Curriculum / ELA / 4th Grade / Unit 2: Preparing for the Worst: Natural Disasters / Lesson 16
ELA
Unit 2
4th Grade
Lesson 16 of 22
Jump To
Explain what happened during the Yellowstone fires of 1988 and the impact the fires had on the park.
Book: Wildfires by Seymour Simon pp. 1 – 17
We participate in the Amazon Associate program. This means that if you use this link to make an Amazon purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which support our non-profit mission.
Unlock features to optimize your prep time, plan engaging lessons, and monitor student progress.
Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved
Explain what happened during the Yellowstone fires of 1988. What impact did the fires have on the park? Use thewords merged, carelessness, and flammable, and intense in your answer.
An example response to the Target Task at the level of detail expected of the students.
Questions about the text that will help guide the students understanding
What do fires need to burn? What causes a fire?
Why are wildfires considered a fact of life in the wilderness, and what has been the impact of aggressively fighting them?
What policy did Yellowstone Park officials create in 1972? Why did they abandon the policy in 1988?
Describe the destruction caused by the wildfire in Yellowstone in 1988. Include details about how the wildfire spread.
How did the summer of fire finally end? Why?
Literary terms, text-based vocabulary, idioms and word parts to be taught with the text
dependent
adj.
(p. 9)
relying upon something else
renew
v.
to make something new or strong again
accumulate
to grow in size over time
carelessness
n.
(p. 10)
not paying close attention
merged
(p. 13)
to join together
flammable
(p. 14)
easily set on fire
Bring your most engaging lessons to life with comprehensive instructional guidance, detailed pacing, supports to meet every student's needs, and resources to strengthen your lesson planning and delivery.
RI.4.3 — Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
RI.4.5 — Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.4.4 — Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.4.4.b — Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).
RF.4.3 — Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
RF.4.4 — Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
RI.4.1 — Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.4.4 — Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.
RI.4.10 — By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4—5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
SL.4.1 — Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
W.4.10 — Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Lesson 15
Lesson 17
Explain what a natural disaster is and why it is important to know if a natural disaster is imminent.
RI.4.3 RI.4.5 RI.4.7
Explain where and how volcanoes occur using the words "plates," "magma," and "erupt."
Explain what happened when Mount St. Helens erupted and the destruction it caused.
Describe what makes Hawaiian volcanoes unique.
Describe the four different types of volcanoes.
Writing – 2 days
Write a well-structured paragraph that explains where and how volcanoes occur and what hazards they create.
W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.e
Explain where and why earthquakes occur.
Explain why a person living in Boston is significantly less likely to experience an earthquake than a person in California.
RI.4.3 RI.4.5
Describe the tools scientists use to measure earthquakes and why one form of measurement is not enough for measuring earthquakes.
Writing
Write a well-structured paragraph that explains where and how earthquakes occur and what hazards they create.
W.4.2
Explain the type of damage and destruction caused by flooding.
Describe where and how hurricanes occur.
Describe the destruction caused by each category of hurricane.
Explain how you know when a hurricane is coming and what you should do if you are in the path of a hurricane.
Write a well-structured paragraph that explains where and how hurricanes occur and what hazards they create.
Analyze why wildfires are neither good nor bad.
RI.4.3
Write a well-structured paragraph that explains where and how wildfires occur and what hazards they create.
Explain other types of natural disasters and what to do to prepare for or prevent them.
Narrative Writing – 4 days
Write a short narrative about a young person dealing with a natural disaster.
L.4.1.f L.4.2.a L.4.2.b SL.4.1 W.4.3 W.4.3.a W.4.3.b W.4.3.c W.4.5 W.4.8
Assessment
Writing – 5 days
Research and report on a recent natural disaster.
L.4.1.f W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.e W.4.7 W.4.8
Create a free account to access thousands of lesson plans.
Already have an account? Sign In
See all of the features of Fishtank in action and begin the conversation about adoption.
Learn more about Fishtank Learning School Adoption.
Yes
No
Access rigorous, relevant, and adaptable ELA lesson plans for free