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Grade 4

4.L.4.a 

NCSCOS Grade 4 ELA / Reading - Skill: 4.L.4.a 

GRANDPA JOE
by J.T. Waite 

"Grandpa?" Jake said shyly. Jake wasn't usually shy when it came to asking his grandfather about how things were back in the olden days. But asking his grandfather about his grandfather seemed strange. "Way back when you were little, did you have a grandpa too?" 

"Sure," Grandpa laughed. "Even way back then, we had grandparents. All we were waiting for was someone to invent uncles and aunts!" 

"That's silly!" Jake said. 

"I suppose it is," Grandpa admitted, "but it's true. Uncle Sam (a symbol from the 1800s used to represent the United States) didn't come along for years and years. And Aunt Jemima (a symbol from the 1900s used to represent pancake mix) wasn't even in the planning stages." 

"Grandpa!" 

Grandpa smiled, "Sure," he said, "I had a grandpa. I had two grandpas, just like you. But Pop and Nana, my dad's folks, lived in Michigan, and I only saw them in the summer. My Grandpa Joe and my Grandma Jean were right here in town. I saw them almost every day." 

"Like I see you?" Jake said. 

"Yup." 

"Was he like you, Grandpa?" Jake asked. "Your Grandpa Joe?" 
 
(10) 
"You mean old and wrinkled?" 

"No!" Jake laughed. "I mean nice." 

"He was the nicest man I ever knew," Grandpa said without a moment's hesitation.  

"Everybody liked my Grandpa Joe. Why, he could make a weeping willow (a tree with branches that droop) dry its tears and laugh out loud." 

"C'mon!" Jake said. "That's impossible." 
 
(14) 
"For you or me maybe," Grandpa said. "But my Grandpa Joe had a way with people. Made 'em smile." 

"Was he a comedian?" Jake asked. "Like on TV?"  

"No," Grandpa chuckled. "Besides, they didn't have TV back then." 

"No TV?" Jake cried. 

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Grandpa said. "But somehow they survived." 

"What did he do?" 

"You mean without TV?" 

"No!" Jake laughed. "What did he do for a living?" 

"Lots of different things," Grandpa said. "He was a glass maker as a young man, then a mechanic, and finally a night watchman." 

"A glass maker?" 

"He made glass for windows in a factory downtown in Pennsylvania. Spent almost a dozen years there doing that. Sent most of what he earned back home to his mom. Then he moved up here, married my grandmother, and got a job as a mechanic for the Electric Company. He could fix pretty near anything mechanical, my Grandpa Joe. And when he got too old for that, he became the night watchman at the same plant." 

"A night watchman isn't a very important job, is it?" 

"To some, maybe not," Grandpa said. "But Grandpa Joe did lots of important things. He taught me how to fish. He taught me how to whistle with two fingers in my mouth. He taught me how to make a fort out of old boxes in the backyard." 

"You liked him a lot, didn't you?" Jake said. 

Grandpa smiled. "Not a day goes by that I don't think about him. And the thing I remember most is that he always had time for me." 

"You always have time for me, Grandpa." Jake smiled. 

"You see," Grandpa said, reaching down to tousle Jake's unruly hair, "I guess my Grandpa Joe taught me that's a grandpa's most important job."

THE HAPPY SHEEP 
by Wilfred Thorley 

All through the night the happy sheep 
Lie in the meadow grass asleep. 
 
Their wool keeps out the frost and rain 
Until the sun comes round again. 
 
5 They have no buttons to undo, 
Nor hair to brush like me and you. 
 
And with the light they lift their heads 
To find their breakfast on their beds, 
 
Or rise and walk about and eat 
10 The carpet underneath their feet.

YOU'RE A POET, NOW LET THEM KNOW IT
by Lee Pelham Cotton 

Your poems are a hit with your family and friends. What about taking the next  step-sharing your work with a large audience? If you've dreamed of having your poems appear in print or win a prize in a contest, read on . . . 

'To Market, to Market'

• Your school's literary magazine, your hometown newspaper, and local contests for National Poetry Month are all great places to start submitting your work. 
• Visiting the periodicals section of the library will reveal more markets. Check out writers' guidelines on the web sites of promising magazines. 
• Poet's Market lists over 1,500 magazines, books, and contests of interest to poets, including nearly 100 markets in its "Poetry by Children" section. It also offers great "how-to" publishing information, interviews, and articles. 
• Entering contests prompts you to write about new subjects and try different poetic forms. The National Federation of State Poetry Societies sponsors dozens of contests annually, some just for students.  

'Playing the Game'
 
5 • If you want your manuscript to be considered seriously by editors and contest judges, take their rules seriously. Follow the rules and you'll be ahead of the game! 

'Don't give up! '

• And be patient. Editors often receive thousands of submissions a year. Don't stop writing. Don't stop submitting. Don't give up! 

'Keep Good Records'

• Start a loose-leaf notebook containing all your poems, with a "Fate of" sheet for each. Every time you submit a poem, note the date, the market, and the outcome of the submission. 


'Neatness Counts'
• Print a new copy of your manuscript for each submission, using white paper and a black font that's easy to read. Double-check for spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. And always include an SASE so the editor can get back to you. 

