Unit 1 of Fourth Grade English Language Arts uses Lynne Kelly’s novel "Song for a Whale" to teach common core standards, covering literature, foundational skills, writing, speaking and listening. Students practice reading for fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. They will learn to look for the theme, describe characters and settings, draw inferences from the text, and compare the point of view of different characters. There is a strong focus on grammar, which includes subject-verb agreement, verb tenses, adjective and adverb usage. There are weekly spelling word lists for learners to practice and a weekly spelling quiz. There are also weekly writing assignments with students practicing opinion writing, letter writing, poetry, dialogue, and using reference materials for research. 

Each week on Monday there will be a video introducing that week’s lesson. Also in the online classroom on Mondays, students will find that week’s assignments, spelling words, worksheets and quiz links. I will be available throughout the week to answer questions in the online classroom, to evaluate students’ work and to provide any additional support learners need. On Wednesdays, I will post that week’s discussion question about the assigned reading. 

INTERACTION: We will keep a classroom journal to respond to our learning together. The classroom journal will be a Google Doc where learners will find writing prompts based on each chapter of the book. Learners are encouraged to go into our classroom journal after reading each chapter and respond to the prompt with a paragraph, and to respond to what their classmates have written. There is also a weekly discussion that learners are encouraged to respond to and to respond to their classmates' answers. 

New sections of each of the fourth grade units are offered in January, February, March, April, May, August, September, and October. For students seeking a letter of completion, one will be provided following each unit of the class as well as a final letter of completion for those students who complete all four units. If your learner is seeking a letter of completion please message me to let me know so we can work together to ensure success. 

This flex class is for learners who just want to practice their English Language Arts Skills, as well as students who want to get a letter of completion. For learners who are just practicing skills, homework is optional but highly recommended. For those learners seeking a letter of completion, there is 3-4 hours of homework to be completed each week. See the rubric below for how the learner will be evaluated. 

Week 1: 
Grammar Concept: Possessive, Relative, Subject, and Object Pronouns
Reading Assignment: Chapters 1-6

Week 2:
Grammar Concept: Action, helping, linking verbs
Reading Assignment: Chapters 7-12

Week 3:
Grammar Concept: Subject-verb agreement
Reading Assignment: Chapters 13-18

Week 4:
Grammar Concept: Verb tenses
Reading Assignment: Chapters 19-24

Week 5:
Grammar Concept: Adjectives
Reading Assignment: Chapter 25-30

Week 6:
Grammar Concept: Adverbs
Reading Assignment: Chapter 31-36

Week 7: 
Grammar Concept: Conjunctions
Reading Assignment: Chapter 37-42

Week 8: 
Grammar Concept: Articles
Reading Assignment: Chapter 43-48, and end notes

--

Weekly Evaluation Rubric 

Reading: 20 Points 
- Participation in classroom journal 5 points
- Comprehension Quiz 5 Points
- Classroom Discussion Question Participation 5 Points
- Vocabulary Quiz 5 Points 

Spelling: 15 Points
- Writing Each Word 3 Times 5 Points 
- Spelling Word Project 5 Points 
- Spelling Quiz 5 Points

Grammar: 15 Points
- Grammar Worksheet 5 Points
- Grammar Project 5 Points
- Grammar Quiz 5 Points

Classroom Journal: 10 Points

Writing Assignment: 40 Points