Preparing for the Worst: Natural Disasters
ELA
Unit 2
4th Grade
Lesson 23 of 24
These assessments accompany this unit to help gauge student understanding of key unit content and skills.
Content Assessment
The Content Assessment pushes students to synthesize unit content knowledge or unit essential questions in writing. The Content Assessment should be used as the primary assessment because it shows mastery of unit content knowledge and standards. This assessment should take approximately one class period.
Cold Read Assessment
The Cold Read Assessment tests students' ability to comprehend a "cold" or unfamiliar passage and answer standards-based questions. The Cold Read Assessment can be given in addition to the Content Assessment as a pulse point for what students can read and analyze independently, a skill often required for standardized testing. This assessment should take approximately one class period.
Fluency Assessment
The Fluency Assessment allows teachers to monitor students' oral reading fluency progress with a reading passage drawn from one of the unit's core texts. The Fluency Assessment should be given at the end of a unit. Teachers should plan to pull students one-on-one to do this while the rest of the class is independently reading or writing. Find additional guidance for using this assessment and supporting reading fluency in Teacher Tools.
Lesson 22
Lesson 24
Lesson Map
Write two paragraphs that describe the causes and effects of volcanic eruptions.
- Volcanoes
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Two Paragraph Outline
Use details from a text to support a main idea.
- Volcanoes pp. 26–32
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Two Paragraph Outline
Standards
W.4.2.aW.4.2.bW.4.4
Use details from a text to support a main idea.
- Volcanoes pp. 26–32
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Two Paragraph Outline
Standards
W.4.2.aW.4.2.b
Write a short narrative about a young person dealing with a natural disaster.
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Earthquakes
- Volcanoes
- Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric (G4, U2, L12)
- Narrative Writing Rubric (G4)
- Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
- Temporal Words and Phrases Mentor Text (G4, U2, L12)
Brainstorm ideas for a story by identifying the setting, character, and conflict.
- Earthquakes
- Volcanoes
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
Standards
W.4.3W.4.3.aW.4.5W.4.8
Orient the reader at the start of a story by including specific setting details.
- Earthquakes
- Volcanoes
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric (G4, U2, L12)
- Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
Standards
W.4.3W.4.3.aW.4.5
Show a narrator's thoughts and feelings through dialogue and description.
- Earthquakes
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Volcanoes
- Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric (G4, U2, L12)
- Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
Standards
W.4.3W.4.3.aW.4.3.bW.4.3.cW.4.5
Transitional words and phrases are used to show the sequence of events in a story.
- Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric (G4, U2, L12)
- Editing Checklist 1 (G4, U2)
- Temporal Words and Phrases Mentor Text (G4, U2, L12)
Standards
L.4.1.bW.4.3W.4.3.aW.4.3.bW.4.3.cW.4.5
Research and report on a recent natural disaster.
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Hurricanes
- Wildfires
- Earthquakes
- Volcanoes
- Informational Writing Rubric (G4)
- Two Paragraph Outline
- Research Brainstorming Template (G4, U2, L24)
- Research Materials — Various research resources, depending on the natural disaster
Generate questions that are broad, not boring, about a chosen topic.
- Research Brainstorming Template (G4, U2, L24)
Standards
W.4.7
Take notes and categorize relevant information from print and digital sources.
- Research Brainstorming Template (G4, U2, L24)
- Research Materials — Various research resources, depending on the natural disaster
Standards
W.4.7W.4.8
Generate a strong topic sentence for each paragraph by using the notes to determine the main idea of each paragraph.
- Single Point Research Rubric (G4, U2, L24)
- Two Paragraph Outline — students may need more than one copy if they decide to draft more than two paragraphs
- Research Brainstorming Template (G4, U2, L24) — completed previous day
Standards
W.4.2.aW.4.2.bW.4.2.eW.4.7
Include facts and details to develop a topic.
- Single Point Research Rubric (G4, U2, L24)
- Two Paragraph Outline
Standards
W.4.2W.4.2.aW.4.2.bW.4.2.eW.4.7
Delete unnecessary information that obscures meaning.
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Editing Checklist 2 (G4, U2)
Standards
SL.4.1W.4.5
Text features reinforce the main idea of a text.
- Unforgettable Natural Disasters
- Hurricanes
- Wildfires
- Earthquakes
- Volcanoes
- Single Point Research Rubric (G4, U2, L24)
- Informational Writing Rubric (G4)
Standards
SL.4.1W.4.2.a
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