'If at First You Don't Succeed . . . '
• Rejection is a part of the publishing process, especially for beginning writers. Don't let rejection make a quitter out of you! Keep resubmitting your poems-you may be just one market or submission away from success.

SOME USEFUL TERMS

'Editor' the person who selects  manuscripts for a  publication 
 
'Manuscript' your poem, whether in  paper or electronic form 
 
'Market' a publication or contest  that is interested in  receiving  submissions 
 
'Rejection' when your work is not  chosen for a publication 
 
'SASE' a stamped, self-addressed envelope, usually a #10 business size 
 
'Submission' the writing you offer to an editor or contest 
 
'Submit' to offer your writing to an editor or contest 
 
'Writer's Guidelines' describe what kind of  poems a publication is  interested in seeing as well as the rules for submitting manuscripts

EXCERPT FROM 'ON THE BUS WITH JOANNA COLE'
by Joanna Cole  

The basic idea for the Magic School Bus books came from an editor at Scholastic, Craig Walker. Craig was a big fan of the 'Clown-Around' books. He was also the editor of the See-Saw Book Club at Scholastic. He was looking for a way to get kids more interested in science books, and he had the idea of a humorous book about a teacher who takes her class on magical field trips to learn about science. But he didn't have anyone to write the book. One day, Craig realized that the Clown-Arounds author was the same author who had written so many serious science books-me. He picked up the phone and dialed my number. 

(2) 
I was enchanted with the idea. I thought it would be so much fun to write. Craig and I met and tossed around ideas for exciting places the class might visit: the moon; the Egyptian pyramids; prehistoric times. Craig also mentioned that they might visit the town waterworks. This he thought was NOT such an exciting place. But I loved it because I imagined that the teacher would be enthusiastic about the trip, while the children would think, "How boring!" I thought this combination would make the book funny, and I knew that it could be successful only if the science was rock solid and the plot was exciting and humorous. 

One of my tasks in coming up with the 'Magic School Bus' books was to develop the teacher's character. Craig had talked about his teachers, and, as I created Ms. Frizzle, I found myself remembering mine from elementary and junior high school. Did I have a teacher like Ms. Frizzle? Yes and no. None of my science teachers in East Orange had magical powers on field trips, but they were the best. One teacher, Miss Bair, was my favorite. Like Ms. Frizzle, she was very serious about science. She did not try to "make it interesting to kids," she just communicated her own interest to us. Like Ms. Frizzle, she just barged ahead doing an experiment with Ping-Pong balls and a vacuum cleaner or manipulating a model of an atom-so involved in what she was doing that she blithely (cheerfully) ignored our reactions. My Ms. Frizzle does the same thing-pulling the kids along on the coattails of her own excitement in her subject. (The Ms. Frizzle in the books acts like Miss Bair, but LOOKS like Bruce Degen's high school geometry teacher, Miss Isaacs.)

As an adult, I remembered Miss Bair with affection and admiration. Imagine my surprise, then, when after having written several 'Magic School Bus' books, I discovered my eighth-grade diary under a pile of sweaters and turned to an entry about science class. There was a most unflattering description of my favorite teacher. I called her "Old Lady Bair" and the comments from me and my classmates could have come straight out of the mouths of 'Magic School Bus' kids. It was then that I realized that the kids in my books may say that the Friz is weird, and they may groan when she announces a field trip, but in their hearts they love and admire her-even Arnold! 

Whenever we think about ideas for Magic School Bus books ("we" being me, Bruce Degen, and the editors at Scholastic) we try to come up with "big" topics that kids, teachers, and parents are interested in and think are important. For instance, we did a book about ocean science, rather than a whole book about sharks or seaweed. We did the human body, not the mouth and the ear. We did the solar system, not a whole book about a single planet. 

Usually when an idea comes-let's say it's the solar system-I already have a general idea of the structure of the book. I know right away that the bus will have to turn into a spaceship so that the class will visit each planet. At first, I don't know what events will lead up to this. But pretty soon, ideas start forming. I picture the class in school, then I ask myself, how will they get started on the trip? And it occurs to me that they'll be going to the planetarium and get sidetracked into space. To make things a little different, I think of having Arnold's cousin, Janet, visit the class. All this goes into a  two-page essay/outline that I send off to my editor. As I keep thinking, researching, and eventually writing the story, I get ideas for the details: I figure out that the class can't go to the planetarium because it's closed that day and they have to go to outer space instead, I write word balloons for Janet and she turns into a know-it-all, and by the time the bus/spaceship gets to the asteroid belt, I need a plot element to make things more exciting, so the Friz gets lost in space and the kids are left on their own. 
 
(7) 
At the same time that I am fleshing out the plot and giving the characters things to say, I am still reading, reading, reading about my subject. I want the science to be rock solid.

Measures 1 skill from
Grade 4
English
North Carolina Standard Course of Study

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Measures 1 skill fromGrade 4EnglishNorth Carolina Standard Course of Study

Our brand new solo games combine with your quiz, on the same screen

Measures 1 skill from
Grade 4
English
North Carolina Standard Course of Study