4th Grade ELA Course

We continue to explore topics in Science and Social Studies to build our knowledge and practice comprehension strategies. 

Question 1: How do authors show us different ways of looking at the same event or character?  
 

Resources for Literacy Learning

English Language Arts Standards - 4th Grade (PDF)

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We begin the year by developing routines for independent learning and learning the importance of collaborative conversations. We will talk about building upon other’s ideas and about disagreeing respectfully. Students will review syllable and spelling patterns previously introduced.  

Encounters with nature are recurring themes in literature, characters may reveal themselves through their response to nature. We build knowledge of the natural world based on observation and inquiry. Asking strong questions, identifying key details, and summarizing are some skills that bolster comprehension.  

In literature, characters’ actions and reactions influence the plot as well as other characters; in real-life actions and reactions have effects on real people and events. We focus on how authors use descriptive words and phrases to add depth and interest stories, sharing our opinion of their writing. 

We learn about the role of government, not just through nonfiction but through fiction and fictional scenarios. We recognize the services provided such as education, transportation and protection. We use strategies for comprehending specific text structures, including use of text features like charts and photos. 

Authors use point of view to influence the reader’s feelings about characters and events in stories; every story is narrated with a unique perspective on real or fictional events. As we read, we draw inferences about characters events, comparing the treatment of similar themes in stories for new perspectives that can influence our writing. 

Automation continues to change how we live and work, driving the development of new technologies. We discuss the positive and negative impacts that new technology can have on society, using descriptions, reasons and providing evidence from text. We use evidence from text as we share our opinions in writing. 

Many traditional tales involve a quest or difficult journey to accomplish a goal. Characters respond to challenges in different ways, and these actions reveal a character’s unique traits. We have opportunities to explore characters in stories and make comparisons across various texts, thinking about common themes. We practice writing to a text-based prompt through the various writing genres: narrative, informative and opinion.  

In the 1860s, railroads connected communities across North America, allowing settlement and expansion of what has become the United States. This expansion had catastrophic effects on Native American peoples and communities. We use the chronological structure of some text to explain events or ideas, integrating information for discussion and writing. We use an understanding of the time period to share our perspective on history. 

Natural disasters, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, are sudden and violent events that can threaten people’s lives and change Earth’s surface. These events are often the subject of firsthand accounts. We compare first and secondhand accounts of the same event, recognizing the perspective and drawing inferences from details and examples. We begin learning about Greek and Latin root words used in English to support greater vocabulary development. 

Communities are shaped largely by the resources available to them. Economic hardship and the struggle to improve workers’ lives are common topics in literature. We integrate information from two texts to understand and speak knowledgeably on a topic, sharing our learning through a multimedia presentation. We will also look at the structural elements of poems, investigating figurative language and determining the theme.  

Scientific discoveries build upon one another and can directly impact the way humans live. Energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents. Through an exploration of nonfiction and narrative text, we learn about pioneers of electricity and the changes that their discoveries made to daily life. We will also continue our study of Latin and Greek roots to unlock word meanings; reflecting on our writing through the year.