4th-Grade ELA Assignment
Overview
Fourth-grade students read two short passages, then answer a series of questions about the structure of each text. The texts, which are commissioned for educational purposes, are not grade-appropriate or worthy of student time and attention, and the associated questions do not ask students to explore the craft and structure of the texts, or to build a deep understanding of the texts.
About the Text
Title
"Building a Campfire" and "Lodging Options for Everyone"
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 weakly aligned?
This assignment is not aligned because it does not offer a strong text or a strong task:
The texts are not adequately complex or worthy of student time and attention. They do not contain useful information for students, nor do they offer the implicit and subtle connections between ideas, intricate organization, or text features that would warrant an exploration of structure.
The task does not require a deep analysis of craft and structure. Students are asked to identify the structure of each text, but not to describe the text’s structure in greater depth.
The task does not require a deep understanding of the information or ideas in the text. The questions do not ask students to use their understanding of the texts or to use evidence from the texts to support their ideas.