4th Grade · Week 1 of 36 · English
Nonfiction structure
1. Hook
- Hear the goal. Watch one worked example (pictures + steps).
- Try the interactive lab on this page. Move something. Read what happened.
- Guided fills, then independent practice, then the scored quiz.
- Teach it back: one example + the usual mistake.
There is no classroom teacher. This page teaches you. The lab is on this site — not an outside classroom. Stay on this page. The pictures, the game, and Your work are the lesson.
Some articles tell events in order; others compare, explain causes, or solve problems. How can you tell?
Then: lab → guided → quiz → teach it back. The lab is the lesson, not a decoration.
2. Teach
Describe the overall structure of informational text: chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution, description (CCSS RI.4.5).
Standards alignment: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4 (domain-level; works with any state’s standards)
A line you can point to is evidence. This week's job: Nonfiction structure.
- Chronological: events in time order (first, then, in 1903). Compare/contrast: alike and different (both, however).
- Cause/effect: why things happen (because, as a result). Problem/solution: a problem and how it's solved (one solution, to fix this).
- Description: lists features of a topic (for example, such as).
Passage: Plastic straws pollute oceans and harm sea turtles. To fix this, some cities banned them. Others offer paper or reusable straws. Since the bans, beach cleanups report fewer straws.
Structure: problem/solution (with some cause/effect).
- Read: "pollute oceans" = problem.
- "To fix this" = solution signal.
- Bans and reusable straws = solutions.
- "Since the bans" = result.
- Structure: problem/solution.
Find 3 articles and identify each one's structure with signal words.
Calling every text "description."
Knowing structure helps you take notes and remember.
No classroom teacher today — this page is the lesson. A grown-up sits nearby. Model once, wait 10–20 seconds, then prompt. A grown-up sits nearby. Model once, wait, then let the child try.
See it · try it (interactive lab)
Do this lab on Life Academy. Move something. Read what changed — then quiz.
Your work — type it here
Read the passage on this page. Then type your answers. Save when you are done.
3. Guided practice
Try these with me — type the missing word, then check.
Reveal the thinking
Find the signal words; name the structure.
4. Independent practice
Work the set. Check when finished — this is practice (mastery quiz is next).
5. Mastery check
Scored quiz — results save to your gradebook.
Reading and writing on this page
Grades 3–5 English is reading, grammar, and short writing. MLA research papers start in high school — not today. Focus: Nonfiction structure.
Classroom · Gradebook · Transcripts
Stay on this page. The studio, the lab, pictures, and Your work are the lesson.
6. Reflection / teach-back
Teach-back: Explain Nonfiction structure in your own words. Give one example and name the usual mistake.