FOURTH GRADE LANGUAGE ARTS

Course of Study With Helpful Website Links:

NOTE:  A benchmark or indicator without an asterisk (*) is an Ohio Department of Education requirement.  A benchmark or indicator with an asterisk is an additional West Clermont/National Standard requirement.

Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency

Fluency continues to develop past the primary grades.  Readers increase their rate of oral reading to near conversational pace.  They show in their appropriate use of pauses, pitch, stress and intonation that they are reading in clauses and sentence units to support comprehension.  They gain control over a wider, complex sight vocabulary and over longer syntactic structures, so that they are able to read progressively more demanding texts with greater ease.  Silent reading becomes considerably faster than oral reading and becomes the preferred, more efficient way to process everyday texts.

Acquisition of Vocabulary Standard

Students acquire vocabulary through exposure to language-rich situations, such as reading books and other texts and conversing with adults and peers.  They use context clues, as well as direct explanations provided by others, to gain new words.  They learn to apply word analysis skills to build and extend their own vocabulary.  As students progress through the grades, they become more proficient in applying their knowledge of words (origins, parts, relationships, meanings) to acquire specialized vocabulary that aids comprehension.

Acquisition of Vocabulary Benchmarks Grades 4-7

By the end of the grades 4-7 program, students will be able to:

  1. Use context clues and text structures to determine the meaning of new vocabulary.
  2. Infer word meaning through identification and analysis of analogies and other word relationships.
  3. Apply knowledge of connotation and denotation to learn the meaning of words.
  4. Use knowledge of symbols, acronyms, word origins and derivations to determine the meanings of complex words.
  5. Use knowledge of roots and affixes to determine the meanings of complex words.
  6. Use multiple resources to enhance comprehension of vocabulary.

Fourth Grade Acquisition of Vocabulary Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Contextual Understanding

  1. Determine the meaning of unknown words by using a variety of context clues, including word, sentence and paragraph clues.
  2. Use context clues to determine the meaning of synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homonyms and homographs.

Conceptual Understanding 

  1. Recognize the difference between the meanings of connotation and denotation.
  2. Identify and apply the meaning of the terms synonym, antonym, homophone and homograph.
  3. Identify and understand new uses of words and phrases in text, such as similes and metaphors.

LINK: http://iteslj.org/cw/1/ck-animalsimile.html (simile crossword)

LINK: http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/spoon/similes.php (list of similes)

LINK: http://www.colorwize.com/MetaphorColorwize.html (similes and metaphors)  

Structural Understanding

  1. Identify word origins to determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases.
  2. Identify the meanings of prefixes, suffixes and roots and their various forms to determine the meaning of words.

LINK: http://www.quia.com/jg/66094.html (roots and prefixes game)

LINK: http://www.virtualsalt.com/roots.htm (list of common roots and prefixes)

LINK: http://www.spelling.hemscott.net/prefix1.html (common prefixes)

LINK: http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/reading/suffixes.html (suffixes)  

    8. Identify the meaning of abbreviations.

Tools and Resources

  1. Determine the meanings and pronunciations of unknown words by using dictionaries, glossaries, technology and textual features, such as definitional footnotes or sidebars.
  2. Use known root words to determine the pronunciation and meaning of unfamiliar words. *

      LINK: http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/ (reference sources)  

Reading Process: Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies Standard

Students develop and learn to apply strategies that help them to comprehend and interpret informational texts.  Reading and learning to read are problem solving processes that require strategies for the reader to make sense of written language and remain engaged in texts.  Beginners develop basic concepts about print (e.g., that print holds meaning) and how books work (e.g., text organization).  As strategic readers, students learn to analyze and evaluate texts to demonstrate their understanding of text.  Additionally, students learn to self-monitor their own comprehension by asking and answering questions about the text, self-correcting errors and assessing their own understanding.  They apply these strategies effectively to assigned and self-selected texts read in and out of the classroom.

