Grade 4 Unit 1 ELA Theme: Growing Up Essential Question: What experiences can cause a person to change?
Literature Selection / Genre / Technology/
Media /
Comprehension Strategies and Skills /
Vocabulary Strategies /
Text Features/
Literary Elements/
Study Skills / Writing
Write Source / ICP: OI
Overview / 1st Six Weeks
OI: Texas, A State of Mind
Start Smart
WK THEME
Welcome to 4th Grade / Introduction to Genre
Informational Text/Expository /
McGraw Hill
TX Treasures TE
p. 131 I-J
MEDIA LITERACY Video techniques
Analyze an advertisement
What techniques are used to persuade?
Accessing Web pages
TERMS
Images , graphics, pacing, URL, link, search engine
tab key
IC Lesson Let’s Get Physical --tech tools: Google Earth – TX Landforms and Water Bodies (file access in Planner) ScribbleMaps
IC Lesson The Tejas Museum
Tejas tribal research- SEE Planner for sites. Related book listed: The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush (dePaolo) / Strategy
Reading Informational Text
Skill
Levels of Thinking / Using a Dictionary
Using a Thesaurus / Nonfiction Text Structure
Note Taking / Write Source
Writing/Grammar-Mechanics:
*The Writing Process
*Descriptive Writing (Using the Writing Process, Model One Writer's Process)
*Future Story:
You are all grown up.
Write a story about your life.
How will education help you? / Guiding Questions
*How do the physical characteristics of the land affect the lives of people of the past and present?
*How do people affect the balance and stability of the land?
*How do natural elements affect the balance and stability of the Earth?
/ MIND MISSIONS
Teambuilding, brainstorming
Comanche Carrier
LaSalle’s Losses
SOCIAL STUDIES
primary & secondary sources
TX landforms and climate
Regions of TX (geographic)
Blackland Prairie
American Indians (Texas & North America)
European Explorers of TX
& N. America (1500s)
LaSalle, Pineda , Moscoso,
Coronado, Cabeza de Vaca ,
de Soto, Onate
Geography and Map Skills:
Latitude/ Longitude,
grid systems, symbols,
scales, legends, compass
rose
Create a Region (DIY project)
SCIENCE
Investigation & Reasoning
Earth and Space / erosion,
ice /weathering / deposition
Soil(properties), seeds (data collection) water retention
Holifield Outdoor Learning Center (food web, animal
adaptation, soil, weathering, erosion, deposition)
My Diary from Here to There
by
Amada Irma Perez
Illustr. by
Maya C. Gonzalez
WK THEME
Making a Move / Main Selection
Literary Text/ Fiction
Paired Selection
Informational Text/ Expository / Strategy
Analyze Story Structure
Skill
Make Inferences
Spiral Review
Self-Select Strategy Use / Dictionary: Word Origins / Time Lines / Write Source
Writing/Grammar-Mechanics:
*The Writing Process
*Descriptive Writing: (Understanding the Texas Traits, Evaluating Your Writing, Peer Responding)
Skills: Review Skills based on Students' Needs
The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein
by Johanna Hurwitz
Illustr. by
Brian Biggs
WK THEME
Changing / Main Selection
Literary Text/ Fiction
Paired Selection
Informational Text/ Expository / Strategy
Analyze Story Structure
Skill
Character, Setting, Plot
Spiral Review
Make Inferences /
Thesaurus: Synonyms / Maps / Write Source Writing/Grammar-Mechanics:
*The Writing Process
*Descriptive Writing: Writing Paragraphs, Descriptive Paragraph (Model, Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing)
Skills: Adjectives, Prepositional Phrases
Literature Selection /
Genre /
Technology/
Media / Comprehension Strategies and Skills /
Vocabulary Strategies / Text Features/
Literary Elements/
Study Skills /
Writing
Write Source / ICP: OI
Guiding Questions /
1st Six Weeks
OI: Texas, A State of Mind
Kid Reporters at Work
Time For Kids
Informational
WK THEME
Kids at Work
/ Main Selection
Informational Text/ Expository /
IC Lesson Explorers of TX
Websites, related books, Nystrom Jr Geographer Atlas
IC Lesson New Region of Texas
DIY (MyPisd.net)
Students will create a new ‘region’ with knowledge gained from OI studies – should include economic opportunity, competition, desire for expansion / Strategy
Analyze Text Structure
Skill
Compare and Contrast
Spiral Review
Nonfiction Text Structure and Features / Thesaurus: Antonyms / Using the Library /
Write Source
Writing/Grammar:
*The Writing Process
*Descriptive Writing: Descriptive Essay (Model, Prewriting, Drafting)
Skills: Review Skills Based on Student's Needs / *How do the physical characteristics of the land affect the lives of people of the past and present?
*How do people affect the balance and stability of the land?
*How do natural elements affect the balance and stability of the Earth? / Social Studies – I Wonder
*Research an American Indian tribe in another part of the country or world, and compare/contrast the findings with a Texas region/ American Indian tribe.
*Research to find out what customs present day Texans observe that were derived from customs of the earlier American Indians living in Texas.
*Research to find out which rivers, cities, towns, streets etc. in Texas are named from the language of Americans Indians. What do these names mean?
*Research to learn more about the Aztec people and the beautiful city of Tenochtitlan and its amazing pyramids and buildings.
*Research the lives of Explorers that came to Texas in the 1500s.
Science
*Plan and conduct an investigation about the ability of soil to retain water and support plant life.
*Research the effects of weathering, erosion, and deposition in the Davis Mountains in Texas or in another state and create a foldable, PowerPoint presentation, or design a poster to share information with your class.
*Design and create a model of a way to stop erosion or create a video about weathering, erosion, and deposition of rocks or the physical properties of soil.
*Plan and conduct an investig. about anything of your choice that relates to your study of landforms and plant life of Texas.
The Astronaut and the Onion
by Ann Cameron
Illlustr. by Anna Rich
WK THEME
Mentors/Consejeros / Main Selection
Literary Text/ Fiction
Paired Selection
Informational Text/ Expository / Strategy
Summarize
Skill
Character
Spiral Review
Compare and Contrast / Using a Dictionary / Recipes /
Write Source Writing/Grammar-Mechanics:
*The Writing Process
*Descriptive Writing: Descriptive Essay (Revising)
Skills: Specific Nouns, Sentence Variety
Because of Winn-Dixie
by
Kate diCamillo
WK THEME
Friends of All Ages / Amigos de Todos las Edades-Review / Main Selection
Literary Text/ Fiction
Paired Selection
Literary Text/ Poetry / Strategy
Summarize
Skill
Sequence
Spiral Review
Character, Setting, Plot / Dictionary: Connotation and Denotation / Stanza, Line Break, Simile / Write Source
Writing/Grammar-Mechanics:
*The Writing Process
*Descriptive Writing: Descriptive Essay (Editing); Descriptive Writing Across the Curric
Skills: Capitalization, Commas, Using the Right Word
McGraw–Hill Texas Treasures, TE Grade 4 ; Plano ISD Elementary ELA Planner, IC Planner, Write Source