Fourth Grade Unit Seven

Fourth Grade
Pacing Guides:
Unit Seven Support

Extending Readerly and Writerly Life

As educators, we realize that one of the unique challenges is that many of the children we teach do not see themselves as readers and writers beyond the walls of our classrooms. The primary purpose of this unit is to allow teachers to draw their year to a close in a way that allows children to celebrate their successes as readers and writers while at the same time encourages them to look closely ways to be ‘real readers and writers’ in their lives beyond the school day and into the summer. Closure for the school year will include the completion of some end of year assessments with opportunities for fourth grade students to reflect on their own progress as readers and writers. That process may take the form of graphs, written reflection, and summary letters to next year’s teacher. Fourth grade students will explore the possibilities for summer reading and writing and will be expected to set written goals for summer reading and writing. Potential projects for fourth grade readers may include the creation reading promotion posters, pamphlets or even public service announcements. Fourth grade readers and writers will be encouraged to begin thinking of themselves as fifth grade readers and writers.

District Provided Resources/Materials:
Big Books
Classroom Libraries
Meet the Author Series (Richard Owen Publishing) ALL SCHOOLS HAVE AT LEAST ONE COMPLETE SET OF THESE BOOKS
Third Grade Personal Impromptu Anchor Papers
Rubric Score One : 4th Impromptu One.pdf
Rubric Score Two: 4th Impromptu Two.pdf
Rubric Score Three: 4th Impromptu Three.pdf
Rubric Score Four: 4th Impromptu Four.
Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists (A reference tool for word study K-12)

Suggested Professional Reading Online:
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/pdf_files/morningmeeting/8909over.pdf (An overview of Morning Meeting from the book by the same name)
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/pdf_files/rc_fact_sheet.pdf (Article: Creating Safe, Challenging and Joyful Elementary Classrooms and schools
http://www.cylc.org/nylc/fuel/ (Website of the authors of The Daily Five--membership fee required)
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/ (Free newsletter, partial access without membership fee)

Suggested Professional Reading Offline:

Helpful Web Resources:
http://www.kididdles.com/ (Online lyrics to 100’s of familiar children’s music, organized thematically and alphabetically)
http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/songs/alphlist.html (Mrs. Jones Sing Along Songs for darned near everything you can think of)
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/fallpoetry.htm (More sophisticated fall poetry for shared reading)
http://www.ralphfletcher.com/tips.html (Tips for Young Writers from Author Ralph Fletcher)
http://www.mcte.org/bpw/saum.pdf (Great little three page handout on keeping a writer’s notebook)

Books About Starting Fourth Grade/Going to School:
Amber Brown Goes Fourth (Paula Danziger)
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Judy Blume)

Books About Reading and Writing:
The Wednesday Surprise (Eve Bunting)
Amelia Tells All (Amelia’s Notebook Series) (Marissa Ross)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Jeff Kinney)
The Boy Who Loved Words (Roni Schotter)
Arthur for the Very First Time (Patricia MacLauchlin)
Frindle (Andrew Clements)
A Writer’s Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You (Ralph Fletcher)
How Writers Work: Finding a Process that Works for You (Ralph Fletcher)

Assessments (A star indicates a required assessment):
http://www.middleweb.com/ReadWrkshp/RWdownld/WriteNotebkRubric.pdf (Nice example of a rubric for assessing writer’s notebooks)
Self-selected Journal or Writer’s Notebook Entry Scored Using Todd County School District Personal Impromptu Writing Rubric