Reading Process:  Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies Benchmarks Grades 4-7

By the end of the grades 4-7 program, students will be able to:

  1. Determine a purpose for reading and use a range of reading comprehension strategies to better understand text.
  2. Apply effective reading comprehension strategies, including summarizing and making predictions, and comparisons using information in text, between text and across subject areas.
  3. Make meaning through asking and responding to a variety of questions related to text.
  4. Apply self-monitoring strategies to clarify confusion about text and to monitor comprehension.
  5. Achieve a Total Reading score in the fifth stanine or higher on the Stanford Achievement Test or its equivalent. *

Fourth Grade Reading Process: Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Comprehension Strategies

  1. Establish and adjust purposes for reading, including to find out, to understand, to interpret, to enjoy and to solve problems.
  2. Identify and interpret vocabulary words, phrases or expressions critical to the meaning of the text. *
  3. Predict and support predictions using an awareness of new vocabulary, text structures and familiar plot patterns.
  4. Compare and contrast information on a single topic or theme across different text and non-text resources.
  5. Create visual and other sensory images from text during and after reading. *
  6. Use schema to assist comprehension, relating text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world.
  7. Ask questions before and during reading to: *
    1. clarify meaning;
    2. speculate about text yet to be read;
    3. determine an author’s style, intent, content and format.
  8. Make inferences (using context clues and background knowledge) or draw conclusions about what has been read and support those conclusions with textual evidence.
  9. Determine importance in nonfiction text by: *
    1. distinguishing important from unimportant information in order to identify key ideas or themes;
    2. using text features to help distinguish important from unimportant information.
  10. Synthesize what has been read by: *
    1. monitoring overall meaning, important concepts and themes;
    2. retelling what they have read; 
    3. extending the literal meaning of the text to an inferential level;
    4. demonstrating their evolution of thinking as they read through a text.
  11. Summarize important information in texts to demonstrate comprehension.
  12.  Demonstrate comprehension of text by using reading logs, reading journals, and reviews/book reports. *
  13. Answer literal, inferential and evaluative questions to demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate print texts and electronic and visual media.
  14. Listen to at least one chapter read aloud to them daily.
  15. Participate in guided reading groups for direct instruction in comprehension strategies. *
  16. Listen to teacher think-alouds as models of comprehension strategies.*
  17. Participate in literature circles for the purpose of discussing text with peers. *
  18. Read a minimum of 30 self-selected and/or assigned chapter books a year, independently or with assistance. *

Self-Monitoring Strategies

  1. Monitor own comprehension by:
    1. adjusting speed to fit the purpose;
    2. skimming or scanning;
    3. reading on or looking back;
    4. paraphrasing;
    5. reading captions, titles, boldface type.
  2. List questions and search for answers within the text to construct meaning.

Independent Reading  

21.  Use criteria to choose independent reading materials (e.g., personal interest, knowledge of authors and genres or recommendations from others).

22.  Independently read books for various purposes (e.g., for enjoyment, for literary experience, to gain information or to perform a task).

Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text

Students gain knowledge from reading for purposes of learning about a subject, doing a job, making decisions and accomplishing a task.  Students need to apply the reading process to various types of informational texts, including essays, magazines, newspapers, textbooks, instruction manuals, consumer and workplace documents, reference materials, subtitles and visual aids, to make predictions and build text knowledge.  They learn to read diagrams, charts, graphs, maps and displays in text as sources of additional information, analyze it and draw inferences from it.  Strategic readers learn to recognize arguments, bias, stereotyping and propaganda in informational text sources.

Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text Benchmarks for Grades 4-7

By the end of the grades 4-7 program, students will be able to:

  1. Use text features and graphics to organize, analyze and draw inferences from content and to gain additional information.
  2. Recognize the difference between cause and effect and fact and opinion to analyze text.
  3. Explain how main ideas connect to each other in a variety of sources.
  4. Identify arguments and persuasive techniques used in informational text.
  5. Explain the treatment, scope and organization of ideas from different texts to draw conclusions about a topic.
  6. Determine the extent to which a summary accurately reflects the main idea, critical details and underlying meaning of an original text.

Fourth Grade Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

  1. Make inferences about informational text from the title page, table of contents and chapter headings.
  2. Summarize main ideas in informational text, using supporting details as appropriate.
  3. Locate important details about a topic, using different sources of information including books, magazines newspapers and online sources.
  4. Identify examples of cause and effect in informational text.
  5. Draw conclusions from information in maps, charts, graphs and diagrams.
  6. Clarify steps in a set of instructions or procedures for completeness.
  7. Distinguish fact from opinion.
  8. Explain the signs and symbols used in content area text: *
    1. italics
    2. boldface
    3. pronunciation key
    4. key words
    5. map key
    6. metric symbols
    7. Celsius C and Fahrenheit F
    8. Footnotes.
  9. Analyze formatting techniques that make texts reader-friendly. *

Reading Applications: Literary Text Standard

Students enhance their understanding of the human story by reading literary texts that represent a variety of authors, cultures and eras.  They learn to apply the reading process to the various genres of literature, including fables, folk tales, short stories, novels, poetry and drama.  The demonstrate their comprehension by describing and discussing the elements of literature (e.g., setting, character and plot), analyzing the author’s use of language (e.g., word choice and figurative language), comparing and contrasting texts, inferring theme and meaning and responding to text in critical and creative ways.  Strategic readers learn to explain, analyze and critique literary text to achieve deep understanding.

