Language Arts Literacy
Mission: Learning to read, write, speak, listen, and view critically, strategically and creatively enables students to discover personal and shared meaning throughout their lives.
Standard 3.1 Reading
All students will understand and apply the knowledge of sounds, letters, and words in written English to become independent and fluent readers and will read a variety of materials and texts with fluency and comprehension.
Big Idea: The ability to read a variety of texts requires independence, comprehension, and fluency.
3.1 A. Concepts About Print
Essential Questions
Enduring Understandings
- How does understanding a text’s structure help me better understand its meaning?
- Understanding of a text’s features, structures, and characteristics facilitate the reader’s ability to make meaning of the text.
Cumulative Progress Indicators
Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 4: 1. Identify differences of various print formats, including newspapers, magazines, books, and reference resources. 2. Recognize purposes and uses for print conventions such as paragraphs, end-sentence punctuation, and bold print 3. Identify and locate features that support text meaning (e.g., maps, charts, illustrations). Instructional/Assessment Focus:
• Use text features to comprehend print formats
• Use globes, maps, and Internet sources to clarify reading of textSample Assessment Item:
ASSESS using reading passage Rocket Balloon compiled by Laura Buller and Ron Taylor http://www.nj.gov/education/assessment/es/sample/NJ-LAL_sample.pdf, Page 42-44 Question 12What is the purpose of the thumbtack?
A. to find the center of the paper
* B. to hold the string in the center
C. to fasten the cone to the balloon
D. to poke a hole in the paper
3.1 B. Phonological Awareness
By the end of Grade 4: No additional indicators at this grade level 3.1 C. Decoding and Word Recognition
Essential Questions
Enduring Understandings
- How do I figure out a word I do not know?
- Readers use language structure and context clues to identify the intended meaning of words and phrases as they are used in text.
Cumulative Progress Indicators
Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 4: 1. Use letter-sound correspondence and structural analysis (e.g., roots, affixes) to decode words. 2. Know and use common word families to decode unfamiliar words. 3. Recognize compound words, contractions, and common abbreviations. 3.1 D. Fluency
Essential Questions Enduring Understandings - How does fluency affect comprehension?
- Fluent readers group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read Cumulative Progress Indicators Comments and Examples By the end of Grade 4: 1. Use appropriate rhythm, flow, meter, and pronunciation in demonstrating understanding of punctuation marks. 2. Read at different speeds using scanning, skimming, or careful reading as appropriate. 3.1 E. Reading Strategies (before, during, and after reading) Essential Questions Enduring Understandings -What do readers do when they do not understand everything in a text? - Good readers employ strategies to help them understand text. Strategic readers can develop, select, and apply strategies to enhance their comprehension. Cumulative Progress Indicators Comments and Examples By the end of Grade 4: 1. Use knowledge of word meaning, language structure, and sound-symbol relationships to check understanding when reading.
2. Identify specific words or passages causing comprehension difficulties and seek clarification. Instructional/Assessment Focus:
• Strategic reading—knowing when, why, and how to use reading strategies
• Explicit reading strategy instructionSuggested Instructional/Assessment Strategy:
• Students learn the INSERT (Interactive Notation to Effective Reading and Thinking) technique, which assists them to monitor their thinking and comprehension using a coding system by reading passages from selected social studies, science or other content area materials.(*Source- ReadWriteThink.org)
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=2303. Select useful visual organizers before, during, and after reading to organize information (e.g., Venn diagrams). 3.1 F. Vocabulary and Concept Development
Essential Questions Enduring Understandings -What do readers do when they do not understand everything in a text? - Words powerfully affect meaning Cumulative Progress Indicators Comments and Examples By the end of Grade 4: 1. Infer word meanings from learned roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Suggested Instructional/Assessment Strategies:
• Use information from prefixes and suffixes to define new words
• Students use a prefix and suffix chart to translate the scientific names of a number of species of sharks. Then, students draw an image of the shark based upon their translations.(*Source Monterey Bay Aquarium) http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/lc/ teachers_place/activity_fish_mystery.asp
2. Infer specific word meanings in the context of reading passages. Instructional/Assessment Focus:
• Understanding the meaning of words through an understanding of the passage’s context, purpose, and audienceSample Assessment Item:
ASSESS using reading passage Helen Cordero and the Storyteller,
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student. assessment/taks/booklets/reading/g4e.pdf ,Page 21 Question 2When Cordero begins forming the storyteller’s face, she tries to portray her grandfather’s. Like her grandfather’s face, the storyteller’s face is always kind. His mouth is open as if telling a story or singing a song. His eyes are closed as he remembers. The Pueblo people call this “thinking in the backward way.”
