Reading: As we wind down the first nine weeks, we will complete our second Bookworms novel, a realistic fiction story called
Love, Amalia. After reading and discussing this book, students should be able to identify the elements present in fiction writing and how these elements interact as the arc of the story follows the rising action, climax, falling action curve. They should also be able to identify how characters are changed by the end of the book. (*We will take a reading test on October 6th that will assess each student's ability to read and comprehend grade level passages.)
Making sure your child reads faithfully each and every night makes a huge difference in developing their reading stamina and general reading success. See a powerful graphic representation of this posted below!
Math: Fractions, Number Sense, and Probability - Over the next five weeks, our fourth graders are diving into fractions and probability! Students will use models and math reasoning to compare, order, build, and find equivalent fractions with denominators up to 12. They will also learn how fractions connect directly to real-world division problems. In probability, students will practice using terms like impossible, likely, and certain while using tools like coins and spinners to model outcomes and represent them as fractions. Please keep encouraging consistent Reflex Math practice at home! Strong math fact fluency makes working with fractions much easier. Aiming for that "Green Light" regularly will boost your child's confidence and overall math growth. Knowing these facts from memory will help students solve problems more quickly and accurately. (*Unit #3 will be tested on November 6th. More detailed information is posted in Canvas.)
Virginia Studies: Students have shifted focus from the ways of life of Native Virginians to learning about the first European colonists who traveled to North America to settle and build a colony for England at Jamestown. Learning will center around the struggles faced as the settlers adjusted to this new life and on the interactions between the two groups. This is a big unit with a lot of material to understand and memorize. Remember that to successfully master the Virginia Studies content, students should continue to review (both new and old material) for a few minutes every night. (*This unit will be tested on October 9th.)
Science: Ecosystems - Students will investigate how plants, animals, humans, and nonliving surroundings interact within an environment. They will build food webs to trace how energy flows through ecosystems, practice using classification tools to group organisms by their traits, and learn how habitats and niches change as living things grow. Students will discover how a single change in an ecosystem can impact everything connected to it. (*This unit will be tested on October 30th.)
