Students consider that while they are enjoying their favorite websites they may encounter messages from other kids that can make them feel angry, hurt, sad, or fearful. They explore ways to handle cyberbullying and how to respond in the face of upsetting language online.

Students discuss all the ways they use technology for communication and explore the similarities and differences between in-person and online communication. Students then brainstorm ways to respond to cyberbullying.

For more information, please visit: [r common-sense-media-power-of-words]

Week 33, Day 1---Day 5
Cumulative Task: Advertisement
"Can you think of which type of opinion writing we have done that is like an advertisement for a product? Yes, when we have written book reviews we have been trying to convince or persuade our readers that the book was the best book ever just like a company tries to convince their audience that their product is the best they will ever buy. For this end of year project, you are going to do a book review, but this time it is going to be in the form of an advertisement. You will share your ads with the 3rd graders as a preview for what they will be reading next year and your goal is to get them excited about 4th Grade reading.
You may create an advertisement on paper or online, but you will need to include the elements of a book review no matter which media you choose."
Book Review Checklist
Students will choose their favorite book from the year and begin planning the draft of their advertisement with the checklist as their guide.

The curriculum map is the single-best source to understand the year’s work in the module lessons for each grade level: a detailed view of the scope and sequence of the modules showing module titles, topics, targets, and standards explicitly taught and formally assessed in each module.

In this Roadmap, students will learn how a bill is passed in the U.S. Congress. Learners will start by proposing a law that should be passed. And learners will interview 2 adults who will suggest laws that should be passed.

This lesson was designed as the introductory lesson to a unit where students will decide if they would have built the Michigan railroads based on the way the railroad's development impacted their lives.Student-friendly objectives TLW: analyze, share, and develop a basic background knowledge of the railroads’ impact in Michigan history. TWL: understand and utilize the inquiry process to analyze research data to defend his/her decision to build/ not to build the railroads throughout the state of Michigan.

Introduction to Narrative Writing
WEEK 1, DAY 1
Introduction to Narrative Writing (Initial Assessment of Students’ Independent Writing)
Students will write their narratives with minimal guidance and support from the teacher.
Students will share their writing piece with a partner before they turn it in.
WEEK 1, DAY 2
Learning About Personal Narratives
Students will work in partners or small groups to determine whether texts are narrative or not narrative. Students should be prepared to share why they labeled one text narrative or not narrative.
WEEK 1, DAY 3
Learning to Evaluate Narratives
Chart: Grade 4 Narrative Checklist Sample
WEEK 1, DAY 4
Learning to Write Narratives
Today I am going to show you how to use a graphic organizer to plan a narrative.
WEEK 1, DAY 5
Learning to Write Narratives
Group students in four groups. Two groups will write paragraph 2 and the other two groups will write paragraph 3. It might be helpful, this early in the year, to assign roles (recorder, task manager, time keeper, motivator, etc).

Natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires happen all over the world. Understanding how natural disasters happen and why helps children feel less anxious and more prepared. Therefore, this unit focuses on teaching students the science behind each natural disaster while also explaining what to do if they live in an area prone to a particular natural disaster. Over the course of the unit, students hear about many famous natural disasters, but the unit places more of an emphasis on how the disasters happen rather than exploring the devastation or destruction caused by previous natural disasters. The unit provides many opportunities for students to learn more about recent natural disasters, including a culminating research project.

The texts in this unit were chosen because of their wide variety of text features, content, and accessibility. Over the course of the unit, students will read texts that are very technical and rely heavily on text features, diagrams, and illustrations, as well as texts that are written as informational narratives. Students will be challenged to think about the structures the authors use to help the reader interact with and learn the content. Additionally, students will learn the importance of referring to specific details from the text and using those details to explain and teach back the newly learned material. This unit serves as the foundation for building strong reading habits and routines and setting high expectations for text consumption. Clear models should be included in the unit to help students build a deeper understanding of how to actively read and annotate informational texts for key ideas, text features, and vocabulary. This unit also serves as a launching point for strong discussions. Students will frequently be challenged to debate questions from the text; therefore, strong habits of discussion need to be introduced over the course of the unit.

