Unit 5: STEM in Stories Belonging in Books™ Bundle

Belonging in Books Unit 5 Bundle: STEM in Stories

If you’re looking for a low-prep, high-impact way to bring purposeful comprehension instruction into your PreK–1 classroom or homeschool, this resource is for you! Part of the Belonging in Books curriculum, this unit supports deep thinking, joyful reading, and inclusive discussion using 6 powerful anchor texts:

How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
The Doctor With an Eye for Eyes by Julia Finley Mosca
The Floating Field by Scott Riley
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
The World is not A Rectangle by Jeanette Winter

This bundle of books focuses on the theme of innovation, problem-solving, and perseverance through STEM, helping students explore how scientists, engineers, inventors, and creative thinkers use their ideas to make a difference. Throughout this unit, students will focus on understanding how problems and solutions drive a story, identifying the sequence of events, and explaining how characters learn and grow through challenges. As students engage with both fiction and nonfiction texts, they will practice key comprehension skills such as sequencing, summarizing, inferring, identifying main idea and key details, and analyzing cause and effect. By comparing stories about real and fictional innovators, students will build critical thinking skills while developing confidence in their own ability to ask questions, solve problems, and create new ideas.

Each Belonging in Books unit is built around a high-quality read-aloud and carefully designed to:
✔️ Teach comprehension through rich, age-appropriate conversations
✔️ Build vocabulary and language skills in context
✔️ Explore story elements and text structures
✔️ Practice key comprehension strategies
✔️ Support synthesis using a paired companion text
✔️ Center student voices and diverse perspectives

What’s Included:
5-day lesson arc (20–30 minutes/day):

• Day 1: Connect & First Read
• Day 2: Vocabulary Exploration
• Day 3: Story Elements or Text Structure
• Day 4: Comprehension Skill
• Day 5: Paired Text & Synthesis Discussion

+Semi-Scripted daily lesson plans
+Thoughtful discussion questions
+Printable graphic organizers
+Visual Vocabulary and child-friendly definitions
+No Prep student practice sheets
+Anchor chart templates
+CCSS Alignment
+Student “I Can” statements
+Lesson plans for a culminating project or hands-on response
+Companion text suggestion and extension ideas

Each book in Belonging in Books can be a stand alone week of learning, or you can dive into an entire thematic unit of quality mentor texts that connect through themes, character experiences, comprehension strategies, and text structures.

Want the entire curriculum? Grab the Complete Curriculum Bundle!