Hello 4th grade families! In this newsletter, you will find all the wonderful things your learner has been studying this past month. We are looking forward to another fun-filled month in November!

Important Dates & Reminders

Attendance is very important. Please have your child at school on time.  

ALL students can get breakfast and lunch daily at school. Please encourage your child to get breakfast so they are ready to learn.  

Please sign up for a parent teacher conference! 

All conferences on Nov. 1 and 2 will be virtual conferences. Look for a link from your child’s teacher. 

October 29th is an early release day, students will go home at 1:30pm 

Nov. 1 and 2 are teacher workdays and student holidays.  

Nov. 11th is Veteran’s Day and is an early release day at 1:30pm 

Nov. 24-26 Thanksgiving Break

Language Arts

What We Learned This Past Month:

This month we have been reading, writing, illustrating and enjoying poetry.  Students have had time to explore poems and find ones they truly love.  Students will also revise/edit their poems and publish them.  Next up is a 5 week unit on nonfiction and narrative nonfiction in reading.  Unit goals for nonfiction: Readers adjust their thinking based on how the author presents and organizes information in order to understand the information and messages the author is communicating. • Readers synthesize and develop their theories and opinions to understand the world. • Readers develop theories and opinions through discussion.   Narrative nonfiction differs from expository text because it uses story elements to help readers understand a true event or person. Reading factual information in a narrative context is often more engaging and helps readers remember the information.

What We Will Be Learning Next Month: 

Next up in writing is a 5 week unit on writing Feature Articles.   Feature articles unit goals: Writers plan the content and organization of the entire piece and each section to help readers develop an understanding of the topic. • Writers develop some parts of their writing more fully than others in order to communicate the information. • Writers share their pieces, and use the feedback to revise, considering new perspectives. 

Math

What We Learned This Past Month:

This month we have been studying fractions.  In Fractions Unit 1, students deepen their understanding of fractions.  This unit focuses on understanding the number sense objectives of naming, modeling, comparing, and ordering fractions (MTH.G4.2).

What We Will Be Learning Next Month: 

Next up is “multiplication and division part 1”.  In this unit students demonstrate fluency with multiplication facts through 12 x 12, and the corresponding division facts, estimate and determine products and quotients of whole numbers (1 digit × 1 digit and 1 digit × 2 digits). Students will also create and solve single-step and multistep practical problems involving multiplication and single-step practical problems involving division with whole numbers.

Advanced Math 

What We Learned This Past Month:

This month, students deepen their understandings of fractions and decimals. Students develop flexibility in moving between fraction and decimal models and fluency with fraction and decimal notation.

What We Will Be Learning Next Month: 

Next up, is a unit called “whole number computation”.  This unit includes a combination of fourth grade and fifth grade standards in order to provide advanced learners with opportunities to deepen their understandings of the four operations while solving practical problems involving those operations. Order of operations and the distributive property of multiplication over addition are also introduced.

Science

What We Learned This Past Month:

This month we have been involved in studying Virginia Ecosystems. Throughout the unit students develop their understanding of the natural world around them. As well as identifying problems and issues that affect the natural resources in the area.

What We Will Be Learning Next Month: 

Our next Science unit will be to continue studying ecosystems and weather in Quarter 2.

Social Studies

Next up is our unit on Jamestown!  This unit will begin the week of Oct. 25th and continue for 3 weeks.  Students will explore; the reasons for English colonization, the selection of the site for Jamestown and the challenges it presented, the roles of culture and power in the changing relationship between the Powhatan and English settlers, and the importance of the events of 1619.  

Note: 4th grade usually visits Jamestown in the fall as part of our learning in Social Studies.  This year, due to Covid, we have pushed our trip to Spring 2022. More information and specifics about our trip will be sent in early 2022.  Thank you for understanding!