Fourth Grade - ELA
1: Interdependence
Unit 1: Little House in the Big Woods
Lesson 1
Introducing the Story
Students are asked to think about one of their earliest memories and write an account of it (Activity 2), using a pre-writing organizer that prompts them to briefly describe the memory, list who was involved, describe feelings, and explain why the memory stands out. Students are also asked to illustrate the memory, and an advanced option asks students to record ideas and begin writing without the organizer. In Activity 3 students read about Wisconsin and record examples of plants and animals and discuss vegetation, animals, and temperature to describe setting.
Lesson 2
Little House in the Big Woods
Students read descriptive passages (for example, the attic described as a "large, pleasant place" filled with pumpkins, peppers, onions, meat, and herbs) and encounter concrete vocabulary in context. Students complete a cloze-style story using descriptive vocabulary words such as "temptingly," "scalded," "brindle," and "solemnly," and are asked to locate definitions and read the words in context. Students are asked to answer chapter questions in a reading journal, which could require them to describe settings and uses of resources (e.g., how the attic looked or how trees and animals were used).
Lesson 3
Winter Days and Winter Nights
Students are asked in Question #4 to identify what words or phrases the author used to make the story more exciting, with examples given (verbs like "screamed" and "leaped" and description like "enormous slashing claws"). Students are directed to reread a descriptive passage (page 4, paragraph 2) and then illustrate Laura's house in Activity 3, which requires attention to descriptive detail. The Wrapping Up prompt asks students to describe what life was like for Laura, encouraging use of descriptive language.
Lesson 4
The Long Rifle
Activity 2 (Storytelling) tells students to discuss ways storytellers make stories more interesting, explicitly listing "vivid details" and "using exciting language" and asks the child to make up and practice telling an adventure story. The Reading and Questions section asks the child to retell Pa's story out loud, which requires recounting events and details by speaking. The Skills list includes connecting own experiences through speaking and listening and adapting speech to audience and purpose, supporting practice in oral description.
Lesson 5
Christmas
Students are asked to identify how the author describes the snow, including sensory words such as "glittering" and "sparkled" and concrete imagery like snow drifts as high as Laura's head. Students plan and write three short paragraphs about Christmas at their home, with prompts to include supporting ideas and "descriptions" (for example, food descriptions and when/how foods are served). The Types of Sentences activity and the paragraph organizers require students to produce sentences and supporting details tied to the chapter, giving opportunities to use descriptive language.
Lesson 6
Sundays and Two Big Bears
Students are asked to write a five-senses poem describing their least favorite day, with explicit sections for look like, smell like, feel like, taste like, and sound like. The lesson provides a sensory-rich model poem (e.g., "Sundays look like a blank page..., Sundays sound like a fiddle with no strings...") and instructs students to read their poem aloud. The Student Activity Page includes labeled lines and icons for each sense to guide students in producing concrete sensory phrases.
Lesson 7
The Sugar Snow
Students practice working with specific words in the Vocabulary Mini-Book by writing a sentence from the book, recording a dictionary definition, creating a new sentence, and drawing an illustration for words such as ladle, sumac, and glimpses. Students put the steps of maple sugar production in order (Option 1) or record the steps from the text (Option 2), which requires them to state events and actions in a clear, concrete sequence. Students create a recipe card with step-by-step directions for making maple bars, requiring them to use precise procedural language to convey how to complete the task.
Lesson 8
Dance at Grandpa's
Students are asked to describe sensory elements in several places: Question 2 prompts answers that may include "the wonderful smells," and the introduction asks children to discuss how a fun night in the Big Woods might look different today (inviting sensory comparison). Activity 2 asks students to describe how songs made them feel and to record emotional responses after listening to multiple pieces. Activity 4 (Option 1) asks students to choose a mood for a song and select instruments that match that mood, which encourages attention to sensory/affective qualities.
Lesson 9
Going to Town
Students read a chapter that includes sensory description (QUESTION #1: "Birds begin to sing, the grass grows green, and the forest is filled with wild flowers"), and they are asked to answer how the author describes the woods. Students are asked to draw Mary and Laura and to list five adjectives for each sister (Activity 3), and to act out situations that require selecting descriptive behaviors. The Life Application asks students to write about a visit to a historic place and describe why it is important, which invites descriptive writing.
Lesson 10
Summertime and Harvest
Students are asked to "Describe the four seasons in the woods using vivid and descriptive words" and to write interesting and descriptive words and phrases for each season on the Seasons on the Farm activity. Students are prompted to record the words and phrases the author uses to describe the environment and people, encouraging attention to concrete language from the text. A reading question asks students to describe a personal bee or wasp sting and how it felt, prompting sensory description. Option 2 of the Bees activity asks students to write paragraphs describing the interdependence between bees and flowers and to read them aloud, which requires conveying events and experiences in writing.
