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Believing in Yourself: The Wild Book
Students explore the difficulties of having a learning disability and how that influences a person's self-image, enabling them to see the world as a diverse place, by reading the core text The Wild Book.
ELA
Unit 4
4th Grade
Unit Summary
In this unit, students explore the difficulties of having a learning disability and how a learning disability influences the way a person feels about themselves by reading the core text, The Wild Book. Throughout the unit, students are challenged to think about multiple thematic topics—believing in ourselves, accepting differences, and persevering through challenges. Exploring these themes allows students to develop a deeper appreciation for people's unique differences and struggles and learn to accept everyone for their strengths. It is our goal that this unit, combined with others in the curriculum, helps students see the world as a diverse place, not just in terms of race but also in terms of abilities, and that, no matter what, everyone has unique strengths and can be successful.
The text, The Wild Book, is chosen not only for its powerful themes but because Margarita Engle, the award-winning Latina author, uses verse to bring to life a difficult historical period in Cuba. The book tells the story of Margarita Engle's grandmother, who grew up in Cuba during a time of lawlessness. Margarita Engle tells her grandmother's story in a way that helps readers build empathy and understanding of the hardships our ancestors may have faced. Simultaneously, students also see the power of poetry and its influence on Cuban culture in the early 20th century. Students see that despite the hardships the country faced, it was also a place of artistic beauty.
This unit challenges students to deeply analyze how authors develop themes within individual poems and also across a longer work. Students analyze how characters are developed, how word choice and imagery are used to bring power and meaning to different verses, and how the author uses varying experiences to reveal themes. Doing deep text analysis of the poems on an individual level and also on a broader level helps students understand the power of the various themes and how the author develops them.
Students also explore the setting, noticing how the setting of a story, in this case, Cuba in 1912, influences the way characters behave, foreshadows events, and provides a window into the society where the character lives. In previous units, students focused on sharing and elaborating on their own ideas when discussing the text. In this unit, students begin to build on their classmates' ideas, seeking to genuinely understand what their peers are saying by asking questions, adding on, or engaging in multiple exchanges.
Students continue to build their writing fluency by writing daily in response to the Target Task and continue to work on crafting opinion and literary analysis paragraphs, focusing on writing strong topic sentences, picking reasons, and using different strategies to elaborate on those reasons. Students engage with multiple genres of writing by completing an opinion project that uses their new knowledge of dyslexia to defend a position, an informational project that allows them to choose a topic and deepen their understanding of learning disabilities, and a narrative project that challenges them to write a continuation of one of the unit stories.
Please Note: As of October 2025, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. A new informational writing project has been added. This unit is now 31 instructional days (previously 25 days). Teachers should pay close attention as they intellectually prepare to account for the updated pacing, sequencing, and content.
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Texts and Materials
Some of the links in the sections below are Bookshop affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.
Core Texts
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Book: The Wild Book by Margarita Engle (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2014) — 1050L
Supporting Texts
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Video: “What is Dyslexia?” by TED-Ed
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Article: “Capitol Journal: Newsom's struggles with dyslexia prompt a 'very personal' quest to fund early screening” by George Skelton (The Los Angeles Times)
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Article: “After setbacks, dyslexia screening for young students moves forward in California schools” by Carolyn Jones (EdSource)
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Excerpt: “Excerpts from Fish in a Tree” from Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
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Excerpt: “Excerpts from Out of My Mind” from Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
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Excerpt: “Excerpts from Rules” from Rules by Cynthia Lord
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Article: “'Learning Disabilities: An Overview' by Reading Rockets — Research Resource” (Reading Rockets)
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Article: “'Ability & Disability' by Learning For Justice — Possible Research Resource” (Learning for Justice)
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Website: https://www.understood.org
- Recommended Texts for Independent Reading
Rubrics
Resources for Lessons and Projects
Assessment
The following assessments accompany Unit 4.
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.
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.
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. Find guidance for using this assessment and supporting reading fluency in Teacher Tools.
Unit Prep
Intellectual Prep
Before you teach this unit, unpack the texts, themes, and core standards through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.
Essential Questions
- How can challenges with learning help us grow stronger and more confident?
- In what ways can writing or creativity help people express themselves and solve problems?
- How does having a learning disability impact the way people see themselves and the way that others see them?
Reading Focus Areas
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A novel written in verse combines poetry with storytelling.
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The setting of a story influences the way characters behave, foreshadows events, and provides a window into the society where the character lives.
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Authors reveal a theme of a story using predictable pathways and patterns.
Writing Focus Areas
Opinion Writing
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Establish an opinion based on facts.
