As you may or may not know, fourth grade students take one extra FSA test that they did not have to take in the third grade: The FSA Writing Test.
For this test, students will either be writing an explanatory essay (where they have to explain something), or an opinion essay (in which, obviously, they will give their opinion). In either case, the students will not be making up all the information themselves, but instead will be responding to several source materials. These sources can be articles, videos, poems, or even an audio clip. Typically, though, it is just a collection of articles. Usually, there are three sources, but it depends more on total word count rather than the number of articles. At the end of the articles, the students will be given a prompt to respond to, which will ask them to explain something using the sources, or to form an opinion based on the sources.
For example, the students may read three articles about recycling, and then be asked to explain how recycling benefits the planet, while incorporating information they read in the articles. Or they may read several articles about after school activities, pro and con, and then be asked to give their opinion on whether or not after school activities help or hurt students in their academics. Again, they will need to cite examples form the articles to support their opinion.
As you can see, this is much different than what students are used to when it comes to writing, and it will take a lot of work to get these fourth graders ready to take this test. However, I want to turn your children into well-rounded authors, so we will be doing all kinds of writing this year- not just stuff geared towards passing a test.
We will be writing stories, biographies, autobiographies, poems, Halloween stories, you name it. We will be working on organization, voice, grammar, point of view, sentence structure, supporting details, hooks, leads, transitions, and many other things. I will do my best to keep this site updated so you know what we are currently working on, and with tools you can use to help your child become a great author.