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

This unit includes a combination of fourth grade writing and social studies standards. It focuses on research and public discourse.

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.

By creating an interactive poster with SpriteLab, students will apply their understanding of sharing personal and private information on the web.

In celebration of Earth Day, students research famous environmentalists and write letters to them asking for their opinions on current issues and turn their letters into a poem.

Padlet is an online post-it-like board that you can use as an easy collaboration platform for students. Padlets can be created by you or students. Once created, student can share ideas and comment on other students as well.

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.            

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.            

Based on the Guided Comprehension Model developed by Maureen McLaughlin and Mary Beth Allen, this lesson introduces students to the comprehension strategy of monitoring.

Higher-level students will read books and articles from the internet about different aspects of other cultures (food, dress, recreations, language, traditions, beliefs, etc.), and as they read, they will take notes on these aspects/cultures that have influenced their own lives. Then they will create a “Me” web on the computer to demonstrate the different aspects they have “adopted” from other cultures. Then they will write an expository piece to bring the information on the poster all together. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

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.

Inclusion is an important concept in that it promotes equity and equality in the classroom. Students learn to work together despite their differences, capitalizing on their strengths and minimizing their deficits. Students within the school will be educated about the importance of inclusion, collaborating to complete activities and advocating for a school-wide inclusion program that involves all students, teachers and administrators.

Students will use Google Slides to publish a writing piece with a partner by collaboratively typing their story, adding images to their slides, and creating links for readers to navigate their published book. This activity may take more than one class period.

Students will use Google Slides to publish a writing piece by typing their story, adding images to their slides, and creating links for readers to navigate their published book. This activity may take more than one class period.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 4th Grade English Language Arts.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 4th Grade English Language Arts. 

Per the ReadWriteThink website: In this collaborative inquiry unit, the real gold is the inquiry skills and content area knowledge that students develop. The class works in small groups, each focusing on one aspect of the same big topic, such as the Gold Rush. After skimming related texts, the class brainstorms people, places and things associated with the topic and develops a list of five or six main subtopics. Students then work in small groups to research one of the subtopics, practicing specific research skills as they work. Finally, students choose an activity, such as an oral report, trivia game, or newspaper, to teach what they have learned to the rest of the class. Group accountability and individual responsibility are built in to this lesson process. While this unit uses the Gold Rush as an example, any event or geographical area could be substituted.

Google Drive is a web based application that incorporates a system of file sharing. Word processing documents, spreadsheets, and slideshow presentations can be shared and edited with users whether they have a Google account or not. Document owners set the level of access for regulating permission for others to view, comment and/ or edit documents that are shared.

The teacher will introduce to students the idea that different places vary, grow and change over time, partly because of human beliefs and actions and partly because of physical characteristics. Then the teacher will work with higher-level students to research several different communities around the world. They will work with the teacher to find contacts for other school children so that all students in the class may Skype to learn more about different communities around the world and how changes have taken place due to human and natural causes. Lastly, the students will create an Excel spreadsheet to list different categories of the environment that have been influenced by human and environmental causes. After Skyping with people in several different communities, higher-level students will create the spreadsheet with their own community and several other communities and the categories so they may easily compare/contrast the physical and human characteristics of each. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

The Stapleless Book is designed to allow users to create with ease an eight-page book simply by folding and cutting. No tape or staples are required. Students and teachers alike can use the Stapleless Book for taking notes while reading, making picture books, collecting facts, or creating vocabulary booklets. Students can choose from seven different layouts for the pages of their books