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 lesson is for Grades 4 - 5 on literacy. At Home Learning Lessons are a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, PBS North Carolina, and the William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation.  Each lesson contains a video instructional lesson, a PDF lesson plan with a transcript, and a PDF file of extension activities.

Write a biography of one of the following people: what situation were they living in, what did they achieve, and what impact has that had on society?

This lesson supports the use of a text set (paired fiction and nonfiction texts on a similar topic) to increase student interest in and understanding of content area material and to develop critical writing skills. The more familiar format of narrative fiction introduces the topic and generates confidence in exploring the less familiar genre of nonfiction. Students then demonstrate what they have learned about the topic and about genre by writing an original piece that blends together narrative and expository elements.

Students compare and contrast information from three sources to determine the reasons that contributed to panda population decline. They draw conclusions from these sources by writing their own paragraphs.

In this lesson, students integrate information from two texts on the same topic.

As a way to support teachers with English Language Arts (ELA) instruction during the pandemic, the NCDPI ELA team created choice boards featuring standards-aligned ELA activities.The intended purpose of these choice boards is to provide a way for students to continue standards-based learning while schools are closed. Each activity can be adapted and modified to be completed with or without the use of digital tools. Many activities can also be repeated with different texts. These standards-based activities are meant to be a low-stress approach to reinforcing and enriching the skills learned during the 2019-2020 school year. The choice boards are to be used flexibly by teachers, parents, and students in order to meet the unique needs of each learner.Exploration activities are provided for a more self-directed or guided approach to independent learning for students. These activities and sites should be used as a way to explore concepts, topics, skills, and social and emotional competencies that interest the learner. 

Read the explanation the ancient Greeks had for earthquakes.  Then read the explantion we use today.  Then compare the two.  

Below are two articles that explain why earthquakes occur. The first article explains this occurance from the perspective of the ancient Greeks and the second is a modern day explanation. After reading both articles, discuss the questions at the end of the story. You shoud also complete the Venn DIagram to compare and contrast the information found in both stories.  

Students will research on the computer. Students will create a poster about their Australian animal. 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.            

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.            

Student will research an animal they are assigned from Australia using an informational rubric. The students will research their animal using the guide given by teachers. They will investigate the information and take notes regarding their animal. They will use the computer to research and learn about their animal in its habitat and ecosystem. Students will identify environmental changes, adaptations, and behaviors that enable animals (including humans) to survive in changing habitats. They will communicate their ideas in writing using a rubric before they construct a Google Slideshow representing their findings. This lesson was developed by Victoria James 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.            

The students will investigate the world's ecosystems and identify what attributes may be helpful or harmful to an ecosystem and its production. Students will read about honeybees and how their nationwide disappearances are endangering the productivity of our crops and stability of life. They will investigate ways to protect them from natural and man-made enemies. The students will recognize the importance of having a balanced ecosystem and how protecting the balance is important for sustaining life. Students will read a nonfiction text about honeybees. They will then discuss and complete a Problem Based Learning Project to implement the plans they will create to help protect such a valuable species. This lesson was developed by Victoria James 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.            

For this lesson, the students will need to work in small collaborative groups to investigate the honeybee’s decrease in population. They will need to discuss and decipher the information presented to them in order to generate opinions on the causes and solutions. Students will apply what they have learned about the honeybees and effects of them being removed from an ecosystem by sharing those perceptions through a presentation of their completed PBL. This lesson was developed by Lindsey Chavis-Turner 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.            

For this lesson, the students will work in small collaborative groups investigating a polar bear. Students will describe the habitat of a polar bear and determine what characteristics it possesses to live within that ecosystem. They will also determine if the ecosystem the animal lives in becomes compromised or changed, will that animal still have a chance of survival. They will discuss and decipher the information in order to generate opinions. Students will present their ideas to the class to create a boxes and bullets graphic organizer. This lesson was developed by Lindsey Chavis-Turner 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.            

Review with students how they have been learning about how all living organisms have basic needs. Ecosystems are made up of interactions of organisms with their living and non-living environment. Organisms and their environments are interconnected and therefore rely on one another for survival. If one part of the environment changes, the interconnectedness will change and cause a chain reaction. Using this information, students will create a Google Slides presentation using the research from their collaboration with ELA class. This lesson was developed by Lindsey Chavis-Turner 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.            

In this lesson, students integrate information from two texts on the same topic.

Students are presented with an opportunity to investigate one of North Carolina's great mysteries, the Lost Colony of Roanoke. They are tasked with an application process to research various theories. Throughout the study/unit, students gain an understanding of a key event in their state's history. They are able to share and teach others about this mysterious event. They develop the understanding of looking for key details and clues to make connections with various theories, relating to the work of a CSI detective/forensic scientist.

In this lesson,students work to transform narrative-style letters into poetic format and they are forced to think carefully about where to end each line. Students begin by discussing letters they have written and working with an online tool as an introduction to letter poems. As a group, students look at a letter form of “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams and add line breaks to turn it into a poem. They then compare the poem they created with the original, discussing why the poet made the line break choices he did. Next, students
work in small groups to rewrite another letter as a poem and then compare the various groups’ results with the original poem. Students then use a Venn diagram to compare letters and poems. Finally, they compose their own letter poems.