Leap Into Literacy 4th Grade
April/May
Unit 3 Reading History: The American Revolution
In Bend 1 students research the events leading up to the American Revolution. Information will be more difficult in this unit, so scaffolds need to be in place. One way to do this is to give students an overview of their topics through videos.
Videos for Building Background Knowledge:
Unit 3: Bringing History to Life
Overview:
This unit teaches the foundations of research report writing to students.
This unit keeps the scaffolds of support in place to help students complete this challenging work as opposed to gradually releasing the scaffolds over the course of the unit.
This unit directly supports the fourth and fifth grade New Jersey State Standards and is extremely rigorous.
Important Tips for Getting Ready:
Conduct the on-demand before launching this unit to tell you exactly where to start
Spend time before this unit collecting engaging, appropriately leveled materials on the topics you are studying
Make sure your students have already had at least one week of this topic in Social Studies (The more they know the more the better their writing will be).
Find the best mentor texts. They can be powerful co-teachers, especially in this unit.
Evidence of PARCC Summative Assessment
Parent Question Stems for ELA
A Message From Kate DiCamillo
Last week, I was at an event at the University of Minnesota and a woman came through the line with a copy of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
She had me sign it for her son.
“His teacher read it to him,” she told me. “And he’s been asking me for a copy of the book ever since.”
“Oh,” I said. “That makes me so happy.”
When I was in second grade, my teacher, Mrs. Boyette, read the Island of the Blue Dolphins aloud to the class.
I remember coming home and telling my mother about the book.
I remember her buying me a copy.
And now, forty-six years later, I still have that book.
This is a thank-you to all the teachers who read aloud.
This is a thank-you to all you parents who listen.
This is a thank-you to everyone who puts stories into young peoples’ hands.