linguistically diverse learners, as well as students experiencing difficulties with one or more
of the themes of ELA/literacy and ELD instruction (Meaning Making, Language Development, Effective
Expression, Content Knowledge, and Foundational Skills).
It is beyond the scope of a curriculum framework to provide guidance on meeting the learning
needs of every student because each student comes to teachers with unique needs, histories, and
circumstances. Teachers must know their students well through appropriate assessment practices
and other methods, including communication with families, in order to design effective instruction
for them. They need to adapt and refine instruction as appropriate for individual learners and enlist
the support of colleagues and others as appropriate. (See figure 5.18.) For example, a teacher might
observe during a lesson that a student or a group of students needs more challenge and so adapt the
main lesson or provide alternatives that achieve the same objectives. Information about meeting the
needs of diverse learners, scaffolding, and modifying or adapting instruction is provided in chapters 2
and 9 of this ELA/ELD Framework.
Fourth-grade students are the new sophisticates as they enter the upper elementary years. With
excellent instruction and an inviting and stimulating setting, they revel in the advanced concepts,
words, and ways of thinking they encounter and undertake longer projects, books, and interactions.
They relish multiple syllables, complex clauses, and texts of every variety. They take pride in creating
reports, presentations, and creative pieces. May they exercise their literacy skills with such fluidity and
ease that the language arts become their tools for new investigations and inspired expression.
Figure 5.18. CollaborationCollaboration: A Necessity
Frequent and meaningful collaboration with colleagues and parents/families is critical for
ensuring that all students meet the expectations of the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the CA
ELD Standards. Teachers are at their best when they frequently collaborate with their teaching
colleagues to plan instruction, analyze student work, discuss student progress, integrate
new learning into their practice, and refine lessons or identify interventions when students
experience difficulties. Students are at their best when teachers enlist the collaboration of
parents and families—and the students themselves—as partners in their education. Schools
are at their best when educators are supported by administrators and other support staff
to implement the type of instruction called for in this ELA/ELD Framework. School districts
are at their best when teachers across the district have an expanded professional learning
community they can rely upon as thoughtful partners and for tangible instructional resources.
More information about these types of collaboration can be found in chapter 11 and
throughout this ELA/ELD Framework.Grade 4 Chapter 5 | 463