Kahua Standards and Benchmarks
PK-12 essential standards and benchmarks for Hawaiian-focused education.
Grade 4 - English / LA
In addition to HFCS ‘Āina-based Learning Competencies (click to view), the PK-12 English Language Arts (E/LA) kahua is grounded in the belief that the purpose of reading and writing is constructing meaning. Reading allows the reader to construct meaning based on the writing by an author and writing allows the writer to construct meaning to convey to a reader.
- ELA.4.1Weave together ʻāina, ʻohana, and cultural components of moʻokūʻauhau (i.e. ʻohana genealogy, waʻa genealogy, Kumulipo, history, moʻolelo wahi pana)
- ELA.4.2Interact with ‘āina by using ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi performance cartographies (i.e. oli, mele, hula, kaulana mahina, hoʻokele) and develop a stronger relationship with ʻāina.
- ELA.4.3Understand the function and relationship between cultural protocols, cultural artifacts, and lawena (i.e piko/pū/reverence, mahalo/lei/gratitude).
- ELA.4.4Know our place in the community ʻāina, its resources (mauna, awawa, wai , kai, one, wao) and the relationship with well-being.
- ELA.4.5Understand the connection between moʻokūʻauhau, knowing deeply about a place, and fulfilling the ʻauamo to care for that place.
- ELA.4.6Reflect and improve on the quality of own work and behavior based on self-assessment, peer, teacher, and community partner feedback.
- ELA.4.7Use own reading preferences (favorite authors, topics, sources) to increase reading for enjoyment and writing for own purposes.
- ELA.4.8Make personal connections to what is being learned across subject areas.
- ELA.4.9Use discussion strategies to have conversations with others about texts and about other sources of information.
- a.Note questions, observations, insights, interpretations, reflections, confusions, etc.
- b.Share using turn-taking and build on the ideas of others to enrich the discussion.
- c.Show respect for differing opinions and interpretations.
- I.Reading Comprehension
- ELA.4.10Read in different genres (mele/poetry, narrative, and informational texts) and recognize common text structures (description, sequence, compare and contrast, cause and effect, problem and solution). Use both print and online sources.
- ELA.4.11Identify important information (sorting essential from non-essential content) in mele/poetry, narrative, and informational texts across curriculum areas using knowledge of:
- a.Hawaiian language used in English texts, e.g., inclusion of ‘olelo no'eau, phrases from a mele or hymn, place names and their meanings;
- b.patterns and devices in mele/poetry, e.g., verse/stanza, rhyme scheme, figurative language, repetition, juxtaposition/opposites;
- c.story elements in narrative texts, e.g., setting, characters, problem, sequence of events, resolution of problem, theme/author’s message;
- d.text features in informational texts, e.g., title, headings, diagrams, charts, captions, side bars, glossary, table of contents, index.
- II.Writing Process
- ELA.4.12Use the steps of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, sharing) to communicate ideas related to academic work and personal life, with a focus on:
- a.planning (e.g., gathering information, talking about ideas and opinions, identifying the audience and purpose of the piece, drawing to show ideas), drafting (getting ideas down on paper), and revising (e.g., rereading, adding information, deleting information, moving sentences or paragraphs, changing words and phrases to make writing clearer and more engaging);
- b.the writing traits of ideas/content and word choice;
- c.citing sources of information in the body of writing and creating a reference list (books, articles, interviewees, and/or online resources).
- ELA.4.13Produce different types of narrative writing.
- a.Examples of narrative writing in response to reading: writing a description of a story element, identifying significant events from a biography, writing about character development in a story, relating own experiences to those in a story, making personal connections to a story’s theme or author’s message.
- b.Examples of narrative writing not specifically related to reading: stories about personal events, memoir (personal stories around a larger theme, such as friendship, adjusting to change, dealing with loss), writing down a personal story shared by an elder or other family member.
- ELA.4.12Use the steps of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, sharing) to communicate ideas related to academic work and personal life, with a focus on:
- III.Language & Vocabulary Development
- ELA.4.14Use multiple word identification cues to read unknown words accurately.
- a.Meaning/semantic cues are those that come from understanding the meaning of the words around the unknown word combined with own background knowledge.
- b.Structure/grammar cues are those that involve understanding how a sentence is structured and what word would be grammatically correct.
- c.Visual cues are those that involve the appearance of the word and the letters the word contains.
- ELA.4.15Identify vocabulary of interest from readings or other sources, and use vocabulary building strategies (e.g., reading widely; root/affix analysis; dictionary skills; study of synonyms and antonyms; concept maps; word journals) to learn word meanings.
- ELA.4.14Use multiple word identification cues to read unknown words accurately.