Language Arts 4

Language Skills

• Composition—Students practice writing as a process (from planning to proofreading), as they write a report, a book review, a persuasive essay, poetry, a news article, and more.
• Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics—Students learn more about sentence structure, parts of speech, punctuation, capitalization, and usage. They begin sentence analysis and diagramming.
• Vocabulary—The Vocabulary Workshop program helps enrich students’ vocabulary, develop word analysis skills, and prepare for standardized tests.
• Spelling—Students understand sound-symbol relationships and spelling patterns, and recognize base words and roots in related words.

Literature

Students learn to identify and analyze literary elements such as character, plot, theme, and setting. The emphasis is on classic literature, including episodes from Robinson Crusoe , Gulliver’s Travels , and Pollyanna ; legends of King Arthur; and folktales from many lands. Students read works of nonfiction, as well as four novels (selected from a long list of such classics as The Cricket in Times Square , My Side of the Mountain , and Sarah, Plain and Tall ). A test preparation program prepares students for standardized tests.


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Standard Curriculum Items

• Classics for Young Readers, Vol. 4A
• Classics for Young Readers, Vol. 4B
• Writing in Action, Vol. C
• Writing in Action, Vol. D
• Exercises in English, Millennium Ed. (Level D)
• Vocabulary Workshop (Orange)
• Test Ready Plus: Language Arts, Book 4
• Test Ready Plus: Reading, Book 4
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (K¹² edition, retold for young readers)
• Feathers, Flippers, and Fur
• If You Lived in the Days of the Knights by Ann McGovern
• Nature’s Way
• Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter (K12 edition, abridged for young readers)
• Keyboarding CD
• Word Processing book
• Language Skills Student Materials—Semesters 1 & 2
• Language Skills Teacher Materials—Semesters 1 & 2
• Spelling Student Materials—Semesters 1 & 2
• Spelling Materials—Semesters 1 & 2
• Literature Student Materials—Semesters 1 & 2
• Literature Teacher Materials—Semesters 1 & 2
• White dry erase board

Novels

The literature program includes a selection of 24 novels for grades 3—5. (Novels are not part of the standard materials, but are readily available at the library or for purchase in bookstores or online.) These novels are listed in order of increasing difficulty as measured by the Lexile scale, a system that measures reading difficulty by sentence length and vocabulary (see www.lexile.com). Lexile ratings roughly correspond to grade levels as indicated below.

Approximate Grade Level Lexile Range

3: 500—700
4: 650—850
5: 750—950

Lexile levels are only one means of assessing whether a work is appropriate for your student. When selecting a novel, keep in mind that the Lexile rating does not measure subject matter or themes in the work.


Title and Author Lexile

• A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla - 360
• Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner - 550
• Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan - 560
• Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary - 670
• Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White - 680
• Li Lun, Lad of Courage by Carolyn Treffinger - 720
• In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord - 730
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder - 760
• The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander - 770
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt - 770
• The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare - 770
• The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden - 780
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien - 790
• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George - 810
• Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry - 830
• Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary - 860
• Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren - 870
• The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes - 870
• Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - 890
• Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink - 890
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - 940
• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery - 990
• The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli - 990
• Ben and Me by Robert Lawson - 1010

NOTE: List subject to change.

Total lessons: 180

Lesson time: 120 minutes

You might choose to split the lessons into smaller segments and provide breaks for your student as needed. The K12 online lesson tracking system allows you to pick up wherever you left off in any given lesson.