and paper towel tubes.
- Ingenuity Expo: Set the date: Friday of Week 6 or later, clear of days off and school events (Ingenuity Expo Plan). It goes on the invitations in Week 4.
- Families: Send home the Letter to Families.
- W1 R-L1 (Monday): Have each student choose an independent reading book.
During Week 1, for Week 2
- W2 Sci-L1 (Monday): Cut testing strips that are all the same size (about 12″ × 4″). Set up a station for each group: two equal stacks of books about 8 inches apart, the same gap at every station, with the hanging weight set (see Materials Library).
- W2 R-L1 (Monday): Set up a way to project Bink & Gollie.
- W2 Sci-L2 (Thursday): Have the teddy bears, sorted cardboard, canary cutters, and gloves ready.
During Week 2, for Week 3
- W3 SS-L1 (Friday): Splatter black or dark paint on white drawing paper, one sheet per student, and let it dry completely.
- W4 Sci-L2 (Week 4 Thursday): Start recruiting interviewees now. Each team interviews its own person: a staff member, or someone in the community, such as a firefighter at the neighboring fire station, a librarian at the public library, or the owner of a local business. Families can suggest community helpers too.
- W3 Sci-L1 (Monday): Collect up to 2 tricky test materials if you can: glossy magazine paper, plastic-coated plates, felt-backed vinyl.
- W3 Sci-L2 (Thursday): Plan a supervised hot glue station, run by you or an assistant, and fill a spray bottle with water.
During Week 3, for Week 4
- W4 Sci-L2 (Thursday): Confirm one interviewee for each team, so no two teams share a person. Decide whether each person comes to the classroom during the lesson or the team walks to them, and confirm a time.
- W4 Sci-L2 (Thursday): If teams walk to their interviewees, line up a parent volunteer for each team, send home permission slips, and plan a longer block or staggered times.
- Ingenuity Expo Invitation: Fill in the date, time, and place so it is ready to go home with W4 Sci-L2.
During Week 4, for Week 5 and the Expo
- W4 Sci-L2 (Thursday): In the mini lesson, give each team its interviewee’s Ingenuity Expo Invitation to deliver at the interview. Send one home with each student at the end of the lesson. Read the Ingenuity Expo Plan the same day.
- Ingenuity Expo: Check your school’s media-release list before anyone takes or shares photos. Confirm that each team’s interviewee can attend.
- W5 Sci-L2 and W6 Sci-L1: Print and cut the Inventor Bucks (one page per team, plus one for making change) and the Supply Store Price Signs, and print a Team Budget & Receipt for each team. Adjust the suggested prices to fit your supplies.
- W5 Sci-L1 (Monday): Gather flashlights or lamps, a white backdrop, the material samples, and 3 identical opaque containers with clear plastic wrap, wax paper, and aluminum foil to cover them.
During Week 5, for Week 6
- W6 Sci-L2 (Wednesday): Print one If We Sold It Card per team (2 per page). For the optional video, Generation Genius is a paid service with a 14-day free trial. Start the trial during Week 5 so it is still active on Wednesday of Week 6.
- Ingenuity Expo: Invite another class and your principal (Ingenuity Expo Plan).
- W6 SS-L1 (Thursday): Assign the Expo planning committees, 3–4 students each.
- W6 R-L2 and W6 R-L3: Print the Commas in a Series Gallery Walk prompts in color. Glue a printed book cover to a sheet of chart paper for each group.
- W6 Sci-L1 (Monday): Restock cardboard, tape, brads, hot glue, finger protectors, canary cutters, and gloves for the build. Set up the Supply Store with a price sign on each material bin.
