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The Fish Tank Pitch: Formal or Informal?

Read an original story about friends who pitch a class fish tank, then sort formal and informal English and rewrite casual words for a presentation.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toL.4.3.c

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
12 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 4
Subject: ELA
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students tell apart situations that call for formal English from those where informal talk fits.
Students change informal words and sentences into formal English for a presentation.

How to use

Read the story together and have two students act out the lunch talk and the meeting. Then let students answer the questions on their own and share their rewritten sentences.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

L.4.3.c

Tell apart situations that call for formal English, such as presenting ideas, from those where informal talk fits, such as small-group discussion.

Preview

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Name Date

The Fish Tank Pitch: Formal or Informal?

Decide when to use formal English and when informal talk fits.

Read the story

The Fish Tank Plan

1Amara, Diego and Wen wanted their fourth-grade class to have a fish tank. Their teacher, Mr. Lindqvist, said they could ask the principal, Ms. Okafor, at Friday's student council meeting. First, though, they needed a plan.

2At lunch, the three friends huddled at the end of a long table. "Okay, so what do we tell her?" Diego asked, crunching a carrot stick. "Fish are super cool," Wen said. "That's gotta count for something." Amara laughed. "Yeah, but we need real reasons. Like, who's gonna clean the tank?" "Ooh, good one," Diego said.

3By the end of lunch, they had three reasons written on a napkin. Amara read them out loud. "One, fish are fun to watch. Two, we'd learn a ton about animals. Three, we can totally take care of them with a job chart." "Perfect," Wen said, and the three of them bumped fists.

4On Thursday, they practiced in front of Mr. Lindqvist. Diego began, "Hey, Ms. O! So, like, we really, really want fish." Mr. Lindqvist smiled and held up a hand. "Your ideas are great," he said, "but this is a presentation to the principal and the council. How should you sound at a meeting like that?" Amara thought for a moment. "More serious," she said. "Like we're giving a report, not chatting at lunch."

5The friends rewrote their speech. They used complete sentences and polite words. They took out words like "gonna," "super" and "totally."

6On Friday, Amara stood at the front of the meeting room. "Good afternoon, Ms. Okafor and members of the council," she said. "Thank you for listening to our proposal." Diego explained that watching fish could help students feel calm. Wen described the job chart. "Each week, two students will feed the fish and check the water," she said. "Mr. Lindqvist has agreed to help us." Then Amara finished. "We believe a fish tank would help our class learn responsibility. We would be happy to answer any questions."

7Ms. Okafor nodded slowly. "That was a clear and respectful presentation," she said. "I will think about it and let you know next week." Outside the room, Diego let out a long breath. "Dude, we nailed it!" he whispered. Wen grinned. "Totally."

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