Readers Workshop Unit of Study Year-Long Planner

Readers’ Workshop Unit of Study Year-long Planner: Grade Four

Month Unit of Study Key Focus Lessons September Launching RW  What is readers’ workshop?  Procedures/routines of readers’ workshop  Choosing “just right” books  Keeping track of your reading and thinking October Reviewing Strategies:  Reading is thinking Monitoring For  Recognizing when meaning breaks down and using fix up Meaning, Making strategies Connections, Creating  Strengthening comprehension by making meaningful Sensory Images connections and creating sensory images November  Reviewing elements of fiction Reading Fiction  Reviewing retelling of short fiction  Building schema for genres of fiction (realistic, historical, fantasy, mystery) December  Asking questions before, during, and after reading  Asking questions to clarify meaning  Thick vs. thin questions  Making inferences to understand characters and theme  Supporting inferences with evidence from text  Identifying recurrent themes and universal truths in fiction January  Identifying author’s purpose(s) in nonfiction Reading Nonfiction  Activating schema prior to reading nonfiction  Reviewing and using conventions of nonfiction to locate information and answer questions  Interesting vs. important information February  Determining important ideas (main ideas/supporting details)  What is summarizing?  Summarizing main ideas in own words  Writing a succinct summary March MCAS As A Genre  Using comprehension strategies to read challenging texts  Test taking strategies  Analyzing and answering multiple choice questions  Constructing answers to open response questions April Synthesizing  Determining importance and summarizing in fiction  What is synthesizing?  Noticing how thinking evolves in fiction  Noticing how thinking evolves in nonfiction  Writing a personal response to describe changes in thinking May Genre Study  Building schema for a genre  Recognizing elements of a genre Focus TBD by schools  Possible Options: tall tales, myths, biography June Author Study  Building schema for an author  Recognizing characteristics of an author’s work Focus TBD by schools  Possible Options: Andrew Clements, Kate DiCamillo, Patricia Reilly Giff, Louis Sachar, Roald Dahl Launching Readers’ Workshop Unit Calendar: Grade Four

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday What is Readers’ Respecting other Turn and Talk/ How do we talk about What kind of reader are Workshop? readers. Sharing favorite books books? you?

What is a book bag/box Choosing an Choosing an Getting to know the Choosing Just Right and how to take care of independent reading independent reading class library books your books spot spot (continued) and leaving your spot

Balancing your reading Intro to independent Previewing books to Book Pass Maintaining your diet reading record keeping: help with book selection interest in a book Book Logs and Books To Read

Building your reading Abandoning books Swapping books Procedures for using Intro to Response stamina Post-its Journals Reviewing Strategies Unit Calendar: Grade Four

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Reading is thinking What is schema and Readers create sensory Text based images vs. Images change as we everyone’s schema is images using 5 senses imagination read and discuss text different and schema based on schema and should be activated prior text to reading Recording your sensory Readers make Making meaningful How are meaningful How do meaningful images connections to text connections connections and text connections and text (review T-S, T-T, T-W) based sensory images based sensory images related? help “round out” your understanding? Listening to your inner Readers notice when Using fix-up strategies Using fix-up strategies 2 Applying a variety of voice while reading and meaning breaks down to repair comprehension (model) fix-up strategies (guided what is monitoring for (Huh?) (reread carefully, word Images (replay movie in practice) meaning level strategies, context head) clues, read through Connections (become a entire word, base more active participant word/affixes) in your reading) Holding your thinking on Post-Its as a way to track, remember and monitor comprehension Reading Fiction Unit Calendar: Grade Four

