4th Grade English Language Arts: Unit 2 of 4 of Fourth Grade ELA (Flex)

Unit 2 of Fourth Grade English Language Arts uses world mythology, folklore, and fables 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 prepositions, types of sentences, and identifying subjects, predicates, and direct objects. There are weekly spelling word lists for learners to practice and a 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 story we read. Learners are encouraged to go into our classroom journal after reading each story and respond to the prompt with a paragraph, and to respond to what their classmates have written. There is also a weekly discussion question in the Outschool classroom where learners are encouraged to write their own answer and to respond to 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: Prepositions
Reading Assignment: Traditional stories from Africa including "Anansi Tries to Steal All the Wisdom in the World," "Why Brother Alligator Has a Rough Back," "Python and Lizard," "The Colossal Pumpkin," and "Lituolone Fights the Monster."

Week 2:
Grammar Concept: Types of sentences 
Reading Assignment: Traditional stories from Asia including "The Goat and The Rock," "The Swallow and the Pumpkinseed," "The Old Man Who Became a Fish," "Manaul and the Seven Thousand Islands," and "The Adventures of Lam-Ang's Rooster."

Week 3:
Grammar Concept: Subject
Reading Assignment: Traditional stories from Oceania including ""Tiddalik, The Thirsty Frog," "Rainbow Bird," "The Creation of the World," "Yhi Freed the Insects and Animals," and "The Flood."

Week 4:
Grammar Concept: Predicate
Reading Assignment: Traditional stories from Europe including "King Midas and his Donkey Ears," "The Happy Man's Shirt," "The Changeling Child," "Wise Young Girl," and "The Wisdom Bird."

Week 5:
Grammar Concept: Direct object 
Reading Assignment: Traditional stories from North America including "Clever Mollie," "Jack and the Fish," "The Girl and the Ghost," "Manstin, The Rabbit," "The First Flute," and "The World on a Turtle's Back." 

Week 6:
Grammar Concept: Sentence fragments and run-on sentences
Reading Assignment: Traditional stories from South America including "The First Lesson," "Legend of the Pink River Dolphin," "Armadillo's Song," "The Ayar Brothers," and "The Quirquincho and the Fox."

Week 7: 
Grammar Concept: Combining sentences
Reading Assignment: Traditional stories from Central America including "How the King of Birds was Chosen," "The Legend of the Hummingbird," "Opossum's Gift of Fire," "Quetzalcoatl and the Cacao Plant," and "The Creation of the Moon." 

Week 8: 
Grammar Concept: Compound sentences 
Reading Assignment: Traditional stories from the Arctic including “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” "The Caribou Mother," "Snowy Owl and Raven,"  "The Bird Wife," and "Skeleton Woman."

--

Weekly Evaluation Rubric 

Reading: 20 Points 
- 3-Minute Reading Aloud Recording 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