4th Grade Academic Prep

Students will be reading a novel. When tackling this fiction text, they will learn how to think deeply about characters and motivations. When studying the characters, readers will learn alongside the main character, keeping track of the multiple problems he/she encounters throughout his/her quest. Additionally, questions posed such as, “What seems to be the big themes/life lessons of this story?” will guide many of the novel discussions. Students will craft reading responses in their journals of a few themes that emerged and justify their thinking by noting significant parts of the story that show how the life lessons were developed by the author.
Students will craft narratives with a growing emphasis on drafting and revision using the guidance of Lucy Calkins. The writers will first develop strong story ideas, characters, and settings. Story arcs will be used to guide their scenes, ensuring trouble occurs within their plots and is resolved at the end of their pieces. The heart of the story will be developed and strengthened through the use of description, action, dialogue, and character thinking.
During math, students will review the conceptual understanding that the base ten place value system extends infinitely in two directions. Students will read and write whole numbers in the millions, order and compare whole numbers and decimals to two decimal places, and round whole numbers through the millions. Additionally, students will work on solving multi-step number stories by using a variety of algorithms such as partial products and quotients. Students will also demonstrate their understanding of the standard algorithm for the addition and subtraction of multi digit numbers. Lastly, students will review the conceptual understanding that fractions, decimals, and percentages are ways of representing whole-part relationships. Students will visually and numerically model equivalent fractions, mixed numbers and improper fractions. Students will work through tasks that review comparing/ordering fractions on a number line.

Instructor: Eric Vargas