Lesson 11
Finishing the Book
Students are asked to "reflect upon and revise writing (with assistance) by clarifying ideas, adding descriptive words and phrases, sequencing events and ideas, and strengthening word choice," and the letter rubric explicitly lists "Use of interesting words and imagery" and "Effectiveness in creating mental images." The writing organizer prompts students to describe environment and family life, and editing steps direct students to improve creativity and word choice before producing a final copy. Students also are guided to reread for content and then focus on improving creativity, implying practice in making descriptions more vivid.
Final Project
Pioneer Family Night
Students prepare a meal from scratch and lead a family in making an orange clove decoration that includes steps (clove insertion, spice mixing, shaking) and a stated result of a "great smelling, natural craft," giving direct sensory experiences to describe. Students read aloud favorite book sections and explain why they are favorites, and students tell stories and explain the importance of storytelling, providing opportunities to recount events and describe experiences. The Pioneer Family Night checklist and activity pages prompt students to explain how pioneers used natural resources and to describe the significance of music, dance, and storytelling to pioneers.
Unit 2: The Sign of the Beaver
Lesson 2
Alone
Students are prompted to write sentences for vocabulary words on the Vocabulary Webs, requiring them to choose and use concrete words. Students record words or phrases that describe characters' feelings, attitudes, or actions on the Character Timelines, which asks them to select descriptive language. Students follow and taste the Johnnycakes recipe and are asked whether they like them and if they remind them of anything, prompting sensory reflection.
Lesson 3
A Stranger
Students are asked to record words or phrases describing Matt's feelings, attitudes, and actions on a Character Timelines page, which prompts generation of descriptive language. Students write five sentences about characters, events, and settings (Option 1/2), underline prepositions, and illustrate some sentences to make descriptions concrete and tied to a pioneer setting. Students research and describe natural remedies for specific conditions, discussing ingredients that can be found in the environment.
Lesson 5
A Story
The "A Desert Island" student page asks students to "Describe the natural resources you would use" for items (knife, home, food) and to illustrate them, requiring written descriptions tied to concrete items. The Journal Activity asks students to recall a time they connected with a character and answers "How did it make you feel?", prompting descriptive personal response. The activities require students to produce specific descriptions of objects and experiences rather than only summary or analysis.
Lesson 6
The Beaver
Students are asked to describe Attean's dog (Question #4) using specific physical details (e.g., "old," "brown with white patches," "clownish"), and students complete a "Beaver Research" page that asks them to record habitat, food, adaptations, predators, and to "Illustrate the beaver in its habitat" and answer "Why do beavers use trees to make dams?" These tasks require students to produce concrete factual and descriptive information about animals and settings. The activities also ask students to reread text pages and discuss what Matt learned from Attean, prompting recall of specific events and details.
Lesson 7
Real Life Learning
Students are asked to write definitions for vocabulary words and create a symbol for each word on the Vocabulary Memory Game page, and then must use the word in a sentence when they make a match. Students create a "Rules of the Forest" book where they list rules based on survival lessons and illustrate each rule. Students record descriptions of what they learned about characters on the Character Timelines page, requiring them to summarize character actions and traits.
Lesson 8
The Bear
Students are asked to describe the Indians' dance (Question #5) and to note concrete character details (Question #3: cleaned up, face painted, bear claw), which prompts observation of specific details. Activity 2 Option 2 asks students to think of a personal event and practice telling it "using exciting words and body language" around a campfire, which encourages choosing vivid language for oral storytelling. The Character Timelines and Flood Stories comparison require students to record and compare story details, reinforcing attention to specific words and events.
Lesson 10
Manitou
The lesson defines imagery and directs students to identify three passages where the author creates a vivid image (Word Pictures activity). Students are instructed to record the passages' text lines and to illustrate the images they visualize. Skills and activities ask students to draw and discuss visual images based on text descriptions and to respond in writing and through art.
Final Project
The Sign of the Beaver Movie
Students are asked to revise writing by "clarifying ideas, adding descriptive words and phrases, sequencing events and ideas, and strengthening word choice," which directs them to practice using more precise language. In the Movie Synopsis activity students draft and revise a short synopsis and are reminded that synopses "use exciting, descriptive language," and the rubric explicitly asks whether they used "exciting, dramatic language" and whether setting and main characters are accurately described. Students also create scripts, costume designs, and set illustrations that require them to depict scenes and props, providing multiple opportunities to choose concrete descriptive language.
Unit 3: Native American Animal Stories
Lesson 3
The Natural World
Students are asked to retell the butterfly story using a paper bag, natural materials, and a finished butterfly as props, with a reminder that storytellers use 'interesting words' and vary tone and body language. Students are directed to write a short script for a puppet show (Rabbit and Possum with five or six lines each) and to practice and present it to the family. Students are asked to read about animals with camouflage and 'describe how the Native Americans might have explained the unique characteristics' of those animals, which requires descriptive explanation.
Final Project
My Own Myth
Students are prompted to describe the natural phenomenon and the setting on the "Organizing the Myth" page, providing explicit space for description of where the myth takes place and what occurs. The Rough Draft rubric's Content section asks whether students use "interesting words" and have "descriptive settings," which directs students to attend to word choice and description when drafting. The activities ask students to brainstorm ideas and read about the occurrence to inform their explanations, which supports developing specific details about events.