Reading Applications: Literary Text Benchmarks for Grades 4-7

By the end of the K-3 program, students will be able to:

  1. Describe and analyze the elements of character development
  2. Analyze the importance of setting.
  3. Identify the elements of plot and establish a connection between an element and a future event.
  4. Differentiate between the points of view in narrative text.
  5. Demonstrate comprehension by inferring themes, patterns and symbols.
  6. Identify similarities and differences of various literary forms and genres.
  7. Explain how figurative language expresses ideas and conveys mood.

Fourth Grade Reading Applications: Literary Text Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

  1. Describe the thoughts, words and interactions of characters.
  2. Identify the influence of the setting on the selection.
  3. Identify the main incidents of a plot sequence, identifying the major conflict and its resolution.
  4. Identify the speaker and recognize the difference between first- and third-person narration.
  5. Determine the theme and whether it is implied or stated directly.
  6. Identify and explain the defining characteristics of literary forms and genres:
    1. poetry
    2. drama
    3. fables
    4. fantasies
    5. chapter books
    6. fiction
    7. nonfiction

     7.   Explain how an author’s choice of words appeals to the senses and suggests mood.

      8.   Identify figurative language in literary works, including:
    1. idioms
    2. similes
    3. metaphors.

LINK: http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/spoon/similes.php (list of similes)

LINK: http://www.colorwize.com/MetaphorColorwize.html (similes and metaphors)

LINK: http://www.eslcafe.com/idioms/ (idioms)  

Writing Process Standard

Students’ writing develops when they regularly engage in the major phases of the writing process.  The writing process includes the phases of prewriting, drafting, revising and editing and publishing.  They learn to plan their writing for different purposes and audiences.  They learn to apply their writing skills in increasingly sophisticated ways to create and produce compositions that reflect effective word and grammatical choices.  Students develop revision strategies to improve the content, organization and language of their writing.  Students also develop editing skills to improve writing conventions.

Writing Process Benchmarks for Grades 3-4

By the end of the grades 3-4 program, students will be able to:

     A.  Generate ideas and determine a topic suitable for writing.

  1. Determine an audience and purpose for self-selected and assigned writing tasks.
  1. Apply knowledge of graphics or other organizers to clarify ideas of writing assessments.
  2. Spend the necessary amount of time to revisit, rework and refine pieces of writing.
  3. Use revision strategies to improve the coherence of ideas, clarity of sentence structure and effectiveness of word choices.
  4. Use a variety of resources and reference materials to select more effective vocabulary when editing.
  5. Edit to improve sentence fluency, grammar and usage.
  6. Apply tools to judge the quality of writing.
  7. Prepare writing for publication that is legible, follows an appropriate format and uses techniques such as electronic resources and graphics.

LINK: http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/five.html (writing process)  

Fourth Grade Writing Process Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Prewriting

  1. Generate writing ideas through discussions with others and from printed material.
  2. State and develop a clear main idea for writing.
  3. Develop and purpose and audience for writing.
  4. Use organizational strategies (e.g., brainstorming, lists, webs and Venn diagrams) to plan writing.

Drafting, Revising and Editing

  1. Organize writing, beginning with an introduction, body and a resolution of plot, followed by a closing statement or a summary of important ideas and details.
  2. Vary simple, compound and complex sentence structures.
  3. Create paragraphs (marked by indentation) with topic sentences and supporting sentences that are linked by transitional words and phrases.
  4. Vary language and style as appropriate to audience and purpose.
  5. Use available technology to compose text.
  6. Reread and assess writing for clarity, using a variety of methods (e.g., writer’s circle or author’s chair).
  7. Add descriptive words and details and delete extraneous information.
  8. Rearrange words, sentences and paragraphs to clarify meaning.
  9. Create expectations through predictable structures (e.g., headings). *
  10. Use resources and reference materials, including dictionaries, to select more effective vocabulary.
  11. Proofread writing and edit to improve conventions (e.g., grammar, spelling, punctuation and capitalization), and identify and correct fragments and run-ons.

