Goals: The fourth-grade curriculum familiarizes students with the genres they will regularly encounter throughout school—essays and research reports. Students learn that the lenses they bring to reading fiction can also be brought to writing fiction, as they develop believable characters with struggles and motivations and rich stories to tell. Students learn the value of organization and form as they gather evidence to support and express an opinion on topics they know well. They tackle historical research in which they collect evidence and use details to vividly describe people and events long ago and far away. Students build on their learning of essay writing and apply it with increasing sophistication to a unit on literary essays—that is, writing about fiction. Students build on their knowledge and use of figurative language and grammar knowledge to create written work that leaves them feeling proud and accomplished.Curriculum: Units of Study

We hold a daily writing workshop that is designed to offer a simple and predictable environment as teachers focus on the complex work of observing student progress and teaching to their individual needs. 

Daily Routine: Mini-Lesson/Independent Writing/Teacher-Student Conferencing/Share

Grades:

25% Engagement (writing workshop, independent writing, writing process, peer conferencing, application of mini-lessons)

25% Structure (overall, introduction/leads, organization, transitions, conclusion/ending)

25% Development (organization, craft) Craft is the art of writing. It is the writer's intentional use of imagery, details, complex sentences, figurative language, elaboration, etc. to create an effect on the reader.

25% Conventions (edit, punctuation, grammar, spelling, capitalization, word usage)

Spelling: Students focus on spelling patterns & rules and are expected to use their resources to spell correctly on daily work. 

Handwriting: Students review and confidently write in cursive.