2: Force and Power
Unit 1: Ben and Me
Lesson 1
Ben Franklin and the Colonies
Students are asked to "Describe his physical appearance" for Ben Franklin and to record details about his life on a timeline, which requires them to generate concrete facts. The "Elements of Historical Fiction" activity explicitly notes that "Descriptions: Events and places are described in detail so the reader can learn more about the events of the time period." Students are prompted to write a poem contrasting "Franklin's Philadelphia, Yesterday and Today" and to list "instead of" ideas in a journal about life without modern conveniences, both of which invite specific descriptive detail.
Lesson 3
Swimming
Students read and copy the author's descriptive sentences about the hat and circle the adjectives that describe it (Activity 2), and they illustrate and label the hat based on that description. Students are asked to write a descriptive paragraph as an advertisement or a commercial script for a new swimming invention and to discuss the language used in magazine ads and commercials (Activity 3). Students list modern inventions used in water and plan a design, which supports selecting concrete words to describe features and materials.
Lesson 4
Electricity
Students are asked to write a first-person paragraph about a vision that must contain at least ten adjectives and four adverbs and use a variety of sentence lengths, which practices use of descriptive words. The lesson lists the skill 'Use writing to express ideas, feelings, and experiences,' and includes activities where students retell events and record fact versus fiction, giving occasions to describe events. Students also design a badge and teach a younger child, which could prompt them to choose words to explain ideas clearly.
Lesson 5
Electrifying
Students are prompted to write a first-person account after flying the kite that asks them to "describe what happened and his feelings and ideas about the events that occurred." Students complete the Experiment with Lightning activity and answer the question "Describe what happened," providing an opportunity to record sensory observations of the balloon, bulb, and light. Students also record factual and fictional events from each chapter on the "Fact and Fiction" page and respond to chapter journal questions that ask for descriptive answers about events (e.g., what happened when lightning struck).
Lesson 8
Amos's Account
Students are prompted to list five thoughts, opinions, and feelings Amos would have had about the event and to record the sequence of events, which encourages inclusion of personal reactions. Students are instructed to revise drafts to "refine word choices, and create vivid images," and the writing rubric explicitly evaluates use of descriptive language. Students must write a first-person account that "give[s] Amos's feelings and opinions" and produce at least three paragraphs describing events and outcomes.
Lesson 9
The Rescue
Students are asked to write a new verse for "Yankee Doodle" from Amos's account about the mice and their rescue, which requires composing original descriptive text. Students complete the "Ben and Amos Bags" activity by listing 2-3 words/phrases for categories such as "appearance," "uses of power," "likes," and "personality," and by decorating bags with illustrations, words, and phrases and placing 3–5 representative items in each bag. Students also record factual and fictional events from the chapters on a "Fact and Fiction" page, requiring selection and phrasing of events.
Lesson 10
Back Home
Students are asked to fill the "Descriptions" section on the Elements of Historical Fiction page by providing examples of events or places described in detail from the book. Students can list a factual and a fictional detail on the "Fact and Fiction" page, requiring attention to specific details. Students are prompted in Wrapping Up to describe some of the main events in the book, encouraging them to produce descriptions of experiences or events.
Unit 2: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Lesson 2
Edmund Discovers Narnia
Activity 2, Option 1 asks students to eat their favorite food and "write a paragraph that describes how wonderful it tastes," which requires using sensory detail (taste) in writing. Activity 2, Option 2 asks students to "think about what words and descriptions the witch would use to persuade her" and write a paragraph, prompting students to select descriptive and persuasive language. The Good vs. Evil chart asks students to record and illustrate examples from chapters, which can encourage descriptive representation of events.
Lesson 4
The Lion
Students are asked to read a lion story and "record words and phrases that describe the lion in the story," which gives them practice identifying descriptive language. Students are asked to use a Venn diagram to compare that lion to Aslan, requiring them to select and organize descriptive traits. Students are also prompted to write a paragraph or song describing an animal character and to answer questions about its characteristics and role, which requires producing descriptive language.
Lesson 5
A Disappointment
Students are prompted to describe the White Witch's appearance with specific sensory/visual prompts (hair, skin, eyes, mouth) on the Villains activity page and to write several phrases or sentences about her actions and effects on others. Activity 2 asks students to record a word or phrase describing the witch, write a sentence about how she uses her power, illustrate villains, and write three descriptive words or phrases for each. The vocabulary activities require students to use target words in sentences, reinforcing selection of concrete words.
Lesson 6
A Gift from Father Christmas
The lesson asks students to "revise drafts to achieve a sense of audience, precise word choices, and vivid images" and instructs them to "think of ways to make [paragraphs] more interesting and creative." Activity 3 directs students to focus on verbs that show action and descriptive adjectives. The rubric asks students to evaluate whether their ideas were "interesting and descriptive" and whether they used "interesting and descriptive adjectives."
