CDSD Grade 4 Family Letter
Reading, Writing, Listening, & Speaking
Unit 1: Analyzing Literature
Key Learnings:
Proficient readers analyze the elements of fiction to comprehend stories, dramas, and poems.
Proficient writers analyze texts to cite evidence and support responses about their reading.
SPEAKING AND LISTENING
- actively participate in collaborative discussions.
- express ideas fully and clearly in a way others can understand the message.
- use new vocabulary in conversations.
- build on the ideas of others.
- use age-appropriate grammar when speaking.
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Initiate conversations with your child.
- Promote active listening and attention.
- Ask clarifying questions when your child does not express his ideas clearly.
- Encourage your child to use topic-specific vocabulary.
- Re-phrase student's sentence structure or grammar by repeating sentences properly.
ADVANCED PHONICS: Reading and Writing Words
- break vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel pattern words into syllables in order to read and write them (mit/ten = mitten, rab/bit = rabbit, trum/pet = trumpet)
- break vowel-consonant-vowel pattern words into syllables in order to read and write them (cam/el = camel, ra/zor = razor, pal/ace = palace, plan/et = planet).
- read and write common homophones, words that sound the same but are spelled differently (great/grate, their/there,
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Write VCCV words on index cards. Have your child cut the card between the two consonants. Ask him to read each part and then blend the parts together to read the whole word.
- Write the same VCV word on two index cards. Have your child cut the first card after the first vowel and the second card after the consonant. For each card, have your child read each part and then blend the parts together to read the whole word. Ask your child which card is the correct way to read the word.
- Have your child sort words into VCCV and VCV. After sorting, have your child read the words.
- Work together to brainstorm a list of homophones. Continue to add words to the list as you think of them.
READING FLUENCY:
- adjust her reading rate, slowing down and speeding up when necessary to understand the text.
- Use punctuation to read with natural phrasing.
- infer characters' thoughts and feelings in order to read dialogue with expression.
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- When reading to your child read with the dialogue with expression.
- While reading with your child, discuss the feelings of the characters. Remind your child how a character feels before she reads a section of dialogue.
- If your child is reading is a choppy manner, reread the sentences to her grouping the words into phrases. Ask her to reread the section of the text to you. You may want to swoop your finger under each phrase as you read it.
COMPREHENSION
- monitor his understanding of what he is reading by writing his ideas, thoughts, questions, and comments on sticky notes or in the margins of the text.
- identify the characteristics of stories, dramas, and poems and distinguish one form or writing from the others.
- use context to figure out the meaning of a word or phrase.
- describe a character from a story, drama, or poem using her thoughts, words, and actions.
- use key details from the text to describe the setting and events of a story, poem, or drama.
- summarize stories, dramas, and poems.
- use the prefixes, il-, im-, in-, & ir-, to explain the meaning of a word. (illegal = not legal, impossible = not possible, incorrect = not correct, irregular = not regular)
- use the prefixes, dis-, mis-, non- & un-, to explain the meaning of a word. (disagree = the opposite of agree, misbehave = behave badly, nontoxic = not toxic, unforgettable = not forgettable).
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Provide time for you child to read or be read to daily.
- Encourage your child to write his ideas, thoughts, questions, and comments on sticky notes or in the margins of the text.
- Have your child categorize his books by stories, dramas, and poems. If your child doesn't have many books from a certain type of writing, encourage him to check some out of library and "try them out."
- Before reading with your child, determine whether the text is a story, drama, or poem.
- When you come upon an unknown word or phrase when reading with your child, encourage him to reread or read on to use context to figure out the meaning.
- When reading with your child, discuss how you envision the characters. Point to words from the text that helped you understand what the character is like - both in terms of looks and personality. Encourage your child to do the same.
- When reading with your child, discuss how you envision the setting. Point to words from the text that helped you understand what the setting is like - both in terms of what it looks like as well as the feelings it evokes.
- When reading with your child, take time to stop and describe the action of the plot, the events.
