Fourth Grade
Review any skills necessary from previous grade levels first before continuing.
Nouns
- Focus on verse two. Complete grammar sheets “Identifying Tangible and Intangible Nouns” and “Categorizing Tangible and Intangible Nouns.”
- Extra Engagement: Print out and cut apart “Tangible and Intangible Noun Cards” to practice sorting nouns in a hands-on way as a whole class, at an independent literacy center, or withing a cooperative learning structure. Use “Hands-on Advanced Noun Sort” as another activity to follow-up with more practice or use as an individual assessment tool.
Proper Nouns
- Complete “Using Proper Nouns” and/or “Editing for Proper Nouns” to reinforce the purpose of their use within writing and to highlight their mechanics.
I Need a Verb (Action Verbs)
- Discuss verse 2, in which mental action verbs are introduced. Complete grammar sheet “ Analyzing Action Verbs.”
- Extra Engagement: Use the “Categorizing Action Verbs Cards (intermediate)” or “Categorizing Action Verbs Cards (upper level)” within a cooperative learning structure, whole class, or as a center to practice differentiating between physical and mental actions.
Adjectives
- Complete grammar sheets “Identifying Adjectives” and “Juicy Word Practice with Adjectives".
- Present students with pictures from magazines. Have each student or partner pair glue the picture in the center of a large piece or paper. Create a web branching off from the picture containing adjectives that could be used in describing the picture.
Linking Verbs
- Complete grammar sheet “Action or Linking?”
- Extra Engagement: Use the “Printable Verb Cards” to review. Allow students to use the cards within a cooperative learning structure or as a partner or independent center activity. Students will look at the verbs printed on the card to determine if the verb is action or linking. Hint: Remind students that if they can do it, it's an action verb.
Good and Well
- Complete grammar sheet “Good or Well?”
- Extra Engagement: Use the information presented within the grammar sheet as a whole group lesson on the whiteboard or smartboard, within a cooperative learning structure, or as an independent literacy center. Listen in everyday speech when the words “good” or “well” should be used. Pinpoint the verb in the sentence to decide whether it is linking or action and if “good” or “well” should be used.
Helping Verbs
- Complete grammar sheet “Understanding Helping Verbs.”
- Extra Engagement: Use the informational sentences from grammar sheet “Identifying Helping Verbs” on the smart board or within a cooperative learning activity to practice locating helping verbs in a more hands-on manner.
Adverbs
- Complete grammar sheets “Categorizing Adverbs.”
- Extra Engagement: Print and cut apart the “Adverb Activity Cards.” Students should analyze the adverb on each card to categorize it as an adverb that tells how, where, or when. Create a graphic organizer by allowing students to tape the cards to the dry erase board or to chart paper.
- Easy Writing Center: Stack the “Adverb Activity Cards” in the writing center. As students come to the center, they draw adverbs from the stack to use in written sentences.
- Complete grammar sheet “Identifying More Adverbs.” Focus on finding the verb in each sentence and “juicing it up” by modifying it with an adverb.
Antonym Blues
- Play “Intermediate Antonym Match.” Play “Upper-Level Antonym Match” for students with higher vocabularies. Invite students to make their own matching games.
Synonym Symphony
- Play “Intermediate Synonym Match.” Play “Upper-Level Synonym Match” for students with high
- Extra Engagement: Complete activities presented in “Synonym Vocab and Writing Activities.”
- Complete grammar sheet “Using Synonyms When Writing” to practice using “juicier” nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and adverbs when writing.
- Complete grammar sheets “Differentiating Between Synonyms and Antonyms (Basic)” and/or “Differentiating Between Synonyms and Antonyms (Advanced).”
- More Engagement: Use the information presented in the grammar sheets within a whole class cooperative learning structure or at a learning center to present the information in a more hands-on form.
End the Confusion (Homophones)
- Complete grammar sheet “Homophone Practice.”
- Extra Engagement: Use the information presented within the sheet to model sentences on a whiteboard or smartboard to create a whole class lesson. Cut the sheet apart, gluing the related answers from the answer key on the back to use within a cooperative learning structure or as a self-checking center activity.
Homophone Rap
- Print out and cut apart “Homophone Matching Cards (Intermediate)” and/or “Homophone Matching Cards (Advanced).” Allow students to cooperatively play as a memory match/concentration matching game. When a child gets a match, he or she should orally use each of the words in a sentence. This provides an instant formative assessment to exemplify the student's understanding of each individual homophone.