Lesson 8
Deep Magic
Activity 3 (Imagery) asks students to reread the scene of animals capturing and killing Aslan and record words and phrases that appeal to the five senses, with example entries for sight, touch, and hearing. Activity 2 (The Four Siblings) requires students to list five words or phrases that describe each character, prompting use of concrete descriptive language. The wrapping-up prompt asks students to describe what Aslan endured, which elicits descriptive recounting of events.
Lesson 10
Back Through the Wardrobe
Students are asked to "describe and illustrate the next route" to Narnia and to act out the scene, which requires them to produce descriptive language and imagery. Students are prompted to compare the book and movie and to discuss how characters, creatures, and settings matched or differed from what they imagined, encouraging descriptive comparisons. Students may write a movie review that highlights what they enjoyed and what could be improved, a task that can involve concrete details about scenes, characters, and events.
Unit 3: The BFG
Lesson 1
In the Middle of the Night
Students are asked in Activity 2, Option 1 to observe their street at night, illustrate it using shades and colors, and then write a paragraph describing how the street looks different at night than during the day, which prompts descriptive writing based on sensory observation. Activity 2, Option 2 directs students to brainstorm words related to nighttime and mystery and to write a song or poem about the "witching hour," encouraging selection of descriptive vocabulary. Reading questions ask students to identify words and phrases the author uses to describe sights (e.g., misty, still, bent or crooked; very thin, very dark, very tall), which has students notice sensory and concrete language in text.
Lesson 2
Snatched
Students are asked to copy the author's descriptive passage that contains sensory language (e.g., "the ground was flat and pall yellow," "great lumps of blue rock," "dead trees stood everywhere like skeletons"). Students answer a comprehension question asking how the author describes the environment, prompting identification of those sensory details. Students are instructed to write their own description of a suitable giant home on the back of the activity page and to illustrate the setting, providing an opportunity to produce descriptive writing.
Lesson 3
The BFG
Students are asked in Giant Geography to locate countries and then "illustrate a person from the country based on how the giant says people from the country taste," and to "write what they think the giants would say about how people in their state taste." The reading questions and answers explicitly record sensory taste descriptions (e.g., "Turks taste like turkey," "Greeks taste greasy," "Panama taste like hats"), which students must use when illustrating or writing. The Quotable Quotes activity asks students to identify and record exact quotes from characters, which requires attention to the author's descriptive word choices.
Lesson 4
Ears and Snozzcumbers
Activity 3 directs students to focus on the sense of hearing during a blindfolded nature walk, write down and describe different sounds they hear, and then write a paragraph or song about using an enhanced sense of hearing. Activity 2 asks students to write about a vivid dream, illustrate it, and choose a color scheme based on discussed color-emotion symbolism, which requires visual/sensory choices and description.
Lesson 5
Time with the BFG
Students are asked to answer journal questions after reading, including Question #5 which asks "How did the frobscottle taste?" and prompts a sensory response (vanilla, cream, hint of raspberry). Students identify and record "Quotable Quotes" from Sophie and the BFG, which requires attention to the author's language choices. The recipe activity invites students to observe the drink's color (adding food coloring for a green hue) and to follow directions that reference sensory attributes (taste, fizz).
Lesson 6
Catching People and Dreams
Students are asked in the "Sweet Dream or Nightmare" activity to give each dream a title, draw the dream in a jar, and think about the shape and colors, then describe how the dreamer would respond, which prompts visual and emotional description. In the collage option students choose colors and textures to represent dreams and nightmares, engaging multiple sensory modalities. In "A New Giant" students draw a detailed picture and write a description of how the giant catches human beans, requiring descriptive choices about the giant's actions and methods, and the "Interpreting the BFG" activity asks students to substitute correct words and reword phrases, practicing precise word choice.
Lesson 8
A Dreamy Plan
Students are asked to write a paragraph describing an encounter with a giant and are explicitly required to use specific vocabulary words (aghast, cloak, vanish, petrified, dexterity, ingenuity, flinch, brooch). Students complete a fill-in-the-blank story that places those concrete words into contextual sentences and paste matched word-definition pairs into their journals. Students also identify quotes from characters, which can encourage selection of specific phrasing from the text.
Lesson 9
The Palace
The "A Different Setting" activity asks students to research a chosen city and find information about buildings, important places, and people so that those concrete elements can be included in a written plan. Students are asked to write steps describing how the BFG and Sophie will attempt to rescue children in that setting, which requires including specific location details. The "Quotable Quotes" activity has students identify character quotes, exposing them to author word choice and phrasing.
Lesson 10
A Breakfast Fit for a Queen
Students identify character quotes in Activity 1, which requires them to notice wording from Sophie and the BFG. In Activity 2 (Hosting a Giant) students must describe or illustrate scaled-up items and explain what they would use or set up, prompting them to produce specific descriptive responses. In Activity 3 (Characterizing the Queen) students generate adjectives and support each with examples from the text and then role-play the queen, requiring them to produce descriptive language about character actions and reactions.
