4th Grade ELA Units
ELA Units associated with the AASD OEU(s)
Learning Module
- Creator(s):
The purpose of this module is to create a unit of understanding of the 4th Grade OEUs (Overarching, Enduring, and Understanding) in English Language Arts as aligned with the Appleton Area School District. It will pick out key units of study within those OEUs for students to showcase understanding and success in the Common Core State Standards.
4th Grade Common Core State Standards Addressed:
Reading Literature - 4th Grade
RL.4.1 - Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RL.4.2 - Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
RL.4.3 - Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).
RL.4.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).
RL.4.5 - Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.
RL.4.6 - Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.
RL.4.7 - Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.
RL.4.9 - Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.
Reading Informational Text - 4th Grade
RI.4.1 - Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.4.2 - Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
RI.4.5 - Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
RI.4.6 - Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.
RI.4.7 - Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
W.4.1 - Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
W.4.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.4.4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W.4.5 - With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
W.4.9 - Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Traditions!
What are fairy tales? Turn and have a discussion with a classmate on this.
Traditional literature is stories that have been passed down generation to generation, usually told orally, and were told to have the story relatable to everyone.
Watch this video to dig a bit deeper into what makes traditional literature like folktales, fables, and fairy tales just that.
Take the time to watch these three tellings of the story of Cinderella.
Disney's Cinderella
Adelita
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
Comment: Compare and contrast these three stories, noting the similarities between characters, setting, plot, and other parts of the stories along with the differences you noticed. Refer to the traditional literature video to think of the theme that pertains to all these videos.
Update: Write a personal narrative, take a moment of time from your life and write a short narrative. Remember what the authors of these stories did to keep you interested in reading and replicate it for your readers (classmates). Don't forget to check your writing conventions (spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization) as you write your narrative.
Comment on at least 2-3 other classmate's narratives noting similarities or even differences between your narratives.
Extra Resources: Use this resource to help strengthen your writing before posting your update.
This rubric is included to help guide you through the writing process, please take the time to print it off and self-assess your work before giving me your final draft.
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I Can Statement(s) for Students:
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Who Can Change the World?
What is a biography? Turn and talk to a classmate next to you.
To look at who can change the world we need to understand first what a biography is, so watch the following video to get some background knowledge on what a biography is and what pieces make up a biography.
Remember, a biography is a written account of another person's life, whom most often overcame some hardships to become the person they are today.
Take the time to learn about Martin Luther King, Jr. from these two sources.
Comment: You've had the opportunity to learn about Martin Luther King, Jr. from two different sources, what features did the presenter use to help you to learn more about him? What parts of his life were included that were important? Why are biographies written this way?
Update: It's your turn to read and watch some biographies of famous people that are from the past and the present. You will need to find at least two sources of information about your famous person (video/video, book/book, video/book) to learn more about him/her/them. After you've read them both create a Google Slide about your famous person and include important facts from the timeline. Make sure you have a slide included as to why you feel (your opinion) this famous person is important to our world (how they contributed). Upload your slide presentation to Scholar.
Comment on 1-2 other classmate's biography presentations about the presentation and also comment on if their opinion have a strong foundation or add what they could do to strengthen their viewpoint.
Resources:
Book Link Suggestions:
Turtle Diary - Biographies for Kids
Mr. Nussbaum - All Biographies
Garden of Praise - Biographies for Kids
Video Link Suggestions:
Free School - Biographies for Kids
Cartoons on Bullying, Leadership & More:
Black History Month for Students
Or you may look for sources outside the ones presented, make sure they are cited in your slide presentation.
This rubric is included to help guide you through the writing process, please take the time to print it off and self-assess your work before giving me your final draft.
I Can Statement(s) for Students:
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Reference Materials:
Is it a Myth?
Do you know what a myth is? Turn and talk to a classmate next to you.
Watch this video for a refresher.
Myths can fall into multiple categories but most often they are one of these types: Creation Myths, Myths of Gods & Goddesses, Trickster Myths, Myths of Death, and Nature Myths. They often try to explain how something that occurs in nature was created in a supernatural kind of way. Let's look at a further breakdown of the different parts of a myth and how it compares to other types of folktales.
Creation Myths reference
Take a moment and click on the "Creation Myths" link above and watch at least 2-3 videos of creation myths from around the world.
Comment: What did you notice that was the same in your creations myths if anything and what was different? What surprised you the most from what you saw? Why do you think these cultures explained creation this way?
Update: You are going to partner up with another student from our class, and using Google Documents or Google Slides or Scholar you will create your own myth to share with the class. Think about what your myth is going to tell us how something we find in nature has been created. Remember to use your conventions with spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar while editing. Post a shareable link to Scholar for the rest of the class to review your work.
Myths generally explain how some in nature occurred in a supernatural way, some examples are:
You and your partner will take the opportunity to comment on 2-3 other partnership's myths and let the authors know if it had any similarities to your own myth or differences. Take the time to comment on other aspects of the myth also, does it make sense the way they explained it, and would somebody from ancient times believe the story also.
This rubric is included to help guide you through the writing process, please take the time to print it off and self-assess your work before giving me your final draft.
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I Can Statement(s) for Students:
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Reference Materials:
The Power of Information
What is a nonfiction text? Turn and talk to a classmate next to you.
