| Grade 4 |
| ********** Welcome to fourth-grade Reading! Fourth graders no longer have a Language Arts "block" of subjects as they did in first-through-third grades. Reading is a 45-minute class. We will review previously-learned reading skills and reinforce how they really help us to understand what we are reading. That is, we are learning to "think about our thinking as we read," otherwise known as metacognition. The children will continue to write answers to comprehension questions after most stories. This is a very challenging skill but one that goes a long way in developing good writing and thinking skills. We will do other types of activities in place of Comprehension Checks, as well. We will also be utilizing a Response Journal in reading. Details will follow. This year, we also plan to read two "trade books"--one in the Fall and one in the Spring. *********** In fourth-grade Reading class, the students will also learn Grammar concepts as a part of the reading curriculum. You might consider this a "double dose" of grammar for them as they will also learn grammar in English class. I've provided some good links which will encourage your child to play grammar games to strengthen their knowledge and understanding of grammatical concepts. For the month of September, this is what we will learn: *Reading Unit 1: Our Comprehension Target Skills are Setting, Sequence, Compare and Contrast, Author's Purpose, and Character. *Phonics and Word Study: We will review vowel digraphs ai, ay, ea, ee, ei, oa, oe, ow, ou, oo, and ui; CVCe and VCCV patterns; initial three-letter blends. *Grammar: The Grammar portion of our Reading series will supplement our Voyages in English Grammar curriculum. We will begin with a study (review) of Sentences, Subjects and Predicates, Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, and Exclamatory Sentences, and Compound and Complex Sentences. Visit our Subject and Predicate link for some practice. *Writing: We will write a Personnal Narrative by the end of the month. Sometimes paragraph and creative writing will take place in Reading class; other times the writing process will be developed in English class with the whole class. Visit this website every week to find out what we are learning on a weekly basis. Visit the Interesting Language Arts Websites page and the charts page to help with reviewing the concepts that we have learned. |
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| Please note information about Accelerated Reader points on the Grade 4 Policy page. |