Grade 4 English Language Arts
17 units matched to the Manitoba Curriculum. Kids see this subject as “Reading & Writing”.
Learning focus
- A1 Oral Language Communication: Learners will apply listening and speaking skills to receive, exchange and develop ideas for various purposes and audiences.
- A2 Language as the Foundation for Reading and Writing:
- B1 Acquire New Information: Learners will activate, acquire and build background knowledge through inquiry of diverse topics and engagement with multimodal forms of text (e.g., visual, oral, print, digital, experts, Elders).
- B3 Think Critically about Multimodal Text and Respond: Learners will recognize, analyze, and respond critically to inequities, bias, and viewpoints in texts and ideas.
- C1 Generate Ideas, Create Plan and Draft/Prototype: Learners will generate ideas, conduct research, evaluate sources, and design a plan to compose multimodal texts (visual, multimedia, oral, written) for a range of purposes and audiences.
- C2 Enhance the Clarity and Artistry of Multimodal Texts: Learners will apply knowledge and understanding of the variables of writing to enhance the clarity, precision and effectiveness of their creations and reflect critically on created text.
- C3 Edit and Publish: Learners will apply knowledge of editing to communicate the text clearly and coherently to an audience, using a variety of media, tools and strategies to publish text.
- D1 Share Ideas and Information:
- D2 Assess and Set Goals: Learners will use metacognition (the ability to think about one’s own thinking) to assess their language skills as listeners, speakers, readers, writers, viewers and representers, supporting their grow as independent learners. Learners will set goals and monitor progress.
Units
Unit 1
Word Builders
Using word parts to work out meanings: prefixes like re- and mis-, suffixes like -able and -ment, finding the base word, and (at the stretch level) roots such as port and tele.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.A2.4, ELA.4.A2.5 · word parts, meanings and new vocabulary
Unit 2
Reading Detectives
Reading short original stories and articles, then finding the main idea and key details, making inferences from clues, working out word meanings and choosing the best summary.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.B2.3, ELA.4.B2.5, ELA.4.B2.6 · predicting, using strategies to understand, and recalling important information
Unit 3
Text Features
Using the parts of a nonfiction book to find information: reading a table of contents and index, knowing what glossaries, captions, labels and timelines are for, and choosing headings.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.B2.1, ELA.4.B2.2 · the form and structure of texts, and text features
Unit 4
Figurative Language
Spotting similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia and alliteration (plus hyperbole at the stretch level), and explaining what figurative phrases really mean.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.B2.7, ELA.4.C2.4 · descriptive language and varied, vivid writing
Unit 5
Point of View
Telling first-person stories (I, me, we) from third-person stories (he, she, they), finding pronoun clues, and noticing when dialogue uses “I” in a third-person story.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.B3.3 · how different perspectives in a text can influence an audience
Unit 6
Parts of Speech
Naming the job each word does in a sentence, with a focus on Grade 4's pronouns, adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions. Easier levels stick to nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.C3.2 · using words and word meanings correctly in writing
Unit 7
Super Sentences
Joining sentences with and, but, or and so; spotting and fixing fragments and run-ons; and choosing verbs that agree with the subject and match the tense.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.C2.2, ELA.4.A1.5 · varied and complex sentences with transitions
Unit 8
Punctuation Power
Writing possessives (the dog's bone, the girls' bikes, the children's toys), placing commas in dates, places and lists, and punctuating dialogue with quotation marks.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.C3.3, ELA.4.C3.4 · capital letters and punctuation
Unit 9
Sound-Alikes
Choosing between words that sound alike (there/their/they're, to/too/two, its/it's) and using context to tell which meaning of a word like “bark” or “bow” is meant.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.C3.2 · spelling patterns and homophones
Unit 10
Paragraph Power
Choosing topic and concluding sentences, finding the sentence that doesn't belong, using transition words, identifying cause and effect, and putting sentences in order.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.C2.1 · organizing writing into paragraphs
Unit 11
Listening & Talking Together
Practises listening for key ideas, taking turns, asking open-ended questions, giving reasons and using rich words and linking words in conversation.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.A1.1, ELA.4.A1.2, ELA.4.A1.3, ELA.4.A1.4, ELA.4.A1.6 · listening, taking turns, asking open-ended questions and sharing ideas in conversation
Unit 12
Big Words & Smooth Reading
Practises breaking long words into syllables and parts, spelling tricky words, and reading smoothly by noticing punctuation.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.A2.3, ELA.4.A2.6 · decoding and spelling multisyllabic words, and reading fluently with punctuation
Unit 13
Making Connections
Practises using what you already know, text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world connections, choosing the right text, and deciding what to share from research.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.B1.1, ELA.4.B1.2, ELA.4.B1.3, ELA.4.B1.4, ELA.4.B2.4 · prior knowledge, choosing texts, inquiry questions and making connections to texts
Unit 14
Fair & Trustworthy Texts
Practises noticing diversity and inclusion in stories, telling fact from opinion, spotting stereotypes and bias, and deciding whether a source can be trusted.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.B3.1, ELA.4.B3.2, ELA.4.B3.4 · diversity and inclusion in texts, trusting sources, stereotypes and bias, and supported opinions
Unit 15
Plan Your Writing
Practises choosing a topic and audience, planning with brainstorming and organizers, and matching narrative, informational, descriptive and persuasive writing to a purpose.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.C1.1, ELA.4.C1.2, ELA.4.C1.3, ELA.4.C1.4, ELA.4.C1.5 · choosing topics, planning, kinds of writing and creating multimodal texts
Unit 16
Revise & Polish
Practises adding sensory details, choosing stronger words, revising to make writing clearer, using feedback and presenting final work neatly with words and images.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.C2.3, ELA.4.C2.5, ELA.4.C3.1, ELA.4.C3.5 · word choice and sensory details, revising, legible and digital writing, and final multimodal texts
Unit 17
My Learning Goals
Practises setting specific goals, choosing strategies, using feedback and tracking progress in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Learning outcome: ELA.4.D2.1, ELA.4.D2.2, ELA.4.D2.3, ELA.4.D2.4, ELA.4.D2.5 · self-monitoring, criteria, feedback, goals and tracking progress
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