LITE Home
Literacy
Information
Technology
Education
About Julie Coiro

Integrating Technology Resources
Into Your Comprehensive Literacy Curriculum

   Integration Ideas for Fourth Grade Teachers

Click on any of the underlined unit topics in the right hand column below to link to some curriculum integration ideas using a variety of technology tools.  Use the grey arrow buttons to link to integration ideas at other grade levels or to return to the main menu.
 

Previous Grade

Main Menu

Next Grade
Unit Integration Ideas
Literacy Component
Unit/Topic 
Non-Fiction
Egyptian Mummies
Non-Fiction & Fiction
Illustrators and Their Work
Fiction
Stone Fox
Online Non-Fiction
Communities


 
Sample Unit
Non-Fiction: Mummies in Ancient Egypt

Focus Text: Tut's Mummy, Lost and Found, by Judy Donnelly

Type of Reading: Non-Fiction, Main Idea & Sequencing
Resource
Task / Purpose
Trade Books Other Resources
  • Introduce Tut's Mummy as an example of a story based on the real discovery of King Tut's tomb.  Provide some background with a guided picture walk through some important photos from Into the Mummy's Tomb that will help students visualize important words like tomb, mummy, King Tut, Tutankhamen, and Egyptians. 
  • Use Into the Mummy's Tomb as a supportive read-aloud in the days after the focus book has been introduced.  Several sections lends themselves well to giving students the feeling of exploring the tomb themselves, and the photographs beautifully enhance childrens' experience with many of the drawings in the focus book. 
  • Compare the types of texts (story based on fact, non-fiction, non-fiction told in the first person) with students, discussing the purpose of each type of texts.
  • Share Mummies Made in Egypt with students to introduce them to the mummification process. 
Productivity Tools 
  • Kid Pix Studio: Use drawing tools to create a map of King Tut's tomb.  Use stamps to add treasures.  Illustrate and label a few of the most important objects found in the tomb. 
  • Kid Pix Studio: Use a black line scanned drawing template of King Tut and have students use painting tools to color. 
  • Kid Pix Studio: Use drawing tools to draw and label a map of Egypt. Use Kid Pix tools to create Egytian cartouches. 
 Productivity Tools
  • Inspiration: Prepare a vocabulary activity for students.  Have them match / sort important words or concepts from the story with photos of those words cut and pasted from the Internet. 
  • Inspiration: Introduce students to chapter heading main ideas and important details.  Have students correctly sequence "mixed-up" important events from each chapter. 
Internet Web Sites 

Professionally Designed for All Readers

Designed for developing readers 		Internet Web Sites

Teachers and Students Sharing Work

Screen Shots and Templates for Egyptian Mummy Unit


 
Sample Unit: 
Illustrators and Their Work

Focus Text: Look Alikes, by Joan Steiner (with CD-ROM)
see other texts in list of related resources

Type of Reading: Picture Books and Biographies
Literacy Objectives / Standards Rationale for Technology Integration
Literacy Responses Using Technology Tools
  1. What inspires certain illustrators and their unique, individual styles? After viewing the CD-ROM about Joan Steiner that came with the book Look-Alikes, visit the KidsDraw website and learn more about the thoughts and work of a few different illustrators.  Read an interview with at least three different illustrators and jot down notes about each. Describe some of the similarities and differences among these illustrators in a journal entry. 
  2. Who are some of the most well-known illustrators of children's books? Select one female illustrator from the Children's Book Illustrators web site.Use the list of questions about illustrators that we created in class to guide your study of this particular illustrator. Enter this information into the PowerPoint slide show template and be prepared to present your slide show to the class. 
  3. What makes an award-winning illustration? How are winners selected for the Caldecott Medal?  What criteria sets an award-winning illustration apart from others?  Select one book from the list of winners [Caldecott Medal, Golden Kite Award (for illustrations), Horn Book Award, or Coretta Scott King Award] to study.  Tell about a favorite illustration in this book and tell why you think this picture book deserves to win the award.  Be prepared to present your opinions orally in front of the class.
  4. Joan Steiner and Ann Jonus make use of visual illusions in their illustrations.Explore some other visual illusion games at the web sites below. Keep a list of the illusions you explore in your writer's log.  Include a sketch that illustrates the illusion and give a short description of what you learned from each. 
  5. Try your own hand at illustrating cartoons by following the steps given by popular illustrators Gary Harbo or Uncle Fred or Guy Gilchrist.  Even better, enter one of your best drawings in one of the Young Illustrators contests listed below.
Related Books for Study Internet Resources for Teachers Internet Resources for Students Young Illustrator Contests  Popular Illustrator Homepages Interactive Visual Games


 
Sample Unit: 
Stone Fox

Focus Text: Stone Fox, by John Reynolds Gardiner

Type of Reading: Fiction - Character Study
Literacy Objectives / Standards Rationale for Technology Integration
Literacy Responses Using Technology Tools
  1. Willy's character progresses through many different feelings in this book.  We've discussed many of these changes during our small group discussions.  Use Inspiration to create a visual diagram that illustrates the sequence of these various feelings.  Link each feeling to an example from the text to explains the reason for that particular feeling. 
  2. Explore Willy's life on a potato farm.  Study the potato's year long growing cyle to see how much work it is for Little Willy to harvest the potato crop all on his own, learn more about the nutritious value of potatos, view lots of  interesting photos, read many new facts, and see how many different ways you can cook a potato.  Use this information to help prepare 
    • an illustrated potato pamphlet in Microsoft Word. The pamphlet should include interesting facts and information about the care and growing of potatos, how to cook them and their history OR
    • an illustrated recipe book in PowerPoint.  The recipe book should include at least four recipes that use the potato as a main ingredient.  Take time to cook one of the recipes at home, and include a photograph of your creation and a short description of how it tasted on the last page of your recipe book.
  3. Choices for Reader's and Writer's Workshop: Read more about the history of the Iditarod. Find out what it takes to be a musher, and read about a junior musher from Italy. Then, select one of the suggested activities to complete during Writer's Workshop. 
  4. Explore letter patterns in words: With a partner, use this list of words from Chapter 4 to sort and connect the similar words in Inspiration.  Be sure to label each set of words with the pattern of letters that is similar for that group. 
  5. Research important facts about the Alaskan Malamute.  Use the main headings from this article to write a summary paragraph.  Try to write only one sentence that summarizes each section of the text. 
  6. Create an ABC Book of musher vocabulary using List 1 and List 2. 
Internet Resources for Teachers Internet Resources for Students
Teachers Sharing Ideas Students Sharing Ideas


 
Sample Unit: 
Communities 

Focus Text: Online Collaborative Project Resources

Type of Reading: Assorted Non-Fiction Online Texts
Literacy Objectives / Standards Rationale for Technology Integration
Literacy Responses Using Technology Tools

Ideas for this topic are left open-ended at this point.  Please visit the sites below to see how other students and their teachers are creating their own literacy tasks.
 
Internet Resources for Teachers Internet Resources for Students
Software Programs to Extend Learning Students Sharing Ideas

Back to Top Menu



Previous Grade

Main Menu

Next Grade