Grade 4 ELA
Scope
What determines how people are motivated and once motivated, how they behave?
Unit — Motivation
Essential Questions
What character/personality traits keep people motivated and impact them positively?
Guiding Questions
How do negative traits hold people back and impact their motivation?
What inspires people?
What inspires people to change (internally)?
What inspires people to make change (externally)?
How do we motivate others positively/negatively?
What in common personality/character traits motivate people positively? Negatively?
How do life experiences impact your motivation?
What motivates an author to write?
What external forces motivate people to change?
What internal forces motivate people to change?
Reading
Anchor Texts:
“An Honest Mistake” by Karen Meissner
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
Skills:
Fiction Skills:
Students will:
develop a purpose for reading.
identify the author’s purpose.
determine the gist of a text.
locate and refer to relevant details and evidence when explaining what a text says and make logical inferences.
identify conflicts that occur within the story.
identify character traits.
compare and contrast characters, poems, themes and ideas.
determine a theme or central idea of text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize a text.
describe a character, setting, or event and describe its importance to the overall story.
identify key details in the text to support their analysis.
identify characteristics of a poem.
Writing
Anchor Writing:
TC Narrative Writing Unit
mentor texts for narrative writing:
Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
Shortcut by Donald Crews
When the Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
Rosie Revere by ANdrea Beaty
Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora
Writing about Reading: Text dependent extended responses
Skills:
Students will:
write narratives and use narrative techniques.
respond to a story, book or text, state an opinion, or express a personal experience.
develop a claim.
give reasons to support their ideas.
use text evidence to support their thinking.
Reading: 4R1, 4R2, 4R3, 4R4, 4R5, 4R8, 4R9
Writing: 4W1, 4W3, 4SL1
Unit — Motivation and Change
Essential Questions
What motivates (inspires) people to change?
Guiding Questions
How do our experiences change our perspective?
What inspires people to change (internally)?
What inspires people to make change (externally)?
How do life experiences impact your motivation?
What motivates an author to write?
What external forces motivate people to change?
What internal forces motivate people to change?
Reading
Anchor Texts:
A River of Words by Jen Bryant
Skills:
Continued fiction skills from previous texts
Non-Fiction Skills:
Students will:
develop a purpose for reading.
summarize parts of a text and the whole text.
identify and analyze structural elements of a story, book or text.
identify text features.
identify how text features contribute to the author’s overall purpose.
determine the gist of a text or part of a text.
determine how a part of a text contributes to the overall meaning of the text.
determine the organizational structure of a text and how it contributes to the overall meaning of the text.
Writing
Anchor Writing:
TC Opinion Writing Unit
Writing about Reading: Text-dependent extended responses
Skills:
Students will:
respond to a story, book or text, state an opinion, or express a personal experience.
develop a claim.
give reasons to support their ideas.
use text evidence to support their thinking.
Reading: 4R1, 4R2, 4R3, 4R4, 4R5, 4R6,4R7, 4R8, 4R9
Writing: 4W1, 4W5, 4W7
Speaking and Listening: 4SL1
Unit — Personal Motivation and Change
Essential Questions
What motivates (inspires) me?
Guiding Questions
How do I understand who I am through the lens of inspiration?
How do life experiences impact your motivation?
What external forces motivate people to change?
What internal forces motivate people to change?
Reading
Anchor Texts:
Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
Choose from the featured poets. Who inspires you?
Selected poems by the following poets:
Shel Silverstein, Doug Florian, Jack Prelutsky, Valerie Worth, Walter Dean Meyers, Robert Frost
Skills:
Fiction Skills:
Students will:
develop a purpose for reading.
identify the author’s purpose.
determine the gist of a text.
locate and refer to relevant details and evidence when explaining what a text says and make logical inferences.
identify character traits.
compare and contrast characters, poems, themes and ideas.
determine a theme or central idea of text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize a text.
describe a character, setting, or event and describe its importance to the overall story.
identify key details in the text to support their analysis.
identify the narrator’s point of view and how it influences the overall text.
Writing
Anchor Writing:
TC Information Writing Unit
Writing about Reading: Text-dependent extended responses
Research/Argument: Students will complete an individual essay about the poet who inspires them.
Skills:
Students will:
respond to a story, book or text, state an opinion, or express a personal experience.
develop a claim.
give reasons to support their ideas.
use text evidence to support their thinking.
write informative/explanatory texts to explore a topic and convey ideas.
Reading: 4R1, 4R2, 4R3, 4R4, 4R5, 4R6, 4R7, 4R8, 4R9
Writing: 4W2, 4W4, 4W5, 4W6, 4W7