4th grade writing lesson plans texas

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Texas 4th Grade Writing Standards

LiteracyTA provides writing skills that Texas educators use to teach Texas 4th Grade Writing Standards.

The Texas literacy standards are the what. The skills below and the related eCoach discussions are the how. In the table below, you will find next to each Texas writing standard practical skills, classroom resources, rich conversations and teaching ideas that move all students toward achieving Texas standards!

Texas Literacy Standards

Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text.

Analyzing Prompts

Building a Reading and Writing Plan

Informative Text Writing Plan

Narrative Story Writing Plan

Opinion Writing Plan

Peer Review Groups

Problem and Solution Organizer

Source Summary

Three Step Writing Process

Timed Writing Process

A Writing Process for All

Engage in Structured Debates

Getting Started with Pair Peer Review

6 Steps for Teaching Types of Writing

CCR-Aligned Reading and Writing Processes

Literary Texts. Students write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined people, events, and ideas.

Understanding the Writing Standards: A Narrative (or is it Informative?)

Let's Start Collaborating: Short Writing Tasks

Writing. Students write about their own experiences. Students are expected to write about important personal experiences.

Expository and Procedural Texts. Students write expository and procedural or work-related texts to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences for specific purposes.

Cause and Effect Organizer

Compare and Contrast Organizer

Expanding Summary

Explaining Textual Details

Integrating Sources

Online Portfolio

Taking Research Notes

Summary: The Pathway to College Success

8 Research Lessons for African-American History Month

3 Ways to Prepare Students for the New State Tests

Persuasive Texts. Students write persuasive texts to influence the attitudes or actions of a specific audience on specific issues. Students are expected to write persuasive essays for appropriate audiences that establish a position and use supporting details.

Debate a Side

Understanding Argument Writing Standards

5 Steps to Teaching Argumentative Writing

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4th Grade Language Arts and Writing Lesson Plans

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English Language Arts and Reading.4.11.A

plan a first draft by selecting a genre for a particular topic, purpose, and audience using a range of strategies such as brainstorming, freewriting , and mapping ;

A student expectation is directly related to the knowledge and skills statement, is more specific about how students demonstrate their learning, and always begins with a verb. Student expectations are further broken down into their component parts, often referred to as “breakouts.”

Knowledge and Skills Statement

A knowledge and skills statement is a broad statement of what students must know and be able to do. It generally begins with a learning strand and ends with the phrase “The student is expected to:” Knowledge and skills statements always include related student expectations.

The following is one example of how to assess proficiency of this student expectation (SE) or a portion of the SE. More examples coming soon.  

A teacher may wish to pair SE 4.12.D and SE 4.11.A and teach them together. With SE 4.12.D, students compose correspondence that requests information. Task students with writing a letter to an inventor about an invention they are interested in learning about. As students begin the writing activity, instruct them to select a topic and purpose for their inquiry. They should use brainstorming, freewriting, or mapping to organize their thoughts.

Student drafts should include the following:

• A central idea
• Clear organization
• Development of ideas
• Use of grade-appropriate language and conventions such as purposeful word choice
• Sentences that are varied and well controlled

Further Explanation

This SE requires students to demonstrate their knowledge of the writing process as they plan their work. Students will determine the topic, the reason to discuss that topic, and the audience for whom their message is intended. Once students have made these determinations, they must organize their thoughts using any number of strategies such as brainstorming, freewriting, and mapping to organize their thoughts.

Glossary Support for ELA.4.11.A

1. Miller, M., Berg, H., & Cox, D. (2016). "Basically, you have to teach them to love what they are writing about": Perceptions of fourth grade writing teachers. National Teacher Education Journal , 9(1). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Donna_Cox3/publication/309600692_Basically_You_Have_to_Teach_Them_to_Love_What_They_Are_Writing_About_Perceptions_of_Fourth_Grade_Writing_Teachers/links/5819311808ae50812f5de66a.pdf

Summary: This paper is based upon focus groups held with fourth grade Texas teachers from classrooms identified as exemplary by the Texas Education Agency. The purpose was to determine the methods of writing instruction that teachers felt were successful with their students, and process writing strategies were identified as central. These strategies were developed in the classroom through the teacher serving as the guide in the writing process, students as authors, and mini-lessons.