- Instant Writing Center: Print out the “Homophone Matching Cards (Intermediate)" and/or “Homophone Matching Cards (Advanced).” Cut each homophone pair of cards across the page and fold on the middle line to create a homophone card with one homophone on the back and one on the front. (For example, “edition” might be on the front and “addition” should be on the back.) Place the cards at a writing center with dictionaries and paper placed landscape direction with a solid dividing line from top to bottom, creating two sections. The students should select a card (addition/edition, for example) and illustrate a picture of an addition problem on one-half of the paper with the word used in a sentence. (In first grade, I learned how to do addition.) On the other half of the paper, the student should illustrate “edition.” Maybe he/she would draw a video game illustration. The sentence could read ”Pokemon Gold came out with a new edition of the game.”
Homograph Blues
- Complete grammar sheet “Creating Sentences with Homographs.” Notice homographs and multiple-meaning words when communicating orally within the classroom.
- Extra Engagement: Print and cut apart “Homograph Activity Cards.” Distribute the cards to partners or groups of students. Invite each group to formulate a skit modeled after the video where one person is confused while the other gives directions using homographs. **This is a challenging activity. Students may need to consult dictionaries if having trouble figuring out more than one meaning for a given word.
Direct Objects
- Complete grammar sheets “Identifying Direct Objects” and “Generating Direct Objects.”
- Extra Engagement: Print out and complete “Direct Object and Prepositional Phrase Flip Book” activity.
Preposition Composition
- Complete grammar sheets “Identifying Prepositions.” To differentiate instruction for students needing a challenge, assign grammar sheets “Using Prepositions” or “Preposition Story.” As always, the information presented within the grammar sheets may be incorporated into a partner or cooperative group learning structure or used as an independent literacy center.
- Extra Engagement: Complete grammar activity “Prepositions Literature Writing Activity” to bring an understanding of the reason for using prepositions into real life.
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- Complete grammar sheet “Pronouns and Antecedents.”
Prefix Mix
- Complete “Prefix Match with Answer Key” and “Using Prefixes” grammar sheet.
- Extra Engagement: Use “Prefix Game Cards” to practice matching prefixes with definitions from the song. Notice words containing prefixes when reading. Note how the prefix affects the meaning of the root or base word.
Word Detective (Suffixes)
- Complete “Suffix Matching,” “Suffix Matching Quiz,” and “Suffix Sort” grammar sheets. These grammar sheets can be used independently during literacy centers or as a formative assessment. Notice words containing suffixes when reading. Note how the suffix affects the meaning of the root or base word.
- Print out and play “Affix Bingo” to practice matching prefixes and suffixes with their meanings.
- Print out and use the “Applying Affixes to Determine Word Meanings” activity as a teacher-led center or as an independent writing center.
Sounds Like Greek to Me
- Play “Greek and Latin Roots Matching Game” to practice matching Greek and Latin Roots with their meanings.
- Complete “Greek and Latin Roots Cut and Paste” to practice individually matching Greek and Latin roots with their meanings. Complete graphic organizer by brainstorming and using a dictionary to find words that contain these Greek and Latin roots.
- Complete grammar sheet “Categorizing Greek and Latin Word Parts.”
- Extra Engagement: Use the information presented within the sheet to model sentences on a whiteboard or smartboard to create a whole class lesson. Cut the sheet apart, gluing the related answers from the answer key on the back to use within a cooperative learning structure or as a self-checking center activity.
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- Differentiate apostrophe usage between contractions and possessives. Complete grammar sheets “Contraction or Possessive?” and “Contraction Versus Possessive.”
- Extra Engagement: Use the information presented in the grammar sheets within a cooperative learning structure or as a whole class lesson on the whiteboard or smartboard. Cut apart the sentences, and paste the answer key back-to-back to create a self-checking learning center or partner activity.
- Even More Engagement: Print out and play “Hands-On Contractions or Possessives” in small groups, as a center, or with partners. For additional interaction, use the self-checking game cards with a simple game board and die for an instant learning game. Emphasize the apostrophes are NEVER used simply to create a plural noun.
- Complete grammar sheet “Evaluating Apostrophe Usage” as in independent formative assessment. Notice and discuss apostrophe usage when reading in real literature or in textbooks (within any subject area). When students see apostrophes when reading, encourage them to note whether the apostrophe is being used because of a contraction or because of a possessive.
