English Language Arts Grade 4
Educational Links

Writing Standard 5

With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language Standards 1-3 up to including grade 4.)

• Can You Haiku?
  Haiku show us the world in a water drop, providing a tiny lens through which to glimpse the miracle and mystery of life. Combining close observation with a moment of reflection, this simple yet highly sophisticated form of poetry can help sharpen students' response to language and enhance their powers of self-expression. In this lesson, students learn the rules and conventions of haiku, study examples by Japanese masters, and create haiku of their own.
• Delicious, Tasty, Yummy: Enriching Writing with Adjectives and Synonyms
  Students' vocabulary is expanded and their writing is enriched when they are encouraged to use a variety of adjectives to help readers "see, taste, and feel" what they've written. In this lesson for grades 3 and 4, picture books are used as a springboard for helping students define, identify, and practice using adjectives and synonyms. They develop webbed lists and then put their new vocabulary skills to use by writing form poems.
• Peace Poems and Picasso Doves
  This lesson, from ReadWriteThink, supports third-grade students as they apply think-aloud strategies to reading, as well as to the composition of artwork and poetry. Activities include collaborative as well as individual work. Technology tools are integrated as students research symbols of peace and as they prewrite, compose, and publish their poetry.
• Using Picture Books to Teach Characterization
  This ReadWriteThink lesson invites students to examine the craft of developing characters through focused experiences with pictures books. Through the careful analysis of character portrayal using the text and illustrations as cues, and online tools such as the ReadWriteThink Story Map, students have the opportunity to build bridges from their own experiences as readers to those skills needed as writers.
• Writing and Assessing an Autobiographical Incident
  In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students will build upon their knowledge of biographies to write their own autobiographical incident. Students will be given a rubric and shown several examples. They will then complete the writing process and share their autobiographies with the class.
• Writing Den Topics
  Students choose a topic that interests them. They then select to read about words, sentences, or paragraphs about the topic and then take a short quiz to check comprehension.

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http://www.uen.org - in partnership with Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and Utah System of Higher Education (USHE).  Send questions or comments to USBE Specialist - Sara  Wiebke and see the Language Arts - Elementary website. For general questions about Utah's Core Standards contact the Director - Jennifer  Throndsen.

These materials have been produced by and for the teachers of the State of Utah. Copies of these materials may be freely reproduced for teacher and classroom use. When distributing these materials, credit should be given to Utah State Board of Education. These materials may not be published, in whole or part, or in any other format, without the written permission of the Utah State Board of Education, 250 East 500 South, PO Box 144200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200.