2. Cruickshank, B. (2011). Supporting children during the prewriting stage: Developing an author's understanding of purpose and audience using interviews. Practically Primary , 16(3), 25+. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A269690189/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=96dbbf1b

Summary: Students were challenged to create their own children's literature. As part of the writing process, the students conducted an audience interview for their written stories. That audience was composed of peers. The process enabled students to develop a real sense of what their audience wanted. Students saw that their books had a real purpose and better understood the importance of audience.

3. Grünke, M. (2018). The effects of a peer-delivered writing planning intervention for struggling fifth graders.  World Journal of Education , 8(6), 157–164. doi:10.5430/wje.v8n6p157.

Summary: The article is focused on mapping strategies to help students plan their writing. Peer tutors were used to help students brainstorm and organize their thoughts before writing.

Curriculum  /  ELA  /  4th Grade

English Language Arts

4th Grade ELA Course Summary

In 4th Grade English Language Arts, students explore how people’s identities, values, and beliefs can shape their lives, and how courageous individuals can create change by standing up for what they believe. Students build their social-emotional skills in Finding Fortune and Believing in Yourself , explore the history of the United States in Heart and Soul and Examining Our History , learn about natural disasters in Preparing for the Worst , and see how the Greeks used mythology to understand the world in Interpreting Perspectives . In each unit, students engage in process-based writing projects connected to the core texts that develop their narrative, informational, and opinion writing skills. 

Using authentic, engaging texts, teachers help students develop their language comprehension and address grade-level reading, writing, language, and speaking and listening standards. Over the course of 4th Grade ELA, students deepen their understanding of the world around them through thematically-aligned, knowledge-building units, embedded daily writing instruction , and frequent opportunities for in-class discussion .

Explore this curriculum

4th Grade Standards Map

Pacing Guide

4th Grade Book List

Recommended Sequence

Finding fortune: where the mountain meets the moon.

By reading and discussing Grace Lin's novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon , students explore what it means to have good fortune and how families shape a person’s identity, values, and beliefs.

Preparing for the Worst: Natural Disasters

Students learn the science behind natural disasters, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires, with an emphasis on how natural disasters happen. 

Interpreting Perspectives: Greek Myths

Students dive into the world of Greek mythology with the classic myths of Pandora, Arachne, and Echo and Narcissus, and explore how the Greeks used mythology to make sense of their world.

Examining Our History: American Revolution

Students examine the ideas and values behind the American Revolution, and what drove the colonists to seek independence, through nonfiction texts including Liberty! How the Revolutionary War Began .

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 .

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

Students read about and discuss United States history, from slavery to the civil rights movement, grappling with the discrimination and broken promises that African Americans faced.

Alternate Units

Alternate Unit 1

Taking a Stand: Shiloh

Students grapple with how a person develops values, identities, and beliefs, and explore what it means to stand up for what you believe in, while reading and discussing the novel Shiloh .

Alternate Unit 2

Powering Our Future: Energy

Students explore how energy is transferred and how it can be converted into different forms, and learn about renewable and nonrenewable energy while looking towards the world’s energy future.

Alternate Unit 4

Politics and People: U.S. Government

Students explore the structure of the American government, the three branches of government, the history of women's suffrage, and read biographies about famous Americans who fought for change.

Alternate Unit 5

Learning Differently: Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Students read, discuss and write about the novel Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key , focusing on how the author develops characters and relationships, and giving them a glimpse into the life of a child with ADHD.

Alternate Unit 6

Discovering Self: Bud, Not Buddy

Students learn about the Great Depression through the eyes of a ten-year-old African-American boy, analyzing themes of compassion, maturity and the idea of home, through the novel Bud Not Buddy .

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