Course Overview:
Covering 4th Grade ELAR objectives, this course builds upon third-grade skills and vocabulary development. The focus is reading comprehension of main ideas, details, and themes. Students also keep a reading journal and compare different genre elements. Students write narratives and various essays, including a persuasive essay and an informative research paper. They also evaluate graphic elements, media, and speeches. In the area of cooperative learning, students practice good listening and discussion skills. Additionally, they use technology to make a presentation and self-evaluate their performance.
Required Reading:
4th Grade Unit 3: In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord. ISBN 9780064401753
4th Grade Unit 4: Dear Austin: Letters from the Underground Railroad by Elvira Woodruff. ISBN 9780375803567
Required Materials:
- Reading journal
- Paper
- Pencil
- Crayons
- Fiction book of choice
- Non fiction book of choice
- Rocks, twigs and leaves
Students will need a copy of the following books:
- Unit 3 - In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
- Unit 4 - Dear Austin
Syllabus:
Unit 1 - Grammar Time!
Lessons:
- Introduction to Fiction
- Digging Deeper
- Read and Research
- Nouns and Verbs
- Getting to Know You
- More About Nouns
- Clues
- Comparisons
- Looking it Up
Unit 2 - Drama in Literature
Lessons:
- Literature Genres
- The Writing Process
- Story Theme
- Modifiers
- Drama
- Writing
- Parts of Speech
- Transitions and Roots
- Procedural Text
Unit 3 - The Root of Language
Lessons:
- Subjects, Predicates, and Sentences
- Sentences and Subject-Verb Agreement
- Writing and Root Words
- Idioms and Capitalization
- Homophones and Subject-Verb Agreement
- Context Clues and Dictionary Skills
- Personal Narrative Essay
- Dialogue and Idioms
- Editing and Publishing
Unit 4 - Language Styles
Lessons:
- Antonyms and Synonyms
- Introduction to Poetry
- Homophones
- Poetic Language
- Structure and Theme of Poetry
- Greek and Latin Roots
- Identifying Poetry Forms
- Composing Poetry
- Limericks
Unit 5 - Writing Connections
Lessons:
- Character Development
- Plot Development
- IAM Poem
- Compare and Contrast
- Literary Connections
- Compare and Contrast Essay
- Strengthening Sentences
- Editing Exercise
- Homophones, Synonyms, and Antonyms
Unit 6 - Literary Nonfiction
Lessons:
- Elements of Literary Nonfiction
- Reading Literary Nonfiction
- Writing an IAM Poem
- Reading Historical Fiction
- Responding to the Literary Text
- Creating Sentences and Sentence Fluency
- Author’s Purpose
- Idioms
- Write an Imaginative Story
Unit 7 - Writing for a Purpose
Lessons:
- Informational Text
- Graphic Representations of Text
- Informational Text
- Author’s Purpose
- Root Words
- Writing for a Purpose
- Context Clues in Informational Text
- Context Clues—More Practice
- Interjections
Unit 8 - Analyzing Text
Lessons:
- Features of Expository Texts
- Expository Text and Its Features
- Reading Informational Text
- Facts or Opinions?
- Analyzing Informational Text
- Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
- Text Structures
- Analyzing Text Structures
- Homophones and Irregular Verbs
Unit 9 - The Research Process
Lessons:
- The Research Process
- Bibliography and Citations, the Outline
- Parts of a Sentence
- Writing a Research Report
- Revising Your Report
- Spelling and Outside Reading
- Editing Your Report
- Preparing Your Final Report
- Homophones and Parts of Speech
Unit 10 - Persuasive Speech
Lessons:
- Introduction to Media
- Persuasive Texts
- Writing a Persuasive Letter
- Design Techniques in Media
- Listening to a Speech
- Written Conventions in Digital Media
- Participating in Discussions
- Creating a PowerPoint® Presentation
- Delivering a Slide Show Presentation
