Curriculum / ELA / 4th Grade / Unit 2: Preparing for the Worst: Natural Disasters / Lesson 20
ELA
Unit 2
4th Grade
Lesson 20 of 22
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Write a short narrative about a young person dealing with a natural disaster.
Book: Unforgettable Natural Disasters (TIME FOR KIDS Nonfiction Readers) by Tamara Hollingsworth
Book: Hurricanes by Seymour Simon
Book: Wildfires by Seymour Simon
Book: Earthquakes by Seymour Simon
Book: Volcanoes by Seymour Simon
Rubric: Grade 4 Narrative Writing Rubric
Template: Narrative Brainstorming Template
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Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved
Write an account of a young person dealing with a natural disaster. Your story should:
An example response to the Target Task at the level of detail expected of the students.
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L.4.1.f — Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-ons.
L.4.2.a — Use correct capitalization.
L.4.2.b — Use commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and quotations from a text.
SL.4.1 — 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.
W.4.3 — Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.4.3.a — Orient the reader by establishing a situationand introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
W.4.3.b — Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
W.4.3.c — Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events.
W.4.5 — With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
W.4.8 — Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.4.6 — 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).
RI.4.1 — Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.4.5 — Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
W.4.4 — Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1—3 above.)
W.4.9 — Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
W.4.10 — 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.
Lesson 19
Lesson 21
Explain what a natural disaster is and why it is important to know if a natural disaster is imminent.
RI.4.3 RI.4.5 RI.4.7
Explain where and how volcanoes occur using the words "plates," "magma," and "erupt."
Explain what happened when Mount St. Helens erupted and the destruction it caused.
Describe what makes Hawaiian volcanoes unique.
Describe the four different types of volcanoes.
Writing – 2 days
Write a well-structured paragraph that explains where and how volcanoes occur and what hazards they create.
W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.e
Explain where and why earthquakes occur.
Explain why a person living in Boston is significantly less likely to experience an earthquake than a person in California.
RI.4.3 RI.4.5
Describe the tools scientists use to measure earthquakes and why one form of measurement is not enough for measuring earthquakes.
Writing
Write a well-structured paragraph that explains where and how earthquakes occur and what hazards they create.
W.4.2
Explain the type of damage and destruction caused by flooding.
Describe where and how hurricanes occur.
Describe the destruction caused by each category of hurricane.
Explain how you know when a hurricane is coming and what you should do if you are in the path of a hurricane.
Write a well-structured paragraph that explains where and how hurricanes occur and what hazards they create.
Explain what happened during the Yellowstone fires of 1988 and the impact the fires had on the park.
Analyze why wildfires are neither good nor bad.
RI.4.3
Write a well-structured paragraph that explains where and how wildfires occur and what hazards they create.
Explain other types of natural disasters and what to do to prepare for or prevent them.
Narrative Writing – 4 days
L.4.1.f L.4.2.a L.4.2.b SL.4.1 W.4.3 W.4.3.a W.4.3.b W.4.3.c W.4.5 W.4.8
Assessment
Writing – 5 days
Research and report on a recent natural disaster.
L.4.1.f W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.e W.4.7 W.4.8
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