Books
The read-alouds and mentor texts the lessons use. Buy them or borrow them from your school or public library.
| Book | When | How it’s used |
|---|---|---|
| What Do You Do With an Idea? Kobi Yamada | Weeks 1, 6 | Read aloud before Lesson 1, during read-aloud time on Monday morning · anchors the whole unit's theme. |
| Going Places Peter & Paul Reynolds | Weeks 1, 6 | Read aloud before Lesson 2, during read-aloud time on Tuesday morning · it returns in Lesson 3 with the first reading-strategy reveal. |
| The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons Natascha Biebow | Week 1 | Inventor focus · read aloud during Thursday's read-aloud time, then revisited in the lesson. |
| Bink & Gollie Kate DiCamillo & Alison McGhee | Weeks 2, 6 | Anchor text for Week 2 Reading · reads across three lessons · you need a way to project it in W2 R-L1 |
| Saving the Day: Garrett Morgan's Life-Changing Invention of the Traffic Signal Karyn Parsons | Week 2 | Inventor focus · read in the lesson. |
| Jabari Jumps Gaia Cornwall | Week 2 | Mentor text for personal-narrative writing · used across both Writing lessons. |
| The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes Mark Pett & Gary Rubinstein | Weeks 3, 6 | Anchors the Make Connections strategy. |
| Rosie Revere, Engineer Andrea Beaty | Weeks 3, 6 | Read aloud · ties Reading to the engineering theme. |
| How the Cookie Crumbled Gilbert Ford | Week 3 | Inventor focus · read in the lesson. |
| Beautiful Oops! Barney Saltzberg | Week 3 | Read aloud · launches the writing-from-mistakes idea. |
| Frankie Sparks and the Big Sled Challenge Megan Frazer Blakemore | Weeks 4, 6 | Week 4 chapter-book read-aloud · students follow Frankie across all four lessons. Consider sourcing multiple copies. |
| Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille Jen Bryant | Week 4 | Inventor focus · pairs with the Braille nameplate activity. |
| The Most Magnificent Thing Ashley Spires | Week 5 | Anchors the Asking Questions reading strategy and the Types of Sentences grammar lesson. |
| Jabari Tries Gaia Cornwall | Weeks 5, 6 | Alternate sentence-card source · sequel to Week 2's Jabari Jumps. |
| Alexander Graham Bell Answers the Call Mary Ann Fraser | Week 5 | Inventor focus · read in the lesson. |
| The Dot Peter H. Reynolds | Week 6 | Synthesis read-aloud · launches the What Makes Someone Ingenious? discussion. |
| Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions Chris Barton | Week 6 | Modern-inventor focus · ties Social Studies to the Ingenuity Expo planning. |
Supplies
Most are ordinary classroom items. Each one shows the weeks that use it.
- Anchor / chart paper Weeks 1–6 · Several sheets per week, for ongoing anchor charts and student synthesis posters.
- Colored markers (multi-pack) Weeks 1–6 · Multiple sets · students annotate anchor charts and posters throughout the unit.
- Sticky notes Weeks 1, 4, 6 · Several pads · used for annotating texts and drafts.
- Construction paper Weeks 3, 5 · For mounting final copies (W5 W-L2) and as a test material (W3 Sci-L1, W5 Sci-L1).
- Drawing paper (white) Weeks 2, 3, 5 · 1 sheet per student per lesson · W3 SS-L1 needs paint-splatter prep in advance.
- Glue sticks Week 4 · 1 per student.
- Scissors Weeks 2, 4 · Classroom set.
- Highlighters or colored pencils Week 5 · Optional · for the editing checklist.
- Clipboards Weeks 4, 6 · Classroom set · for community-member interviews and the Gallery Walk.
- Cardboard (various sizes & thicknesses) Weeks 2, 6 · Includes toilet-paper and paper-towel tubes. Quantity scales with class size.
- Canary cutters (industrial cardboard cutters) Weeks 2, 6 · 1 per group · safer than utility knives for student use.
- Brads (paper fasteners) Weeks 2, 6 · Bulk box · for cardboard joints that need to pivot
- Hot glue guns + glue sticks Weeks 3, 6 · Teacher use only in W3; both teacher and student use in W6 with finger protectors.
- Hot-glue finger protectors Weeks 3, 6 · 1 set per student · silicone finger caps.
- Protective gloves (cut-resistant) Weeks 2, 6 · 1 pair per student · used with the canary cutters.
- Tape (masking + clear) and adhesives Weeks 2, 3, 6 · Multiple rolls · also white glue and optional glue dots in W2.