Nonfiction text dive in, let's study what features a nonfiction text will usually have.
Nonfiction text features are there to help us learn more about a topic, to help us dig deeper into our understanding. They are organized in a manner for easy readability and ease of access to information. Use this chart to review what you watched.
Comment: Which nonfiction text features do you find the most useful when reading nonfiction texts, why? Which ones have you found in your nonfiction texts you're reading? Why are they included in informational texts? Do digital nonfiction texts have the same features as nonfiction books? Do they differ at all between digital types and hard copies?
Update: Let's dig into some nonfiction texts online now, and see what we can learn, take this link to DK Find Out! Find a topic of interest in here and create an update on it in Scholar. Write a short opinion piece giving information to the reader about the importance of your topic. Include different forms of media in your update to showcase the information you've learned. Include any other digital informational resources in your update.
Also, comment on the update of 2-3 students in the class commenting on the information presented and their use of text features to showcase their opinion informational piece.
This rubric is included to help guide you through the writing process, please take the time to print it off and self-assess your work before giving me your final draft.
Essential Question(s):
I Can Statement(s) for Students:
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Reference Materials:
History, History, Learn All About It!
What is historical fiction as a book genre? Turn and talk to a classmate next to you.
Watch this video to find out about it.
Historical fiction takes a real-life event, most often from the past but not always, and creates characters that are trying to resolve a conflict based on that event. The characters behave as people would from that time or period of life. It has components of nonfiction and fiction combined but is a fictional text.
Comment: What historical fiction books have you come across in your schooling? Have you read any of your own for personal enjoyment and if so what topics were covered? What is the importance of digging into the historical fiction genre?
Historical Fiction Books - listen to a few of these historical fiction books, see if you can pick out the historical event being represented in the books.
Update: Pick a historical topic of interest to you, to help you get started using this graphic organizer to help organize your thinking.
After filling the graphic organizer out, use it to help you create a short fictional piece based on a historic event making sure to have the characters act as if they are from that time period trying to resolve the conflict you've created. Upload your work to Scholar and if possible include visuals either in the form of pictures or videos to help enhance your writing.
Comment on 1-2 other classmate's historical fiction piece and see if you can determine the historical context being brought up in the narrative. Feel free to include whether the characters resolved the conflict in a time period appropriate matter and also how you would have resolved the issue in today's time and age.
This rubric is included to help guide you through the writing process, please take the time to print it off and self-assess your work before giving me your final draft.
Essential Question(s):
I Can Statement(s) for Students:
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Reference Materials:
CCSS - 4th Grade Reading Literature
That's Amazing!
We're digging into nonfiction texts again if you need a refresher, refer back to the nonfiction text features video in The Power of Info. section.
Here's a graphic organizer to put the features another way for you.
Nonfiction text features are there to help us learn more about a topic, to help us dig deeper into our understanding. They are organized in a manner for easy readability and ease of access to information.
Update: In your update, you will pick a nonfiction topic of your choosing, you will use the following nonfiction graphic organizer to gather your information on the topic. Use more than one source of information for your topic. You will then use the information from the graphic organizer to write a short informative piece on Scholar for your classmates to read through. If you are able to, include different visuals to add to your work.
Comment on 1-2 other classmate's work, in your comment, let the author know which detail you thought was most important in the work they presented and why. If you agree with another commenter's post explain why you agree with him/her.
This rubric is included to help guide you through the writing process, please take the time to print it off and self-assess your work before giving me your final draft.
Essential Question(s):
I Can Statement(s) for Students:
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Reference Materials:
Stand By Me
Do you know what social issues are? Turn and talk to a classmate next to you.
This unit of study is on a topic called social issues, Wikipedia defines social issues as:
A social issue is a problem that influences a considerable number of the individuals within a society. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's social issue is the source of a conflicting opinion on the grounds of what is perceived as a morally just personal life or societal order.
Update: You will form a small group of 2-3 students and choose a social issue topic together, use the following graphic organizer to fill in important information about the topic and your point of view of it. You may split off and write an individual opinion piece or do it as one group, post it as an update here on Scholar.
Comment on 2-3 other student's social issue piece and write how you're in support of their point of view or not and provide feedback as to your response. Remember to be respectful in your responses to other.
This rubric is included to help guide you through the writing process, please take the time to print it off and self-assess your work before giving me your final draft.
Essential Question(s):
I Can Statement(s) for Students:
Follow Up:
Reference Materials:
CCSS - 4th Grade Reading Literature
Here's the major topics/ideas covered in this learning module:
For this last update, you will pick any one of those topics and choose to either write it in a narrative, informatory/explanatory, or opinion piece. You can also create a slide presentation or video to showcase your understanding.
Use one of the following rubrics to help guide your writing process.
After you update is posted look for 1-2 other classmate's updates and first comment on their work offering your own opinion to its strengths and offer advice to strengthen their writing. You will complete a self-evaluation rubric on your piece along with the 1-2 others you've commented on.
Standards:
W.4.1 - Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
W.4.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.4.4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W.4.5 - With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
W.4.9 - Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Follow Up:
All resources used within this module have been linked to the appropriate update if any resources have not been cited please notify the owner of this work.
