Grade 4: Images and Metaphor – "The fog comes on little cat feet..."
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Common Core Standards
Reading Literature
RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Reading Foundational Skills
RF.4.4(b) Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
Speaking and Listening
SL.4.5 Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
Language
L.4.5(a) Explain the meaning of simple similes and metaphors (e.g., as pretty as a picture) in context.
Description of Unit
This Grade 4 unit titled “Images and Metaphor – “The fog comes on little cat feet...” from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is intended to be completed in ten days of 45-minute sessions of ELA/Literacy instruction. Throughout the unit students read poems and analyze how the poets’ metaphors and the use of images help the reader understand the subject and meaning of poems in new ways. They also learn to cite evidence from a verbal text or image to support an interpretation and how to create or select an image to enhance a metaphor in a poem. For the summative authentic performance task, students write metaphor poems and use computers, tablets, or other devices to make audio recordings of the poems and combine them with images. These files can be uploaded to a school or class website or can be shared with others in the school community using another medium.
Cautions
Connecticut teachers should be cautioned that teacher notes and preparation materials will require familiarity to be used effectively. In using this unit, it is important to consider the variability of learners in the class and make adaptations as necessary. Computer(s) are needed to fully implement the plan as intended.
Rationale for Selection
The unit is an exemplary example of how to sequence, scaffold, and support learning where concepts and skills advance and deepen over time. Each lesson addresses targeted CCSS instructional expectations that integrate reading, writing, speaking and listening and is easy to understand and implement. The unit includes aligned rubrics and assessment guidelines that provide sufficient guidance for interpreting student performance. The General Notes and Resources section contains an overview of instructional guidance.