4th grade English Language Arts
13 units matched to the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards. Kids see this subject as “Reading & Writing”.
Focus areas
- Reading: theme, inference and comparing texts
- Writing, speaking and listening: writing with reasons and evidence, and research
- Language: building vocabulary and using grammar, spelling and punctuation
Units
Unit 1
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.
Benchmark: 4.1.4.2; 4.1.4.1 · the central idea of a text and the details that support it
Unit 2
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.
Benchmark: 4.1.5.2; 4.1.5.3 · informational text structure, and the information in maps, graphics and indexes
Unit 3
Figurative Language
Spotting similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia and alliteration (plus hyperbole at the stretch level), and explaining what figurative phrases really mean.
Benchmark: 4.1.8.1 · telling literal from figurative language
Unit 4
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.
Benchmark: 4.1.5.1 · first- and third-person narration
Unit 5
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.
Benchmark: 4.2.1.3 · pronouns, verbs and agreement in sentences
Unit 6
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.
Benchmark: 4.2.1.3; 4.2.1.1 · simple, compound and complex sentences, and commas with clauses
Unit 7
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.
Benchmark: 4.1.8.2; 4.1.1.2 · word origins, prefixes, suffixes and roots
Unit 8
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.
Benchmark: 4.2.1.2 · spelling homophones and other tricky words
Unit 9
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.
Benchmark: 4.2.5.1 · organizing ideas clearly when writing to inform or explain
Unit 10
Grammar Gears
Choosing who, which, that and whose, using have, has and had with the right verb form, telling questions from commands, and using my, your, their, this and these.
Benchmark: 4.2.1.3 · relative pronouns, verb forms and agreement
Unit 11
Media and Sources
Children practice naming the target audience and purpose of a message, spotting techniques like close-ups and “hurry” words, telling facts from opinions, searching with keywords and judging whether a source is reliable.
Benchmark: 4.1.9.2; 4.1.6.1 · judging whether information is credible, and an author's purpose
Unit 12
Spelling Rules
Children practice US spelling rules for adding endings (doubling, dropping e, changing y to i), plurals and common tricky words.
Benchmark: 4.2.1.2 · spelling patterns and rules
Unit 13
Firsthand or Secondhand?
Children practice telling firsthand accounts (diaries, letters, interviews) from secondhand ones (textbooks, reports, biographies) and what each kind shows best.
Benchmark: 4.1.9.1; 4.1.6.3 · collecting information from different sources, and fact and opinion in a text
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