4th Grade Standards

Key Ideas and Details

• Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
• Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

Literary Organization and Structure

• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).
• Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.
• Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

• Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.
• Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

• By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Fluency

• Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
• Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

WRITING AND LANGUAGE

Text Types and Purposes

• Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Production and Distribution of Writing

• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
• With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

• Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
• Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Range of Writing

• Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Conventions of Standard English

• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Knowledge of Language

• Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

• Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
• Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
• Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g.,wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).

SPEAKING AND LISTENING

Comprehension and Collaboration

• Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
• Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support particular points.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

• Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
• Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
• Differentiate between contexts that call for formal English (e.g., presenting ideas) and situations where informal discourse is appropriate (e.g., small-group discussion); use formal English when appropriate to task and situation.