- Hanging weight set (hooked masses with hanger) Week 2 · One hanger per group · hook it at the middle of the test strip and add masses one at a time · students record grams
- Books and masking tape for the testing stations Week 2 · Two equal stacks of books per station, about 8 inches apart · tape each end of the strip to its stack
- Pennies (strength test backup) Week 2 · Only if you have no weight set · hang a small paper cup from an opened paper clip and add pennies one at a time
- Plastic wrap (clear) Weeks 3, 5, 6 · Several rolls · used in the waterproof, light, and cardboard lessons, and as the clear plastic sample in W5 Sci-L1
- Aluminum foil Weeks 2–6 · Standard household roll · appears in nearly every science test.
- Wax paper Weeks 3, 5, 6 · One roll.
- Tissue paper Week 5 · For the translucent material test.
- Fabric scraps Weeks 2–6 · Mix of textures including elastic fabric.
- Pipe cleaners Weeks 3, 4, 6 · Mixed colors · used in waterproof jacket and cardboard challenges.
- Plastic straws Weeks 2, 4, 6 · Box of standard drinking straws.
- Rubber bands Weeks 3, 4, 5 · Mixed sizes.
- String / twine Week 3 · One roll.
- Spray bottle (filled with water) Week 3 · For the waterproof jacket rainstorm test.
- Water droppers / pipettes Week 3 · One per group for the absorbency test.
- Cups for water Week 3 · One per testing station, for the absorbency test.
- Paper plates or trays Week 3 · Set under the test materials to catch drips.
- Paper towels and napkins Week 3 · Test materials for the absorbency test · also for jacket building and cleanup.
- Tricky test materials (optional) Week 3 · Glossy magazine paper, plastic-coated plates, and felt-backed vinyl. They look like they will act one way and often act another.
- Ziplock bags (optional) Week 3 · Another waterproof material for the teddy bear jacket.
- Paper clips or staplers Weeks 2, 3 · For fastening jacket pieces (W3 Sci-L2) · paper clips also hang the cup in the penny backup (W2 Sci-L1).
- Velcro strips (optional) Week 3 · For a jacket tab that holds without taping the bear.
- Flashlights or lamps Week 5 · One per light test station · students shine light through each material
- White backdrop Week 5 · Poster board or a white wall at each light test station.
- Opaque containers (3 identical) Week 5 · For the mystery container demo · cover one with clear plastic wrap, one with wax paper, and the third with aluminum foil
- Paper cups Weeks 1, 2 · Standard drinking cups · for the cup-and-card stacking challenge (W1 Sci-L2) and the penny backup for the strength test (W2 Sci-L1)
- Index cards (10 per team) Week 1 · 3×5 size · paired with paper cups in W1 Sci-L2.
- Teddy bears (1 per group) Weeks 2, 3 · Must sit independently · used in cardboard chair and waterproof jacket challenges.
- Cardstock + stick-on gems Week 4 · Rectangular cardstock nameplates · stick-on gems for the Braille dot impressions.
- Ruler or measuring tape Week 1 · One per team or shared.
- Classroom basics Weeks 1–6 · Black or dark paint for the splatter pages (W3 SS-L1) · baskets or trays under the noun signs (W1 R-L2) · corner signs: Person, Place, Thing, Idea (W1 R-L2); Common Noun and Proper Noun (W2 R-L2); Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Point (W4 R-L3) · green and blue cards or mini whiteboards (W2 R-L2) · a stapler for drafts (W4 W-L1) · a laminator, optional (W1 Sci-L1, W2 R-L1, W6 R-L2) · poster printing for the Engineering Design Process Chart (W1 Sci-L1)
- Independent reading books (student choice) Weeks 1–6 · Student choice · each student needs one by W1 R-L1
Standards & assessment
Eureka! is aligned to 58 2nd-grade standards across Common Core ELA, the Next Generation Science Standards, and the C3 Framework for social studies. Every lesson lists the standards it teaches.
Each unit includes a rubric for Reading, Writing, Science, and Social Studies, built around the unit’s standards, so you can document what each student has mastered. Each rubric has a matching student self-assessment, so students reflect on their own work too.