LINK: http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/edit.html  

   16.  Apply tools (e.g., rubrics, checklists, feedback) to judge the quality of   writing.

Publishing

  1. Prepare for publication (e.g., for display or for sharing with others) writing that follows a format appropriate to the purpose and employs such techniques as electronic resources and graphics to enhance the final product.
  2. Keep a writing portfolio and polish at least 10 major writing pieces throughout the year.

Writing Applications Standard

Students need to understand that various types of writing require different language, formatting and special vocabulary.  Writing serves many purposes across the curriculum and takes various forms.  Beginning writers learn about the various purposes of writing; they attempt and use a small range of familiar forms (e.g., letters).  Developing writers are able to select text forms to suit purpose and audience.  They can explain why some text forms are more suited to a purpose than others and begin to use content-specific vocabulary to achieve their communication goals.  Proficient writers control effectively the language and structural features of a large repertoire of text forms.  They deliberately choose vocabulary to enhance text and structure their writing according to audience and purpose.

Writing Applications Benchmarks for Grades 3-4

By the end of the grades 3-4 program, students will be able to:

      A.  Write narrative accounts that develop character, setting and plot.

  1. Write responses to literature that summarize main ideas and significant details and support interpretations with references to the text.
  2. Write formal and informal letters that include important details and follow correct letter format.
  3. Write informational reports that include facts, details and examples that illustrate an important idea.

Fourth Grade Writing Applications Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

  1. Write personal and fictional narratives that include:
    1. definitive beginnings, middles and ends;
    2. sequences of events that develop plot and reveal character;
    3. settings
    4. a point of view.
  2. Write responses to novels, stories and poems that include:
    1. definitive beginnings, middle and ends;
    2. summaries of main ideas and significant details;
    3. simple interpretations of literary works;
    4. judgments supported with specific references to the text and to prior knowledge.
  3. Write a response to literature that compares two works by the same author. *
  4. Write a response to literature that features two works on the same theme. *
  5. Write formal and informal letters that follow letter format (date, proper salutation, body, closing and signature), include important information and demonstrate a sense of closure:
    1. thank you notes
    2. letters of request
    3. friendly letters
    4. letters to the editor
    5. business letter.

LINK: http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/BusinessLetter.html (business letter format)  

    6.  Write informational reports that include:
    1. an introduction that engages the reader’s interest;
    2. develops a controlling idea that conveys a perspective on the subject;
    3. creates an organizing structure;
    4. includes appropriate facts and details;
    5. excludes extraneous details;
    6. provides a sense of closure.
    7. A list of resources used in creating the report.

     7.  Write summaries. *

     8.   Produce informal writings (e.g., messages, journals, notes and poems) for various purposes.

Writing Conventions Standard

Students learn to master writing conventions through exposure to good models and opportunities for practice.  Writing conventions include spelling, punctuation, grammar and other conventions associated with forms of written text.  They learn the purpose of punctuation: to clarify sentence meaning and help readers know how writing might sound aloud.  They develop and extend their understanding of the spelling system, using a range of strategies for spelling words correctly and using newly learned vocabulary in their writing.  They grow more skillful at using the grammatical structures of English to effectively communicate ideas in writing and to express themselves.

Writing Conventions Benchmarks for Grades 3-4

By the end of the grades 3-4 program, students will be able to:

  1. Write legibly in finished drafts.
  2. Spell grade-appropriate words correctly.
  3. Use conventions of punctuation and capitalization in written work.
  4. Use grammatical structures to effectively communicate ideas in writing.

Third Grade Writing Conventions Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Handwriting

  1. Write legibly in cursive, spacing letters, words and sentences appropriately.

Spelling

  1. Spell high-frequency words correctly.

    LINK: http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/Dolch/Dolch.html (Dolch lists)

    LINK: http://cctc2.commnet.edu/grammar/misspelled_words.htm (commonly misspelled words)  

  2. Spell plurals and inflectional endings correctly.
  3. Spell roots, suffixes and prefixes correctly.

Punctuation and Capitalization

  1. Use commas, end marks, apostrophes and quotation marks correctly.   
  2.  LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/marks.htm  
  3. Use correct capitalization.                                                                  
  4. LINK: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/caps.html  
  5. Underline the titles of books and movies. *

Grammar and Usage

  1. Understand subject and predicate. *
  2. Understand and use compound and complex sentences. *
  3. Use various parts of speech such as nouns, pronouns and verbs (e.g., regular and irregular, past, present and future).                                      

    LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/nouns.htm (nouns)

    LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns.htm (pronouns)

    LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm (verbs)

