Students in grade 4 use their foundational reading and writing skills to strengthen the critical reading and writing skills needed to proficiently read increasingly complex literary and informational texts. They ask relevant, detailed questions and answer inferential questions, using text evidence, summarizing, and engaging in collaborative conversations in diverse groups. Students analyze texts for literary elements and devices, author’s purpose, point of view, and structure, and they provide textual evidence when needed. Students in grade 4 continue to practice the writing process by writing longer narrative, informative, and opinion pieces, using textual evidence in each when required. Students expand their grade-level vocabularies, including analogies, multiple-meaning words, and words with Latin roots, and apply their knowledge of those words as they communicate through speaking and writing. Students in grade 4 recognize and write sentences that include prepositional phrases, possessive pronouns, comparative and superlative adjectives, and quotation marks. They research topics to answer questions or gain knowledge, gathering and organizing relevant information from reliable sources. Students in grade 4 analyze information from different modes and create their own multimodal content using various combinations that best express their ideas or feelings. They strengthen their stamina for longer periods of independent reading and writing and autonomy in choosing what kinds of texts to read or pieces to write.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based framework for improving student learning experiences and outcomes through careful instructional planning focused on the varied needs of all students, including students with visible and non-visible disabilities, advanced and gifted learners, and English learners.

Some general ideas for implementing the UDL lens in an ELA lesson, PK-12, are provided in this chart.

These exemplar lesson plans showcase best practices for English language arts. These lessons are aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards and bundle together multiple objectives to showcase the recursive nature of ELA. Each lesson plan includes helpful explanations about the instructional plan and steps. Teachers can review these sample lessons on their own, with a colleague, and/or with their professional learning community, to reflect on the highlighted ELA practices and how they mesh with their own current classroom practices.

Lesson plans are available for each grade featuring texts from the following genres: fiction, nonfiction, & poetry.

Moreover, an exemplar lesson plan sequence regarding Standard 6 research is available for each grade band.

This suite of writing resources includes:

• student-friendly checklists for the narrative, informative, argumentative, and research modes
• editing checklists for the beginning and middle of the school year
• examples of teacher feedback on student writing
• a peer feedback lesson plan with a slideshow and handout

• Engagement Strategies
• Family Guide
• 4th Grade ELA Standards (pages 53-61)