Fourth Grade Language Arts

Semester A

Language Arts 4’s curriculum integrates reading, writing, speaking, listening, and the study of vocabulary and grammar in a way that engages today’s learners and supports them in building a broad and diverse set of literacy skills. Students study classic literature as well as more contemporary forms, including media and multimedia products. Writing assignments in Semester A focus on narrative and persuasive modes and emphasize the use of reasoning and details to support opinions. Each writing assignment spans several lessons and guides students through a writing process that begins with prewriting and ends by emphasizing one or more aspects of conventions of standard written English. Students also learn how to participate in collaborative discussion and peer review sessions. In each lesson, engaging and relevant models and step-by-step instruction guide students toward mastery and appreciation of 21st Century communication in all its forms and functions.

Semester B

Like Semester A, Semester B provides an integrated curriculum. Whereas Semester A focuses on skills needed to read fiction and other literary prose, Semester B teaches specific skills for reading poetry, drama, and informational text. In the second semester of the course, students learn how informational text differs from literary text and how different forms of information text differ from each other. Writing assignments emphasize expository writing and guide students through research projects. Near the end of the semester, students learn how to present information orally and using multimedia.

Semester A

Module 1: Introduction
Module 2: Processes
Module 3: Inferences
Module 4: Plot
Module 5: Conflict
Module 6: Setting
Module 7: Characters
Module 8: Characterization
Module 9: Point of View
Module 10: Narrators
Module 11: Theme
Module 12: Finding Themes
Module 13: Comparing Themes
Module 14: Forms of Fiction
Module 15: Forms of Media
Module 16: Analyzing Multimedia
Module 17: Mythology
Module 18: Comparing Myths

Semester A Syllabus

Semester B

Module 19: Elements of Poetry
Module 20: Poetry in Practice
Module 21: Drama
Module 22: Elements of Drama
Module 23: Reading for Information
Module 24: Main Ideas
Module 25: Technical Reading
Module 26: Text Structures
Module 27: Informational Reports
Module 28: Multimedia Information
Module 29: Integrating Information
Module 30: Writing Information
Module 31: Planning a Research Project
Module 32: Gathering Information
Module 33: Analyzing Information
Module 34: Delivering Information
Module 35: Discussing Information
Module 36: Presenting Information

Semester B Syllabus

Semester A
A Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

Semester B
Wringer by Jerry Spinelli
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Course Materials List

Materials listed should be acquired by the student prior to beginning work in the course.