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

Students will be reading historical fiction book at their own level. They will read, summarize, and create three book projects that correlate with some of the 4th grade common core reading standards.

For this activity, 4th and 5th grade AIG learners will read a book of choice featuring characters who are gifted in some way. Students will then use the bibliotheraphy questions to create a presentation showing how they identify and do not identify with the characters and events of the book.

While the resource is targeted to upper elementary school students, it could be modified to use with middle school students.

In this lesson, students will learn about the two concepts at the heart of Sprite Lab: sprites and behaviors. Sprites are characters or objects on the screen that students can move, change, and manipulate. Behaviors are actions that sprites will take continuously until they are stopped.

In this activity, students learn to talk about their abilities using modal verbs. Students work individually and try to guess if their partner can or can't do the activities listed on their worksheet. When they have finished, students ask their partner if they have the ability to do the listed activities. For each statement, students have guessed correctly, they receive one point. Students then come to the front of the class and tell the other students about their partner.

This lesson emphasizes the 4 Cs (critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication). It is designed with a media center setting in mind, but could take place in a regular classroom.

Students will work in pairs, with each partner creating a written plan for a micro:bit coding project. They will then trade plans with their partners and follow their partner’s written plan to create appropriate code. If micro:bits are available, students will then download the code to the physical device(s) to see it run.

Next, students will reflect on the collaborative process and record their reflections, either in written form or as a video or audio recording. These reflections can be shared with either the instructor or the entire group.

In this lesson, students participate in read-alouds and discussions about memories and family. After this exploration, students brainstorm questions to ask family members in order to learn more about important and/or memorable family events. Once students determine a list of questions, they interview family members, taking notes on the events and giving each a positive or negative rating. Using their interview notes, students create a graphic family timeline which includes illustrations or photographs.

Students will identify why and how Feynman started to look at the world through the eyes of a scientist. Students will both learn how memoirs can be as deeply revealing as fiction and how to unpack the meaning of a first person narrative.

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.            

In this lesson, readers become experts on a topic by teaching others what they know, and by using main ideas and supporting details to help explain the text. Students will also make a poster with a picture of their animal in its habitat with facts about the animal on it. This lesson was developed by Tina Deal 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 create a presentation about their Australian animal based on their research. Students will present their research to peers and adults. 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 investigate ways to save animals around the world and create a written opinion piece to share their thoughts and ideas to save the animals. Students will be able to choose a structure that best supports their opinion. They will use correct grammar and spelling to write clear sentences and draft an opinion piece. Optional:  Students will take action by adopting an animal through the World Wildlife Foundation. 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.            

In this lesson, students research agricultural career choices. Note: This lesson was created in accordance with the VIF Global Competence Indicators for Grade 4. For more information about VIF and these indicators, please visit https://www.vifprogram.com/. This lesson was developed by Brenda Todd 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 collaborate, communicate, and synthesize new learning about the importance of agriculture to society. This is the culminating lesson in the unit, that pulls all lessons (1-11) together. Note: This lesson was created in accordance with the VIF Global Competence Indicators for Grade 4. For more information about VIF and these indicators, please visit https://www.vifprogram.com/. This lesson was developed by Brenda Todd 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 begins by following up to the previous lesson in which students were instructed to politely refuse one single-use item. Students will observe how one community in South America makes something wonderful from trash. Students will learn the importance of reducing their trash by actively participating in a trash-sorting activity, and demonstrate the ability to reuse trash by making a "trash to treasure" product. This lesson was developed by Lee Ann Smith 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 interview an older relative, neighbor or friend, asking them to tell about a favorite hat from their past. Students will record notes from the interview, and later summarize them in a paragraph. Students will share these paragraphs with their classmates in an oral presentation. This lesson was developed by Sarah Owen-Palethore 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 take students to the final phase in this unit, the essay writing. Students have been writing routinely throughout the unit and have had authentic exposure to the language of immigration. Students will write a well-developed, 5-6 paragraph essay articulating their immigration story titled, "I am...." Students will be supported with a graphic organizer, sentence frames and a writing checklist as they write. These subtopics were identified in Lesson 3: cause, effect, challenges, emotions, and hopes. Students' writing will be supported by facts and details and provide a concluding section which expresses their opinion about their family's choice to immigrate to the United States. 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.

In this culmination activity, students will plan, practice and present their immigration autobiography. Their presentations will include: background, causes, effects, challenges, emotions and hopes about their personal or family's immigration story. This lesson's presentation can be showcased in a variety of ways from low tech, by giving a class presentation with pictures, to high tech by making a video using a green screen and movie making software. It is suggested and helpful to utilize the Technology Specialist at the school or district level to support the high tech option. 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.

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.            

Students will investigate how an animal has adapted in nature by the way an ecosystem presents itself. Students will investigate the world's ecosystems and identify what attributes are helpful in order to survive. Students will read nonfiction text chosen by their teacher about polar bears. They will understand what attributes the animal needs in order to survive successfully within the ecosystem it resides. During which time students will recognize the importance of having a balanced ecosystem and how protecting the balance is important for sustaining life. Students will also brainstorm ways in which the changing ecosystem may be harmful to the polar bear and how the polar bear could adapt to sustain life. 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.