Grade 4

Reading strategies are reviewed and reinforced in a variety of ways. Instructional methods include guided reading lessons, literature circles, author studies, and genre studies. Students are expected to identify, analyze, and provide evidence from the texts to make connections and support their thinking. Students will demonstrate their understanding of texts and their achievement as readers by reading 25 grade appropriate books throughout the year.

This ongoing experience includes all facets of the writing process: Prewriting, Drafting, Sharing, Revising, Editing and Publishing. Students will write for various audiences and purposes. The main focus of the fourth grade program is personal narrative writing. Students will develop skills necessary to write with focus and detail by deepening their understanding of organization and figurative language.

Students work with assigned spelling lists. Each lesson reinforces word structure, patterns, vocabulary expansion, and dictionary and proofreading skills.

Fourth-grade students explore big ideas that include: developing understanding and fluency with multi-digit multiplication, and developing understanding of dividing to find quotients involving multi-digit dividends; developing an understanding of fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators, and multiplication of fractions by whole numbers; understanding that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified based on their properties, such as having parallel sides, perpendicular sides, particular angle measures, and symmetry.

Science: Through an integrated science/social studies integrated approach, students  explore the word “change” throughout the year.  They continue using the science practices through exploration, observation,  data collection & analysis, and recording of information in their science journals.  They construct explanations and engage in arguments about why structures of invasive plants provide them with an advantage and how they can rapidly change an ecosystem.  Students explore both slow (weathering and erosion) and quick (earthquakes and volcanoes) earth changes in the different regions of the United States and how the impact of these changes can be lessened. Energy transfer and transformation is another key topic of investigation.   The use of water power in the development of mills and the use of solar energy in different areas of the country are also studied.  Finally, after learning about natural disasters and their impact on different regions, students will evaluate different solutions to reduce the impact of these events on humans.

Social Studies:  In this science/social studies integrated approach, students will examine each region and focus on one city to determine how it has changed over time, both geographically, environmentally, and culturally.  Students will explore the impact of weather and climate on each region.  They will also investigate the contributions of different groups and how groups adapt to the unique physical landscape.  Students will create their own maps about particular states and will analyze census data to determine how it has changed over time.