Reading/Language Arts Syllabus:

Prerequisites: Successful completion of Reading/English Language Arts 3

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TEXT: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Into Reading Grade 4

Course Description:

This course is designed to prepare all students to be on track for college and career readiness by the time they graduate from high school.  All lessons are aligned to the Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards for English Language Arts.  The standards establish guidelines for English Language Arts teachers to ensure students at each grade level are taught the necessary skills to become critical readers and writers.  

In this course, students will be required to read a variety of complex texts including stories, literature, and informational texts that provide facts and background knowledge on topics related to science and social studies. They will be asked questions that require them to refer back to what they have read and support their answers with reasoning and evidence from the text. Students will also be required to write for a variety of purposes such as narratives, opinion and explanatory information pieces.  They will also engage in collaborative conversations with peers and demonstrate a command of formal English both in writing and speaking.  These expectations will develop the critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills every student needs to be a literate person who is prepared for success in the 21st century.

Each student is expected to read for at least 20 minutes daily and complete homework assignments and independent projects as assigned.

GOALS:

Students will:

• Read a balance of informational and literary texts.

• Read complex text from a variety of topics such as science and social studies.

• Read text that will increase in complexity.

• Gather and cite text evidence to engage in rich and rigorous conversations and written responses about text.

• Write using multiple sources to state an opinion and create an organizational structure that supports the writer’s purpose, write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences.

• Use grammar and conventions, writing strategies, and all aspects of foundational academic vocabulary skills effectively when writing and speaking.

Elementary Reading and Oral and Written Communication

(Grades 2-5)

Overview: The goal of grading and reporting is to provide the students with feedback that reflects their progress toward the mastery of the Maryland College and Career Ready Standards (MCCRS) found in the Reading Curriculum Instructional Maps.

Fourth Grade Yearlong View

Key English Language Arts Literacy Shifts

Parents’ Guide

The Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) describe varieties of expertise that ELA educators at all levels should seek to develop in their students.  Below are recommended suggestions of what parents can do to support their child in developing the critical skills to become college and career-ready.

1. Read as much non-fiction as fiction.

• Encourage your child to read more non-fiction text independently.

• Promote independent reading for at least 20 minutes a day (25 books per year).

• Read non-fiction texts aloud or with your child

• Initiate discussions about the details of the non-fiction text.

2. Learn about the world by reading.

• Provide opportunities for your child to build knowledge through reading about topics of interest.

• Provide opportunities for students to explore careers across all fields.

• Initiate discussion about these topics.

3. Read more challenging material closely.

• Encourage your child to read more challenging texts.

• Encourage your child to reread for understanding.

• Know your child’s reading level and provide a balance of challenging and just right text.

• Encourage your child to keep trying even when the text gets harder.

4. Discuss reading using evidence.

• Initiate discussions about text.

• Require your child to support their claims and disagreements with evidence.

• Encourage students to question and challenge information they read.

• Read the same book and discuss by citing evidence from the text.

• Encourage students to use supportive evidence as they write about their thinking.

5. Write non-fiction using evidence.

• Encourage your child to write in journals, letters, reading responses, notes, use of Blogs or Wikis for writing, creative writing of stories/ plays/ lyrics/ poems; research projects about topics of interest.

• Explore careers that require writing skills such as journalism, script writing, advertising, book or movie critics, authors, sports magazine writers, lawyers, television, etc. 

• Compare and contrast writings on the same topic written by a variety of authors. 

6. Increase academic vocabulary.

• Read non-fiction text about science, social studies and other topics.

• Discuss the meaning of difficult vocabulary words and how they are used in the text.

• Help increase your child’s spoken and written academic vocabulary through word games, discussions, media, videos, student-made vocabulary notebooks, online word searches, etc.