Computer Technology Skills — Grade 4

Area and perimeter unit

This unit will introduce and practice the concepts of area and perimeter. This unit uses resources of Shodor Education Foundation, Inc. Permission has been granted for the use of the materials as part of the workshop “Interactivate Your Bored Math Students.”

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Computer Technology Skills and Mathematics)

By Bonnie Boaz.

Avast Ye Mateys - Learning about BlackBeard the Pirate

Using both print and Internet sources, students will explore a collection of information associated with Pirates and Blackbeard, in conjunction with their studies of North Carolina History. Students will explore and read a variety of books from the library and will access a controlled collection of websites regarding Blackbeard the Pirate within to complete a Scavenger Hunt. Scavenger Hunt can be completed as a group in the computer lab, or independently on classroom computers.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Information Skills, English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Kathy Beck.

Blackbeard: The Most Feared Pirate of the Atlantic

Students will acquire information about Blackbeard through primary resources and apply their knowledge to create a newspaper article concerning his life.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Information Skills, English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Carol Holden and Tanya Klanert.

Catalog display for The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Carlson

This project is a culminating activity for the novel The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson. Rather than writing the traditional book report, students will create a catalog of items, characters, places, themes, ideas, etc. from the novel. The students will create the catalog on the computer.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Computer Technology Skills)

By Jane Hudson.

Connecting Folktales and Culture in North Carolina and Beyond

Students will explore connections to North Carolina culture as they engage in reading and analyzing three folktales of North Carolina Literary Festival author, William Hooks. After comparing these stories to other versions of the traditional tales, students will become authors and storytellers themselves as they rewrite a tale from a new cultural point of view. Opportunities are also included to extend this study to world cultures and folktales.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 8 English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Jeanne Munoz.

County government in North Carolina

Students will become familiar with aspects of county government in North Carolina.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Social Studies and Computer Technology Skills)

By Teachers Connect.

"Kid-Created" Biographies

In this lesson plan, the students will create biographies on the people they know best-- their teachers! The students will use various skills to collect information, organize details, publish the biographies and present the information.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Gregg Farr, Lynn Beatty, and Tricia Freeze.

Learn about your county

This activity will allow fourth grade students in North Carolina to learn more about the counties that surround their home county. Using online images, students will create a multimedia presentation to share with others.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Computer Technology Skills, Social Studies, and English Language Arts)

By Clarice Poovey.

North Carolina Regional Travel Brochure

The students will cooperatively design travel brochures that describe major physical and cultural characteristics of the regions in North Carolina.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts, Visual Arts Education, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Deborah Harrell.

Quilts

This lesson plan in designed to be one part of a fourth grade social studies unit on the Appalachian Mountains. It is based on the mountain custom of quilt making. This plan uses the book The Quiltmakers Gift by Jeff Brumbeau. It also uses the book internet site and other related sites. Enrichments of this lesson would be to display quilts, have a real quilt maker visit, have the class create their own paper quilt, etc.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Barbara Waters.

Researching the North Carolina coastal plain

This lesson plan will provide students with a more in-depth knowledge of the animals, industry, and land geography of the coastal plain. Students will conduct research on the internet and in other resources to find information on the vital parts of the coastal plain. The lesson culminates with group presentations of their research and a Venn diagram developed individually comparing the outer and inner parts of the coastal plain.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts, Social Studies, English Language Development, Computer Technology Skills, and Science)

By Ana Sanders and Heather Ennis.

Slipsliding poetry

Students will work with a partner to write an original piece of poetry to express information learned about the rain forest and an animal that lives in that habitat. Students will share their poems by creating a multimedia slide show.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Angela Hodges.

Sweet Potato Fun

These activities allow students to gain knowledge of the North Carolina state vegetable and have fun while doing it! Activities include describing, analyzing and comparing facts about sweet potatoes, creative writing and dramatization, taste testing and completing an online scavenger hunt.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Computer Technology Skills)

By Amy Luna and Kathy Beck.

Lesson plans on the web

Chinese instruments

Students identify and classify Western instruments and traditional Chinese instruments. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–4 English Language Arts and Computer Technology Skills)

Provider: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

More Amazing Americans: A WebQuest

Students use the web to explore the lives of some celebrated Americans. Working in small groups, they complete a WebQuest, identifying facts and locating different types of information in order to determine the criteria used for selecting these “Amazing Americans.” (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Computer Technology Skills, Information Skills, Social Studies, and English Language Arts)

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

Pioneer America: Pioneer living

After reading about pioneers in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, students conduct independent research on one aspect of pioneer life. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts, Theatre Arts Education, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)

Provider: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Research building blocks: Skim, scan, and scroll

Students read informational text, looking for supporting details. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Computer Technology Skills)

Provider: IRA/NCTE