  4. Use conjunctions and interjections.                                                        

    LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/conjunctions.htm (conjunctions)

    LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/interjections.htm (interjections)

  5. Use adverbs.                                                                                                                                                       LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/adverbs.htm (adverbs)  
  6. Use prepositions and prepositional phrases.                                                                                                                                      LINK: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/prepositions.htm (prepositions)  
  7. Use objective and nominative case pronouns.                                         

    LINK: http://grammar.uoregon.edu/case/objcase.html (objective case)

    LINK: http://grammar.uoregon.edu/case/nomcase.html (nominative case)  

  8. Use subjects and verbs that are in agreement.
  9. Use irregular plural nouns.

Research Standard

Students define and investigate self-selected or assigned issues, topics and problems.  They locate, select and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, reference and technological sources.  Students use an appropriate form to communicate findings.

Research Standard Benchmarks for Grades 3-4

By the end of the grades 3-4 program, students will be able to:

  1. Identify a topic of study, construct questions and determine appropriate sources for gathering information.
  2. Select and summarize important information and sort key findings into categories about a topic.
  3. Create a list of sources used for oral, visual, written or multimedia reports.
  4. Communicate findings orally, visually and in writing or through multimedia.

Fourth Grade Research Indicators

By the end of third grade, students will be able to:

  1. Identify a topic and questions for research and develop a plan for gathering information.
  2. Locate sources and collect relevant information from multiple sources (school library catalogs, online databases, electronic resources and Internet-based resources).
  3. Identify important information found in the sources and summarize findings.
  4. Create categories to sort and organize relevant information charts, tables or graphic organizers.
  5. Discuss the meaning of plagiarism.
  6. Create a list of sources used for an informational report.
  7. Use a variety of communication techniques, including oral, visual, written or multimedia reports, to present information gathered.

Communications:  Oral and Visual Standard

Students learn to communicate effectively through exposure to good models and opportunities for practice.  By speaking, listening and providing and interpreting visual images, they learn to apply their communication skills in increasingly sophisticated ways.  Students learn to deliver presentations that effectively control language and deliberately choose vocabulary to clarify points and adjust presentations according to audience and purpose.

Communications: Oral and Visual Benchmarks for Grades 3-4

By the end of the grades 3-4 program, students will be able to:

A.     Demonstrate active listening strategies by asking clarifying questions and responding to questions with appropriate elaboration.

B.     Respond to presentations and media messages by stating the purpose and summarizing the ideas.

C.     Use clear and specific vocabulary to communicate ideas and to establish tone appropriate to the topic, audience and purpose.

D.     Identify examples of facts and opinions and explain their differences.

E.      Organize presentations to provide a beginning, middle and ending and include concrete details.

F.      Clarify information in presentations through the use of important details from a variety of sources, effective organization and a clear focus.

G.     Deliver a variety of presentations, using visual materials as appropriate.

Fourth Grade Communications: Oral and Visual Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Listening and Viewing

1.      Demonstrate active listening strategies (e.g., asking focused questions, responding to cues, making visual contact).

2.      Recall the main idea, including relevant supporting details, and identify the purpose of presentations and visual media.

3.      Distinguish between a speaker’s opinion and verifiable facts.

Speaking Skills and Strategies

4.      Demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language.

5.      Select language appropriate to purpose and audience.

6.      Use clear diction and tone, and adjust volume and tempo to stress important ideas.

7.      Adjust speaking content according to the needs of the audience.

Speaking Applications

8.      Deliver informational presentations (expository, research) that:

a.      present events or ideas in a logical sequence and maintain a clear focus;

b.      demonstrate an understanding of the topic;

c.      include relevant facts, details, examples, quotations, statistics, stories and anecdotes to clarify and explain information;

d.      organize information to include a clear introduction, body and conclusion;

e.      use appropriate visual materials (e.g., diagrams, charts, illustrations) and available technology;

f.        draw from several sources and identify sources used.

9.      Deliver formal and informal descriptive presentations recalling an event or personal experience that:

a.      focus on a topic;

b.      convey relevant information;

c.      employ descriptive details;

d.      have an organizing structure;

e.      contain effective openings and closings.

10.  Participate in group discussions and: *

a.      display appropriate turn-taking behavior;

b.      actively solicit another person’s opinion;

c.      offer opinions forcefully without dominating;

d.      respond appropriately to comments and questions;

e.      give reasons in support of opinions expressed.

 

Links

Behind Every Writer
Cyberguides
Research-it

 

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