WEEK 2, DAY 2
Learning to Write Opinions
This week we will focus on opinion writing. Let’s think about the parts included in an opinion piece. The parts we are looking for include: introduce the topic, state the opinion, group related ideas, provide reasons supported by facts and details, groups ideas in paragraphs, link opinions and reasons using words and phrases, provide a concluding statement.
WEEK 2, DAY 3
Learning to Evaluate Opinions
Provide each partner pair with 3 different texts and 3 copies of the checklist—Texts 7–9 or other opinion pieces you have available to you.
Chart: Grade 4 Opinion Checklist Sample
practice evaluating opinion pieces using the checklist with your partner.
Provide each partner pair with 3 different texts and 3 copies of the checklist—Texts 7–9 or other opinion pieces you have available to you.
WEEK 2, DAY 4
Learning to Write Opinions
Today, I am going to show you how I use a graphic organizer to make a plan to write an opinion piece. You already learned how to make one for a narrative; today we’ll make one for an opinion.
WEEK 2, DAY 5
Learning to Write Opinions
Today, I am going to show you how to use the graphic organizer to write a thoroughly written response.
Students will need lined paper for the graphic organizer, a copy of the text for each pair and their written response for this prompt. Leave the graphic organizer and response for reference. Students will work on their graphic organizers and then rewrite their responses.

Based on this model oral history experience, the toolkit includes instructional concepts, ideas, and strategies for use by educators to design a curriculum that reflects their instructional goals and the needs of their students while appreciating Vietnam veterans in their community.

Students will use Google Slides to publish a writing piece with a partner by collaboratively typing their story, adding images to their slides, and creating links for readers to navigate their published book. This activity may take more than one class period.

Week 34, Day 1---Day 5
Cumulative Task: Reading and Writing Identity
"The personal narrative you will be writing will be a reflection of how you have changed as a reader and writer this year. It’s going to be like a year in review, so you will create a mini book as part of the memoir project."
Grade 4 Narrative Checklist Sample
If you have access to technology, students could create a digital book, PowerPoint, or a different digital display.

In this unit, students begin to grapple with the overarching question of how a person develops values, identities, and beliefs while reading the novel Shiloh. Marty, the main character in Shiloh, sees someone mistreating a dog and thinks it’s his right and responsibility to step in to save the dog, even if the dog doesn’t belong to him. His action raises a question for readers about when an individual should step in to take a stand against what he/she believes to be an injustice. His action also causes readers to consider how different people, depending on their values, identities and beliefs, may have different opinions on what constitutes an injustice. Students will be challenged to take a stand on both of these ideas, based on the experiences and opinions of the different characters in Shiloh. Students will also be exposed to the idea of courage, and what it means to show courage, especially in situations where you are standing up for what you believe in. It is our hope that this unit will inspire students to grapple with these questions at a deeper level and understand the power of showing courage to fight for the things they believe in, no matter what obstacles they may face.

Shiloh was chosen as the text for this unit not only because of the powerful themes, but because of the way in which Phyllis Reynolds Naylor artfully develops the setting, characters and plot. In this unit, students will be challenged to think deeply about how the details an author includes help a reader better understand a character’s thoughts and actions. The setting of Shiloh in rural West Virginia in the 1970s allows students to deeply analyze how an author develops setting, and how the setting of a text influences the characters. Finally, students will begin to notice how the point of view of a story influences the way a story is told.

The last core strand of social studies is the one we will be focusing on mostly this year...history! Your studies will be focusing mainly on American history. It is often said that history is written by the victors. Historians must look at everything they can to come to conclusions about what happened in the past. Historians become writers, teachers, public speakers, and public servants in many ways. The following section explains the work of historians and details about their studies.

You recently learned that the 13 colonies did not form overnight. Instead, they started out as small settlements that expanded into colonies. In this Chapter, you will see exactly how those colonies developed into the states they are today.

In this activity, students write an informational piece of writing and read it to their audience on SeeSaw.

EL Education created these K-5 rubrics based on an analysis of the grade-level demands of the CCSS, rubrics used by PARCC and Smarter Balanced, and EL Education's own professional expertise (including attention to the Writing for Understanding framework). The downloads for grades 3-5 includes Writing Rubrics, Informal Checklists, and the Phonics and Word Recognition Checklist.