Fourth Grade Monthly Highlights
January 2024
Important Dates
January 15th- Holiday
January 29th- No School for Students
Curriculum Corner
Benchmark
We will begin unit 4, “Understanding Different Points of View." In this unit, we will read and compare a variety of genres to understand the ideas and opinions of others—particularly those who are members of the animal world! The realistic fiction and animal fantasy stories in this unit feature first-person and third-person descriptions of animal experiences.
ELC
During the second half of quarter two in reading, students will start Unit 3 with a focus on trust. We will be reading the Junior Great Book story entitled "Fresh" and examining what it means to trust someone. In writing, we will continue Unit 2, Boxes and Bullets, of Calkins Units of Study in Writing, which teaches students to write personal and persuasive essays through flash-drafts, developing thesis statements, gathering and organizing evidence, developing strong introductions and conclusions, and evaluating clarity through self-reflection.
Compacted Math
After break students will finish up Module 5 on fractions by completing Topics E, F, G, and H.
Students will continue adding a mixed number to a fraction using unit form. A number bond decomposes the fraction to make one and can be modeled on the number line or using the arrow way, as shown to the right. Alternatively, a number bond can be used after adding like units, when the sum results in a mixed number with a fraction greater than 1, to decompose the fraction greater than 1 into ones and fractional units.
Finally, they will extend the concept of representing repeated addition as multiplication, applying this familiar concept to work with fractions. Multiplying a whole number times a fraction was introduced in Topic A as students learned to decompose fractions.
Eureka
Students have completed the majority of the lessons in Module 3. Topic F focuses on Reasoning with divisibility. Students are applying place value understanding to decompose remainders in 100s place to solve division problems. They are using place value charts, tape diagrams, and standard algorithms fluently to solve numeric and word problems.
Students will use different models to show their understanding of this topic. Topic G will teach students how to divide 1,00s, 100s, 10s, and 1s by applying strategies learned in previous lessons with 1s and 10s. The last Topic H spirals back to multiplication. Students will solve complex multiplication of two-digit by two-digit numeric and word problems.
Words to know: Divisor, Long Division, Remainder, Quotient, Composite, Prime Number, Factor, Product.
Ask your student to share their progress on different math websites such as xtramath.org and zearn.org
Science
Students will explore the human and animal eye to understand the parts of the eye and how it sees objects. light reflected from an object’s surface and enters the eye. They will also analyze the shapes of different animals’ ears and develop an ear that will help humans hear better in the dark.
They will learn how animals adapt to their environment using their senses. Different sense receptors are specialized for particular kinds of information, which may be then processed by the animal’s brain. Animals are able to use their perceptions and memories to guide their actions.