Our Fourth Grade Reading Series

Our Fourth Grade Reading Series

Reading Street by Scott Foresman

August 2009

Dear Parents,

Greetings from your fourth grade reading teach ers, Mr. Cole and Mrs. McKissick. We’re very exc ited to introduce you to our reading series adopted by our administration. There are six levels within one text book. Each level is filled with excellent stories, some of which will by very familiar to your child…for example, our first story will be an excerpt from Because of Winn Dixie.

We’d like to provide you with an outline of concepts that will be stressed during the first half o f the school year and give you s ome “helpful hints” for study habits at home.

The concepts will be challenging, but w ith a school/home connection, we feel your child will be a successful re ader this year. First of all , we will be stressing the genre (type of reading selection) of each story. Your child will be writing each week’s reading genre in his/her reading log.

I. Genres for Stories

a. Realistic Fiction- a story that is fictional, but characters are believable and events that happen are things that could happen in real life.

b. Historical Fantasy-combines both historic events that really happened and fantastic events that could not possibly happen.

c. Historical Fiction-realistic fiction that takes place in the past and may include real people.

d. Modern Fairy Tale-short story with magical characters and events.

e. Narrative Nonfiction-information about true events in a specific sequence, often in chronological order.

f. Fiction- stories about events that are possible, but not necessarily probable.

g. Play- focuses on a dialogue and stage directions that is to be performed.

h. Biography- story of a person’s life as told by another person.

i. Expository nonfiction-writing about real people, facts and events in order to explain something.

II. Author’s Purpose

a. An author’s purpose is the author’s reason or reasons for writing.

b. Four common reasons for writing are to persuade, inform, entertain or to express ideas or feelings.

c. More than one purpose can be written within the same story.

d. Considering the author’s purpose helps the reader adjust his/her reading rate. If the story is meant to entertain, the reader may read quickly, but if the purpose is to explain how something works, the reader may wish to slow down and read carefully.

III. Fluency-one minute timed reading will be given individually as often as possible-paying close attention to one of the following skills. Practice of reading will be done in large group, modeling by teacher, choral reading, and partner reading.

a. tone of voice- to add emotion to words.

b. Pauses-natural stopping points in text. (after commas, sentences)

c. tempo and rate- good readers slow down at more difficult passages, group sentences that go together, and elongate pauses before new ideas.

d. volume-lowering and raising your voice during reading will make the story interesting and lively, and create mood of story.

e. phrasing-grouping related words in a meaningful way.

f. rhythmic patterns of language- patterns of sound in speech or writing.

g. emotion-ability to change pace, tone, pitch or volume

h. stress/emphasis-allows listeners to more easily understand the information in the text.

i. characterization/dialogue-changing your tone, pitch or volume to go with a character makes the dialogue more interesting and more read to life.

j. Pitch-adding expression to your voice by raising or lowering it.

k. Punctuation clues-punctuation within text guides readers-it shows reader where to pause, change inflection, and express emotion.

IV. Reading Comprehension- will be tested weekly with a selection test for each story.

a. sequence- order of events

b. cause and effect-cause tells why something happened and an effect tells what happened.

c. Main idea- most important point about story’s topic. Supporting details give support to main idea.

d. Story structure- how the story begins, how it builds through the middle and how it ends.

e. Fact and opinion- statements of facts can be proved true or false, and opinions tell about a person’s beliefs, feelings, or way of thinking that cannot be proved true or false.

f. Graphic organizers- charts, webs, diagrams or lists that help to organize reader’s thoughts before, during and/or after reading.

g. Prior knowledge-what the reader already knows about a subject. Good readers us their prior knowledge to help them understand what they read.

h. Draw conclusions- forming an opinion based on what you already know or on the facts and details in the text.

i. Compare and contrast- understanding similarities and differences among characters and settings within a text or between different texts.

j. Generalize- a generalization is a broad statement or rule that applies to many examples. A generalization bay be valid or faulty.

k. Monitor and fix up- when reading, you may realize you’ve forgotten what you just read. When this happens, go back through the text and skim. Skimming the text is also a good strategy for locating facts and opinions.

l. Answering Questions- can help support conclusions drawn during reading. Answers can be found in text, but often the reader needs to combine details with prior knowledge.

m. Predict- the ability to think about hat is going to happen next is predicting. Good readers predict. Patterns in the information in a graph or chart can help you predict.

n. Visualize- visualizing, or forming mental pictures, can help you understand ideas, information, and generalizations in what you read.

V. Vocabulary

a. word structure: when you are reading and see an unfamiliar word, you can look at the end of the word to help you figure out the meaning. The base word, the word without the ending will also help you understand the meaning.

b. Glossary: when you are reading, you may come across a word whose meaning you know, but that meaning doesn’t make sense in the sentence. This word may have more than one meaning. A dictionary or glossary will help you figure out the correct meaning.

c. Context clues: Sometimes when you are reading you see an unfamiliar word. The author may use a synonym for the word to help you understand its meaning. A synonym has almost the same meaning as the unfamiliar word.

VI. Writing- each week we will focus on a “trait of the week” in writing. Students will have several writing experiences each week that correlate with story. Examples will be given by the textbook and teacher.

a. word choice- good writers choose their words carefully. Strong verbs, specific nouns, and vivid adjectives help writers elaborate on their ideas. Well chosen words make writing clear and lively.

b. Sentences- good writers express their thought in lively, varied sentences. Sentences that have a natural flow as well as vary in structure and length create a rhythm and style.

c. Voice- good writers have a strong voice- a personality that comes through in the tone and style of their writing. Voice shows that the writer knows and cares about a topic. A strong voice speaks directly to the reader and keeps their attention.

d. Focus/ideas- good writers focus on a main idea and develop this idea with strong supporting details.

e. Conventions- special rules for written language. Signals that writers use to make their meaning clear to readers. (punctuation, spelling)

f. Organization/paragraphs-good writers organize their writing. They write in an order that will help readers understand what they have to say and show connections among their ideas.