Final Project
Recipe for a Dream or Newspaper Report
The Skills list tells students to "focus reflection on target elements by using descriptive words and phrases and sequencing events and ideas," and to "compose three or more paragraphs with topic sentences; supporting details; appropriate, logical sequence; and sufficient elaboration," which directs students to use descriptive language. In Option 1, students must "write a detailed description" in three paragraphs about the dream (recipe, beginning/middle/end, who to gift and why, why the dream is powerful) and the rubric evaluates "description detail" and "illustration detail and appeal." In Option 2, students must "write a detailed description" of events in three paragraphs and produce an "interesting writing style" with required quotes, with rubric criteria for detail and clarity.
3: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Stories from Africa and Asia
Lesson 1
Meerkats in Botswana
Students are asked to draw a meerkat in its habitat and then write a descriptive paragraph that includes five facts (Option 1). Students may instead write a short story about a meerkat that must include at least five factual details (Option 2). The activities also prompt students to discuss specific physical features and functions (dark stomach, eye rings, tail, claws, ears, color) and to record information about land, animals, people, and language in a graphic organizer.
Lesson 2
Meeting Precious
Students complete vocabulary activities that focus on concrete descriptive words (e.g., "spindly," "massive," "gingerly," "vantage," "nimble"), matching definitions in a crossword or creating one. Students answer comprehension Question #1 by identifying the narrator's descriptive phrases about Botswana (wide plains like the sea, hills like islands, a high empty sky that seems to be singing). Students record similarities and differences between Precious and themselves for each chapter, requiring them to write descriptive comparisons about experiences and traits.
Lesson 3
The Surprise
Students read passages that include concrete sensory details about Kosi (e.g., "Kosi stood up on his hind legs and sniffed with his black nose," "He had smooth fur," and what he ate). Activity 3 asks students to write a paragraph describing why they would want to study a particular African animal and to illustrate or model it, which could prompt use of concrete descriptive language. The Life Application asks students to watch a meerkat documentary and discuss similarities and differences between the film and the book, encouraging attention to observable (sensory) details.
Lesson 4
A Missing Cow
Students are asked to write a "Script for a Scene" that includes dialogue and stage directions for the episode where Pontsho brings Kosi to school, which gives them a chance to choose words and sensory actions. The "Story Conflict" activity asks students to think about various natural settings (ocean, desert, snowy mountain) and to write a man vs. nature conflict for each, prompting description of setting and events. The "Precious and Me" chart asks students to describe similarities and differences between themselves and Precious, which requires selecting descriptive words and phrases.
Lesson 5
A Good Idea
Students are asked to write a paragraph about a personal challenging experience (Activity 2), which practices recounting events in writing. Activity 3 has students generate verbs with adverbs and nouns with adjectives and then write sentences combining them, giving explicit practice with descriptive word choices. Activity 4 requires students to write sentences or a short fictional story that include at least three adjectives and two adverbs, and to draw the animal in its habitat, connecting description to an image.
Lesson 6
African Bush Diorama
The book report rubric asks, "Do you use interesting adjectives and adverbs?," prompting students to attend to word choice. The organizer requires a paragraph describing characters and setting and asks students to find descriptions of the book's setting to help design the diorama. The editing step instructs students to revise their draft to improve content, which could include improving descriptive language.
Lesson 8
Peace Day
Students are asked to read the prologue and first two chapters and answer a "Describe Sadako" question that prompts descriptive responses. Students create a picture dictionary: they find definitions, record the sentence from the book containing each Japanese word, and illustrate each word, linking concrete vocabulary to images. Students describe Peace Day (why it is celebrated and what activities occur) and complete graphic organizers recording cultural elements from chapters, requiring them to note specific events and details.
Lesson 10
Kenji
Students are asked to compose a get-well card for Sadako of at least eight sentences, draft and edit their writing, and include Japanese cultural elements in the card. Students are asked to summarize the events of the chapters and reflect on Sadako's situation and her family's feelings. The skills section explicitly states that students will compose a variety of written products, including letters.
Lesson 11
O Bon
The lesson asks students to answer a question about how the author describes the weather and how that weather makes them feel, prompting attention to descriptive language. Students are asked to write journal entries reflecting on ways families remember deceased members and to write remembrance songs, tasks that invite expressing experiences and meanings. The lesson also prompts discussion of favorite foods and why students enjoy them, which can lead to sensory descriptions of taste and texture.
Lesson 12
Racing the Wind
Students are asked to write haiku that "should paint an image in the reader's mind," and the Student Activity Page gives model haikus that use sensory and tactile language (e.g., "Smooth or rough," "Voices, love and warmth"). Students are instructed to write haiku reflecting nature, feelings, or experiences and to read their poems aloud while attending to syllables. The activity also encourages pairing haiku with nature images in a presentation, reinforcing visual and sensory imagery.
Unit 2: Holes
Lesson 2
Camp Green Lake
Students are asked to name an invention, list materials, outline steps for making it, and draw and label its parts on the "An Inventor" activity pages, which requires use of concrete nouns and specific details (materials, parts, steps). Students record specific facts and physical descriptions about the boys in "The Happy Campers" pages and illustrate each character, which prompts concrete descriptions of appearance. The reading questions include explicit textual descriptions (e.g., "There was no lake and hardly anything was green. There were only two trees.") that students must note or answer about setting, providing models of concrete detail.
