This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 4th grade ELA content. Within the folder you will access Parent Guide PDFs in FIVE Languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish, and Vietnamese to help on-going communication with caregivers. 

In fourth grade, students learn how to be better researchers and using AR Flashcards, they are taken to a new level with the interactivity of augmented reality. AR Flashcards Lincoln is an iOS app where students can see a full size Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg address, place magical doorways on the ground and walk through them using their device to visit places Lincoln lived.

In this lesson, students will learn about Alexander Graham Bell’s work as a scientist and a humanitarian. After watching a biographical video, they will examine sketches Bell drew of his early telephone and read a kind letter written by Bell to his close friend Helen Keller. The lesson culminates with students creating their own Bell-inspired invention.

In this lesson, students will learn about the humble beginnings, prolific writing, and remarkable accomplishments of Alexander Hamilton. After watching a biographical video, they will examine a memorial portrait of Hamilton and read excerpts from his best-known work, The Federalist Papers. Using their newfound knowledge of Hamilton, they will brainstorm ideas for their own version of a Broadway show based on his life.

In this lesson, students will learn about Amelia Earhart’s groundbreaking career as a female aviator. After viewing a video about her life, students will examine her first pilot’s license and will read a letter she wrote to an aspiring aviator. The lesson concludes with students designing a compass rose to honor Earhart’s legacy.

Franklin’s widespread interests and numerous fields of endeavor make him the American epitome of the Age of Enlightenment. In this lesson, students will reflect on the parallels between our own age and the one in which Franklin lived and worked. After viewing a short video about Franklin, they will read some of Franklin’s adages through an Enlightenment lens and examine a symbol-rich portrait of Franklin. The lesson culminates with students imagining Benjamin Franklin’s present-day social media presence.

Students will learn about Booker T. Washington’s struggle to become educated and his contributions to educating his fellow African Americans. After watching a short video, they will discuss the role that compromise played in Washington’s rise to power and fame. By examining a 1906 image of Washington and reading excerpts from his Atlanta Exposition speech, students will be able to recognize Washington’s contributions to the early Civil Rights movement and to assess his controversial philosophy.

In this lesson, students will learn about the remarkable organizational skills of Cesar Chavez. In addition to watching a biographical video, they will analyze a photograph of Chavez during a protest against grape growers, and they will read a speech in which Chavez reflects on the accomplishments of the farm workers’ movement. They will then evaluate how Chavez’s tactics could be adapted to a current day labor-related issue.

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. 

In this lesson, students will explore Eleanor Roosevelt’s many national and international contributions by watching a short video and engaging in a class discussion. Afterward, they will read a letter written during her time as First Lady expressing her opinion on racial issues and examine a 1957 photograph of Roosevelt during her tenure at the United Nations. The lesson culminates with students designing a mural to summarize the life of this forward-thinking woman who was born into privilege yet spent decades doing public service.

Students will learn about women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton by focusing on her strengths and challenges as an activist and founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association. After watching a short video, examining a photo of Stanton with Susan B. Anthony, and reading excerpts of the Declaration of Sentiments, students will assess the lessons they have learned about organizing people to make change.

Students explore what it means to speak out for your beliefs, or to right a wrong. After watching a short video, they will reflect on Douglass’s courage and the importance of literacy in his activism. They will read excerpts from Douglass’s autobiographies and examine an 1850 etching of Douglass being pulled away from a stage prior to giving a speech. Finally, they will reflect on Douglass’s importance as both a historical figure and as a role model for their own lives.

In this lesson, students will learn about immigration to the United States using primary sources: children's autobiographical stories and videos. In teams, students will practice their conversation and problem solving skills by reading the texts by determining the most important details for the five identified subtopics of the unit: causes, effects, challenges, emotions, and hopes. Students will document their findings in visual representations of each immigrant child. This is a 1 hour per day/4 day lesson. This lesson was developed by Tsianina Tovar 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.

Today students will observe, analyze and interpret immigration data. This is a 1 hour per day/2 day lesson. This lesson was developed by Tsianina Tovar 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 lesson explores the impacts of immigration on children using a complex fiction text, The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. Although this book is not an open resource, this lesson was included because after reading the book, students have an even deeper understanding of the immigration and the effects and challenges that it can have on a person, especially a young child. This is a 1 hour per day/5 day lesson. This lesson was developed by Tsianina Tovar 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 lesson will involve students in the process of identifying and labeling geography on a "blank" classroom World Map. The students will hear about historical and current immigration with pictorial representation and words to support students' understanding. Using these visuals, students have a deeper understanding of immigration around the world and are able to make inferences about cause and effect, feelings, time (era), and location. This is a 1 hour per day/2 day lesson. This lesson was developed by Tsianina Tovar 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 learn about the remarkable career of George Washington Carver, who was born into slavery and went on to become a leading botanist. In addition to watching a short biographical video, students will examine and analyze a photograph of Carver at Tuskegee Institute and read excerpts from his Congressional testimony on behalf of the United Peanut Association of America. The lesson will culminate with students making advertisements about some of Carver’s many peanut-based innovations.

This scientific article describes various aspects of bees. It starts with specialized functions within the bee population. It then elaborates how bees manage to survive the winter and keep the bee hive warm. The next section discusses the tasks of bee keepers. Finally, current threats to bees are mentioned. Three embedded audio files provide additional information to some of the sections. The text is child-friendly and created for children 8 years and up.

This scientific article discusses three different hypothesis regarding the extinction of dinosaurs: 1. a meteor impact, 2. a vulcanic eruption, 3. a slow evolutional change makes space for new species. A weblink opens a page with interview questions directed to a German dinosaur researcher. The text child-friendly and appropriate for children of age 8 and up.

After this lesson students will be able to combine word choice and procedural writing; thus enhancing their overall writing skills.