This four-week unit for fourth grade students explores emotions related to transitioning to a new grade through analyzing several works of fiction and using informational texts about the body. Students examine tales by Judy Blume, Sharon Creech, and a traditional poem to understand different emotions. They also read Harriet the Spy and biographies of doctors while maintaining journals. Nonfiction texts about body systems are supplemented. The unit aims to show how stories reveal human commonalities and how bodily changes impact feelings. It culminates in a class discussion and paragraph responses to essential questions about these topics.

1. Isaac School District No.5
ELAS Thematic Unit Overview Grade 4 – Unit 1
2012-2013
Unit 1: Tales of the Heart
DURATION: Four Weeks
Students explore the emotions that accompany the transition into fourth grade, and use informational text to learn about the body.
Students examine Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and continuing with Sharon Creech’s Love That Dog, Grace Nichols’s
poem, “They Were My People,” and the traditional “Monday’s Child Is Fair of Face” to explore the mixture of emotions. Harriet the Spy
(Louise Fitzhugh) is the suggested read aloud for this unit because, just as Harriet writes everything down in her journal, students too
maintain a journal of what they learn throughout the year. Nonfiction text about body systems is supplemented with nonfiction
biographies of doctors. Students summarize fiction and nonfiction texts, write informative/explanatory pieces, and engage in
collaborative discussions. The unit culminates with a class discussion and paragraph responses to the essential questions.
Essential Questions: Vocabulary:
How do stories reveal what we have in bio-poem simile
common? characters semantic map
dramatization problem and solution
How do changes in the body affect our fluency
emotional state? graphic organizer
metaphor
Essential Learning: poetic devices: rhyme scheme, meter, alliteration
poetic terms: stanza, line, verse
People are more similar than they are
different.
Changes in body systems can affect our
emotions.
Distributed Resources Aligned to Unit 1:
Grossology and You: Really Gross Things About Your Body (Branzei & Keely) Fourth Grade Rats (Spinelli)
Red Ridin’ in the Hood and other Cuentos (Marcantonio & Alarco) Clara Barton (Ransom)
Skin Like Milk, Hair of Silk: What are Similarities and Metaphors (Cleary) Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Blume)
The Amazing Circulatory System: How Does My Heart Work (Burstein)
Underlined vocabulary indicates a Tier II word. 1

2. Underlined vocabulary indicates a Tier II word. 2