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday What is fiction Building schema for Building schema for Readers retell events of Using retelling to (including the elements different genres of different genres of short story in sequence monitor and sustain of fiction: character, fiction: realistic fiction fiction: fantasy, mystery, to share and discuss text comprehension through setting, problem, and historical fiction others with others longer text solution and plot events in sequential order) Perspective of author in Narrative features Readers notice and Analyze how author Plot structure: rising 3rd person narrative: as continued: Point of view understand cause and crafts the events to bring action and climax observer, as all-knowing of character in 1st person effect relationships in about resolution of (guided practice) plot of fiction problem (rising action- climax) (model) Rising action leads Review Readers ask Readers ask questions Readers ask questions to Readers ask questions to readers to some questions before, during for different reasons clarify meaning predict within text “burning questions” and after reading (start generating many based in the building questions in model suspense within the text text(s) and keep for future lessons modeling language of questions and sorting questions) Readers ask questions to Readers ask questions Readers “piggy back” Thick vs. thin questions Answered vs. understand characters about the author’s their questions on the unanswered questions message and big ideas in questions of others the text How to answer Answering unanswered The most interesting Readers combine their Readers support their questions: questions from your questions are schema and clues from inferences with evidence Locate in text head: unanswered explicitly in the text to make an from the text (answered) From your schema and text, requiring inference in order to Research or find an interpretations interpretation ponder the unanswered outside source questions and form their (unanswered in text) own interpretations.

Readers infer to Readers infer to Readers infer to Readers infer to Readers make inferences understand unfamiliar understand literary understand text structure understand text structure about character traits words and figurative device of foreshadowing of character flashback of character imagining language

Readers make inferences Readers make inferences Readers make inferences Readers make inferences Infer about theme about character about character about lesson or message about themes (big ideas) (practice) motivation development and change of text based on lessons (model) learned and changes made by characters Begin collecting themes from numerous texts to look for recurrent themes Infer about theme Readers recognize Lessons of fiction (practice) similarities in themes (recurrent themes and from various texts and universal truths) help us begin finding recurrent in our own lives themes and universal truths Reading Nonfiction Unit Calendar: Grade Four

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Nonfiction vs. fiction Review conventions of A closer look at the index Locating specific info to Fact vs. opinion and author’s purpose nonfiction through (changing your search words answer your questions using for writing nonfiction preview (“walk through as needed) the conventions to navigate to determine what text kinds of info may be present in text Paying close attention Text structure of Text structure of nonfiction: Activating and using schema Setting a purpose for to signal words (e.g. nonfiction: Cause/effect before and while reading reading surprisingly, compare/contrast nonfiction text importantly, on the other hand, however, likewise, finally,) Important vs. Important vs. Readers can sort out main Main idea vs. supporting What is interesting interesting (guided idea(s) from supporting details details (guided practice with summarizing? (model) practice with graphic (model) graphic organizer) organizer) Oral summary Readers summarize to Readers stop periodically to Readers paraphrase in their Readers distinguish practice monitor comprehension summarize and integrate new own words while reading to between summary learning summarize (ex. on post-its or and their own (Stop-Think-React) in margins) thinking Writing a brief Writing a brief Readers determine an author’s Readers can glean factual Readers recognize summary (model) summary (practice) possible bias when reading information about a topic from an author’s nonfiction a fictional source perspective around a particular topic Readers consider Intro to primary source Readers know that when Readers know that when “expert” quotes and material and its use in forming an opinion, judgment forming an opinion, judgment their reliability building knowledge or argument based on reading, or argument based on reading, it is important to consider more it is important to consider more than one perspective on that than one perspective on that topic topic (model) (guided practice) Synthesizing Unit Calendar: Grade Four

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Review: summary is Retelling vs. summary Determining importance Determining importance Determining importance telling what is important in fiction in fiction (model with in fiction (guided in fiction (independent in a way that makes short texts) practice with short texts) practice with short texts) sense without telling too much. (focus on fiction) Writing a short Writing a short What is synthesizing? Readers track how their Readers use all their summary (model) summary (practice) (model) ideas change and grow comprehension (evolve) over time strategies when (guided practice) synthesizing

Readers talk with others Readers write about Synthesis moves beyond Readers find symbols in Synthesis in nonfiction about how their ideas their synthesizing (using literal summary to more the text based on how involves adding new evolve a graphic organizer) inferential thinking their ideas have evolved knowledge to what you already know

Readers consider what Readers add a personal Readers add a personal It is possible to compare an author wants us to do response to their written response to their written and contrast various and feel about the info summaries summaries (practice) stages of thought and (as related to purpose (model) ideas within the and bias) synthesis process