Lesson 4
Caveman
The lesson explicitly introduces the concept of imagery by stating, "When authors provide detailed descriptions, it is called imagery." Activity 2 directs students to "record the author's description of the dangerous lizard" and to illustrate it (Option 1) or build a clay model reflecting the author's description (Option 2), which has students identify and reproduce descriptive language. The student activity page provides lines for writing the lizard description, prompting students to extract concrete descriptive phrases from the text.
Lesson 5
KB
Students are asked to discuss why adding details about the subject of a sentence can make it more interesting and to rewrite simple sentences with elaborated subjects using adjectives and descriptive phrases. The lesson provides a detailed adjective-order list and has activities where students compose elaborated sentences (including three sentences about the desert and one specifically about rattlesnakes). Students practice producing longer, more descriptive noun phrases by underlining subjects and rewriting sentences with elaborated subjects.
Lesson 6
Sunflower Seeds
Students are directed to compose Rattlesnake Shape Poetry (Option 1) and an Alliterative Shape Poem (Option 2) in which they write a poem about rattlesnakes within a snake-shaped outline. The instructions explicitly remind students that "a poem uses language that appeals to the reader's senses and emotions" and that "Poems should create images and feelings within the reader." Students are also asked to read their poem aloud and pay attention to sound devices, which supports attention to word-level choices.
Lesson 7
Zero
Students are asked in Option 1 to write a paragraph describing their experiences and occupation in the Old West and in Option 2 to write a letter describing their journey, job, and hardships, which require describing events. Activity 3 asks students to find the author's description of Green Lake and draw how it looked 100 years ago and today, directing attention to descriptive details in the text. Activity 4 has students make the "Spiced Peaches" recipe and discuss it as a delicacy, engaging students in a sensory cooking experience. Reading questions ask students to explain how the author describes Miss Katherine Barlow, prompting attention to descriptive language.
Lesson 10
The Mary Lou
Students practice identifying and explaining similes and metaphors in Activity 1, where they label sentences (e.g., "Camp Green Lake is as dry as dust," "The spiced peaches were nectar from the gods") and write explanations. Students are asked in Activity 2 (Option 2) to write a poem or song that contains at least two similes and one metaphor and then identify them in writing. Students read chapters aloud with attention to intonation and expression, which engages them with language that conveys sensory feeling.
Lesson 12
Treasure and Lizards
Students read passages and sentences that include sensory and concrete language (e.g., "The desert sky was blue and blazing hot," "spiced peaches and onions," "Stanley had blisters on the back of his heel"). Students are asked to summarize chapters and answer reflective journal questions about feelings and events, which invites description. The Life Application directs students to take a walk and discuss what it must have been like for Stanley in the desert, prompting sensory imagining of the environment.
Final Project
Welcome to Camp
Students are asked to write two paragraphs that describe the camp's name, geography (physical environment), sleeping and eating quarters, staff, activities, and staff–camper interactions, which requires description of specific places and objects. Students design and illustrate a camp uniform and create a Welcome Pack with five concrete items, selecting and describing tangible objects. Students also create a camp song or chant, an exercise routine, and list explicit differences from Camp Green Lake, all of which prompt descriptive choices about setting, activities, and items.
Unit 3: Stories from Europe
Lesson 2
Fiona's Luck
Students answer questions that require identifying concrete story details (for example, Question #4 asks how Fiona made people think she was lucky and expects answers naming pine cones, paint, and dirty rocks). Students record factual, concrete details about Ireland (cows, potatoes) in the Fact and Fantasy activity. Students are asked to write three sentences about the book that include prepositional phrases, with the example sentence "Fiona filled her basket with pinecones," which uses concrete nouns.
Lesson 3
The Sea King's Daughter
Students are asked to identify factual details that include sensory information (for example, the teacher notes that "the details of the sights and sounds of the port are accurate" as facts to record). Students are directed to look closely at details in paintings and to listen to an opera to notice voices, costumes, and events, which encourages attention to sensory features. The Story Elements and Fact vs. Fantasy activities require students to describe setting and record three factual story elements, which may involve noting concrete descriptive details.
Lesson 4
The Snow Queen
Students are asked to create a small book about Denmark and are explicitly told to "convey the information concisely" and to "use words and phrases that are accurate and precise," with a polar bear example contrasting a precise factual description and a more figurative, sensory one. The vocabulary activities require students to match words to concrete definitions and choose synonyms and antonyms, reinforcing precise word meanings. The script activity asks students to select and adapt the most important words spoken between characters, giving students an opportunity to choose specific language for scenes.