Run-Ons
- Review grammar sheet “Recognizing Run-Ons.” (Complete “hands-on” activity suggestion listed in 3rd grade if necessary.)
- Complete grammar sheet “Editing for Run-ons (Intermediate).”
Junc Func (Conjunctions)
- Complete grammar sheet “Identifying Conjunctions” as an independent or whole class review. Practice adding conjunctions to combine simple sentences using grammar sheet “Using Conjunctions to Combine Sentences.” For students needing an additional challenge, use grammar sheet “Paragraph Needing Conjunctions.”
Compound Sentences
- Complete grammar sheet “Creating Compound Sentences.”
Context Clues
- Complete grammar sheet “Context Clues.” Identify whether the clue provided was a synonym, antonym, definition, or example.
- Extra Engagement: Print out and play “Context Clues Game (Intermediate)” and/or “Context Clue Game (Advanced)” to practice using context clues in a game-friendly format. The self-checking cards can be used with a game board, within a cooperative learning structure, or as a literacy center.
Main Idea
- Complete grammar sheet “Main Idea (Intermediate)” and/or “Main Idea (Advanced).” Reinforce summarizing the main idea in books and basal texts you may read.
Making Inferences
- Complete grammar sheet “Making Inferences” independently or with partners to connect the fact that we make inferences in our real life communication every day without even knowing it! Use grammar activity “Making Inferences Intro” on the smart board or interactive whiteboard to model how to make and support inferences (by showing text evidence) when reading.
- Complete grammar sheets “More Inferences” and “Supporting Inferences” to practice reading independently or with a partner to make and support inferences using text evidence.
- Invite students who need to be challenged to write a paragraph on a topic of his/her choice. Ask him/her to create questions for others in which making inferences would be required.
May I Quote You on That?
- Complete grammar sheets “Quotation Mark Editor” and “Adding Quotation Marks.”
- Extra Engagement: Complete grammar writing activities “Hands-On Quotation Marks” and/or activities described in “Quotation Marks Literature and Writing.”
- Notice quotations marks when reading and cite reason for quotation marks to be required.
Interjections
- Complete grammar sheet “Categorizing Interjections.”
- Extra Engagement: Allow students to brainstorm (appropriate) interjections that they use/hear in everyday life. Note that interjections are generally used when someone is very happy or very upset and are often punctuated using quotation marks.
Onomatopoeia
- Enjoy hands-on matching game “Onomatopoeia Match.” Complete grammar sheet “Understanding Onomatopoeia.” Note that interjections are made by people and onomatopoeia are made by objects and animals. Sometimes quotation marks are used when using onomatopoeia in writing.
Alliteration
- If necessary, complete grammar sheet “Alliteration” as a review.
- No prep writing center: Encourage students to create their own “tongue-twisters” as a memorable activity for learning alliteration. If desired, combine the students' creations to make a Class Alliteration Book of fun tongue-twisters.
Similes and Metaphors
- Complete grammar sheet “Similes and Metaphors.” Identify the use of similes and metaphors when reading.
Idioms
- Complete grammar sheet game “Idiom Match” and grammar sheet “Idiom Fun.” Invite students to draw literal representations of idioms to create an idiom book. Be sure each literal picture explains the true meaning of the idiom on the bottom of the page.
- Notice idioms being used in everyday speech and when reading.
Personification
- Complete grammar sheets “Identifying Personification” and “Using Personification.”
Four Kinds of Sentence |
Interrogative Interrogation |
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- Complete grammar sheet “Four Kinds of Sentences Differentiation.”
- Extra Engagement: Print and prepare hands-on activity “Four Kinds of Sentences Sorting Activity” to be used as a literacy center or within a cooperative learning structure.
- Randomly open a book and point at a sentence. Identify the sentence as either declarative, imperative, interrogative, or exclamatory.
Subordinating Conjunctions
- Complete grammar sheet “Identifying Subordinating Conjunctions.”
- Extra Engagement: Use the information presented within the sheets to model sentences on a whiteboard or smartboard to create a whole class lesson. Cut the sheet apart, gluing the related answers from the answer key on the back to use within a cooperative learning structure or as a self-checking center activity.
Complex Sentences
- Complete grammar sheets “Identifying Clauses,” “Creating Complex Sentences,” “Identifying Sentence Structures,” and “More Identifying Sentence Structures.
- Extra Engagement: For advanced students, print and cut out the self-checking “Analyzing Sentence Structures Task Cards” to be used as an independent literacy center or along with a board and die for a cooperative game.