Grade 4 English Language Arts: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 4 english language arts in the Saskatchewan Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Comprehend and Respond (CR4.1–CR4.4): Comprehend and respond to a variety of grade-level texts. View and respond to visual and multimedia texts, explaining the creator's technique and the impact on viewers. Listen, summarize, paraphrase, and evaluate what was listened to and draw conclusions. (and 1 more outcome)
- Compose and Create (CC4.1–CC4.4): Compose and create a range of visual, multimedia, oral, and written texts that explore. Create a variety of clear representations that communicate straightforward ideas and information relevant to the… Speak to present and express a range of ideas and information in formal and informal speaking situations for… (and 1 more outcome)
- Assess and Reflect on Language Abilities (AR4.1–AR4.2): Reflect on and assess own viewing, listening, reading, speaking, writing, and other representing experiences, the… Set and pursue personal goals to improve viewing, listening, reading, speaking, writing, and other representing…
Easy ways to practise english language arts at home
- Take turns reading a page aloud, and chat about what happened and why.
- Keep a short journal, with one or two sentences a day to start.
- Hunt for a new word a day and use it at dinner.
- Ask for a prediction before turning the page: “What do you think happens next?”
What each unit covers
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.
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.
Figurative Language
Spotting similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia and alliteration (plus hyperbole at the stretch level), and explaining what figurative phrases really mean.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Meeting is the goal for every outcome. Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exemplary
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Saskatchewan report card guide.
Common questions
How can I help my Grade 4 child with english language arts?
Take turns reading a page aloud, and chat about what happened and why. Keep a short journal, with one or two sentences a day to start. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
What does my child learn in Grade 4 english language arts in Saskatchewan?
The Saskatchewan Curriculum Grade 4 english language arts units include reading detectives, text features, figurative language, point of view, word builders, parts of speech.
Free printable Grade 4 english language arts practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.