Lesson 5
Comparing and Contrasting Stories
Students are asked to choose a story and retell a few events from the main character's first-person perspective in an 8–10 sentence piece, providing direct practice in describing experiences. The lesson supplies a model first-person paragraph that uses concrete nouns and sensory/imagery words (e.g., "meadow," "grabbed the bottom of my skirt," "meadow started getting blurry," "throne room of the leprechaun king"). These elements give students an example of conveying a scene through specific words and some sensory detail.
Final Project
Writing Your Own Story
The Skills section explicitly lists "Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely." The Setting activity instructs students to "Illustrate the setting of your story. Record words and phrases to describe it," requiring students to produce descriptive language. Character pages ask students to list five adjectives and write three sentences about each character, prompting concrete descriptors. The Rough Draft directions tell students to "use creative descriptions and interesting verbs" and to sketch illustrations so readers can better visualize events.
4: Exploration and Survival
Unit 1: Abel's Island
Lesson 1
Survival
Activity 1 asks students to choose an animal to represent themselves and to describe clothing, voice, physical characteristics, personality traits, and character flaws, which requires use of concrete descriptors. Activity 2 asks students to describe what they remember about a river and to discuss plants and animals and their adaptations, inviting sensory recall. Activity 4 asks students to list three things they would miss and describe why, prompting descriptive explanation of experiences or feelings.
Lesson 2
The Storm
Students are prompted to describe sensory elements of the story (e.g., Question #3 asks them to "Describe the weather" and Question #7 asks them to "Describe the boat") and to answer some reading questions in a journal. Students create a vocabulary picture dictionary where they write word definitions and draw illustrations, linking concrete word meanings to images. The skills list includes "Show understanding and interpretation of text in discussion and writing" and "Support interpretations or conclusions with examples drawn from text," which require students to produce written descriptions and evidence.
Lesson 3
Where Am I?
Students answer journal questions about Abel's experiences (where he was, what he ate, how he adapted) and are asked to describe the boats he built and what resources he used. Students complete an activity that has them illustrate Abel's boats and label parts, and they are given an option to write a "Sailing Song" whose words should reflect Abel's experiences. Students are also asked to summarize what happened to Abel and to plan ways to help him, all of which require conveying events and details.
Lesson 4
Who Is Abel?
Students are asked to illustrate Abel and record words and phrases describing his physical appearance and personality, citing evidence from the text. Activity 2 directs students to provide textual evidence that Abel is intelligent and imaginative and to discuss whether they inferred those traits. The comprehension questions include a prompt to "Describe Abel's new home," which asks students to note concrete physical details (hollow log, branches, rock). The skills list explicitly includes "Draw and discuss visual images based on text descriptions."
Lesson 5
Perseverance
Students are prompted to write three-paragraph reflective narratives (options: Perseverance or a 'shadowed' life) using graphic organizers that ask for topic sentences, supporting details, and conclusions. The Reflective Writing Rubric explicitly asks, "Did you use interesting, descriptive words and phrases?" under the Ideas criterion, directing students to consider descriptive language. Organizers instruct students to provide 'sentences that support with details or examples,' which encourages inclusion of concrete supporting information.
Lesson 7
Threats
Students are asked to write sentences for vocabulary cards (record the sentence from the book and use words in a sentence) and to analyze word meaning, syllables, and parts of speech, providing practice in choosing precise vocabulary. In Activity 3, students list three adaptations for Abel and describe how each will aid his survival and then illustrate Abel and his adaptations, requiring descriptive explanation of actions and features. Reading questions ask students to explain how Abel is adapting and how he protected himself, prompting written descriptions of events and responses.
Lesson 9
The Newcomer
Students are asked to prepare a script that includes lines for characters, stage directions, a set description, and three props, which requires specifying concrete elements of a scene. The activity directs students to reread specific pages and discuss the action and dialogue, prompting them to choose words for characters' speech and actions. The student page explicitly advises weaving in facial signals with a quoted example: "I nod, I can see it in the other actor's eyes," which models a visual detail.
Final Project
Your Own Deserted Island
Students are asked to write a paragraph describing the island environment and to draw a map, prompting descriptive language about setting and important features. The rubric for Part 1 and Part 3 explicitly checks for vocabulary use and asks for adjectives/adverbs, and Part 3 requires at least three adjectives, two adverbs, and one vocabulary word in the letter. Students are instructed to write paragraphs describing how they landed, what they have, and how they use resources, which requires recounting experiences and using descriptive words and phrases.
Unit 2: Pedro's Journal
Lesson 2
August
The writing prompts in Activity 3 ask students to write about a time they went to the ocean, specifically prompting them to answer "What did you see? What did you do? What were your feelings about the experience?", which asks for observational and emotional description. Activity 3 also asks students to "write a descriptive paragraph based on the facts" after listing facts and drawing illustrations, which requires students to convert concrete observations into prose. The lesson also directs discussion of crew members' feelings about the ocean and asks the child to describe her own feelings, prompting expressive detail.
Lesson 3
September
Students are instructed to write journal entries responding to questions about Pedro's experiences and to summarize events, giving them opportunities to describe events and feelings. The Skills list includes "Use vocabulary clearly to describe ideas, feelings, and experiences," and Option 2 asks students to "write a short paragraph using the words provided" which requires choosing descriptive words. The "Meteors as Signs" activity directs students to "make up his own myth or omen about the meaning of a meteor," prompting them to invent and describe an event or experience.