- Have your child draw or paint, a chapter or section of a story, drama, or poem. He could turn a story or drama into a graphic novel.
- When reading stories with your child, read the text in chunks. After every couple of pages or after each chapter, work together to summarize the plot. Do the same after reading a poem or after each scene/act of a drama.
- Work with your child to brainstorm a list of words with il- (not), im- (not),in- (not) and ir- (not). Take turns using the meaning of the prefix. to explain the meanings of the words. (NOTE: There will words where you cannot use the meaning of the prefix to define them. This is okay. Point these words out as exceptions.)
- Work with your child to brainstorm a list of words with dis-, (not/the opposite of), mis- (wrong/bad), non- (not) and un- (not/the opposite of.). Take turns using the meaning of the prefix to explain the meanings of the words. (NOTE: There will words where you cannot use the meaning of the prefix to define them. This is okay. Point these words out as exceptions.)
TYPES OF TEXTS:
- Realistic Fiction (Example: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo)
- Fantasy or Science Fiction (Examples: The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Briney and Alien Feast by Michael Simmons)
- Traditional Literature: Tall Tale or Folktale (Examples: John Henry by Julius Lester and The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Gerald McDermott
- Drama/Play (Example: Classics on Stage by Julie Meighan)
- Poetry (Example: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein)
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Take your child to the library and check out books from the types listed above.
- Use the list above when selecting books for your child to read and books for you to read to your child.
- Have your child keep a log of the books she reads. Have her indicate the genre/type of text of each book she reads. Encourage her to "try out" different types of texts.
WRITING TEXT DEPENDENT ANALYSIS ESSAYS
- capitalize proper nouns in writing.
- write complete simple sentences with correct capitalization and ending punctuation.
- Recognize and correct sentence fragments and run-on sentences in her writing.
- edit writing for subject-verb agreement. (Correct: The cat chases the mouse. Incorrect: The cats cases the mouse.)
- use verb tenses (past, present, future) correctly in writing.
- use helping verbs correctly in writing. (I am sorry for what I've done. Our guests have arrived. You can stay up late tonight.)
- when beginning an essay restate a prompt or question as a statement. (How does not getting enough sleep affect the lives of children = There are several ways that not getting enough sleep affects the lives of children.)
- Plan essay by recording ideas and evidence on a graphic organizer before writing.
- draft an essay that includes an introduction, body, and conclusion.
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Have your child read a couple random sentences from the current book she is reading. Have her identify the subject and predicate in the sentence.
- Have your child cut out pictures from a magazine or print pictures from the internet. Have him sort the pictures into common nouns and proper nouns.
- After writing, have your child highlight several nouns, pronouns, and verbs. Use a different color for each part of speech.
- Work with your child to brainstorm a list of 10 verbs. Ask her to tell you the past, present, and future tense of each verb.
- Give your child a writing journal or notebook to write in.
- Ask you child an open-ended question about a text she has read. (How would your life be different if you lived with the Inuit People?) Have her write an essay to answer your question.
- Help your child restate the question into a introductory sentence. (My life would be very different if I lived with the Inuit People.)
- Help you child plan out her essay by recording reasons and facts on a piece of scratch paper. (Food; Transportation; Shelter)
- Encourage your child to refer back to the text to find facts and examples that support her ideas.
- Ask your child to tell you what ideas, facts, and examples she will include in each essay paragraph before she writes it.
- Create an editing checklist with the grammar and convention skills listed above. Help your child use the checklist to edit her writing.
