English Language Arts — Grade 4

Resources on the web

Voting! What's it all about?

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students both listen to information read aloud from a variety of sources and read from fiction and nonfiction books. Students explore information from current sources including child-oriented websites, newspapers, and... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Trees in art and nature

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students use the art of Vincent van Gogh as a point of reference to learn about trees by comparing those in Van Gogh's paintings to those in nature. After learning about the botany of trees, students create leaf rubbings as a culminating... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and Science)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Thundering tall tales: Using read-aloud as a springboard to writing

This lesson from ReadWriteThink is intended for the end of a unit on tall tales. It uses the book Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen to reinforce the common elements, or text structure, of tall tales. As the text is read aloud, students examine... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Seasonal haiku: Writing poems to celebrate any season

After students are familiar with the parts of speech, they work in groups to create lists of words that describe seasons. The teacher then reads aloud several examples of haiku poetry. Using the lists of seasonal descriptive words, students write their... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Question and answer books—From genre study to report writing

Students explore question and answer books in this lesson to determine how the format and content of this genre is different from narrative texts. After the teacher finishes a read-aloud of two question and answer books that are different in content, students... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Poetry: A feast to form fluent readers

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students examine elements of fluent reading through oral poetry performance. They use the Internet to identify a poem to prepare and perform for the class. The main objective of this lesson concerns improving fluency. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Once upon a time rethought: Writing fractured fairy tales

Students listen to fairy tales, identify common characteristics, and select a fairy tale to be re-written in this lesson. After a discussion of familiar fairy tales and the elements that are required for a story to be a part of this genre, students group... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Myth and Truth: Independence Day

Most Americans think of the Fourth of July as Independence Day, but is it really the day the United States declared its independence? This ReadWriteThink lesson explores all the dates and stories associated with the Declaration of Independence, focusing... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

More Amazing Americans: A WebQuest

In this EDSITEment lesson plan, students use the “Meet Amazing Americans” website created by the Library of Congress to explore the lives of some celebrated Americans. Working in small groups, they complete a WebQuest, identifying facts and... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: EDSITEment

Masks and Aesop's fables

This ARTSEDGE lesson is based on a study of Aesop's Fables. Although Aesop's fables are over 2,600 years old, the stories—and their morals—are still relevant today. In this lesson, students learn a fable, make simple masks, and retell the fable... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–4 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

The magical world of Russian fairy tales

This EDSITEment lesson focuses on several imaginative and exciting Russian fairy tales. Students review some of the common fairy tale elements that are present within these stories, which also may remind them of more familiar European fairy tales. Students... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Looking for the history in historical fiction: An epidemic for reading

This lesson from ReadWriteThink helps students better understand the genre of historical fiction and its uses in understanding history. Students read historical fiction on a particular topic, and then research nonfiction information on the same topic. They... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Literature as a jumping off point for nonfiction inquiry

Students explore the topic of water in this lesson that is conducted after reading Tuck Everlasting. After reading the book, students discuss examples of the themes that are present in the book. Then, the teacher challenges... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Letter poems deliver: Experimenting with line breaks in poetry writing

Students learn to demonstrate their understanding of line breaks and how format creates dramatic effect by writing their own letter poems. As a whole class, students use the Letter Poem Interactive tool, which demonstrates how to turn a letter into a poem... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

It came from Greek mythology

This page contains six EDSITEment lessons based around teaching Greek mythology. Students will study basic plots of three Greek myths and discuss three types of themes in Greek myths. They will also explore contemporary uses of terms from Greek mythology... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

Provided by: EDSITEment

How-to writing: Motivating students to write for a real purpose

In this activity, third grade students participate in a “how-to” writing assignment and focus on the importance of audience. The teacher introduces the genre of writing by engaging students in an activity where they scan instruction manuals... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Historical fiction: Using literature to learn about the Civil War

In this lesson, the teacher reads aloud a section of Connie Porter's Meet Addy, a book from The American Girls Collection® that tells the story of a young girl who escapes from slavery during... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Great American inventors: Using nonfiction to learn about technology inventions

Students read, gather, and present information about famous American inventors including Alexander Graham Bell, George Washington Carver, and Stephanie Kwolek in this lesson. After the teacher introduces three famous inventors, students work in groups to... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

A Genre Study of Letters with "The Jolly Postman"

In this ReadWriteThink lesson, The Jolly Postman is used as an authentic example to discuss letter writing as a genre. Students explore the letters to the storybook characters delivered by The Jolly Postman They then learn how... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Fairy tales from life

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students will read fairy tales and identify common elements. Choosing common situations and working in small groups, students will draw storyboards of their fairy tale and then write the fairy tale. Project will conclude... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink