ELA.07

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SUMMARY

KEY INFORMATION

In this Cornerstone, students will use what they know about rocks and minerals to create a pamphlet that presents research on a rock or mineral. On the cover of the pamphlet, students will include a poem about the rock. Inside the pamphlet, students will create a timeline to demonstrate how their chosen rock is formed. In addition to displaying the actual rock (from a rock set), the students will present their pamphlet to their classmates. Teachers should consider facilitating either a gallery walk or a classroom discussion to allow students to share their pamphlet.

GRADE
4

TOPIC
Rocks and Minerals

LESSONS
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DURATION
5-6 Days

INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL
Project-Based Learning

AUTHOR(S)
Elementary ELA Team

RESOURCES

The lessons for this Cornerstone require the resources listed below. More information regarding the use of each of the resources can be located in the Cornerstone lesson plans.

TEXTS AND WEBSITES

Earthshake: Poems from the Ground Up by Lisa Westberg Peters

"QuartzQuartzQuartz" in Earthshake

Everything Rocks and Minerals by Steve Tomecek

Basher Science Rocks and Minerals by Dan Green

SUPPLIES & TECHNOLOGY

Chart Paper

Classroom Rocks and Minerals Kit

Construction Paper

CURRICULUM INTEGRATION

Cornerstones are relevant, rigorous, and aligned to national learning standards. Use the tabs below to learn more about aligning to standards, embedding the Cornerstone in your unit of study, and preparing to teach the Cornerstones.

STANDARDS

Speaking & Listening

SL.4.4: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

SL.4.5: Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

Reading: Informational Text

RI.4.2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

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.

RI.4.7: Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

RI.4.9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

Writing

W.4.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Reading: Foundational Skills

RF.4.4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

RF.4.4a: Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

RF.4.4b: Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND EXTENSIONS

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Students will need content knowledge about how to classify and describe rocks, how rocks are used by people, and the rock cycle and how rocks are formed. They will need to research this information for their chosen rock of study and apply it to their short poem and timeline included in their pamphlet.

If students are choosing to create a pamphlet about marble, for instance, they will need to understand that this rock is classified as a metamorphic rock and is often used for sculptures and countertops. Students will also need to describe the rock cycle in order to successfully create a timeline that demonstrates how marble is formed.

Students will also need to practice fluency and creative expression skills. Specifically, students need to be able to read accurately, at an appropriate pace, and with meaningful expression. Teachers will want to use the exemplars provided in this cornerstone to support students in applying previous knowledge and skills to this project.

PLACEMENT

BEFORE

This Cornerstone occurs at the end of Unit 4: Rock On! just before the culminating writing task. This placement allows students to develop content knowledge about the qualities of a rock, the steps of the rock cycle, and how rocks are formed, so that they can apply this knowledge to better describe their chosen rock of study. For example, students who choose to create a pamphlet about sandstone will have already done a close reading of chapter 1 of Rocky Road Trip by Judith Bauer-Stamper in order to classify, describe, and draw a picture of this type of rock. This content knowledge will support students in understanding, describing, and creating their pamphlet of their chosen rock and its rock cycle.

DURING

Students will be able to understand and describe in detail a specific rock type.
Students will be able to write a short poem about a specific rock type.
Students will be able to explain the rock cycle of a specific rock type and how it is relevant to our world.
Students will collaborate with peers to design and/or present their research to a wider audience, including other students and parents.

AFTER

After completing the cornerstone, students will complete the culminating task for this unit, in which they will write an original poem to showcase their understanding poetry writing and their chosen rock, mineral, or gem. Students will read several poems from Earthquake: Poems from the Ground Up by Lisa Westberg Peters in order to learn how to use poetic elements to convey research and information about a rock, mineral, or gem. By participating in the cornerstone, students will deepen their understanding of rocks, minerals, and gems and be able to apply knowledge gained from the cornerstone to their original poem.

PLANNING

As the cornerstone begins, teachers should think with the end in mind: students will create a pamphlet that describes the quality of a rock and how the rock is formed through the rock cycle. In order to accurately create their pamphlet, students must understand that rocks can be described in many ways as a result of their formation through the rock cycle. Students should understand the purpose of describing the qualities of the rock through a poem and how this poem persuades the audience to learn about the rock. Additionally, students should relate the rock cycle to how the rock is used by people today as a result of its formation. This cornerstone aims to allow students to express themselves and their knowledge about rocks in the form of not only informational writing, but poetry as well.

In the first days of the cornerstone, students will touch, manipulate, and observe the qualities of a their actual rock of choice to captivate their attention. Students will also see examples of pamphlets and how they provide an audience with information in many ways. Teachers should frequently focus on how to prepare students for success through modeling and providing examples.

INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH

Teachers should measure student learning in multiple ways.

The first way is through the students' annotation of the text about their chosen rock of study. The teacher will analyze their annotation graphic organizer to determine if the student has a deep understanding of the rock. The second way is through the short poem describing the rock. The teacher will use their observation graphic organizer to determine that students accurately used their observations to write a short poem with the same information. The third way is through the students' timeline of the rock cycle. Finally, the student will present their pamphlet to the audience. The teacher will use the Student Friendly Checklist to ensure that students have completed the necessary requirements of the presentation. This checklist is based on the Speaking and Listening rubric. Teachers should use the PARCC Writing Rubric to assess the students' short poem.

Finally, we recommend that the students in the audience play an active role during the presentation. With this in mind, we have included a graphic organizer on which students might record their thoughts during the presentations.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The key concepts in this Cornerstone include:

Rocks are formed and changed by the rock cycle into three main categories of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic).
Rocks play a variety of important roles in society and everyday life.
Rocks can be described in many ways.
Information can be communicated in many ways, including poetry and procedural writing.

LESSON PACING

Below is a recommended pacing for this Cornerstone and the objective for each lesson. More information regarding each lesson can be located in the Cornerstone lesson plans.

	SUGGESTED PACING GUIDE
Lesson 1	Students will be able to explain what a poem is by reading poetry and noticing poetic elements, including stanza, line, rhyme, rhythm/meter, sensory language, alliteration, simile, metaphor, etc.
Lesson 2	Students will identify and explain poetic elements in "Living with Lava" and use these poetic elements in their writing.
Lesson 3	Students will write poems about a rock or mineral using research and poetic elements.
Lesson 4	Students will describe how the target rock or mineral is formed by listing the steps of its cycle on a timeline.
Lesson 5	Students will present original poems to showcase their understanding of rocks and minerals, and of poetry elements.

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