Writing

WRITTEN LANGUAGE

California Writing Standards for grade 4 have incorporated:
Writing Strategies: "Students write clear, coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Their writing shows they consider the audience and purpose. Students progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g., prewriting, drafting, revising, editing successive versions)."
Writing Applications: "Students write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences. Student writing demonstrates a command of standard American English and the drafting, research, and organizational strategies."
Written Language Conventions: "Students write with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level," which includes sentence structure, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

It's not just writing ... it's written language. The writing program is based on the strong foundations found in The 6+1 Traits of Writing. The components of Ideas, Organization, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Voice, and Conventions are stressed throughout the year. We will be concentrating on the genres of personal narrative, summary, response to literature, and report of information.

General Language and Word Games
Learn and Practice: Resources for Students
Punctuation	Grammar / Parts of Speech
Types of Punctuation Marks Common Punctuation Uses Less Common Punctuation Uses Commas Using Commas Apostrophes Adding Quotation Marks Avoid Common Punctuation Mistakes Practice punctuation with this game Punctuation Paintball ~ Listen to instructions first	Grammar Glossary 1000 Most Common Words ~ Listed by part of Speech Nouns, Verbs, Adj, Adv Game Grammar Blast ~ parts of speech & capital / punct. game by grade level Grammar Gorillas ~ leveled games Grammar Gold ~ more leveled games Wacky Web Tales ~ create your own by adding parts of speech Sentence Puzzles ~ Practice parts of speech and word usage Subject - Verb Agreement Verb Tense Grambo ~ test you grammar knowledge
Spelling	Vocabulary
Ten Tips for Better Spelling Plural Noun Rules Two Ways To Practice Spelling Words More Practice of Rules Word Builder ~ grade level choice Spell-a-Roo game Spell Check game Use your own words: Spelling Wizard make a Word Scramble or Word Search Look-Cover-Write-Check activity Word Safari for words up to 8 letters	Vocabulary Builders ~ several games Word Central's Daily Buzzword ~ learn a new word every day Another Word-of-the Day Site FunBrain's Word Games Index Vocabulary Games Play Whomp ~ you create the words; good for spelling practice too
Figurative Language	Writing / Editing
Figurative Language Terms Defined Mrs. Dowling's Terms Defined Idioms More Idioms	Sentence Clubhouse Sentence Speedway Sentence Sort Complex Sentences Guide ~ fact sheet; quiz; game Power Proofreading Practice