VII. Grammar- practiced through activities and worksheets

a. declarative sentences- tells something that ends in a period.

b. Interrogative sentence- asks a question and ends with a question mark.

c. Imperative sentence- gives a command or makes a request, usually begins with a verb and ends with a period.

d. Exclamatory sentence- shows strong feeling or surprise and ends with an exclamation mark.

e. Subjects/predicate- subject is the part of the sentence that tells whom or what the sentence is about. The predicate is the part of the sentence that tells what the subject is or does.

f. Compound sentences-made up of two simple sentences joined by a comma and a connecting word such as and, but, or or . The two simple sentences most have ideas that make sense together.

g. Clauses and complex sentences- a clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb. A dependent clause can not stand alone as a sentence, where as an independent clause may do so. A sentence made up of a dependent clause and an independent clause is a complex sentence.

h. Common and proper nouns. Common noun is a person, place or thing. A proper noun names a particular person, place or thing. Proper nouns begin with capital letters.

i. Regular plural nouns- name more than one person, place or thing, often formed by adding –s or –es.

j. Irregular plural nouns- has a special form for the plural.

k. Singular possessive nouns- shows that one person, place or thing has or owns something- adding an apostrophe and the letter s to a singular noun to make it possessive.

l. Plural possessive nouns- shows that something is owned or shared by more than one person, place or thing.

m. Irregular verbs- usually –ed is added to base words to show past tense. Irregular verbs d o not follow this rule. Instead of having –ed forms to show past tense, irregular verbs change to other words.

n. Past, present, and future tenses- the tense of a verb tells when an action happens. A verb in the present tense tells about action that is happening now. A verb in the past tense tells about action that has already happened. A verb in the future tense tells about action that will happen in the future.

o. Subject-verb agreement- the subject and verb in a sentence must work together, or agree. To make most present tense verbs agree with singular nouns or he, she, or it, add –s or –es. If the subject is a plural noun or I, you, we or they, the present tense verb does not end in –s.

p. Main and helping verbs- a verb that has more than one word is called a verb phrase. A verb phrase is made up of a main verb and one or more helping verbs. The main verb shows action. The helping verb or verbs tell more about the action.

q. Action and linking verbs- the main word in the predicate of a sentence is a verb. Words that show action are called action verbs. Most verbs show actions you can see. Liking verbs do not show actions. Linking verbs tell what the subject is or what the subject is like.

*Your chil d will be given worksheets along with daily lessons to reinforce and practice the grammar skills.

VII: Spelling-each week a list of 20 words that correlate with the week’s text and a given phonic skill will be the focus of a daily lesson with an as sessment on the fifth day. Spelling lists will be provided each Friday for the following week. Daily worksheets will be given as “morning work” when your child arrives prior to the morning announcements. These worksheets will be sent home each day.

a. short vowel vccv

b. long and i

c. long e and o

d. long e

e. long u sounds

f. adding s and es

g. irregular plurals

h. words with ar, or

i. consonant pairs ng, nk, ph, wh

j. words with ear, ir, our, ur

k. adding –ed and –ing

l. homphones

m. vowel sound in “shout”

n. compound words

o. possessives

VIII: Homework

a. Each child is expected to read the weekly story/stories from the text on a nightly basis.

b. Each child is expected to practice spelling words from weekly list on a daily basis.

c. There will be writing prompts that will started in class that will need to be completed at home on occasion. Grammar or Practice Book pages may also be assigned for homework. All of these assignments are to be written in plan books. Homework can be taken as an assessment without notice.

d. AR points for the first nine weeks- 2

AR points for the second and third nine weeks -3

AR points for the fourth nine weeks-4

Failure to complete these requirements will result in a loss of recess until the goal is met. An AR grade will be given as part of your child’s Language Arts Grade at the end of each marking period.

IX: Studying at home

Having a good Study Place is important for good studying.

a. Is my Study Place available to me whenever I need it?

b. Is my Study Place free from interruptions?

c. Is my Study Place free from distractions?

d. Does my Study Place contain all the study materials I need?

e. Does my Study Space contain a large enough desk or table space?

f. Does my Study Place have a comfortable chair?

g. Does my Study Place have enough light?

h. Does my Study Place have a comfortable temperature?

i. Post attached charts at your child’s study area for reference.

VIII. Preparing for PSSA

a. The Pennsylvania State Test in Reading and Writing will take place in the spring of 2010 .

b. Our new reading series is aligned with all of the eligible content that will be on the state test.

c. We will also take practice/sample tests at least 1 or 2 times a month, so your child will feel comfortable with the set-up of the test.

It is our hope that this summary of your child’s fourth grade reading curriculum will be helpful for you at home. We are including a few charts that may be handy to post near your child’s study area, so they can be used as a reference. We thank you in advance for being partners in education with us, so that your child will have the most successful experience possible at Laurel Elementary this year. If we don’t have the opportunity to say “Welcome to Fourth Grade” to you before school begins, we will look forward to meeting you at OPEN HOUSE.

Sincerely,

Todd Cole and Brenda McKissick

Fourth Grade Reading/Language Arts Teachers

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