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Sequence reasons and details appropriately to the writer's purpose.
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Include effective introduction and conclusion sections.
Narrative Writing
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Plan a story that includes a complete narrative arc.
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Include a conflict between two characters or a character and themself.
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Include an appropriate and satisfying ending to a story.
Informational Writing
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Include a clear topic and subtopics for informational writing.
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Group related information into paragraphs and sections.
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Develop each section with facts, definitions, and concrete details.
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Use a paragraph structure that best matches the purpose of each section.
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Add text features that match the information and purpose of each section.
Speaking and Listening Focus Areas
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Elaborate to support ideas. Provide evidence or examples to justify and defend a point clearly.
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Use specific vocabulary. Use vocabulary that is specific to the subject and task to clarify and share thoughts.
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Build on a partner's ideas. Seek to genuinely understand what their peers are saying, and then build on.
Vocabulary
Text-based
adviseagonizingburdencringedefydiscourageddreadfuldyslexiaencouragementfranticheroineinsistloomsominousoptimismpresenceransomremedyrelievedtaunttormentedwearywhooshedwisdom
Root/Affix
-ment
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 4, view our 4th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.
Supporting All Students
In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting All Students Teacher Tool.
Lesson Map
Identify a theme in The Wild Book and write a paragraph explaining how the theme is shown through the speaker.
Support main ideas with concrete, relevant details in an appropriate order.
- Single Paragraph Outline
Standards
RL.4.2W.4.1W.4.1.aW.4.1.b
Include transition words and phrases to connect ideas.
- Single Paragraph Outline — Completed from Day 1
Standards
W.4.1W.4.1.aW.4.1.bW.4.1.c
Write a persuasive letter explaining whether or not early screening for dyslexia is important.
Research a topic to establish an opinion.
- Opinion Writing Note Taker (G4, U4, L14)
- Opinion Writing Note Taker Sample Response (G4, U4, L14)
Standards
RI.4.9SL.4.1.aW.4.5W.4.8
Craft an opinion statement based on facts and details, and sequence reasons strategically.
- Two Paragraph Outline
- Two Paragraph Outline Sample Response 1 (G4, U4, L14)
- Two Paragraph Outline Sample Response 2 (G4, U4, L14)
- Opinion Writing Note Taker (G4, U4, L14) — Completed on Day 1
Standards
RI.4.1RI.4.9SL.4.1.aW.4.1W.4.1.aW.4.5
Elaborate on reasons by using explanation, context, or examples.
- Two Paragraph Outline
- Two Paragraph Outline Sample Response 1 (G4, U4, L14)
- Two Paragraph Outline Sample Response 2 (G4, U4, L14)
Standards
RI.4.1W.4.1W.4.5W.4.8
Include introduction and conclusion sections that appropriately engage the reader and reveal the topic and main ideas.
- Two Paragraph Outline — Completed on Day 2
- Two Paragraph Outline Sample Response 1 (G4, U4, L14)
- Two Paragraph Outline Sample Response 2 (G4, U4, L14)
Standards
SL.4.1.aSL.4.1.dW.4.1W.4.1.aW.4.1.dW.4.5
Change descriptive words to be more precise.
Standards
L.4.1.aW.4.5
Analyze unit themes and concepts by writing a narrative story that continues one of the unit texts where it left off.
Plan a story that includes a problem, climax, and solution.
- Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer
- Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer Sample Response (G4, U4, L20)
Standards
W.4.3W.4.3.a
Include a resolution that solves the problem, teaches the reader a lesson, or shows how a character changed.
- Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer — Completed on Day 1
Standards
W.4.3W.4.3.aW.4.3.bW.4.3.dW.4.3.e
Revise writing by rearranging words or phrases within a sentence.
- Narrative Brainstorming Graphic Organizer — Completed on Day 1
Standards
L.4.1.aL.4.1.dW.4.5
Create a poster to teach other students about a topic related to the unit.
Brainstorm subtopics for an informational writing project. Gather facts and details about each subtopic.
- Two Paragraph Outline
- Two Paragraph Outline Sample Response 3 (G4, U4, L21)
- Research Note Taking Page (G4, U4, L21)
Standards
W.4.2.aW.4.2.b
Determine the paragraph structure that matches the purpose and information included in writing.
- Two Paragraph Outline — Completed on Day 1
Standards
W.4.2.aW.4.2.bW.4.2.c
Revise by adding text features that teach the reader more about the subtopic.
- Two Paragraph Outline — Completed on Day 1
Standards
L.4.1.aL.4.1.dW.4.2.aW.4.2.bW.4.2.c
