4th Grade ELA

Reading: 

• Read and comprehend a variety of genres, including stories, dramas, poetry, history, and informational texts.  

  • Create a summer reading log using a spiral or composition notebook or even several pieces of notebook paper stapled together.  After reading each day, record the following:  

    • Title, genre, time spent reading/pages read

      • Write a 2-3 sentence summary about your daily reading.

      • Add an illustration of the main event or main topic from your daily reading.

• Generate questions before, during, and after reading.  Refer explicitly to the text when answering these questions.

  • Before reading a chapter book, use the title and picture on the front cover to jot down something you notice (what you see in a picture or your mind) and something you wonder about (questions).

    • After each chapter, use a sticky note to jot down something you noticed and something you wonder about.  Revisit your sticky note after reading the next chapter to see if you can answer your "wonder" questions using evidence from the text.  Repeat this process for each chapter.

• Retell stories, including fables, folktales, and myths.  Determine the moral, lesson, or central message and provide details from the text to support it.

  • Listen to this online story:  "The Grasshopper and the Ant"

    • Complete this activity to determine the central message/moral.

  • Listen to the fables below and determine the central message, lesson, or moral.  Illustrate each story, and write the title and the central message, lesson, or moral. 

    • • The Country Mouse and the City Mouse

      • The Goose with the Golden Eggs

      • The Fox and the Grapes

• Compare and contrast two books.

  • Select two books by the same author or on the same topic.

  • Draw a Venn Diagram, and complete the diagram comparing and contrasting the two books.  You may want to think about and include things such as characters, settings, main events, points of view, genres, and/or themes.

• Use phonics skills, word parts, and context clues to understand unknown words.

  • Read a book and select five words from the text that you found interesting or challenging.  Create a mini-dictionary by writing down each word, its definition, a sentence that includes the word, a synonym for the word, and a small illustration of the word.

  • Watch this Brainpop video to review prefixes and suffixes.  Using a book you have already read, go on a "Prefix and Suffix" word hunt.  Create a list of words from the book that contain prefixes and suffixes.  Beside each word, write a short definition.  

    • example:  untie = not tied

Writing:

• State and support an opinion

  • Select a topic below and write an opinion paper about it.  Make sure to state your opinion and support it with details.  Don't forget your concluding statement.

    • • • Should kids have more or less technology time?

        • Should kids go to school in the summer?

        • Should kids get to pick their teachers?

• Write an informational/explanatory text.

  • Write a sequence paragraph explaining how to make your favorite sandwich. 

  • Read a nonfiction book. Write one sentence that tells the main topic of the text. Write four sentences that tell details to support the main topic.

• Write a story that includes a clear beginning, middle, and end.  Use transition words to help sequence your story.

  • Watch this video to review transition words. 

  • Tell about a time you had to say goodbye to someone.

  • Write about the most exciting or embarrassing event that has ever happened to you.

  • Write a fantasy story about being the President of the United States for a day.