Lesson 4
October
Students are asked to record words or phrases describing the Native People and the White Men in a bubble-map activity, giving them a chance to choose descriptive vocabulary. Students are asked to draw a picture of San Salvador and include indigenous animals in a journal entry, which can prompt sensory observation. Students read text passages and answer questions that reference concrete details (e.g., painted people, gold jewelry, parrots, snakes, lizards), exposing them to sensory and concrete language.
Lesson 5
Journal Writing
Students are asked to list ten facts about an event and three feelings in the Pre-Writing activity, and to think of three quotes to include. Students are prompted to identify events Pedro writes about and places where he records his feelings, and to include their own feelings and observations when writing the journal entry. The Skills section includes "Compose sentences with interesting, elaborate subjects," which relates to word choice and sentence-level crafting.
Lesson 6
November
Students read Pedro's journal entries and answer questions about his feelings, interactions, and experiences (e.g., why Pedro felt shame, how natives treated the soldiers). Students complete a two-column graphic organizer 'Surviving Life at Sea, Surviving Life on Land' and fill in disadvantages and a sentence prompt 'I would rather be ___ because ___.' Students create a Native American animal mask, selecting materials, sketching a design, and using paint or natural items (rice, leaves, feathers, etc.) to create texture and color.
Lesson 7
December
Students illustrate and label expected and actual treasures (silk, gold, jewels, spices; cotton, parrots, tobacco, monkeys, fish) on the Treasures activity, requiring them to choose and name concrete nouns. Students answer journal questions that ask them to describe events (for example, the sailors' encounter with the natives on December 3rd and Pedro sinking the Santa Maria), which asks for event recounting and factual detail. Students fill in The Journey page and explain differences between expected and found treasures, selecting specific items to compare.
Lesson 9
January
Students practice choosing specific words for dialogue in Activity 2 by writing a five-line conversation between Pedro and Columbus using alternatives to "said" and correct punctuation. Students read a descriptive sentence about manatees ("They are as gray as slate with webbed hands. They are big and brawny.") and are asked to find pictures, discuss the manatee's ecosystem and adaptations, and optionally illustrate a manatee. Students perform a hands-on experiment with a paddle and their hand to feel water displacement, providing a sensory experience they can describe.
Lesson 10
February
Students identify and create similes in two activity options that ask them to record the two things being compared and to "write your own similes," with Option 2 explicitly encouraging adding descriptive words (e.g., "The ocean tossed and turned like hundreds of gymnasts on a floor mat"). Students explain idioms and fill out simile examples from the text, practicing language that creates images. Students write a firsthand report as Pedro recounting survival, discoveries, and what it was like to sail, which requires them to convey experiences in writing.
Final Project
Story Blocks
Students are asked to illustrate the Setting Cube and the Exploration Cube, which requires them to depict aspects of place and discovery. Students write two or three words or phrases describing each character on the Characters Cube and compose sentences using vocabulary words on the Vocabulary Cube. Students generate three similes from the text and three original similes on the Simile Cube and write quoted sentences on the Quotes Cube, practicing varied word choice for dialogue attribution.
Unit 3: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Lesson 1
Sickness
Students are prompted to "Describe Mrs. Frisby and her family" and to record "events, characters, and descriptions" from a fantasy novel on the activity sheet, which asks for examples of characterization and setting. The vocabulary activities ask students to read sentences from the book that include descriptive language (e.g., "gently furrowed earth," "gloomy and primeval spot") and to analyze and use those words. The Plot Flowchart and journal question tasks ask students to retell and record major events and to answer descriptive questions about environment and discovery.
Lesson 2
Spring is Coming
Students are asked to answer journal questions about author description (e.g., "How does the author describe the cat? Based on the author's description, illustrate the cat") and to record events on a Plot Flowchart. Students are asked to describe the setting, illustrate it, and beneath the picture "describe how the survival of Mrs. Frisby's family is being threatened," and to answer/ discuss questions about events in the garden and threats to animals.
Lesson 3
A Visit to an Owl
The lesson includes a Skills objective to "Draw and discuss visual images based on text descriptions," which asks students to create and talk about imagery. Activity 2, "As the Crow Flies," asks students to imagine a bird's-eye view and draw their neighborhood, prompting them to attend to visual details and spatial relationships. The Wrapping Up prompt asks students to "describe what happened to Mrs. Frisby," giving students an opportunity to recount events verbally.
Lesson 5
Meeting the Rats
Students are asked to describe characters (e.g., "How would you describe Brutus?" and "How would you describe Nicodemus?") and to "describe an important event" on a Plot Flowchart. Students are prompted to "describe what Mrs. Frisby discovered" in the wrapping up section and to list examples in the "Beyond Needs" activity, which requires observational detail about the rats' environment and inventions. These prompts require students to produce descriptive language about people, events, and settings.