Fourth Grade Newsletter- Week 1
August 28, 2026
Ushers
Torch Bearer
Flag Duty
Mathematics
Focus for Next Week: We will continue adding and subtracting larger numbers, rounding and estimation.
Learning Objectives:
Students will:
Round numbers to the nearest ten, hundred, and thousand.
Estimate sums and differences.
Add and subtract larger numbers accurately.
Decide when an estimate or an exact answer is needed.
Academic Vocabulary:
Round • Estimate • Sum • Difference • Exact Answer
Home Support:
Practice rounding numbers to the nearest thousand with your child.
Repeated suggestion - We encourage families to spend a few minutes each day practicing these important math skills at home:
Practice 4s Multiplication Facts: Spend a few minutes each day practicing the 4 times tables. Flash cards, math fact games, skip-counting by 4s, or quick oral practice are great ways to build fluency. Encourage your child to practice until the facts become automatic.
Even 5–10 minutes of math practice each day can make a big difference! Thank you for partnering with us to support your child’s learning at home.
English Language Arts & Reading
Focus for Next Week:
Next week in reading, we will read a realistic fiction story and analyze how a character changed from the beginning to the end. We will also discuss story elements such as character, plot, and setting. In writing, we will begin our paragraph writing unit by learning to write topic sentences that convey the main idea of a paragraph and provide supporting details. Lastly, we will continue our study of morphology by practicing the prefix mis- and the suffixes -ful and -less.
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Analyze how a character changes in a work of realistic fiction.
Write effective topic sentences and relevant details.
Determine the meaning of a word with mis-, -ful, or -less.
Home Support:
At home, you can support your child’s knowledge of story elements by asking specific questions about any stories they encounter (books, tv shows, movies, etc.). Questions such as “who do you think is the main character?” and “what is the setting of this story?” help make skills stick.
You can support your child’s vocabulary knowledge by hunting for words with prefixes and suffixes (such as mis-, -ful, and -less). Students can search through a favorite book or any other text to find these words. Have your student explain how the prefixes and suffixes change the meaning of the word.
Our new spelling list is available at our homework link for your reference. The next spelling test will be Thursday, October 8.
Social Studies
Focus of the Week: Hispanic Heritage Month
We will begin learning about heritage, culture, and the contributions of Hispanic and Latino people. Students will explore the lives of notable individuals, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor and scientist Dr. Mario J. Molina.
Learning Objectives:
Students will:
Explain what heritage means.
Learn about Hispanic and Latino cultures and experiences.
Identify the contributions of notable Hispanic and Latino individuals.
Explain how their contributions have impacted our world.
Academic Vocabulary: Heritage • Culture • Contribution • Accomplishment • Notable
Home Support:
Ask your child to share something they learned about a notable Hispanic or Latino individual. Families can also talk about their own heritage, traditions, and culture and how these shape who we are.
Science
What is Happening in Science/STEM?
Forces and Motion is still the focus in fourth grade. The students did a great work with their academic language and learning to read a graphic organizer displaying collision and energy through symbols. This week the students will connect their explorations of energy through labs to specific content of what energy is, what it can be and the different forms to begin creating their interactive notebook.
Academic Language We Are Using This Week
energy, force, speed, collision, collide, transfer, potential, kinetic, mechanical, electrical, light, thermal, sound and chemical
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