4th-Grade ELA Assignment
Overview
Fourth-grade students read “The Life and Times of the Ant,” a non-fiction text by Charles Minucci, then write three things they learned about the inside of an ant hill. The assignment exposes students to a grade-appropriate, worthwhile text, but the writing prompt does not require students to explain the ideas in this scientific text using specific textual evidence.
About the Text
Title and Author
"The Life and Times of the Ant" by Charles Micucci
What is the Lexile Level of this text?
Based on Lexile, which grades is this text intended for?
Is the text qualitatively complex enough for the grade?
Is this text fiction or non-fiction?
Is this text authentic or was it written for educational purposes?
Does the text provide sufficient detail to build knowledge of a worthwhile topic and/or is it worth reading closely and re-reading?
Why is this assignment partially aligned?
This assignment is partially aligned because the text is strong but the task is not:
Students engage with a worthwhile text that builds scientific knowledge. The text is appropriately challenging, and it builds students’ knowledge of one of the world’s most important insects.
The writing prompt does not require students to analyze the text or write about it substantively. Students are merely asked to recall details from the scientific text, but not to build a deep understanding of the information or analyze it in depth. This task would be stronger if it asked students to demonstrate their understanding of key ideas in the text and explain these ideas in writing, supported by well-chosen textual evidence.