4th Grade Cheetah News
Fierce in Fourth Grade
Dear Parents,
Special Areas Newsletter – This month is filled with helpful information.
We strongly encourage you to check out the Special Areas Newsletter (https://www.smore.com/951cs ) to learn more about how art has been integrating technology and about our class’ current work in clay. The music department also has details about the exciting musicals coming up at both WBMS and CVES. They also share more about our current music unit which emphasizes expression and movement. Due to increased circulation in our Media Center, volunteers are needed to keep books on the shelves. A link to the sign up genius and news on how students are learning coding during their Media rotation are included. PE also has ideas for promoting a growth mindset that aids students in staying motivated.
Growth Mindset – Grit
As we continue to work with students to build their growth mindsets, we will spend time talking about the concept of “grit”. Students who demonstrate grit set goals for themselves and keep working toward accomplishing their goals even when they face obstacles. As you can imagine, teaching students of all ages Angela Duckworth, who is the premier researcher on the topic, shares that “grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a
sprint.” To see, Ms. Duckworth’s TED talk, which is the most-viewed of all time, visit here: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance.
If you’d like to assess your own level of grit, check out the grit scale found here:
https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/.
To support your child in developing grit, consider the following:
- Praise him/her for being tenacious and determined
- All your child to get frustrated – we often rob children of the chance to learn from “productive struggle”, or working through a dicult task and learning they can be problem solvers
- Be a role model for eort – as you try new things, share with your child your strategies for how you overcome challenges
- Promote the idea that failure isn’t something to be afraid of and that we learn from mistakes
Math News
- Express a fraction with denominator 10 as an equivalent fraction with denominator 100, and use this technique to add two fractions with respective denominators 10 and 100. 4 For example, express 3/10 as 30/100, and add 3/10 + 4/100 = 34/100.
- Use decimal notation for fractions with denominators 10 or 100. For example, rewrite 0.62 as 62/100; describe a length as 0.62 meters; locate 0.62 on a number line diagram.
- Compare two decimals to hundredths by reasoning about their size. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two decimals refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, or <, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual model.
Advanced Math: Students will be learning to multiply and divide decimals in Unit 3.
- Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10, and explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10.
- Use whole-number exponents to denote powers of 10.
- Perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths. Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used.
Accelerated Math: Students will be starting Unit 5: 2D Figures. Students will be able to classify two-dimensional figures into categories based on their properties.
- Understand that attributes belonging to a category of two-dimensional figures also belong to all subcategories of that category. For example, all rectangles have four right angles and squares are rectangles, so all squares have four right angles.
- Classify two-dimensional figures in a hierarchy based on properties (polygons, triangles, and quadrilaterals).
Parent Letters:
On level, unit 4: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Frameworks/Unit-4-4th-grade-parent-letter.pdf
On level, unit 5: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Frameworks/Unit-5-4th-grade-parent-letter.pdf
Advanced, unit 3: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Frameworks/Unit-3-5th-grade-parent-letter.pdf
Accelerated, unit 5: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Frameworks/Unit-5-5th-grade-parent-letter.pdfReading
Reading in February
On/Adv: Students will be comparing themes and topics across cultures including: myths, fables, folktales and fairy tales. Students will also be starting novel units which will focus on characters, plot, theme and point-of-view.
Acc: Students will be comparing and contrasting two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text.They will also be starting their novel unit which will focus on theme, character development, point of view and direct and indirect inferences.
ELA
Writing in February
Students are continuing with writing Literary Essays. They will be comparing and contrasting texts (fables, folktales and fairytales) for similarities and differences. Students will create a thesis about the texts and give reasons and examples to support their claims.
Science
In our Forces and Motion Unit:
Students will be able to obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the relationship between balanced and unbalanced forces.
Social Studies
Place and Location
· industrial locations in North and South
· major battles (Ft. Sumter, Gettysburg, Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, Appomattox Court House)
Cooperation and Conflict
· causes of the Civil War
Expansion and Change
· effects of the Civil War
Key People
· Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
SAVE THE DATE!
2/1 Books and Bingo
2/14 Valentine's Day Exchange
2/15 and 2/18 NO SCHOOL/President's Day