Grade 4
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Language
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Reading: Foundational Skills
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Reading: Informational
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Reading: Literature
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Speaking & Listening
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Writing
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Writing Foundational Skills
Arizona ELA Standard: 4.RI.9
Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
Holiday Worksheets
Writing prompts, non-fiction analysis, and science topics related to Christmas and Hanukkah.
Who has more power: the Queen Bee or the Hive?
Sometimes power is concentrated in one place. Other times it is spread out.
What’s In My Brain: Paperclip vs Straw
We’re looking at magnetic vs. non-magnetic materials.
Two Animals Switch Biomes
What if a capybara and a kangaroo rat switched homes? Would their adaptations be helpful at all?
What’s In My Brain: Spain vs Germany
One column is an example. The other isn’t. Can your students figure out the hidden rule before the reveal?
A System Similar to a Cell
Which parts of a cell serve a similar job to the parts of a cruise ship, human body, computer, or other system?
What’s In My Brain: Crocodile vs Tree Frog
Is it a reptile or an amphibian?
Discussing An Important Decision from History
How would people with two different perspectives discuss a decision from history?
Chess Variant: Monster Chess
What if you had really weak chess pieces, but you could always move twice?
Plant Adaptation Tournament
Who will win in a tournament of eight plants with Interesting adaptations!?
Not Like The Others: Snakes of the Rainforest
Four rainforest snakes. One doesn’t belong. But which one? That depends on your argument.
Not Like The Others: Rainforests
Which of these rainforests is not like the others?
Analyze Paragraphs: Baseball
Three paragraphs about baseball. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Analyze Paragraphs: Cucumbers
Three paragraphs about cucumbers. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Analyze Paragraphs: Empire State Building
Three paragraphs about the Empire State Building. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Analyze Paragraphs: Tomatoes
Three paragraphs about tomatoes. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Analyze Paragraphs: Wolverines
Three paragraphs about wolverines. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Paradox: Rebuilding A Ship
What if we completely rebuild something slowly? What if we completely rebuild it all at once? Is it still the same thing?
The Pros and Cons of Producers and Consumers
Sure, students might know the difference between a producer and a consumer… but have they considered how they feel about each other? What, in a producer’s opinion, are the pros and cons of a consumer?
Holiday vs Holiday (from a Mascot’s Perspective)
Want something to do during the holiday season that is both fun and involves thinking? Get students writing about what a snowman would think about Halloween or what a ghost would think about Thanksgiving.
Generalization: Systems Are Made up of Other Systems
A clock is a system. So is a rainforest. So is your school. Once you see systems inside systems, you can’t unsee it.
Not Like The Others: Creatures of the Tundra
Four tundra creatures. One doesn’t belong. But which one? That depends on your argument.
Writing Sample: The Wind in the Willows
A passage from The Wind in the Willows to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Writing Sample: Moby Dick
A passage from Moby Dick to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Upgrading Compare and Contrast Writing
Upgrade compare and contrast writing with just a couple of key words.
Improving Presentations 4: The Big Day
How do you mentally (and emotionally) prepare yourself for the big day?
Academic Love Letters
What if Kylo Ren wrote a love letter to Abe Lincoln or the Sahara Desert wrote one to the Moon?
Content Imperatives: Convergence
Add complexity by considering how multiple factors 🔄 Converge within one topic.
Content Imperatives: Parallel
Get students thinking broadly by exploring similarities across multiple topics. Combine with Depth and Complexity for bonus points!
Depth and Complexity: 📚 Across Disciplines
No topic is an island! With the 📚 Across Disciplines prompt, students note connections within and across multiple fields.
Depth and Complexity: 👓 Multiple Perspectives
Every topic looks different depending on who’s looking. This prompt teaches students to see through someone else’s eyes.
Historic Social Media
How would people from history have interacted online? Students will develop a conversation online between people involved in the same event from history.
Educational Valentines
Let’s make valentines with an educational twist!
Characters’ Talents and Multiple Intelligences
How do characters from novels line up with Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences?
Create A Creature
Create a new creature based on the adaptations of existing creatures from the same biome.
Reduce Anxiety: Change The Channel (Tool 2)
Reduce anxiety by learning to “change the channel.”
Reduce Anxiety: Square Breathing (Tool 1)
Reduce anxiety by breathing in a square pattern.
Intellectual Intensity
Do you know someone who becomes a bit overexcited by ideas?
Engineering: Build A Bridge
Using real bridges as their starting point, students will construct bridges out of straws and paperclips.
Add Layers To Direct Instruction
Take direction instruction beyond a monotonous practice of the same skill over and over.