Grade 4
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Language
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Reading: Fluency
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Reading: Informational
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Reading: Literature
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Speaking & Listening
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Writing
CCSS ELA Standard: 4.W.3.b
Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
An Under-Appreciated Planet
Students write from the point of view of the most under-appreciated planet.
Characters’ Faults Can Also Be Strengths
Strength and weakness are often two sides of the same coin. Students will explore how a character’s flaw can be a benefit.
Halloween Problems and Solutions
When we try to solve a problem, sometimes we end up creating new problems. Which lead to new solutions. Which lead to new problems.
St. Patrick and Other Legends
How would real people feel about the legends that have been created about them?
Comparing Characters’ Bedrooms
What item’s in a character’s bedroom would reflect their deepest desires? And what if they toured a similar character’s room?
Holiday Emoji Story ⛷️
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Holiday Emoji Story ☃️
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Holiday Emoji Story 🎅
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Holiday Emoji Story 🚚
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🦁
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🐌
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🚚
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🏟️
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🕰️
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 👁️
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🚗
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🤖
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🐻
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🏰
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Emoji Stories 🛥️
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Bobbing for Apples
What is bobbing for apples like… for an apple?
A Character’s Playlist
What playlist of songs best goes with a character’s change over time?
Story Starter: A Day At School
Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place at school.
Story Starter: Out To Eat
Students pick from 12 random phrases to create a story about an incident in a restaurant.
Story Starter: Amusement Park
Students use 12 random phrases to write a story that takes place in at an amusement park.
Story Starter: A Magical School
Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in at a magical school.
Story Starter: Somewhere In Space
Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in space!
Writing Sample: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Falling)
A passage from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Writing Sample: White Fang (The Wild)
A passage from White Fang to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Writing Sample: The Jungle Book (Bagheera)
A passage from The Jungle Book to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Virtue or Vice?
Aristotle noted that positive traits and negative traits are often the same thing, but just in different amounts. The right amount is a virtue, but too much or too little and it’s a vice.
Writing Sample: Peter Pan
A passage from “Peter Pan” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Writing Sample: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
A passage from “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Writing Sample: Anne of Green Gables
An intriguing passage from Anne of Green Gables to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Do Narrators Have Too Much Power?
Imagine being a character in a story. Are you worried that your story’s narrator may inaccurately describe you? What if they reveal something you wanted to be kept secret? Do narrators have too much power!?
The Personalities of Rocks
What would an igneous rock be like? Would it get along with a sedimentary rock? Could they handle the hot personality of a metamorphic rock?
More Specific than “Smart”
When students are told that they’re “smart”, what does this word actually mean to them? (Psst. It isn’t what we intended.)
Showing A Character’s Trait
We tell students to ‘show, not tell’ — but that advice is useless until they experience the difference. This lesson makes it click.
Literary Technique: Juxtaposition
Put a grumpy character next to a joyful one and they make each other stand out even more. Opposites are powerful!
Better Stories Part 2: Types of Conflict
If your students’ stories are packed with endless ninja fights or arguments between frenemies, it’s time to expose them to a wider range of conflicts.
Better Stories Part 4: Character Archetypes
Are students’ characters a bit flat? Archetypes give them a strong foundation on which to build their own characters as well as a tool to analyze existing stories.