WORDS TO KNOW:
- affix: a word part that is added to the beginning or end of a base word; prefixes and suffixes
- analyze: to study something closely by examining each of its parts
- claim: the main idea, main point, or opinion of a piece of writing
- conflict: the story's problem or struggle, that affects the events in the plot
- context: the words that surround an unfamiliar word
- dis-: not/the opposite of
- fragment: a part of a sentence; a "sentence" that is missing the subject or predicate
- il-: not
- im-: not
- in-: not
- ir-: not
- literature: a fictional story or drama that is written for the main purpose of entertaining the reader
- mis-: wrong/bad
- non-: not
- plot: the sequence of events (including the problem and solution/resolution) in a story, drama, or poem
- poem: a short text that uses description, sounds, and/or rhythms of words to suggest images or express feelings
- prose: texts that are not poems
- resolution: how the problem of a story or drama is solved
- run-on: two or more complete sentences without correct punctuation or conjunctions
- simple sentence: a sentence with one subject-predicate relationship
- stanza: a group of lines in a poem
- structure: how the writing is organized to show the relationship between sentences, paragraphs, and ideas
- subject-verb agreement: when the subject and verb agree in number (The cats chase the mouse. The cat chases the mouse.)
- un-: not/the opposite of
- visualization: a sensory image made in the reader's mind
MORE WAYS TO HELP AT HOME
ONLINE RESOURCES
THE BEST APPS FOR IPHONE, IPADS, AND ANDROID DEVICES
Inspiration Maps
Skill: Comprehension, Writing
Device: iPad
Price: $9.99
Inspirational Maps is a versatile mind-mapping tool to help children visually organize information and ideas. Children can easily create diagrams, maps, organizers, brainstorms, and text outlines.
News-O-Matic
Skill: Comprehension
Device: Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $4.99 - $5,99
This nonfiction reading app publishes five news stories each weekday. Readers learn what happened on this date in history through an educational game and write to Editor-in-Chief Russ in the News Room.
Popplet
Skill: Comprehension, Writing
Device: iPad, iPhone
Price: $4.99
Popplet is a mind-mapping tool that children create "Popplets" that can be filled with text, drawing, images, or videos about a topic.
Question Builder
Skill: Comprehension
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $5.99
Question Builder is designed to help children learn to answer abstract questions and create responses based on inference.
The Electric Company Wordball!
Skill: Phonics, Spelling
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: Free
The Electric Company Wordball is a phonics game that integrates video clips from the TV show to teach reading and spelling. The object of the app is to teach lessons about phonics, reading, and spelling.
Alphabet Organizer
Skill: Spelling, Vocabulary, Writing
Device: Android, iPad
Price: Free
Alphabet Organizer is a app for exploring letters and words, creating books, and building word walls for vocabulary study, content-area research, and writing projects.
Bookworm
Skill: Spelling, Vocabulary
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $2.99
Bookworm is a spelling and vocabulary building word search game. Children link letters left, right, up, and down to build words to feed "Lex" the bookworm. The longer the word the higher the score.
Chicktionary
Skill: Spelling, Vocabulary
Device: Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: Free
Chicktionary is a chicken themed spelling and vocabulary-building word game. Children create as many words as possible out of seven letters. Completed words can be tapped to view their definitions. There are multiple levels.
Mystery Word Town
Skill: Spelling
Device: Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $2.99
When using Mystery Word Town, children explore buildings in a Western town to find lost letters that spell words and unlock doors. You can choose between three challenge levels, each with about 80 common words.
Vocabulary/SpellingCity
Skill: Spelling, Vocabulary, Grammar
Device: Android, iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
SpellingCity is a word game designed to help kids learn spelling and improve vocabulary and grammar skills.
Mad Libs
Skill: Vocabulary
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: Free
The Mad Libs app is just how you remember the classic fill-in-the-noun/verb/adverb game, but with a twist! Fill-in-the-blank sections are now interactive, and hings are offered to educate and entertain.
Bluster!
Skill: Vocabulary
Device: iPad
Price: Free
Bluster is a vocabulary game that can be played solo, as a team, or competitively against another player. Kids race against time and weather to match as many words as they can.
Grammaropolis
Skill: Writing, Grammar
Device: Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: Free
Animated parts-of-speech app enlivens grammar lessons. Students can learn about nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, interjections, prepositions, and conjunctions by watching fun music videos, reading short cartoon-like books, and completing quizzes.