The fourth grade writing curriculum is based on Lucy Calkin's work from the Teacher's College of Reading and Writing. We draw from this program to implement a very comprehensive writing program that encapsulates 4 main genres of study. We launch our first writing genre with a Narrative/fiction piece, then to Opinion /Persuasive writing, followed by Informational and lastly the Literary Essay. Each unit of study involves pre-writing /generating ideas, drafting, revision/editing and finally publishing.
Phonics & Word Study
The term word study refers to learning everything about a word, including it's spelling, meaning, pronunciation, origin and relationship with other words. Understanding common prefixes and suffixes, and Greek and Latin roots can aid students in decoding a word and determining its meaning. Through explicit instruction, word games, cooperative learning and many other instructional practices and strategies, students are learning to tackle multisyllabic words and improve their fluency and comprehension.
Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. The fourth grade vocabulary curriculum involves using a variety of direct and indirect methods of vocabulary instruction. Our word learning strategies include dictionary use- looking up the meaning, talking about the meaning and making sense of the meaning. Creating a sentence, illustrating and coming up with synonyms and antonyms are all part of this strategy. Incidental vocabulary instruction is another practice often used in our classroom. Reading on their own, listening to books read aloud to them are other ways to enrich their vocabulary. Fostering word consciousness (building an awareness and interest) and providing multiple exposure are other practices we use to improve student learning.