Grade 4 English Overview
Miss Berndl's Fabulous Fours

Notebooks, Duo-Tangs & Texts
Reading
   Writing   Oral & Visual Communication  
Types of Narratives in Speaking & Writing
Research   Sources

Writing Overview
Click here for more WRITING details

Writing 

Letter Writing
  • Home Journals
  • Thank You Letters
  • parts of a letter
  • written conversations that are interesting and descriptive of feelings and events
Note Taking
  • transcribing from the board
  • viewing & notetaking
  • reading & point form notes
Notebook Maintenance
Creative Writing
  • short stories
  • poetry
 
Expository Writing
  • articles
  • research notes
speed & fluency
Monologue
  • Historical Fiction role playing
Personal Use Writing
  • Agenda
  • Cue cards for presentations
Publications
  • Shoe Story
  • Speech
  • Class Yearbook
 
Grammar
  • parts of speech
  • GRTAW
 

Reading Overview
Click here for more READING details

Reading 

Novels 
  • quantity
  • variety of genres
 
Reading Aloud 
  • choral reading
  • duet reading
  • script performance
 
Reading Comprehension
  • texts
  • novels
  • web sites
 
Standard Resources
  • dictionary
  • atlas
  • textbooks
  • tests 
 
Research
  • internet sites
  • locating text material within a specific book
  • locating print resources in the school & public libraries using the computer
Forming an Opinion
  • Reader Responses
  • Self-Evaluation
  • Reflection Pieces
 
Skill drills
  • SRA - Reading Comprehension
  • CLOZE Activities - reading Comprehension

 

 

Oral & Visual Communication Overview
Click here for more ORAL & VISUAL details

Oral

Talk About
Presentations  Presenting Information Entertaining an Audience
  • 8 & 12 Line Poem
  • Entertainment at the Feast
  • Light & Sound Science Fair
  • Harmonica Performances
  • Speech
  • Public Speaking Tour
  • Junk Art Sculpture Exhibition
Class Participation 
Listening Comprehension
  • Getting the Main Idea
  • Mental Math Number Chains
  • Quicksolve Whodunnit Puzzles
  • Listening to Talking Books & writing chapter summaries
Listening Behaviours
Listening for Information
  • Classroom lessons
  • Teacher instructions
  • Daily announcements
  • Student presentations
  • Assemblies
  • Interviews
Media Presentations
  • Video - viewing & note taking
  • CD Music - Harmonica - listening & copying example
  • CD Music Appreciation - storytelling set to classical music
Interviewing
  • IRP - interview an expert & record information gained
  • find information for articles in yearbook

 

Types of Narratives in Writing & Speaking
Adapted
from Moffett and McElheny

  1. 1st Person Interior Monologue - train of thought or stream of consciousness
  2. 1st Person Dramatic Monologue - narrator speaking to someone else; audience "overhears"
  3. 1st Person Letter Narration - narrator writing a letter
  4. 1st Person Diary Narration - narrator writing diary entries
  5. 1st Person Autobiography - narrator is main character, often reflecting on a past "self."
  6. 3rd Person Eyewitness Point of View - narrator presents story in eyewitness account; does not present characters' thoughts
  7. 3rd Person Single Character Point of View - narrator knows all about ONE character in the story;  story presented from one character's vantage point.
  8. 3rd Person Multiple Character Point of View - narrator presents inner life, thoughts, actions of several characters

Doing Research

  • all sources of information must be acknowledged
  • information does not only come from books - there are many sources of information
  • if books are used, they should be written at the student's reading level or else the words have no meaning
  • students may not plagiarize - namely represent someone else's work or words as their own
  • printing something off from the Internet, gluing it up on paper & handing it in, is not research
  • when students write notes, they need to use their own words
  • when doing a major project sources of information need to be recorded
  • for the IRP, a Bibliography needs to be completed
  • click here for instructions on how to write up a Bibliography

Notebooks, Duo-Tangs & Texts that each student has

  1. Handwriting Notebook - cursive practice, timed writing drills, rough draft of speech - mainly used in term 1
  2. English / Writing Notebook - used for writing exercises, grammar lessons, yearbook articles
  3. Guided Reading Notebook - tracking read aloud, choral reading activities, reading comprehension activities, guided group discussions
  4. Home Journal - notebook in which student writes weekly letters to parents & parents write letters back to students. This is the only notebook that can be decorated - i.e. doodled on
  5. Talking Book Notebook -  notebook for chapter summaries of Talking Books listened to
  6. FMTW / Yearbook Notebook - Five Minute Timed Writing - timed writing activities on topics from which yearbook articles can be written, printing and in cursive, to determine writing speed - w.p.m., yearbook articles and writing activities
  7. SSQ Duo-Tang -  Spelling Skills Quizzes - handouts for grammar & spelling skills
  8. Spelling Notebook - weekly spelling assignments based on text: The Canadian Spelling Program, spelling tests
  9. Computer/CLOZE Duo-Tang - tracking sheet for keyboarding, rough drafts for word processing, CLOZE activities & reading comprehension sheets
  10. Text: The Canadian Spelling Program
  11. Reading Log Duo-Tang - Reading Record Sheet followed by 20 Novel Summary Sheets that are completed when a student finishes reading a novel
  12. Novel - students are expected to have a novel in their desk at all times to read during SQUIRT or when other work is completed
  13. Resources in the classroom
    1. Dictionary
    2. Thesaurus
    3. Impressions Series Readers - Cross The Golden River, Run Forever etc.
    4. Magic Lines - to write neatly on blank paper
    5. Handwriting Guides & Samples - to use until cursive writing becomes second nature

 

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