This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 4th grade ELA content.

In this lesson, traditional stories of the Native peoples (i.e., narrative text) introduce students to the study of animals in Alaska (i.e., expository text). Students use the Internet to listen to a Yu'pik tale told by John Active, a Native American living in Alaska. They also use online resources to find facts about animals in Alaska. Students compare and contrast the two types of text in terms of fiction and nonfiction. The narrative stories provide students with a context to begin studying a content area topic; this lesson emphasizes the integration of curriculum.

This informational text explains that while both the Arctic and Antarctica are cold, Antarctica is much colder and drier - a polar desert. The text is written at a grades four through five reading level. This version is a full-color PDF that can be printed, cut and folded to form a book. Each book contains color photographs and illustrations.

This informational text explores adaptations that allow penguins, whales, walruses, seals, and fish to live in the cold water of the Arctic and Southern Oceans. The text is at reading level appropriate for students in fourth through fifth grade. It is a PDF file that contains the text as well as a glossary.

This informational text explains the colorful phenomenon known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) and the southern lights (aurora australis). Students explore the cause of the aurora. The text is written at a grade four through five reading level. This is a PDF containing the informational text and a glossary.

Students learn about what is means to be fit, eating well, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight. Text for this article is appropriate for the upper elementary grade levels. A Spanish version of the article and a read-aloud option are also provided on the site.

Students examine books, selected from the American Library Association Challenged/Banned Books list, and write persuasive pieces expressing their views about what should be done with the books at their school.

Using this website, students can observe photographs of the Grand Canyon today and compare them with photographs of fossils of sea life found in the Grand Canyon. Students are asked to draw conclusions based on their observations of the photographs and a short article with an explanation is provided.

In this short article, students read to learn the difference between quick changes to the Earth's surface such as avalanches, landslides and floods and slow changes to the Earth's surface such as weathering and eroding. Photographs and definitions of key vocabulary are included.

This passage about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. includes three higher order thinking questions.

This is an example reading log I've used before to help students document their reading at home while practicing foundational skills. As an extension activity, students will choose one book as they complete reading and use Flipgrid to do a digital book review of the materials. Download the script guide to assist students as they begin to organize and develop video book reviews.

In this activity, students will organize electricity-related vocabulary words into a web or cluster design.

This online article provides explanation for how to maintain energy and health for an active body. Text for this article is appropriate for the upper elementary levels. A Spanish version of the article and a read-aloud option are also provided on the site.

In this lesson students explore expository texts about natural disasters that focus on cause-and-effect relationships. As a class students record their understandings in a graphic organizer. Students then work in small groups and write paragraphs outlining the cause-and-effect relationships they have found.

This activity is designed to be used with the Feature Story, A Whale of an Ocean, and students in grades 4-5. After reading the text, students work in pairs to match questions and answers posted around the classroom. The PDF document includes questions and answers, directions, and an answer key.

Students will read through a nonfiction text picking out key ideas and details. Students will create their own note taking sheet using boxes and bullets based on teacher modeling. This lesson was developed by Sara Kull as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

This article illustrates the question how and why blowfish can pump themselves up to more than double their volume. It provides details about the scales which have turned into spikes that so that the fish can turn it into ball in situations of danger. The article also mentions that the fish is very poisonous but yet considered a delicacy in Japan with the poisounous parts cut out. The article is written for native speakers age 8 and up.

This scientific article illuminates the adaptation of chameleons to their environment. The text starts with basic facts about the geographic distribution and number of varieties of this species. It then explains how the color pigments in the skin become visible and invisible by cell contraction and how its tongue is adapted to catching prey. The last sections refer to camouflage and the size of the smallest chameleons. The text is child-friendly and written for native speakers 8 years and up.

This scientific article provides information and picture material to discuss the four functions of feathers: to fly, to protect from water, to protect from cold, to attract females. The text is written in child-friendly language for readers 8 years and up.

This scientific article explains the ethymology, the origin, and the retrieval of fossiles in quarries. An audio link provides an impression of children looking for fossiles in a quarry. The article is written for native speakers age 8 and up. The audio is spoken at a natural pace.