Lesson Plan - We Stand With Ukraine

Learning Objective

Students will understand how Ukraine and its people are affected by the war and identify how students in the U.S. are trying to make a difference.

Text Structure

Description, Sequence

Content-Area Connections

Economics; Current Events

Standards Correlations

CCSS: RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RI.4.3, RI.4.4, RI.4.5, RI.4.6, RI.4.7, RI.4.8, RI.4.10, L.4.4, SL.4.1

NCSS: Production, Distribution, and Consumption

TEKS: Social Studies 4.11

1. Preparing to Read

Watch a Video: We Stand With Ukraine

Discuss: How is the war affecting the people of Ukraine? What steps have Alisa and her classmates taken?

Preview Words to Know

Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.

  • civilians 
  • ally


Set a Purpose for Reading

Use the “As You Read” question to have students note how the Pennsylvania kids are helping Ukraine.

2. Close-Reading Questions

1. The article says that “to Alisa, Ukraine isn’t just a country in the news.” What does this mean? It means that Ukraine has special meaning to Alisa. She was born there, still has friends and family there, and feels connected to the country.

(RI.4.1 TEXT EVIDENCE)

2. How does the author support the idea that Mariupol is a city hit hard by the war? The author notes that bombing has turned many buildings in Mariupol into piles of rubble and that people in that city have had no food, water, or electricity for weeks.

(RI.4.8 REASONS AND EVIDENCE)

3. What is the purpose of the sidebar, “The War in Ukraine”? The purpose of the sidebar is to help readers understand the roots of the war as well as some of its effects.

(RI.4.7 TEXT FEATURES)

3. Skill Building

FEATURED SKILL: Retelling Events

Use the skill builder “Past and Present” to have students describe key events from Ukraine’s history and current situation. 

(RI.4.3 EXPLAINING EVENTS)

Text-to-Speech