In paragraph 5, the word portray means —
A please
B forget about
C grow
* D show3. Identify and correctly use antonyms, synonyms, homophones, and homographs. 4. Use a grade-appropriate dictionary (independently) to define unknown words. 3.1 G. Comprehension Skills and Response to Text
Essential Questions Enduring Understandings - How do readers construct meaning from text? - Good readers compare, infer, synthesize, and make connections (text to text, text to world, text to self) to make text personally relevant and useful. Cumulative Progress Indicators Comments and Examples By the end of Grade 4: 1. Discuss underlying themes across cultures in various texts. Suggested Instructional/Assessment Strategies:
• Identify common threads or repeated ideas across
cultures
• In a Social Studies/Visual and Performing Arts unit, students compare and contrast three, culturally distinct variations of the Cinderella folktale: Rhodopis, the Egyptian version; Yeh-Shen, the Chinese version; and The Hidden One, the Native American story through:
• Dramatization
• Venn diagrams• International chat room
Students then discuss the basic components of fairy tales in other countries and their cultural perspectives about storytelling traditions.
(*Source- ArtsEdge)
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2304/2. Distinguish cause and effect, fact and opinion, main idea and supporting details in nonfiction texts (e.g., science, social studies). Instructional/Assessment Focus:
• Text structures used on organizing nonfiction textSample Assessment Item:
ASSESS using reading passage Voyager’s Amazing Journey by Steve Osborn
http://www.doe.massdu/mcas/search/viewread ingselection.asp?ReadingSelectionid=290Which of the following facts does the map of Voyager’s flight best show?
* A. The flight was mostly over water.
B. The flight took nine days to complete.
C. The flight began at Edwards Air Force Base.
D. The flight ran into a typhoon in the Pacific Ocean.3. Cite evidence from text to support conclusions. Instructional/Assessment Focus:
• Support conclusions by referencing the text when making inferences and generalizationsSample Assessment Item:
ASSESS using reading passage from Jane on Her Own by Ursula K. LeGuin
http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/search/viewreadingselection asp?readingSelectionid=293
Based on the chapter, explain why Jane decides to go on an adventure. Support your answer with important details from the chapter.4. Understand author’s opinions and how they address culture, ethnicity, gender, and historical periods. Instructional/Assessment Focus:
• Analyze the impact of an author’s attitude and beliefs
• Discuss time periods and social climate during which pieces are written to highlight societal issues that influenced the author’s perspective5. Follow simple multiple-steps in written instructions Suggested Instructional/Assessment Strategy:
• In a Career Education and Consumer, Family, and Life Skills unit, students role-play as new employees in a pet shop, offering advice to customers, answering questions, and creating a handbook, from a fish’s perspective, of instructions for new fish owners.(*Source- Education World)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/02/lp275-01.shtml6. Recognize an author’s point of view. Suggested Instructional/Assessment Strategies:
• Guided reading
• In a Geography unit, students read articles from online newspapers on modes of transportation and communication for moving people, products, and ideas. Then, during class discussions, they describe each article's source, purpose, and viewpoint.(*Source-National Geographic Xpeditions)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/
lessons/18/g68/pointsnews.html7. Identify and summarize central ideas in informational texts. Suggested Instructional/Assessment Strategy:
• Students read, gather, and summarize, information about inventions developed by Alexander Graham Bell, George Washington Carver, and Stephanie Kwolek. They examine how the inventions directly impact their own lives and how their inventions changed and shaped America's past and influenced the future of technology. As a class activity, they create and present a multimedia presentation.(*Source- ReadWriteThink.org)
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=9578. Recognize differences among forms of literature, including poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. Instructional/Assessment Focus:
• Literary Forms9. Recognize literary elements in stories, including setting, characters, plot, and mood. Instructional/Assessment Focus:
•Elements of narrative textSample Assessment Item:
ASSESS using writing project (multimedia presentation)
Students review the elements of narrative text and key components of a book report. They are then given an opportunity to identify and share these concepts by creating a multimedia presentation, including a script and drawing for five screens, on a fiction book they have chosen to read.(*Source- ReadWriteThink.org)
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=13810. Identify some literary devices in stories. Sample Assessment Item:
ASSESS using rubric for acceptance speech
Students select several books to read from a list of books known for their figurative language. They compile a list of examples of literary devices for nomination in the “Academy Awards of Figurative Language Ceremony.” They then vote on best examples and write an acceptance speech.(*Source- ReadWriteThink.org)
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=11511. Identify the structures in poetry. 12. Identify the structures in drama 13. Read regularly in materials appropriate for their independent reading level. H. Inquiry and Research
Essential Questions Enduring Understandings - Why conduct research? - Researchers gather and critique information from different sources for specific purposes. Cumulative Progress Indicators Comments and Examples By the end of Grade 4: 1. Use library classification systems, print or electronic, to locate information. 2. Investigate a favorite author and produce evidence of research. 3. Read independently and research topics using a variety of materials to satisfy personal, academic, and social needs, and produce evidence of reading.
